The shares of Zenith Bank plc, one of Nigeria’s tier-one lenders, were on demand at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday following the bank’s proposal to pay interim dividend of 30 kobo per share for the halfyear (H1) period ended June 30, 2019. The share price went up by 40 kobo or 2.41 percent, from day open price of N16.6 to N17.
The proposed interim dividend will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members as at the close of business on August 29, 2019.
The bank’s audited financial statement for the half-year period shows its gross earnings grew by 3 percent, from N322.2 billion to N331.6 billion driven by a significant growth of 24 percent year-on-year (YOY) in non-interest income from N88.6 billion in H1 2018 to N109.7 billion in H1 2019.
In particular, fees from electronic products increased by N17 billion or 168 percent, from N10 billion recorded in H1 2018 to N27 billion in H1 2019, demonstrating significant progress in the bank’s retail banking initiatives.
Zenith Bank’s topline growth filtered through to the bottom- line as Profit Before Tax (PBT) increased to N111.7 billion, reflecting a 4 percent growth over N107.4 billion reported in H1 2018 with earnings per share (EPS) increasing by 9 percent to N2.83 in H1 2019 from N2.60 compared to the prior period.
The bank plans to accelerate lending in the second half after its loan-to-deposit ratio fell short of the regulator’s minimum target.
The bank’s loan book dropped 3 percent to N1.95 trillion ($5.4 billion) for the six months through June, while customer deposits increased by the same percentage to N3.8 trillion.
