Zenith Bank Plc grew its profit before tax by 24 per cent to N72 billion for the half year period ending June 30, 2015, from N58 billion posted in the same period in 2014.
Accordingmto th bank’s audited half-year results released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, its profit after tax rose to N53 billion from N47 billion reported in the same period in 2014.
Also, the gross earnings increased by 24 per cent from N184.4 billion in June 2014 to N229.08 billion in the review period, while its net interest income rose by 14 per cent to N112.6 billion from N98.6 billion in 2004
Customers’ confidence in the bank increased during the period under review as deposits rose from N2.5 trillion to N2.6 trillion, just as total assets stood at N3.8 trillion in 2015 as against N3.7 trillion in 2014.
Gross loans and advances grew by 10.4 percent without compromising the asset quality as evidenced by a best-in-class low cost rate of 0.8 percent, which is below industry average Non-Performing Loan (NPl) ratio of 1.44 percent.
Based on the result, the board of directors recommended an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share, the first in the history of the bank. The qualifying date for the dividend is August 21, 2015 while the register will close on August 24, 2015 to enable the bank’s registrar prepare for payment of the interim dividend.
Zenith Bank, the biggest in Nigeria by Tier-1 capital, recently adopted a new financial reporting policy of publishing audited half-yearly results, a development hailed by market analysts as representing a major boost for the bank.
