Zenith Bank Plc has announced results for the year ended December 31, 2020, with gross earnings rising by 5% to N696.5 billion from N662.3 billion reported in the previous year.
This is in spite of a challenging macroeconomic environment exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the bank’s audited financial results for the 2020 financial year presented to the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, the Group recorded 8% growth in non-interest income from NGN232.1 billion in 2019 to NGN251.7 billion in 2020 and a 1% increase in interest income from NGN415.6 billion in 2019 to NGN420.8 billion in 2020.
Profit before tax also increased by 5%, growing from N243.3 billion to N255.9 billion in the current year. The increase arose from a combination of growth in the topline and a significant reduction in interest expense. Interest expense reduced from N148.5 billion in 2019 to N121.1 billion in 2020, significantly increasing the net interest income from NGN267.0 billion in 2019 to NGN299.7 billion in 2020.
The Group’s increased retail activities translated to a corresponding increase in retail deposits and loans. Thus, retail deposits grew by NGN612.7 billion from NGN1.11 trillion to NGN1.72 trillion year-on-year (YoY), while savings balances significantly grew by 88% YoY and closed at NGN1.16 trillion. This retail drive, coupled with the low-interest yield environment, helped reduce the cost of funding from 3.0% to 2.1% and also reduced interest expense.
However, the low-interest environment also affected the net interest margin, which declined from 8.2% to 7.9% in the current year due to the re-pricing of interest-bearing assets. Operating costs grew by 10% YoY but are still tracking well below inflation which at the end of the year stood at 15.75%. Although returns on equity and assets also reduced from 23.8% to 22.4% and from 3.4% to 3.1%, respectively, the Group still delivered improved Earnings per Share (EPS), which grew 10% from NGN6.65 to NGN7.34 in the current year.
The Group also increased corporate customer deposits, which alongside the growth in retail deposits, delivered total deposit growth of 25%, to close at N5.34 trillion, driving growth in market share.
