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Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc, on Monday, at their 29th Annual General Meeting in Abuja unanimously approved a proposed final dividend of N2.50 per share. The approval brings the total dividend payment for the 2019 financial year to N2.80 per share amounting to a total of N87.9 billion. This followed the recent release of the bank’s audited financial results for the 2019 financial year.
According to the audited financial results for the 2019 financial year, Zenith Bank recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N208.8 billion, an increase of 8 per cent from the N193 billion recorded in the previous year, thus achieving the feat as the first Nigerian bank to cross the N200 billion mark.
The Group also recorded a gross earnings growth of 5 per cent, rising to N662.3 billion from N630.3 billion reported in the previous year. This growth was driven by a 29 per cent increase in non-interest income from N179.9 billion in 2018 to N231.1 billion in 2019. Fees on electronic banking products grew by 108 per cent Year on Year (Y-o-Y) from N20.4 billion in 2018 to N42.5 billion in the current year. This is a validation of the bank’s retail transformation strategy which continues to deliver impressive results.
Meanwhile Zenith Bank’s Profit before tax in the year under review increased by 5 per cent from N232 billion to N243 billion in the current year, arising from topline growth and continued focus on cost optimisation strategies. Cost-to-income ratio moderated from 49.3 per cent to 48.8 per cent.
The drive for cheaper retail deposits coupled with the low-interest yield environment helped reduce the cost of funding from 3.1 per cent to 3.0 per cent. However, this also affected net interest margin, which reduced from 8.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent in the current year due to re-pricing of interest-bearing assets. Although returns on equity and assets held steady YoY at 23.8 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively, the Group still delivered an improved Earnings per Share (EPS) which grew 8 per cent from N6.15 to N6.65 in the current year.
The Group increased its share of the market as it secured increased customer deposits across the corporate and retail space as deposits grew by 15 per cent to close at N4.26 trillion. Total assets also increased by 7 per cent from N5.96 trillion to N6.35 trillion. The Group created new viable risk assets as gross loans grew by 22 per cent from N2.016 trillion to N2.462 trillion. This was executed prudently at a low cost of risk of 1.1 per cent and a significant reduction in the non-performing loan ratio from 4.98 per cent to 4.30 per cent. Prudential ratios such as liquidity and capital adequacy ratios also remained above regulatory thresholds at 57.3 per cent and 22.0 per cent respectively.
