ZENITH BANK RECORDS N380 BILLION EARNINGS IN Q3

Zenith Bank Plc has recorded gross earnings N380.4 billion in its third quarter operations, against N337.9 billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2015.

Specifically, the bank’s result for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, showed 12.9 per cent rise in gross earnings, from N337.9 billion in 2015 to N380.4 billion during the period under review.

The bank’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at N121.2 billion, representing 16.6 per cent increase over N104 billion in 2015.

Net interest income grew by 17.6 per cent from N161.4 billion to N189.8 billion while impairment charges rose by 124.8 per cent, from N9.7 billion to N21.9 billion.

The financial institution’s Profit after tax (PAT) recorded rose by 20.4 per cent to N100 billion, up from N83 billion.

Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, the bank’s deposit rose from N2.557 trillion to N2.692 trillion, while loans and advances grew from N1.841 trillion to N2.425 trillion.

In all, bank’s total assets hit N4.654 trillion, up by 16.2 per cent from N4.00 trillion in 2015.

Market operators said the performance is highly encouraging, adding that with this, shareholders of the bank should prepare for a bountiful harvest at the end of year.

Already, the bank has paid an interim dividend of 25 kobo to the shareholders for the half year ended June 30, 2016.

Reacting to the results, analysts at FBN Quest said given the nine-month profit before tax of N121 billion, the N123 billion made by the management for the full year would be surpassed.

The analysts said: “On the back of these results, we would expect consensus PBT for 2016 to move up strongly, from N123bn currently, given that the nine months result is N121 billion. The operating expenses and interest expense figures are disappointing and would draw some scrutiny from the market .

“However, we expect the foreign exchange related gains to more than compensate for these, given their magnitude and the fact that it was the absence of such gains in second quarter (Q2) (especially on the non-interest income line) that led to a muted to negative reaction by the market.”

FBN Quest said: “The main driver behind the strong growth in PBT was non-interest income of N61 billion which increased by 125 per cent. This performance compares with a 29 per cent growth in net interest income.

“As a result, although both loan loss provisions and opex saw marked increases of 202 per cent and 40 per cent respectively, the strong revenue growth more than offset these trends, leading to the 82 per cent PBT growth.

“Sequentially, the non-interest income line stood out again, with a 239 per cent q/q increase. Unlike Q2 when non-interest income disappointed because forex revaluation gains were largely absent, in Q3 the gains were very visible at N28 billion, slightly over 45 per cent of the total other-income result.”