Zenith nets N58bn in 6 months

Zenith Bank Plc yester­day announced a prof­it before tax of N57.85 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2014, up by 7 per cent from N54.08 billion recorded in the correspond­ing period last year.

The bank announced the figures in a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Details of the fi­nancial statement showed that profit after tax for the period under review was N47.45 bil­lion, which represents about 4 per cent increase from N45.42 billion it posted for the same period in 2013.

The Zenith Bank half-year result showed all-round im­provements in key indicators, with gross earnings surging by 7.8 per cent from N171.02 bil­lion in 2013 to N184.43 billion.

Also within the period, Ni­geria’s biggest bank by Tier-1 capital grew its assets by 15.2 per cent from N2.78 trillion to N3.20 trillion.

It recorded about 7.43 per cent increase in sharehold­ers’ funds, which rose from N458.31 billion as at the end of June last year to N492.38 billion.

The bank with a large net­work that includes subsidiaries in the UK, Ghana, The Gam­bia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, currently has a shareholder base of about one million.

Aside listing $850 mil­lion worth of its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), via a technical Global Depository Receipt (GDR) programme, Zenith Bank, in April 2014, recorded a mas­sive over-subscription of about 200 per cent in its $500 million Eurobond issue under a $1 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme an­nounced on April 1, 2014.

Zenith Bank was also in June, declared the Most Cus­tomer Focused Bank 2014 by KPMG, where it won in all three categories namely, Cor­porate, Retail and SME.

The firm was this year, rated the Biggest Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 capital by the FT of Lon­don and Best Nigerian Bank in Corporate Governance by the World Finance.

Commenting on the re­sults, Peter Amangbo, Group Managing Director/Chief Ex­ecutive Officer, said: “Zenith Bank’s strong results for the first half of 2014 further con­firm our continued leadership in consistently delivering supe­rior performance and returns. Driven by our innovative pro­cesses, cutting edge technol­ogy and committed staff, the group recorded total revenue of N184.8 billion for the sec­ond quarter, which represents an 8 per cent increase over the 2013 half year.


THE SUN