Key Highlights
- Gross Earnings grew by 21.7% from N157.31bn to N191.52bn
- Profit before tax stood at N67.99bn
- Profit after tax stood at N58.20bn
- Share Price Currently Stands at N24.55k
The Zenith Bank Group achieved a year-on-year (YoY) growth in gross earnings of 22% from N157.3 billion reported in Q1 2021 to N191.5 billion in Q1 2022. This double-digit growth in the topline also spurred our bottom line as the Group recorded an 11% YoY increase in profit before tax, growing from N61 billion in Q1 2021 to N68 billion in Q1 2022. Profit after tax also grew by 10% from N53.1 billion to N58.2 billion over the same period. Topline growth was mainly driven by the growth in interest income, fees on electronic products, and trading income.
Strong growth was recorded in Interest income which grew by 25% from N101.2 billion to N126.4 billion YoY in Q1 2022, as risk assets continue to grow with gradual improvement in pricing. Non-interest income grew by 12% from N51.2 billion to N57.2 billion YoY as the Bank continues to deploy its retail strategy thereby acquiring more customers and growing its electronic banking income from the increased volume of transactions across all channels.
In terms of efficiency, our cost-to-income ratio deteriorated slightly from 53.2% to 55.0% in the current period due to the increase in energy costs, rising inflation, and increased regulatory costs resulting from the growth in the Bank’s balance sheet.
Total assets grew by 9% from N9.45 trillion to N10.32 trillion in Q1 2022, propelled by growth in customers’ deposits. Customer deposits grew by 12% from N6.47 trillion in December 2021 to N7.25 trillion in March 2022. Savings account balance which is solely retail grew by over N68 billion and is a validation of our robust customer acquisition strategy and versatile electronic platforms and digital channels.
Loans and advances also grew by 6% from N3.5 trillion in December 2021 to N3.7 trillion in March 2022 boosting the group’s interest income and displaying the group’s cautious appetite for high-yielding risk assets creation. This development has also helped to boost our net interest margin (NIM) as it improved from 6.0% in March 2021 to 7.3% in the current period. Capital adequacy ratio improved slightly from 21.1% to 22.1% while liquidity ratio declined slightly from 71.6% to 70.2%. Both prudential ratios are still well above regulatory thresholds.
Going forward into the rest of the year, the Group will continue to focus on sustainable growth across all its business segments, deploy technology platforms and digital assets intuitively to serve the needs of its various customers in order to deliver enhanced returns to its stakeholders.
Total assets grew by nine per cent, from N9.45tn to N10.32tn in 2022, mainly driven by growth in customer deposits.
The customer deposits grew by 12 per cent, from N6.47tn in December 2021 to N7.25tn in March 2022.
Savings account balance, which is solely retail, grew by over N68bn and was a validation of the robust customer acquisition strategy and versatile electronic platforms and digital channels, the statement said.
Loans and advances also grew by six per cent, from N3.5tn in December 2021 to N3.7tn in March 2022, boosting the Group’s interest income and displaying its appetite for high-yielding risk assets creation.
This development also helped to boost the net interest margin, as it improved from 6.0 per cent in March 2021 to 7.3 per cent in the current period, while the capital adequacy ratio improved slightly from 21.1 per cent to 22.1 per cent.
“Going into the remainder of 2022, the Group will continue to focus on sustainable growth across all its business segments and deploy technology platforms and digital assets intuitively to serve its various customers’ needs to deliver enhanced returns to its stakeholders,” the statement said
