Zenith Bank Plc, led by Nigerian banking tycoon Jim Ovia, has revealed that it is off to a solid start after reporting N58.2 billion ($140.1 million) in earnings in the first quarter of 2022, following an impressive financial performance in a year as challenging as 2021.
Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s most valuable financial services group, has a market capitalization of N771 billion ($1.85 billion) and operates as a leading financial services provider in Nigeria, as well as an active presence in Anglophone West Africa.
Aside from his governance roles at the Lagos-based lender, Ovia, who founded the tier-one bank in 1990, owns a significant 16.2-percent stake worth over N124 billion ($300 million) in the company.
According to the bank’s recently published interim financial statement, its profit at the end of 2021 increased by 9.7 percent from N53.06 billion ($127.77 million) in the first quarter of 2021 to N58.2 billion ($140.1 million) in the same quarter of 2022.
The increase was due to increased top-line growth at Zenith Bank and very strong management of the bank’s treasury portfolio, which increased efficiency and resulted in a significant increase in the group’s profit during the reporting period.
As a result of the sustained growth in economic activity and customers’ discretionary savings, the group’s gross earnings increased by 21.7 percent from N157.3 billion ($379 million) to N191.52 billion ($461.1 million), owing to a surge in trading income exceeding N32 billion ($77 billion) and a double-digit percent increase in interest income.
The bank’s total assets increased from N8.68 trillion ($20.9 billion) to N10.32 trillion ($24.8 billion), while its retained earnings increased from N488.85 billion ($1.18 billion) to N657.67 billion ($1.58 billion).
The strong growth in its earnings in the first quarter 0f 2022 is expected to set the pace toward an improved performance at the end of the current fiscal year after the financial services group reported a profit of N244.56 billion ($587.8 million) at the end of 2021.
