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Zenith Bank Plc has posted a profit after tax of N111 billion for the first six months of 2022, a 5% increase from the amount in first half of 2021.

The growth record is in spite of inflation which has continued on the uptrend, year to date.

The financial report by the company shows a rise in profit follows an increase in interest income recorded for the period of H1 2022 compared to the amount in the previous year.

The company increased interest income by a whopping N18.5% to close at N242 billion in the first half of the year. This was triggered by loan and advances to customers which saw a record of N163 billion as well as government and other bonds at N51 billion among others.

Interest and similar expenses also rose to N56 billion from N43 billion causing the net interest income to stand a N185 billion.

The net income on fees and commission as well as trading gain was valued N64 billion and N85 billion while other operating income saw a negative 655 million in H1 2021 influenced majorly by foreign currency revaluation loss at N6.2 billion. Notably, the foreign currency revaluation loss represents the loss from the revaluation of foreign currency-denominated assets and liabilities held in the non-trading books.

Also, personnel expenses rose to N40 billion in H1 2022 from N38 billion in H1 2021. This was mainly as a result of an increase in spending in areas like information technology, advertising, bank charges, fuel and maintenance and other expenses.

What the bank is saying

Commenting on the enhancement of digital and electronic platforms of the group, Zenith Bank said it is enhancing the capabilities of its digital and electronic banking channels to ensure seamless processing of the huge volumes of digital transactions being processed on the bank’s channels.

Similarly, operating expenses the capabilities of its digital and electronic banking channels grew to N124 billion respectively compared to last year’s record of N98 billion as the bank spent more on salaries and wages, staff cost and pension contribution in the first half of 2022 alongside increase in the management and non-management employees.

The bank noted that it continues to encourage flexible working conditions among its employees. It stated, “The Group has made a significant investment in IT infrastructure that facilitates remote working conditions. To complement this, the group increased investment in IT and Cyber Security infrastructure to enable it to meet the increasing digital needs of our customers while protecting its organization and customers from all cyber security threats.”

The bank increased its asset from N9.4 trillion to N10.1 trillion as liability also improved from N8.2 trillion to N8.8 trillion in H1 2022.
The earnings per share was up from N3.38 in H1 2021 to N3.55 in H1 2022
The company last traded at N22 while its market capitalization stood at N691 billion.

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