The management of Zenith Bank Group in its comments stated that “the operating results of the Group for the period ended September 30, 2017 affirms the Group’s leadership position in the industry as it continues to demonstrate resilience and consistency in delivering superior performance. For the period ended September 2017, the Group reported Gross Earnings of N531.3 billion representing a 39.7% increase compared to N380.4 billion reported in September 2016. The Group also recorded a year-on-year increase of 26.6% and 79.0% in interest income and non-interest income respectively. The increase in interest income was supported by the high yield on government securities and a tight monetary environment. Continuous growth in all lines of non-interest income further demonstrates our strong revenue generating capacity with increasing diversification.

 

The Group’s cost-to-income ratio declined from 53.8% in the first three quarters of 2016 to 52.9% in 2017 driven by operational efficiencies and cost optimization efforts. The Group delivered an increase in Profit before Tax (PBT) from N116.6 billion in September 2016 to N152.6 billion in September 2017 reflecting a growth of 30.8% due to improvement in both interest income and non-interest income. The marginal decline of 3.7% in Gross loans is reflective of the Group’s cautious, approach to its risk assets management due to the evolving economic environment. The Group’s total deposits increased by 2.6% from N3.0 trillion to N3.1 trillion as it strives to consolidate its effective deposit mobilisation strategy.

 

In line with the Group’s conservative stance, it closed the period with a liquidity ratio of 61.1% firmly above the 30% minimum statutory requirement. The Group’s loan to deposit ratio was 62.1% while the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 22.2% which is above the 15% regulatory limit. Zenith’s strength in these prudential ratios reflect its capacity to take advantage of emerging opportunities across various sectors of the economy. Although the operating environment remains challenging, management’s outlook going into the final quarter of the year is optimistic barring any unforeseen circumstances.”