Zenith nets N58bn in six months

Zenith Bank Plc. has announced a gross earnings of N184.43 billion. for the six months ending June 30, 2014. The Bank also posts profit before tax of N57.85 billion up by 7 per cent from N54.08 billion for the corresponding period last year.
Zenith Bank, which has consistently been prompt in releasing its results, announced the figures in a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Profit after tax for the period under review, according to the bank’s unaudited half year result, was N47.45 billion, up by 4 per cent from N45.42 billion for the same period in 2013.
Details of the half year result showed all-round improvements, with gross earnings also up by 7.8 per cent from N171.02 billion in 2013 to N184.43 billion.
The results also showed that within the period, Zenith, Nigeria’s biggest bank by Tier-1 capital grew its assets by 15.2 per cent from N2.78 trillion to N3.20 trillion.
Also noticeable is the 7.43 per cent increase in shareholders’ funds, up from N458.31 billion as at the end of June last year to 492.38 billion.
The bank, with network that includes subsidiaries in the U.K, 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, the Bank, in April 2014, recorded a massive over-subscription of about 200% in her $500m Eurobond issue under a $1bn Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme announced on 1 April 2014.
The Bank was also in June, declared the Most Customer Focused Bank 2014 by KPMG; where the bank won in all three categories namely: Corporate, Retail and SME.
Zenith was also, 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.