Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc., Thursday published its September 2018 results with the bank declaring profit growth of 12 percent year-on-year to N144.18 billion, while also growing earnings per share (EPS) by 16 percent.
The bank recorded a one percent year-on-year uptick in Q3 2018’s gross earnings,the outcome of an 11 percent growth in interest income to N110.39 billion. Interest earned on customer loans and government securities were major drivers of the increase in interest income.
Over the 9 month period, there was a decline in fees and commission income of 30 percent year-on-year, which forced a 20 percent drop in net interest income.
The bank also saw its net assets decline by 5.3 percent from N821 billion to N777 billion, the result of a 9.1 percent decline in loans and advances to customers.
Despite this performance, however, the bank still boasts of a return on capital employed of 2.4 percent, but analysts say it needs to be wary of a cost to income ratio of 3.9 percent.
