Following the recent release of Zenith Bank’s audited financial results for the 2020 financial year, shareholders of the bank, on Tuesday at the 30th Annual General Meeting of the bank held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos unanimously approved the proposed final dividend of N2.70 per share, bringing the total dividend payment for the 2020 financial year to N3.00 per share with a total value of N94.19 billion.
Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, the Group’s gross earnings rose by 5% to N696.5 billion from N662.3 billion reported in the previous year, with an 8% growth in non-interest income from NGN232.1 billion in 2019 to NGN251.7 billion in 2020 and a 1% increase in interest income from NGN415.6 billion in 2019 to NGN420.8 billion in 2020.
Similarly, profit before tax (PBT) increased by 5%, growing from N243.3 billion to N255.9 billion in the current year as a result of a blend of growth in the topline and a significant reduction in interest expense. Interest expense reduced from N148.5 billion in 2019 to N121.1 billion in 2020, significantly increasing the net interest income from NGN267.0 billion in 2019 to NGN299.7 billion in 2020.
The Group's increased retail activities translated to a corresponding increase in retail deposits and loans. Thus, retail deposits grew by NGN612.7 billion from NGN1.11 trillion to NGN1.72 trillion year-on-year (YoY), while savings balances significantly grew by 88% YoY and closed at NGN1.16 trillion. This retail drive, coupled with the low-interest yield environment, helped reduce the cost of funding from 3.0% to 2.1% and reduced interest expense. However, the low-interest environment also affected the net interest margin, which declined from 8.2% to 7.9% in the current year due to
the re-pricing of interest-bearing assets. Operating costs grew by 10% YoY but are still tracking well below inflation which at the end of the year stood at 15.75%. Although returns on equity and assets also reduced from 23.8% to 22.4% and from 3.4% to 3.1%, respectively, the Group still delivered improved Earnings per Share (EPS), which grew 10% from NGN6.65 to NGN7.34 in the current year.
The Group also increased corporate customer deposits, which alongside the growth in retail deposits, delivered total deposit growth of 25%, close at N5.34 trillion, and drove growth in market share. Total assets also increased significantly by 34%, from N6.35 trillion to N8.48 trillion. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated challenges, the Group managed to create new viable risk assets as gross loans grew by 19%, from N2.46 trillion to N2.92 trillion. This was achieved while maintaining a stable and low overall NPL ratio of 4.29% (2019: 4.3%) across the entire portfolio and an increase in the cost of risk from 1.1% to 1.5%, reflecting the elevated risk environment in 2020. The Group recorded impressive liquidity and capital adequacy ratios of 66.2% and 23.0% and remained above regulatory thresholds of 30% and 15%, respectively.
Consistent with this superlative performance and in recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank was voted as Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker's Bank of the Year Awards 2020, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World's Best Banks Awards 2020 and Best Corporate Governance ' Financial Services' Africa 2020 by the Ethical Boardroom. Also, the bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in
Nigeria, for the fourth consecutive year, in the Banker Magazine "Top 500 Banking Brands 2021" and Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the "2020 Top 1000 World Banks" Ranking published by The Banker Magazine.
Similarly, the bank was recognised as Bank of the Decade (People's Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020, Retail Bank of the year at the 2020 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards, and Best Company in Promotion of Good Health and Well-Being as well as Best Company in Promotion of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2020.