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 theCivic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos unanimously approved the proposed final dividend of N2.70per share, bringing the total dividend payment for the 2020 financial year to N3.00 per share with atotal value of N94.19 billion.

Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, theGroup’s gross earnings rose by 5% to N696.5 billion from N662.3 billion reported in the previousyear, with an 8% growth in non-interest income from NGN232.1 billion in 2019 to NGN251.7 billionin 2020 and a 1% increase in interest income from NGN415.6 billion in 2019 to NGN420.8 billion in2020.

Similarly, profit before tax (PBT) increased by 5%, growing from N243.3 billion to N255.9 billion inthe current year as a result of a blend of growth in the topline and a significant reduction in interestexpense. 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 billionin 2020.

The Group’s increased retail activities translated to a corresponding increase in retail deposits andloans. Thus, retail deposits grew by NGN612.7 billion from NGN1.11 trillion to NGN1.72 trillionyear-on-year (YoY), while savings balances significantly grew by 88% YoY and closed at NGN1.16trillion.

This retail drive, coupled with the low-interest yield environment, helped reduce the cost offunding from 3.0% to 2.1% and reduced interest expense. However, the low-interest environmentalso affected the net interest margin, which declined from 8.2% to 7.9% in the current year due tothe re-pricing of interest-bearing assets.

Operating costs grew by 10% YoY but are still trackingwell below inflation which at the end of the year stood at 15.75%. Although returns on equity andassets 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 thecurrent year.

The Group also increased corporate customer deposits, which alongside the growth in retaildeposits, delivered total deposit growth of 25%, close at N5.34 trillion, and drove growth in marketshare. Total assets also increased significantly by 34%, from N6.35 trillion to N8.48 trillion.

Despitethe COVID-19 pandemic and its associated challenges, the Group managed to create new viablerisk assets as gross loans grew by 19%, from N2.46 trillion to N2.92 trillion. This was achievedwhile maintaining a stable and low overall NPL ratio of 4.29% (2019: 4.3%) across the entireportfolio and an increase in the cost of risk from 1.1% to 1.5%, reflecting the elevated riskenvironment in 2020. The Group recorded impressive liquidity and capital adequacy ratios of66.2% 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 excellentperformance, Zenith Bank was voted as Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of theYear Awards 2020, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards 2020and 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 ThisDayAwards 2020, Retail Bank of the year at the 2020 BusinessDay Banks and Other FinancialInstitutions (BOFI) Awards, and Best Company in Promotion of Good Health and Well-Being aswell as Best Company in Promotion of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at theSustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2020.