Zenith Bank posts N208.6bn full year profit, declares N2.50 final dividend

Leading lender, Zenith Bank Plc has recorded an after-tax profit of N208.843 billion for Full Year 2019, thus becoming the second after Stanbic IBTC among Nigeria’s five biggest banks by market value to announce the release of its Full Year financials this year.

The full account of Zenith Bank’s financial performance in the review period is detailed in its Annual Report – December 31, 2019, posted on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) this morning.

Gross Earnings inched up from N630.344 billion at FY2018 to N662.251 at FY2019, implying a modest growth of 5.1%

Profit Before Tax (PBT) advanced by 5%, moving from N231.685 billion at FY2018 to N243.294 in the corresponding period of last year.

Profit After Tax (PAT) responded to the positive trend, climbing to N208.843 billion at FY2019, up from N193.424 billion at the same time the year before. Put differently, Zenith Bank’s bottom-line expanded by 8% in between the periods.

Earnings Per Share (EPS) added 8.1%, jumping from N6.15 at FY2018 to N6.65%.

Despite the fairly impressive result as a whole, the bank’s shrinking Interest and Similar Income is a concern regardless.

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This is so given that the bulk of bank’s revenue derives from interest income and, in this case, it shed 5.6% or N24.489 billion in between the periods.

Management should consider shoring this up towards delivering better returns to shareholders in future.

In view of the generally fair performance, the Zenith Bank board has announced a proposal of N2.50 per share final dividend subject to shareholders’ approval at the next Annual General Meeting (AGM), timed to hold 9^th March 2020.

It is noteworthy that Zenith had earlier in 2019 paid an interim dividend of N0.30 per share and the new dividend declaration will bring the total dividend payout for the year to N2.80 per share provided the new dividend proposal receives shareholders’ nod.

The register of shareholders will be closed on 10^th March 2020, preparatory to dividend payment on 23^rd March 2020.

The qualification date has been fixed for 9th March 2020.

Investors looking to leverage the dividend payment should make a swift effort to take an investment position in the company before this date arrives.

With outstanding shares of well over 31.396 billion and a market capitalisation of N609.092 billion as of today, its dividend yield is currently 14.36% according to Bloomberg.

Zenith Bank currently trades on the floor of the NSE at N19.50 per share.

Earnings Per Share is the profit that each unit of a company’s ordinary shares  yields  during a particular period. It is simply calculated by dividing the Profit After Tax by the company’s total outstanding shares.  Increase in a company’s EPS often reflects an improvement in its bottom-line while a fall, on the other hand, indicates a declining profit.

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