Zenith Bank Plc reported its 2023 Half-year results showing pre-tax profits grew by 169.50% year on year, reaching N350.36 billion.
Key highlights H1 2023 vs. H1 2022:
Gross earnings; N967.261 billion +138.97% YoY
Interest Income N415.425 billion +71.86% YoY
Interest Expense; N153.564 billion +169.49% YoY
Net interest income; N261.861 billion +41.74% YoY
Net impairment charges on the fin. & Non-fin assets N207.925 billion +727.66% YoY
Net interest income after impairment loss on Fin & Non-fin assets N53.936 billion
-66.21% YoY
Net income on fees and commission N43.923 billion, -31.85% YoY.
Trading Gains N103.025 billion, +20.93 YoY
Other operating income N368.745 billion
Profit for the period N291.731 billion +161.85% YoY.
Loans and advances N5.052 trillion +25.86%.
Cash and Balances with CBN N2.730 trillion +24.01%
Total Assets N16.032 trillion +30.49%.
Customers’ deposits N11.626 trillion +29.53%.
Insights
The substantial growth in pre-tax profit can be attributed to the significant growth in other operating income, primarily driven by N356 billion foreign currency revaluation gains in H1 2023, compared to a loss of -N6.245 billion in H1 2022
Also, the bank’s interest income surged by 72% YoY due to increased earnings from customer loans and advances, significantly boosting its overall interest income.
However, the bank experienced substantial growth in net impairment charges on financial and non-financial assets, primarily driven by higher impairment charges on loans and advances.
The Banks are distributing exchange gains as dividends and the Apex Bank can do nothing about it. Reporting standards permit it, the writers of the standard could not have imagined the uniqueness of the Nigerian economy. Who cares though, the selected few will always have their gains from the poor and ineffective policies rolled out by the FG.