ZENITH BANK POSTS N40 BILLION PROFIT IN NINE MONTHS

Zenith Bank Plc yesterday announced a profit before tax of N40.63 billion for the nine months ending March, 2008, indicating an impressive 111% jump over the N19.25 billion recorded for the same period in 2007.

The bank’s unaudited results for the period, released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also showed a remarkable 70% increase in gross earnings from N70.76 billion for last year to N120.30 billion.

The result, which indicated remarkable improvement on all parameters, equally showed profit after tax rising to N33.32 billion from N14.08 billion, representing a 137% jump, confirming Zenith Bank’s position as a market leader in terms of returns on investment.

The bank, which has long held an attraction with discerning investors, has delivered to its shareholders capital appreciation in excess of 600 per cent since its shares were listed on the stock exchange in 2004.

The Zenith stock has enjoyed a positive progression from N10.90 to peak at N66.14 per share before the price was adjusted for the bonus issue approved for shareholders last year, representing a total gain of over N55.24 per share in just three years.

Apart from the capital appreciation, investors have also received generous dividend payments totaling about N20 billion in just three years. Zenith Bank has a reputation for usually surpassing the dividend projections made every year since it went public.

Analysts have described the banks performance in this area as one of the reasons why the bank’s stock is usually in high demand. Zenith Bank surpassed its dividend projections of N5.1 billion for 2006 by actually paying out N6.6 billion (or N1.10 per share), representing a 29.6 per cent increase, while it paid N9.2 billion (or 100 kobo) in 2007 instead of the N7.6 billion projected.

With this improved performance from the bank analysts are of the opinion that subscription to the bank’s mutual funds launched a few days ago will enjoy high patronage.

Only last Monday, Zenith Bank introduced three mutual funds into the capital market aimed at investors with varying risk preferences and investment considerations. The bank is expecting to raise a minimum of N8 billion from the three funds: the Zenith Equity Fund, the Zenith Income Fund and the Zenith Ethical Fund.

(Posted 7th May, 2008)