Zenith Bank Records N27bn Profit in First Quarter

Zenith Bank Plc on Monday announced a profit after tax (PAT) of N26.573 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, showing a decline of about four per cent compared to N27.680 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015.

The bank ended the period with gross earnings of N84.177 billion, up from N81.421 billion, while net interest income stood at N58.157 billion as against N42.631 billion in 2015. It recorded impairment charges of N2.557 billion, up from N2.1 billion in 2015.

Commenting on the Zenith Bank Q1 results, analysts at FBN Capital, said PAT declined more than PBT because Zenith Bank booked a significant positive result in other comprehensive income (OCI, N1.1billion) in Q1 2015.

“This year, the OCI line came in at just N147 million. Returning to profit before provisions, while net interest income grew strongly by 36 per cent to N58.2 billion, non-interest income fell 52 per cent to N15.3 billion. Relative to our forecasts, as aforementioned, both PBT and PAT surprised positively. The main drivers were better-than-expected results on the provisions and operational expenses (opex) lines, with variances of 41 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Although net interest income actually beat our forecast by seven per cent, the weakness on the non-interest income line (32% below our forecast) proved significant,” they said.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE yesterday extended trading till 4.00 pm local time. The extension was as a result of technical issues the NSE experienced earlier during the trading session.

The Exchange noted that throughout the incident it maintained open communication with trading community. However, trading recommenced at 2.15p.m and was extended to 4.00p.m. (from the usual time of 2:30 pm) in order to give investors the opportunity to complete their desired transactions for the day.

The exchange said it regretted any inconvenience the incident might have caused.

“NSE wishes to reassure investors and stakeholders of its commitment to provide best in class trading services with optimal availability. The exchange it intends to open for trading at the normal trading hours tomorrow(today),” it said.

However, trading closed on a bearish note as the NSE All-Share Index declined by 0.3 per cent to close at 24,650.92, while market capitalisation closed lower at N8.47 trillion.