Zenith Bank posts 149.05% leap in Q3 2023 profit

Zenith Bank Plc on Monday published its third quarter report for the period ended 30 September 2023, with growth across income lines.

The tier 1 lender reported Gross Earnings of N1.329 trillion for the 9 months period, up by 114.17% from N620.574 billion reported the previous year.

Profit after tax grew year on year by 149.05% to N434.172 billion from N174.331 billion reported the previous year, while Earnings per share of the Group stands at N13.83.

At the share price of N33.5, the P/E ratio of Zenith Bank stands at 2.42x with earnings yield of 41.28%

Further analysis of the financial scorecard shows that the substantial growth in pre-tax profit can be attributed to the significant growth in gross earnings, driven by growth in interest income.

Unlike in Q2, where foreign exchange gains made a substantial contribution to the bank’s gross earnings, the third quarter saw a more modest figure of N22.534 billion in foreign exchange gains. This has had the effect of moderating the total foreign exchange gains for the nine-month period to N378.122 billion.

The bank’s interest expense continued to be elevated due to interest paid on deposits, especially savings deposits probably due to the surge in interest rates