Profit before tax was up by 66.7 per cent, while post-tax profit grew to N1 trillion from N676.9 billion.
Zenith Bank posted a net profit growth of 52.6 per cent last year, taking its bottom line to a record N1 trillion, according to the newly issued audited earnings report of the big lender.
The corporate result of the financial institution came out strong amid sharp hikes in Nigeria's monetary policy rate last year, which beefed up the benchmark borrowing rate by as much as 8.75 per cent, in turn allowing banks to charge much more for loans.
Interest income for Zenith Bank accelerated more than twofold to N2.7 trillion, alone accounting for 68.5 per cent of its revenue for the year. Gross earnings climbed to N4 trillion from N2.1 trillion.
Net interest income, a gauge of the difference between the interest earned by a bank and what it pays to savers, advanced by 134.8 per cent.
The lender provisioned N658.8 billion to cover loans whose chances of repayment have been hampered by repeated defaults. It underscores the impact of debt service burden on borrowers, whose income was considerably strained by elevated inflation in the country during the year.
Strengthening profit, trading gains jumped 94 per cent to N1.1 trillion, while fees & other commission rose to N206.9 billion from N109.3 billion a year ago.
Zenith Bank announced months ago that it raised N162.1 billion through public offering and N188.4 billion by way of rights issue as it looks to shore up its shareholder fund.
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That has put it on track to scale its core capital to at least N500 billion before March 2026 as required by the Central Bank of Nigeria of lenders holding international licenses.
Apart from its base in Nigeria, Zenith Bank operates in Ghana, Sierra Leone, the UK as well as the Gambia.
The group highlighted the impact of hyperinflation on its Ghanaian operations in the financial report, noting that it led to a decrease of N30 billion in its pre-tax profit for the year.
Its bid to restructure into a holding company like a good number of its peers is in the works.
The model will allow it to branch out from its core banking business into other sectors within financial services, hoping the move will help unlock more value and widen its revenue sources.
Operating expenses for the period under review surged to N586.6 billion from N291.7 billion, driven by the spending on fuel and maintenance, which more than doubled.
Profit before tax was up by 66.7 per cent, while post-tax profit grew to N1 trillion from N676.9 billion.
Total assets climbed to N30 trillion from N20.4 trillion.
The bank has announced a final dividend of N4 per share, taking its total for the year to N5 (compared to N4 for 2023) and its potential payout to N205.3 billion.
