TUE APRIL 07 2026-theGBJournal| Zenith Bank Plc has reported a modest increase in its audited full-year 2025 results, with profit after tax rising by 0.7% year-on-year to N1.04 trillion, compared to N1.03 trillion in 2024.
The marginal growth reflects a resilient earnings performance in a challenging environment, underpinned by strong core banking operations even as non-core income streams weakened.
The bank’s performance was largely driven by a robust 52.7% year-on-year surge in net interest income, which helped sustain profitability despite a significant decline in gains from investment securities.
Interest income grew by 35.0% to N3.67 trillion, supported by improved earnings across major asset classes, including investment securities, customer loans, and placements with banks, highlighting the bank’s ability to capitalize on elevated yield conditions.
In contrast, Non-interest income declined sharply by 63.1% y/y to N405.53 billion, driven entirely by trading losses of N63.11 billion (vs gain of N1.10 trillion in 2024FY).
This single line item remained the primary drag on non-funded income, weighing on an otherwise solid underlying performance, with net fees and commissions growing by 41.1% y/y to N291.80 billion and the bank recording FX revaluation gains of N105.98 billion (2024FY: N178.02 billion loss).
As a result, operating income increased by 6.1% y/y to N2.30 trillion.
Operating expenses grew by 23.3% y/y to N1.04 trillion, driven by elevated personnel costs (+44.1% y/y), AMCON levy (+54.7% y/y), and IT expenses (+36.6% y/y). The cost-to-income ratio consequently deteriorated to 34.1% from 29.8% in 2024FY.
Overall, pre-tax profit declined by 4.8% y/y to N1.26 trillion, while a lower tax expense (-24.2% y/y) provided some support to bottom line performance, resulting in a marginal 0.7% y/y growth in profit after tax.
Meanwhile, in line with its earnings delivery, the board proposed a final dividend of N8.75 per share, more than doubling the N4.00 paid in the previous year.
This translates to a dividend yield of 8.5% based on the last closing price of N103.00 per share, reinforcing Zenith Bank’s commitment to shareholder returns even as it navigates a shifting income mix and moderating asset growth.
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