Zenith Bank Plc has won another international honour as Banker of Year 2005 conferred on it by The Banker Magazine, a subsidiary of the influential Financial Times of London at a ceremony in London last Tuesday.

The award, which is an annual event, ranks the Top 1,000 banks in the world, honouring the best in each country. Zenith Bank won the award in the Nigerian category. Zenith Bank is the only bank in its generation to have won this prestigious honour.

The organizers said that the latest ranking shows that a number of banks, including Zenith Bank Plc, did amazingly well in the past several years. “They flew up the charts by hundreds of places and chalked up best profits on assets and capital”.

About 130 banks from same number of countries were given awards at the ceremony, which makes it a truly global event.

First published in January 1926, The Banker is one of the world’s leading financial journals providing a truly global perspective through its coverage of over 120 countries during the year.
The award is an endorsement of the Zenith brand which has over the years carved a niche for itself in the deployment of Information and Communication Technology to drive its service delivery.
Zenith Bank only recently won the Web Jurist Award as the Best Bank Website in Nigeria, organized by Philips Consulting.
The award is an international recognition and acclamation that Zenith Bank shareholders should be proud of this global recognition of its brand name.
The operating results of Zenith Bank Plc for the year ended 30 June 2005 indicates that the bank’s total assets plus contingent liabilities is now N370 billion up from N215 billion recorded last year, a phenomenal growth of 72% in its assets. The bank amassed gross earnings of N34.9 billion with a profit before tax of N9.16 billion representing a 46% growth in earnings and 43% growth in profit before tax respectively over the same period last year.

Zenith Bank’s shareholders’ fund presently stands at N38b which is in excess of the N25 billion minimum capital base stipulated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new capitalisation policy.

Zenith also clinched the top position in the rating analysis undertaken by Fitch – a foreign credit rating agency based in South Africa.

Zenith Bank’s return on assets and equity remain strong and compares favourably with banks in emerging markets. The quantum growth in the bank’s key financial indicators is a clear evidence of increasing public confidence in the bank. Currently, the bank has over 100 branches nation-wide linked on-line, realtime.

Culled from- London Financial Times/Bankers Magazine