Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria’s second-largest lender by market capitalisation, posted its first half-year profit decline in a decade in H1 2025, as rising interest costs and impairment charges eroded earnings, an analysis by Finance in Africa shows.
The bank became the second tier-one lender on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) after FirstHold Co. Plc to publish its second-quarter and half-year 2025 results.
According to the group’s earnings report on Thursday, profit after tax fell by 7.9% to ₦532.2 billion ($372.4 million) in the six months to June, from ₦577.9 billion ($384.4 million) in the same period of last year. The last time Zenith posted a profit drop was in 2016, when earnings slumped by 49.9% to ₦35.5 billion ($140 million).
Further analysis of the report revealed that interest income rose to ₦1.84 trillion ($1.19 billion) from ₦1.14 trillion ($758.4 million) in the same period of 2024. Interest expenses grew by 11.5% to ₦484.5 billion ($312.1 million), while impairment charges on financial and non-financial instruments nearly doubled to ₦760.8 billion ($490.2 million), affecting overall profitability.
“The board has proposed an interim dividend of ₦1.25 ($0.0008) per share, up from ₦1.00 ($0.0007) in 2024, from retained earnings as at June 30, 2025, in line with section 426 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020),” the report said.
The payout remains subject to shareholder approval at the next annual general meeting.
Zenith last year became the first Nigerian bank to post a trillion-naira profit since its establishment 34 years ago, reporting ₦1.03 trillion ($673.6 million) compared with GTCO’s ₦1.02 trillion ($667.1 million).
The lender also crossed the ₦3 trillion market-capitalisation mark in July 16, 2025, the second Nigerian bank after Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc to achieve the milestone. It has since slipped below the threshold: as of Thursday, its share price had fallen 1.42% to ₦66.00 ($0.04), giving it a market value of ₦2.71 trillion ($1.84 billion).
Even so, Zenith shares have gained 47.1% year-to-date from ₦45.5 ($0.03) at the start of the year, ranking 85th on the NGX in terms of performance. It is currently the ninth most valuable stock on the exchange, accounting for about 3.1% of total market capitalisation, according to African Exchange data.
Headquartered in Lagos, Zenith operates more than 500 branches and business offices nationwide. Internationally, it runs subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia, and a representative office in China.
Its UK arm, Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, was licensed by the UK Financial Services Authority in 2007 and listed $850 million worth of shares at $6.80 each on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. In July, reports surfaced that Zenith was in advanced talks to acquire a tier-two Kenyan bank as it expands across African, European and Asian markets.
Note: All figures were converted at the official average exchange rate of ₦1,551.9/$1 for the first half of 2025. The official average rate for the same period in 2024 was ₦1,503/$1, and ₦1,494.7/$1 as of Wednesday, 17 September 2025.
