Zenith Bank Plc has once again raised the bar of competition with the opening for business of its wholly owned United Kingdom (UK) subsidiary, Zenith Bank UK.

Zenith Bank UK opened for business following a rigorous approval process by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK considered as the strictest financial regulatory authority in the world.

The FSA gave Zenith Bank the nod to open for business having been impressed by the professionalism and strength of the bank’s application for a banking license and the remittance of the requisite paid up capital for new banks. The approval of a banking license for Zenith by the authorities in the UK represents a strong endorsement of the brand as it is the first wholly owned Nigerian bank without any affiliation to any UK financial institution to be issued such a license. It is believed that operating from London, an international financial hub, Zenith Bank UK would serve as the bank’s launching pad into other parts of Europe and the rest of the world.

Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s biggest financial institutions with interests in pension and insurance already has a strong presence in Ghana, through its subsidiary, Zenith Bank, Ghana. Its foray into the European financial market is interpreted as a strategic move to deepen the bank’s base and grow the brand. The bank already has a strategic alliance with respected United States group, J.P Morgan. Zenith Bank is the second most capitalised company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of N370 billion.

Recently Zenith Bank was adjudged the most customer-focused bank in Nigeria from a survey by foremost consulting firm KPMG which targeted corporate customers of banks including companies in a variety of sectors found that they were most satisfied with the services rendered by Zenith Bank. Among other awards, Zenith is 2005 winner of the Most Respected Bank in Nigeria from a survey conducted by PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Only recently the bank was also adjudged the Most Corporate Socially Responsible Company in Nigeria by ThisDay newspaper.

Zenith bank maintains sound corporate governance in line with global best practices. This reflects in the bank’s consistent impressive risk assets quality with non-performing loans to gross loans and advances ratio of 1.1% against industry average of 18%. This achievement has earned the bank excellent ratings since 1999 from both Nigerian and international rating agencies.

Agusto & Co, Nigeria’s foremost rating agency, has assigned Aaa rating to the bank for eight consecutive years, commenting that “Zenith Bank is a financial institution of impeccable financial condition and overwhelming capacity to meet obligations as and when they fall due’. Pharez also rated Zenith Bank Aaa for six years saying, “Zenith is a bank of excellent financial condition with an outstanding capacity to meet maturing obligation.”

The operating results of the bank in the last five years indicate an impressive performance on all parameters. Total assets plus contingents grew by 534.8% from N112.54 billion as at the end of June 2002 to N714.51 billion. Within the same period, gross earnings increased from N12.11 billion to N58.22 billion, representing a 380.7% growth while profit before tax also grew by 279.6% from N3.99 billion to N15.15 billion.  Profit after tax for the same period rose by 228% from N3.50 billion to N11.48 billion. Also noticeable were the significant jumps in shareholders funds from N9.30 billion to N93.80 billion, indicating an increase of 908.6% and total deposit from N50.68 billion to N392.86 billion, representing 675.1%.

This article is available on http://www.zenithbank.com/ (What's New? section)