Zenith Bank posted a 1.9 percent rise in pre-tax profit to N637.6 billion for the first half of 2026, a headline that barely moves until you notice the N621 billion drop in impairment charges doing the heavy lifting. Gross earnings fell 24.6 percent to N1.9 trillion. The bank still proposed a 20 percent higher interim dividend of N1.50 per share.
The impairment miracle
Impairment charges on financial instruments plunged 81.5 percent to N141.1 billion from N762.1 billion a year earlier. Loans and advances accounted for most of the decline, dropping to N129.4 billion from N791.2 billion. That collapse turned net interest income after impairment into a N1.11 trillion gain from N592.7 billion, even as net interest income before impairment slipped 7.4 percent to N1.25 trillion. Interest income fell faster than interest expenses, which declined to N421.8 billion from N484.5 billion.
Trading income evaporates
The trading line swung from a N467.8 billion gain to a N92.2 billion loss, a N560 billion reversal that explains most of the gross earnings contraction. Treasury bill income dropped to N406.2 billion from N522.8 billion. Placement income halved to N72.3 billion from N121.1 billion. Loan interest income barely budged, rising to N945.9 billion from N935.8 billion. Fee and commission income jumped 39.6 percent to N178.8 billion, and other operating income quadrupled to N71.6 billion, but neither offset the trading void.
Expenses and taxes bite
Operating expenses rose 9.7 percent to N451.3 billion despite falling revenue. Personnel costs edged up to N138.5 billion from N134.6 billion. Depreciation climbed to N35.4 billion from N27.4 billion. The real damage came below the line: tax expenses more than doubled to N206.8 billion from N93.5 billion, a 121 percent increase that drove profit after tax down 19.1 percent to N430.8 billion. Earnings per share fell to N10.48 from N12.95.
What the dividend signals
The board’s decision to raise the interim payout while after-tax profit drops nearly a fifth suggests confidence in the impairment trajectory or a willingness to signal stability to shareholders. Either way, the dividend is being funded by a tax bill that tripled as a share of pre-tax profit and a trading desk that just had its worst half in recent memory.