Zenith

Zenith Bank's 2025 financial year was, by its own account, a deliberate cleanup: gross earnings rose 6% to ₦4.19 trillion, but profit before tax fell 5% as the bank cleared out facilities that had been sitting under regulatory forbearance, improving its non-performing loan ratio from 4.7% to 3.8%. Profit after tax still edged up to ₦1.04 trillion, a second consecutive year above the ₦1 trillion mark that no other Nigerian bank has managed, and the board doubled its dividend to ₦10 per share.

The bigger story sits in market value. Zenith comfortably cleared the Central Bank's recapitalisation threshold in October 2025, closing an oversubscribed public offer that raised ₦350.46 billion and pushed its capital base to ₦614.65 billion, well above the ₦500 billion minimum, and its share price climbed from ₦61.80 in late 2025 to an all-time high above ₦136 by mid-2026, making it the first Nigerian bank to cross ₦5 trillion in market capitalisation (since pushed past ₦5.4 trillion), a title it has held for 17 consecutive years as Nigeria's biggest bank by Tier-1 capital. Q1 2026 profit before tax rose 2.87% to ₦360.9 billion, with net interest margin expanding to 12.45% from 10.30% a year earlier.

Expansion outside Nigeria has picked up under Umeoji, who became the bank's first female Group Managing Director in June 2024 after 28 years inside the bank: Zenith completed its acquisition of Paramount Bank Kenya in April 2026, launched a newly licensed subsidiary in Côte d'Ivoire, and opened a branch in Manchester alongside its existing Paris operation, deepening its presence across African growth markets and major European financial centres. Her tenure has also emphasised staff welfare, with roughly 4,000 employees promoted in her first year alone and around 80% of the workforce promoted at least once under her leadership, alongside continued institutional recognition including Global Finance's Best FX Provider and International Banker's Sustainable Bank of the Year.