ZENITH BANK SIGNS MOU WITH THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH A SUBSIDIARY IN FRANCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sahara Weekly Reports That Zenith Bank Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French Government to establish a subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc in France. The MoU, which was signed by the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, CFR, and the French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Mr. Olivier Becht on Friday, November 24, 2023, will enable Zenith Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, to seek and secure the requisite regulatory approval from the Autorite’ de Controle Prudentiel et de Resolution (ACPR) to establish a strategic presence in France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, CFR, said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Nigeria and Zenith Bank. I am indeed very delighted about the signing of this MoU with France. For me, it is an honour to do this on behalf of the bank, and we look forward to securing the licence and starting operations in early 2024”. He thanked the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann and her colleagues at the French Embassy in Nigeria for their efforts towards improving French-Nigerian business relations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also speaking during the ceremony, the French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Mr. Olivier Becht, said: “I want to thank you very much for your decision to open a branch of Zenith Bank in Paris. We are thrilled to welcome in France Zenith Bank’s first office inside the European Union. For us, that’s a very good signal, and it is undoubtedly a demonstration of mutual confidence. No doubt also that your vision on international finance guided you to decide to open this branch and this decision in many respects can also be regarded as a milestone in French-Nigerian economic relations and an illustration of our friendship”. He noted that the government of President Macron had adopted a pro-business agenda in order to make France more attractive by undertaking several reforms in labour law, simplifying a lot of procedures and cutting business taxes, corporate taxes and production taxes by more than 25 billion Euros, adding that “we hope that the opening of the branch of Zenith Bank in France will also be an occasion to boost the French-Nigerian business in order to have more French companies investing in Nigeria and also to have more Nigerian companies investing in France”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zenith Bank has continued to distinguish itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service offerings, unique customer experience and sound financial indices. The bank remains a clear leader in the digital space, with several firsts in deploying innovative products and solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed, and safety of transactions. Zenith Bank also has subsidiaries in Ghana, Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited; Sierra Leone, Zenith Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited; The Gambia, Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited. The Bank also has a Representative Office in The People’s Republic of China.

 

FIRSTBANK REWARDS CUSTOMERS WITH 170,000,000 WORTH OF CASH PRIZES IN ITS WIN BIG PROMO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sahara Weekly Reports That FirstBank, Nigeria’s premier financial institution and leading financial inclusion services provider, has launched the Win Big promo to reward and delight its valued customers. The four-month promo, which started on 23 October 2023 and will run till 23 February 2023 will reward several new and existing customers of the Bank with a total cash reward of 170,000,000.00 naira.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the four-month promo, 1,240 new and existing customers would have been rewarded with N100,000.00 each as each month will have 310 new and existing customers winning N100,000. Up to 40,000 customers who reactivate their dormant account stand a chance to win free airtime as 10,000 customers will be rewarded with free airtime monthly for reactivating their dormant account.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 customers will emerge lucky winners of N1,000,000 each in the grand finale draw. The promo is open to new and existing savings and current account customers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To open a FirstBank account dial USSD code *894*0# and follow the prompt or visit the Bank’s website and click on “Open Account”. You can also visit any FirstBank branch near you to open account.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To qualify for the N100,000 monthly draw, customers will have to deposit and maintain a minimum amount of 5,000.00 in their account monthly and transact a minimum of 5 times transactions on any of the Bank’s digital channels: FirstMobile, LIT App, USSD, First Online as well as Debit Card transactions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customers who are eligible to win N1,000,000 must have a deposit of N50,000.00 monthly for four consecutive months or maintain a minimum deposit of N200,000.00 for four months and transact a minimum of 5 times on any of the Bank’s digital banking channels; FirstMobile, LIT App, USSD, First Online as well as Debit Card transactions to qualify for the grand finale draw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customers who reactivate their account(s) are also eligible to win. For reactivating their account, the first 10,000 customers to deposit N1,000.00 and transact on any of the Bank’s digital channels: FirstMobile, LIT App, USSD, First Online and Debit Card transactions will be rewarded with free airtime. Customers who reactivate their dormant account could also qualify for the monthly draw when they deposit and maintain a minimum amount of N5,000 monthly and transact a minimum of 5 times on any of the Bank’s digital channels. They could also emerge winners of N1,000,000 in the grade finale draw if they meet the criteria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To reactivate account, the customers will have to dial USSD code *894*7# and follow the prompt to reactivate Tier 1 accounts or visit any nearest FirstBank branch for Tier 2 and 3 account reactivation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We are thrilled to launch this promo in appreciation of the patronage, trust and loyalty our customers have shown us over the years,” said Ms. Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank Group. The exciting modalities of the promo reflect our commitment to enhancing the banking experience of our customers across any or all of our digital banking services.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the season when FirstBank provides opportunities and platforms for the yearly memorable homecoming experience from across the world. The promo is an enabling opportunity for customers, their friends, and families to have exciting, fun-filled, memorable experiences. We encourage our customers to seize this opportunity and participate actively’ she concluded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more updates on the promo and other exciting offerings from FirstBank, follow the Bank’s social media handles on – Facebook: First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Instagram: @firstbanknigeria and X (formerly twitter): @FirstBankngr.

GTCO Plc Releases Q3 2023 Unaudited Results……..Reports Profit Before Tax of ₦433.2billion

 

 

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”) has released its Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the period ended September 30, 2023, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Group reported profit before tax of ₦433.2billion, representing an increase of 155.2% over ₦169.7billion recorded in the corresponding period ended September 2022. The Group’s loan book (net) grew by 17.7% from ₦1.89trillion recorded as at December 2022 to ₦2.22trillion in September 2023, while deposit liabilities increased by 37.9% from ₦4.61trillion in December 2022 to ₦6.36trillion in September 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Group’s balance sheet remained well structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at ₦8.6trillion and ₦1.3trillion, respectively. Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 25.1%, while asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans improved to 3.8% in September 2023 from 5.2% December 2022, however, Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 4.1% from 0.6% in December 2022 owing to Management’s conservative stance on provisioning as macros worsened y-o-y, weighing negatively on the ECL variables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said; Our 3rd Quarter performance underpins our strategic positioning as a leading Financial Holding Company and reaffirms our strong capabilities to successfully navigate the challenges in our operating environment. Going into the final quarter of the year, we will continue to leverage the strengths within our growing financial services ecosystem to improve our products and service offerings, enhance customer experience, and maximise shareholder value.”

He further said; “We are proud of our work towards Promoting Enterprise across the African continent over the years and remain committed to helping indigenous small businesses thrive through our consumer-focused fairs. The 6th Edition of the GTCO Fashion Weekend is scheduled to hold in Lagos, Nigeria, on 11/12 November 2023, and will give entrepreneurs in the Nigerian fashion retail space a free-business platform to showcase their diverse talents and creativity to a global audience.”

Overall, the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services industry in terms of key financial ratios i.e., Pre-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 52.4%, Pre-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 7.7%, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 25.1% and Cost to Income ratio of 29.7%.

GTCO is a leading financial services group with banking operations in Nigeria, West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom alongside new businesses in Payment, Funds Management and Pension Fund Administration. Its leadership in the banking industry and efforts at empowering people and communities has earned it many prestigious awards over the years. Recently, Guaranty Trust Bank was recognized as Nigeria’s Best Bank and Best Bank in CSR at the 2023 Euromoney Awards for Excellence, Best Banking Group in Nigeria by World Finance, and Best Bank in Nigeria by Global Finance. GTCO’s Guaranty Trust Bank is featured in the Top 1000 Banks in the World and Top 100 Banks in Africa rankings by The Banker