Zenith International Bank Plc has declared a profit after tax of N105.66 billion for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2015. And the bank has promised to pay a final dividend of N1.55, making a total of N1.80kobo, the highest to be declared by the banking industry this year.

This is against the N99.46 billion recorded in 2014.

The report is contained in the company’s audited result released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday in Lagos.

The profit represents an increase of 6.23 per cent or N6.21 billion when compared with the figure for 2014.

Its profit before tax stood at N125.62 billion compared with N119.79 billion declared in the corresponding period of 2014.

The bank’s gross earnings rose to N432.56 billion from N403.343 reported in the preceding year, an increase of 7.24 per cent.

Net Interest Income appreciated to N224.58 billion from N206.503 billion in the preceding year.

Further breakdown of the bank’s result indicated that total assets surged to N4.01 trillion from N3.755 trillion, while total liabilities stood at N3.41 trillion from N3.202 trillion in 2014.

The board of directors proposed a final dividend of N1.55 per share to all its investors.

The bank had already paid an interim dividend of 25k in 2015.