Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditures on Financial Performance of Zenith Bank Nigeria PLC

The study explores the influence of CRS expenditure on the financial performance of Zenith Bank PLC in Nigeria between 2015 and 2024. There has been increased pressure for corporate social responsibility activities from various stakeholders and this has made it more relevant for banks to engage in such activities. Nevertheless, the Nigerian banks’ context remains unfamiliar with the link between CSR and financial performance, hence limiting the strategic relevance of these expenses. This qualitative study uses secondary data from financial statement of Zenith Bank for the years 2015 to 2024 sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Linear regression analysis, with the aids of SPSS 28, were conducted with the aim of establishing the association of the CSR during all the three financial performance aspects, namely, the annual gross income, the annual taxable income, as well as the annual market value per share. The findings indicate the existence of positive and significant relationships that are noteworthy for all the variables on performance respectively. The linear regression analysis indicates that infrastructure directs 65.2% of the variation in the market value of the shares of 8.3% (R² = 0.652; p = 0.005), 47.0% of the variance in the annual before tax profits of Zenith bank Plc (R² = 0.470; p = 0.029), and 41.7% of the variance in annual revenues (R² = 0.417; p = 0.044). All the aforementioned relationships were statistically significant with 95% confidence limit, with the maximum effect observed for market value per share, follow by profit before tax, and least for gross revenue. The study therefore recommends, among others, that Zenith bank should invest in CRS activities that increase the awareness of the brand or company and confidence credentials of the key stakeholders.