Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc on Monday approved the payment of dividend which increased by 3.7 percent to N2.80k in the financial year ended December 31, 2018 from N2.70k in the corresponding year of 2017.
A breakdown of the dividend pay-out shows that the bank paid an interim dividend of 30kobo per share in the course of the 2018 financial, and dividend warrants of N2.50k for every share of 50kobo year.
“Zenith Bank remains committed to delivering superior returns to our much-valued shareholders by ensuring that a good chunk of our profit is set aside for you”, said Jim Ovia, chairman of the bank said at the annual general meeting held in Lagos.
Rising in excitement, Timothy Adesiyan, president of Nigerian Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA), said, “thank you for the dividend of N2.5k. we appreciate the bank for good corporate governance which is helping in inflow of capital to the bank”.
Also speaking at the AGM, Funke Augustine, one of the shareholders said, “you have been giving us dividend but this one is fantastic. We need to do more than this”.
Ovia said 2018 was a very challenging year for operators in the Nigerian banking industry due to a number of global and domestic factors.
“True to our track record, however, we were able to fully exploit the opportunities within the environment to record a performance that attests to our durability and resilience as a brand”, he said.
The bank grew its total deposits by 2.9 percent to N2.82 trillion for the year ended December 31 2018 compared to N2.74 trillion recorded over the previous year.
Profit Before Tax (PBT) of the bank rose by 13.6 percent from N169 billion in 2017 to N192 billion in 2018, while Profit After Tax (PAT) also rose by 7.8 percent from N153 billion in 2017 to N165 billion in 2018.
During the same period, total assets of the bank grew by 2.7 percent from N4.83 trillion to N4.96 trillion, while shareholders’ funds declined by 3.3 percent from N698 billion to N675 billion. The gross earning of the bank declined by 20.2 percent from N674 billion in 2017 to N538 billion in the financial year ended December 2018.
Peter Amangbo, group managing director / CEO of the bank said the bank shall continue to intensify efforts towards making further in-roads into the retail segment of the market with new and innovative products that supports small and medium sized enterprises.
“As a customer-centric organization, our people are the most valuable assets that is vital to our long term sustainable success, competitive advantage, and brand differentiation strategy. The skills, experience and commitment of our employees are critical for stakeholder’s engagement and delivery of exceptional services to our customers. Consequently our focus in the years ahead is to continually create an environment for our people to thrive, while creating value for all stakeholders”, Amangbo added.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
