Zenith Bank to hand shareholders N359bn in final dividend after N1trn profit

Zenith Bank Plc will distribute about N359 billion to shareholders as final dividend for 2025 after posting N1.04 trillion in net profit, cementing its position among Nigeria’s most profitable lenders.

Nigeria’s second most valuable bank proposed a final dividend of N8.75 per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to N10 per share, including the N1.25 interim payout declared earlier.

With 41.07 billion shares outstanding, the final dividend amounts to roughly N359.4 billion, while the total payout for the year will reach about N410.7 billion, subject to shareholder approval.

The bumper payout comes as Zenith Bank’s net profit rose marginally to N1.04 trillion from N1.03 trillion in 2024, supported by stronger gross earnings of N4.19 trillion, up from N3.97 trillion a year earlier.

However, profit before tax declined to N1.26 trillion, up from N1.33 trillion in 2024, reflecting higher funding costs and balance sheet adjustments during the year.

Basic earnings per share fell to N25.32 from N32.87, largely due to an expanded share base.

The lender’s balance sheet, however, expanded, with total assets rising to about N29.96 trillion, up from N20.37 trillion in 2024, driven by growth in loans and advances as well as investment securities.

Customer deposits climbed to N22.68 trillion, compared with N15.69 trillion a year earlier, highlighting sustained deposit mobilisation despite tight liquidity conditions.

Total equity increased to N3.67 trillion from N3.20 trillion, strengthening capital buffers as the company successfully met stricter regulatory capital requirements well before the deadline.

Jim Ovia, Zenith Bank’s chairman and largest shareholder, is the biggest beneficiary of the payout. Ovia holds about 14.13 percent of the bank directly and indirectly and is poised to receive approximately N50.8 billion from the N8.75 final dividend and N58.0 billion from the total N10 dividend for the year.

The payout underscores Zenith’s strong capital position even as regulators pushed Nigerian banks to raise fresh capital to support balance sheet expansion.

While earnings growth moderated, the bank’s ability to generate over N1 trillion in bottom-line profit and expand its asset base by nearly 47 percent signals resilience amid high interest rates, currency volatility, and tighter monetary policy.

The final dividend will be paid upon approval at the annual general meeting.

Zenith Bank has returned 67 percent gains to investors year-to-date, making it one of the best-performing bank stocks so far in 2026 and 28th on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in terms of year-to-date performance.

The lender closed its last trading day on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at N103.00 per share on the NGX for a stock that began the year with a share price of N61.80.

Wasiu Alli

Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.