Business
By Anthony Isibor
THE shareholders of Zenith Bank have every reason to smile as the bank has approved N97.33 billion as dividends at its 31st Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 in Lagos.
Commenting on the dividend payout, which is N3.10 per share, Sunny Nwosu, Chairman Emeritus of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, ISAN, said that the shareholders were delighted with the consistent payment of dividends by the bank, noting that the bank’s shares remain the toast of investors because the bank has never failed to pay dividends to shareholders.
Faruk Umar, President of the Association of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, AARNS, stated that the bank was doing very well. “All the ratios and indices have gone up. And more importantly, while we were in the meeting, I got my alert of the credit of my dividend. This is very commendable.
“The leadership of the bank has been very effective; we thank Jim Ovia for the leadership he has been giving, he has increased the dividend in spite of the economic hardship in the country, and I believe the GMD is doing very well. I commend the management and staff of the bank, including the board, and I am very confident that this year would also be very good for the bank.
In his speech, Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, thanked the shareholders for their unflinching loyalty, which he noted, has enabled the bank to rise to the pinnacle of the nation’s financial services industry, and assured them of the bank’s commitment to consistently deliver superior value.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, of the bank, added that Zenith Bank over the years has grown, and continued to grow even within the pandemic.
“We have maintained a reasonable positive growth trajectory. Growth is coming from the fact that we are deploying our digital capability to grow more businesses, simplify our service processes, make our processes more efficient, and deal with customers’ complaints.
“Apart from developing new products, we are discovering new business verticals, especially within the retail segment, which have significant revenue.
“Meeting the expectation of shareholders means we have to work harder. The team is dodged, hardworking, resilient, and above all, we have a very supportive board that comes with superior guidance,” he said.
Despite the challenges posed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Zenith Bank has continued to triumph, achieving year-on-year growth in gross earnings of 10% from NGN696.5 billion reported in the previous year to N765.6 billion.
This was also on the back of a 23% YoY growth in non-interest income from N251.7 billion to N309 billion and a 2% YoY growth in interest income from N420.8 billion to NGN427.6 billion.
AI.
Apr. 08 2022 @ 10:19 GMT
Tags: Ebenezer Onyeagwu Faruk Umar Jim Ovia Sunny Nwosu Zenith Bank Plc
