Shareholders approve Zenith’s N97.3 billion dividend payment

Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc, at its 31st yearly general meeting held yesterday, in Lagos, unanimously approved the proposed final dividend of N2.8 per share, which brings the total dividend for the 2021 financial year to N3.1 per share and a total value of NGN97.33 billion.

In his statement, the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, thanked the shareholders for their unflinching loyalty, which 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 to them.

Speaking on the bank’s performance, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said: “If you look at the bank’s history over the years, Zenith Bank has always grown and 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 has 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.”

Commenting on the dividend payout, the Chairman Emeritus of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sunny Nwosu, expressed the delight of shareholders over the consistent payment of dividends by Zenith Bank, noting that the bank’s shares remain the toast of investors because the bank has never failed to pay dividends to shareholders.

Also speaking on behalf of shareholders, the President of the Association of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders (AARNS), Dr. Faruk Umar, said: “The bank is 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 despite 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.”