The Board of Directors of Zenith Bank Plc has pursuant to the powers vested in it by the provisions of section 426 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) of Nigeria proposed a final dividend of N2.90 per share for the financial year 2022.
In addition to the N0.30 per share earlier declared as an interim dividend, the total dividend for the year now amounts to N3.20 per share.
This was contained in the bank’s corporate action announcement to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and obtained by Nairametrics.
Subject to shareholders’ approval: According to the company, the dividend is subject to shareholders’ approval and appropriate withholding tax will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close of business on 14th April 2023.
According to the statement signed by the company, on May 2, 2023, dividends will be paid electronically to shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as of April 14, 2023, and who have completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the Registrars to pay their dividends directly into their Bank accounts. GDR holders will be paid subsequently.
Advice to shareholders: Shareholders who are yet to complete the e-dividend registration are advised to download the Registrar’s E-Dividend Mandate Activation Form, which is also available on the website of the Registrars.
Shareholders with dividend warrants and share certificates that have remained unclaimed, or are yet to be presented for payment or returned for validation are also advised to complete the e-dividend registration or contact the Registrar.
What you should know: Zenith Bank Plc’s audited report for the full year ended December 2022 showed pretax profit grew marginally by 1.53% in the full year to N284.65 billion from N280.37 billion last year.
This is on the back of increasing inflation which the economy continues to battle. The headline inflation rate rose to 21.91% in February 2023 compared to 21.82% recorded in the preceding month of January.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said looking at the trend, the February 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.09% points when compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate.
However, due to a 65.57 % growth in income tax expenses to N60.74 billion from N35.82 billion in 2021, profit after tax dropped by 8.44% to N223.91 billion from N244.56 billion reported last year.
The bank reported a 23.51% growth in gross earnings to N945.55 billion from N765.56 billion in 2021.
During the period, the bank increased interest and similar income by 26.32% to stand at N540.16 billion against N427.59 billion in the same period of 2021 as investment securities in treasury bills, bonds, and others rose.
