Shareholders endorse Zenith Bank’s N54.9bn dividend

L-R: Executive Director,  Olusola Ladipo; GMD/CEO, Mr. Peter Amangbo;Chairman, Board of Directors, Mr. Jim Ovia; Executive Director,  Adaora Umeoji and Executive Director, Mr. Ebenzer Onyeagwu all of Zenith Bank Plc at the 24 th Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently. 

Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc have approved the N54.9 billion dividend translating to N1.75 per share proposed by its board for the audited financials year ended December 31, 2014.

The shareholders at the 24th annual general meeting recently commended the Board of Directors for the dividend saying that it was highly impressive.

The president under the aegis of Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA), Mr. Timothy Adesiyan, noted that in spite of the macro economy challenging that banks faced in 2014, the board and management of the bank worked assiduously to produce an impressive result thereby paying shareholders a whooping sum of N54.9 billion as dividend.

According to him, "We appreciate the Board and the Management for the dividend and the strategies put in place especially in area of training the staff which reflected in the result presented to us."

Also commenting, Chairman, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, commended the bank on its performance and the dividend to shareholders. He encouraged the Management of the company to maintain its adherence to good corporate governance which he said impacted the bank's profitability.

In his address, the Chairman, Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, stated that without any doubt, 2014 was another challenging year for operators in the banking industry but the bank was able to exploit the opportunities within the environment.

"This translated into another excellent performance that further attests to the durability and resilience of the brand. These results are once again an eloquent testimony to the sound financial health of our bank and the Group. For the bank, total deposits was N2.26trillion for the year ended December 31,2014, representing a 9 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of N2.1 trillion. Profit after tax also increased by 11 per cent from N83.41 billion in 2013 to N92.48 billion in 2014." Ovia assured shareholders that in the face of emerging challenges the bank would continue to improve on its performance adding that Zenith bank will continue to place a very high regard on staff quality, welfare and training as the staff remain the most valuable resource for the bank's successful operation.

At the AGM, Zenith Bank Chief Executive/Managing Director,Mr. Peter Amangbo noted that the Bank was able to endure all challenges and difficulties to become the biggest bank in Nigeria by tier-1 capital, showing strength in asset size, liquidity, profitability, asset quality and capitalization.

He said: "The very strong earnings, solid capital adequacy, high liquidity and good quality risk assets, have positioned Zenith Bank at the pinnacle of Nigeria's banking industry and in a commanding influence in the markets that we operate in."

Amangbo added that the bank will continue to develop and positively contribute to strengthen partnership, solidarity and cooperation between and amongst all stakeholders relevant to our business and sustainable existence.