The shareholders of Zenith Bank would get about N109.88bn as dividends for the 2023 financial year.
This was disclosed in the annual report, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Monday.
Announcing the dividends, the bank, which is in the process of transitioning into a holding company, said, “The Board of Directors, 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 N3.50 per share which in addition to the N0.50 per share as interim dividend amounts to N4.00 per share (2022: Interim dividend of N0.30 per share, final dividend of N2.90 and a total dividend per share of N3.20) from the retained earnings accounts as at 31 December 2023.
“This will be presented for ratification by the shareholders at the next Annual General Meeting. Payment of dividends is subject to withholding tax rate of 10 per cent in the hands of qualified recipients.”
During the period under review, the gross earnings of the bank rose by 125.50 per cent to N2.13tn from N945bn.
Similarly, its profit after tax was up to N676.91bn from N223.91bn in 2022 on the back of significant increases in interest and similar income, which rose to N1.14tn from N540bn.
However, net income on fees and commission dropped to N109.31bn from N132,79bn in 2022, indicating a 17.68 per cent decline.
The decline was on the bank of an increase in the fees and commission expense, which grew to N68.21bn from N24.42bn in the previous year.
Zenith Bank said that it paid N1.65bn as an insurance premium to Zenith General Insurance Limited (31 December 2022: N795m) and N886m to Prudential Zenith (31 December 2022: nil), which were recorded as operating expenses.
The bank paid N3.99bn (2022:N3.33bn) to Cyberspace Network for various Information technology services rendered during the year.
The group is presently involved in several litigation suits with the total amount claimed in the cases against the group estimated at N1tn (31 December 2022: N967 billion).
