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| Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Jim Ovia & Adaora Umeoji. |
Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc, at the 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, unanimously approved the proposed final dividend, expressing delight at the final dividend payment of NGN2.80 per share which brings the total dividend for the 2021 financial year to NGN3.10 per share with a total value of NGN97.33 billion.
In
his statement, the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr Jim Ovia, CON,
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, Mr
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 have significant
revenue.” He added that: “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), Sir 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 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." Dr Faruk Umar also commended the Group Managing Director for
the numerous awards the bank received in 2021, especially the sustainability
awards.
In
spite of a challenging macroeconomic environment aggravated by the COVID-19
pandemic, the Zenith Bank
Group achieved year-on-year (YoY) growth in gross earnings of 10% from NGN696.5
billion reported in the previous year to N765.6billion. This was on the back of
a 23% YoY growth in non-interest income from N251.7billion to N309billion and a
2% YoY growth in interest income from N420.8billion to NGN427.6billion.
Profit before tax also grew by 10%, from NGN255.9 billion to NGN280.4
billion in the current year. The increase was due to growth in the top-line and
very strong management of the treasury portfolio that increased efficiency,
resulting in a drop in interest expense by 12% from NGN121.1 billion in 2020 to
NGN106.8 billion in the current year. This further led to a 7% increase in net
interest income of NGN320.8 billion in 2021 from NGN299.7 billion in 2020.
Customer deposits increased by 21%, growing from NGN5.34 trillion in the
previous year to NGN6.47 trillion in the current year. The growth in customer
deposits came from both corporate and retail customers. Retail deposits grew by
NGN146 billion from NGN1.72 trillion in 2020 to NGN1.87 trillion in 2021. The
Group's continuous drive for retail deposits combined with the strategic
rebalancing of its funding base helped to reduce the cost of funding from 2.1%
to 1.5% in the current year. Although operating expenses grew by 13% YoY,
growth remains below the inflation rate, and the Group improved its Earnings
per Share (EPS) which grew by 6% from NGN7.34 to NGN7.78.
Total assets increased by 11%, growing from NGN8.48 trillion in 2020 to
NGN9.45 trillion in 2021, mainly driven by growth in customer deposits. With
the steady recovery in economic activities, the Group prudently grew its gross
loans by 20%, from NGN2.9 trillion in 2020 to NGN3.5 trillion in 2021, with
moderated NPL ratio from 4.29% to 4.19% YoY. The Group recorded impressive
liquidity and capital adequacy ratios of 71.6% and 21.0%, which remained above
regulatory thresholds of 30% and 15%, respectively.
In recognition of its track
record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank was voted as Best Commercial Bank
in Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards 2021, Best Bank in Nigeria in
the Global Finance World's Best Banks Awards 2020 and 2021, Bank of the Year
(Nigeria) in The Banker's Bank of the Year Awards 2020, and Best in Corporate
Governance 'Financial Services' Africa 2020 and 2021 by the Ethical Boardroom.
Also, the bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the
Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021, Number One Bank in
Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the "2021 Top 1000 World Banks" Ranking
by The Banker Magazine and the Retail Bank of the year at the BusinessDay Banks
and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards 2020 and 2021.
Similarly, Zenith Bank was
honoured as Bank of the Decade (People's Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020 and
emerged winner in four categories at the Sustainability, Enterprise, and
Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2021, carting home the awards for "Best
Company in Reporting and Transparency", "Best Company in
Infrastructure Development", "Best Company in Gender Equality and
Women Empowerment", and the coveted "Most Responsible Organisation in
Africa.
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