Zenith, UBA Directors Meet to Approve Accounts, Recommend Dividend

Board of Directors of Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) will meet soon to consider their 2018 financial statements and recommend dividends to shareholders. While the directors of Zenih Bank will meet on January 18, those of UBA will meet on January 28. In separate notifications to the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), both banks said their directors would meet to consider the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31 ,2018 and recommend final dividends.

Both banks had already paid interim dividends. While Zenitth Bank paid 30 kobo interim dividend, UBA paid 20 kobo. Shareholders are expecting higher final dividend compared to the previous year’s.

Zenith Bank had paid a total dividend of 270 kobo for 2017 year, while UBA paid 85 kobo. And going by their improved nine months results, higher dividend should be expected.

For instance, Zenith Bank recorded profit before tax of N167.307 billion for he nine month ended September 30, 2018, which is 10 per cent above the N152.552 billion posted in 2017. Profit after tax improved by 12 per cent to N144.179 billion, up from N129.28 billion in 2017.Customers’ deposits increased from N3.062 trillion to N3.276 trillion, while loans and advances reduced from N2.156 trillion to N1.824 trillion. Total assets improved to N5.618 trillion, up from N5.132 trillion in 2017. On the other hand, UBA recorded gross earnings of N374.8 billion, an 12.3 percent increase when compared to N333.9 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. It posted a profit before tax (PBT) of N79.1 billion, compared with N78.2 billion while profit after tax (PAT) improved from N60.9 billion from N61.6 billion.

Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “We achieved a number of strategic imperatives during the quarter and committed more investments in the future of the business - building a solid foundation for sustainable and superior return to our shareholders.” Uzoka said that he was pleased that the bank’s virtual banking chatbot, Leo, which debuted on Facebook earlier in the year, was successfully launched on WhatsApp during the quarter. “This new channel offering, which enables our customers to fulfil their banking transactions through simple chat commands, is another premier initiative in our suite. The early pay-offs are quite compelling – recent customer acquisitions and broader transaction volume growth are exciting leading indicators that reinforce our confidence in these novel channels,” he said.

Also speaking on the performance, the Group Chief Financial Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh said that despite the relative volatility in the third quarter of 2018, especially in the face of U.S. interest rate hikes and concerns over global trade war, which has disrupted the interest and exchange rate environment in many African countries, the bank remains on track to deliver its earnings target for the year.