Corporate Milestone: Ovia Commends Shareholders As Zenith Bank Pays N100.47 Billion Dividends

<h4>Corporate Milestone<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that at the 32nd Annual General Meeting &lpar;AGM&rpar; of Zenith Bank Plc&comma; held virtually from the Civic Centre&comma; Victoria Island&comma; Lagos&comma; on Tuesday&comma; 2 May 2023&comma; shareholders of the bank unanimously approved the proposed final dividend payment of NGN2&period;90 per share&period; This brings the total dividend for the 2022 financial year to NGN3&period;20 per share&comma; with a total value of NGN100&period;47 billion&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In his opening statement at the AGM&comma; Jim Ovia&comma; CFR&comma; Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc&comma; expressed his gratitude to the shareholders for their unwavering loyalty&comma;commitment&comma; and support&comma; which have been instrumental in the bank&&num;8217&semi;s outstanding performance since its inception&period;Group Managing Director&sol;Chief Executive&comma; Dr&period; Ebenezer Onyeagwu&comma; extolled the Founder and Chairman&comma; Jim Ovia&comma; CFR&comma; for establishing the legacy and providing the template for the bank&&num;8217&semi;s continued superior performance&period; He also highlighted the Board and Management&&num;8217&semi;s determination to maintain the bank&&num;8217&semi;s growth trajectory in the coming years&comma; with an emphasis on digital and retail banking&period;Speaking at the AGM&comma; Dr&period; Faruk Umar&comma; President of the Association of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders &lpar;AARNS&rpar;&comma; commended the Board and Management of Zenith Bank for consistently delivering value to shareholders&comma; despite the challenging economic environment&period; He also praised the bank&&num;8217&semi;s staff for their loyalty and dedication&period;Chief Timothy Adesiyan&comma; President&comma; Shareholders Solidarity Association of Nigeria&comma;expressed delight at the dividend payout and thanked the Board and Management for the outstanding performance that led to approving both an interim and final dividend during the year&period; Also speaking&comma; Mrs&period; Adenike David&comma; National Coordinator of the Esteemed Shareholders Association of Nigeria&comma; congratulated the bank and Chairman on their exceptional performance&comma; as evidenced by the numerous awards received during the 2022 financial year&period; She also praised the bank for paying an interim dividend of 30 kobo and a final dividend of 2&period;90 kobo&period;Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions&comma; Zenith Bank Group achieved a 24&percnt; growth in gross earnings&comma; from NGN765&period;6 billion in the previous year to NGN945&period;5 billion in 2022&period;This was driven by a 26&percnt; YoY growth in interest income and a 23&percnt; YoY growth in non-interest income&period; Customer deposits grew by 39&percnt;&comma; reflecting the bank&&num;8217&semi;s market leadership and customers&&num;8217&semi; trust&period; Net-Interest-Margin &lpar;NIM&rpar; increased from 6&period;7&percnt; to 7&period;2&percnt;&comma; positively impacted by the elevated yield environment&period; Operating expenses grew by 17&percnt; YoY&comma; though<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>still below the inflation rate&period; Total assets rose by 30&percnt;&comma; primarily due to growth in customerdeposits&period;In 2023&comma; Zenith Bank Group plans to expand its reach and reorganise into a holding company structure&comma; adding new verticals to its businesses and pursuing growth in all chosen markets&comma; locally and internationally&period;Zenith Bank’s track record of excellent performances has continued to earn the brand numerous awards including being recognised as the Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1Capital&comma; for the 13th consecutive year&comma; in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine&semi; Bank of the Year &lpar;Nigeria&rpar; in The Banker&&num;8217&semi;s Bank of the Year Awards 2020 and 2022&semi; Best Bank in Nigeria&comma; for three consecutive years from 2020 to2022&comma; in the Global Finance World&&num;8217&semi;s Best Banks Awards&semi; Best Commercial Bank&comma; Nigeria2021 and 2022 in the World Finance Banking Awards&semi; Best Corporate Governance Bank&comma;Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards 2022&semi; Best in Corporate Governance&&num;8217&semi; Financial Services&&num;8217&semi; Africa&comma; for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022&comma; by the Ethical Boardroom&semi; Best Commercial Bank&comma; Nigeria and Best Innovation In Retail Banking&comma; Nigeria in the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards&period; Also&comma; the bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021&comma; and Retail Bank of the year&comma; for three consecutive years from 2020to 2022&comma; at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions &lpar;BAFI&rpar; Awards&period;Similarly&comma; Zenith Bank was named as Bank of the Decade &lpar;People&&num;8217&semi;s Choice&rpar; at the ThisDayAwards 2020&comma; Most Innovative Bank of the Year 2019 by Tribune Newspaper&comma; Bank of the Year 2020 by Independent Newspaper&comma; Bank of the Year 2021 by Champion Newspaper&comma;Bank of the Year 2022 by New Telegraph Newspaper&comma; and Most Responsible Organisationin Africa 2021 by SERAS Awards&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;