Wema Bank Plc has declared a final dividend of 3 Kobo per ordinary share for the financial period ended Monday, December 31, 2018.
The dividend payment is subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval. Payments will be made to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close of business on Friday, April 26, 2019.
The dividends will on Monday, May 13, be electronically paid to the shareholders who have
completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the Registrar to pay their
dividends directly into their Bank accounts.
Understanding dividend
A dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits. When a company earns a profit or surplus, it reinvests a portion of the profit in the business (retained earnings) whilst paying a portion as dividends to the shareholders.
Distribution to shareholders may be in cash (usually a deposit into a bank account) or the issuance of further shares, otherwise known as shares repurchase. But this is usually if the company has a dividend reinvestment plan.
In other words, a dividend is allocated as a fixed amount per share with shareholders receiving a dividend in proportion to their shareholding. For the joint-stock company, paying dividends is not an expense; rather, it is the division of after-tax profits among shareholders.
A look at the company’s results
Wema Bank Plc, in its financial results for the period under review, recorded Gross Earnings of N71 billion against N65 billion in the previous year.
The company’s profit before tax stood at N4.8 billion in 2018 against N3 billion in 2017. Profit after tax stood at N3.3 billion in 2018 against N2.3 billion in 2017.
About Wema Bank
Wema Bank Plc was established on May 2, 1945, as a private limited liability company (under the old name of Agbonmagbe Bank Limited).
The bank is Nigeria’s longest surviving indigenous Bank. It was granted a commercial banking license and commenced banking activities during the same year. Wema Bank converted to a public limited liability company in 1987. In 1990, the bank was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
