Zenith Bank Plc has declared an interim dividend of 30 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share. The lender disclosed this in a statement published on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to the statement, the dividend payment is subject to appropriate withholding tax. It will be paid on Monday, September 2, 2019 to the shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as at the close of business on the 29th of August, 2019.
The ordinary shareholders and holders of the bank’s Global Proposed Dividend (GDR) will receive their dividend payment date subsequently.
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Zenith Bank Dividend: The Register of Ordinary Shareholders will be closed on Friday, August 30, 2019, This is to help the Registrars prepare the payment of the interim dividend. Similarly, the bank has scheduled its Qualification Date for Thursday, August 29, 2019.
Shareholders whose share certificates were left unclaimed or have not received payment are, therefore, advised to contact the registrar or fill in their details on an e-dividend form online.
Financial results: The company’s gross earnings went from N322.2 billion in 2018 to N331.6 billion in 2019.
The bank’s Profit Before Tax stood at N111.7 billion as at 30th of June 2019 as against N107.4 billion recorded in the same period in 2018. Profit After Tax stood at N88.9 billion 2019 as against N81.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2018.
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 their bank accounts) or the issuance of further shares, otherwise known as shares repurchase. But this is usually done 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 shareholdings. For the joint-stock company, paying dividends is not an expense, rather, it is the division of after-tax profits among shareholders.
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