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Nigerian banking tycoon and Zenith Bank Founder Jim Ovia has gained N9.89 billion ($24.04 million), as the share price of his flagship company surged by 8.5 percent in the past 20 days.
Data retrieved from the Nigerian Exchange revealed that the price recovery takes the bank’s shares above the five-month low of N22.85 per share that was recorded on Sept. 23.
As of press time, Oct. 13, shares in the Lagos-based lender were worth N24.80 ($0.06027) per share, 8.5-percent higher than the N22.85 ($0.0555) per share recorded at the closing of the bourse 20 days ago.
This price gain was spiked by buying pressures on the exchange, as dividend-seeking investors accumulated additional stakes in the bank in expectation of a robust dividend payment at the end of its current financial year.
As a result, the market value of Ovia’s stake in the lender surged from N115.90 billion ($281.66 million) on Sept. 23 to N125.79 billion ($305.70 million) at the time of writing.
This translates to a $24.04-million gain for the banking guru in 20 days.
Among the largest five banks in Nigeria (First Bank Nigeria Holdings, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Holding and Access Bank) Zenith Bank is known for paying the highest dividends.
So far in 2021, the bank has rewarded shareholders with a total dividend payout of N3 ($0.00729) per share. At the time of writing, the dividend yield of its shares is pegged at 12 percent.
In the first half of 2021, the bank posted N106.1 billion ($257.8 million) in profits on the back of a double-digit decline in interest expenses, which canceled out the drop in interest income.
This resilient performance led the bank to reward investors with an interim dividend of N9.4 billion ($22.8 million) on Sept. 20. This translates to a payout of N0.30 ($0.00073) per share.
Ovia’s stake earned him N1.52 billion ($3.7 million) from the interim-dividend distribution.
