Nigerian banker Jim Ovia to pocket $3.6 million in interim dividends from Zenith Bank

Nigerian multimillionaire banker Jim Ovia is on course to earn an interim dividend of N1.52 billion ($3.6 million) from his stake in Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s most profitable banking brand, after its profit topped N111.4 billion ($264 million) in the first half of 2022.

The interim dividend payout that Ovia is set to receive from the bank later this year follows a dividend payment of N14.2-billion ($34.1 million) from the bank’s 2021 earnings.

Ovia is one of Nigeria’s most powerful banking tycoons.

In addition to his previous earnings this year, the $3.6-million interim dividend puts his total dividend earnings from Zenith Bank this year at N15.72 billion ($17.7 million).

Zenith Bank is a leading financial services provider in Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa, regulated as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is presently the most profitable bank in Nigeria and the largest listed financial services group on the Nigerian Exchange.

Aside from his governance positions in the lender, Ovia, who established the tier-one bank in 1990 and played a pivotal role in both the evolution and digital transformation of the Nigerian banking space, owns a significant 16.2-percent stake in the company, or 5,072,104,311 ordinary shares.

The bank has decided to pay out an interim dividend of N0.30 ($0.000712) per share from its retained earnings of N592.2 billion ($1.41 billion) as of June 30.

The news, however, comes after its profit in the first half of 2022 climbed by 5 percent to N111.41 billion ($264.5 million) from N106.1 billion ($252 million) in the same period in 2021.

The robust earnings growth during the period under review can be attributed to a 17-percent increase in its gross earnings, which rose from N345.56 billion ($820.4 million) to N404.76 billion ($961 million) on the basis of higher interest and non-interest revenues.

The bank stated that the increase in interest income was due to a slight rise in its loan book and higher interest margins, while the increase in non-interest income was due to the success of the group’s income diversification plans.