The boards of directors of Zenith Bank International Plc has approved payment of final
dividends to shareholders of the bank, sustaining a tradition of paying
dividends twice a year.
The board of the bank also approved the financial statements
for the year ended December 31, 2019, raising prospects that the results may be
released within the next five weeks ahead of the regulatory deadline of March
30, this year.
The board of Zenith Bank had met to review the three-month fourth
quarter results for 2019 and the 12-month full-year results for the year ended
December 31, 2019.
Directors of the banks subsequently approved the results and
authorised designated directors to sign the results on behalf of the board, a
major requirement by financial regulatory authorities.
In separate regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange
(NSE), the boards of the banks stated that the approved results would be sent
to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for final regulatory review and approval,
following which the results and dividend recommendations will be made available
to the public through the NSE.
Under the listing rules at the NSE, quoted companies are
required to submit their yearly audited account to the Exchange not later than
90 calendar days after the relevant year end, and published same in at least two
national daily newspapers not later than 21 calendar days before the date of
the annual general meeting. They are also required to post same on their
websites with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publications. Also, an
electronic copy of the publication shall be filed with the Exchange on the same
day as the publication.
Most quoted companies including all banks, major
manufacturers, insurers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies
use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year. The deadline for the submission of yearly
report for the year ended December 31, 2019 is thus Monday March 30, this year.
Zenith Bank had paid interim dividend of 30 kobo from
earnings per share of N2.83 for first half 2019.
