78 Bank Directors Get N10.34bn Dividend In 2016

78 bank directors get N10.34bn dividend in 2016


*Zenith, Access, UBA account for 64% of dividend
*Ovia, Wigwe, Elumelu get 89.5%



AT the backdrop of the recession the nation’s economy slipped into last year alongside inflationary pressures, corporate results from the banking sector so far released indicate significant increases in fortune for the investors.


Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu & Herbert Wigwe
While the general shareholders of the first batch of seven banks announcing results so far received a total dividend income of N162 billion, indicating a rise by 13 per cent against N143.3billion in 2015, directors of the banks numbering 78 recorded 20.5 per cent rise in their dividend income at N10.34 billion as against N8.58 billion in 2015.

The banks are Zenith International Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

Financial Vanguard analysis revealed that three of the banks, namely, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and UBA accounted for 64 per cent of the total dividend declared by the seven banks, while their directors smiled home with N9.42 billion.

Further analysis showed that the Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, and the Chairman of UBA, Tony Elumelu, benefited the most, receiving N9.25 billion, representing 89.5 per cent of the total dividend received by the 78 directors during the year.

Growth in dividend income

The dividend collected by the trio of Ovia, Wigwe and Elumelu also represents 5.7 per cent of the N162 billion total dividend declared by the seven banks and 8.9 per cent of N103.99 billion total dividend declared by the three banks in 2016. Though the growth in dividend income is considered commendable by some capital market analysts who are looking at the recessionary economic environment, it however, indicated a decline in real returns to the general shareholders whose income lagged behind average inflation rate of over 16 per cent during the year. But this also indicated that the basket returns to directors towered above the inflation rate.

Speaking to select media personalities last weekend in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Office of the Vice President, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, expressed surprise at the profits and returns being announced by most corporate organizations for the year ended 2016 against the perspective of adverse economic circumstance.

However, Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, had told journalists earlier this month at the heels of the results rolled out by some banks that the increases in figures of the bottom-line and returns does not reflect a contradictory performance against the economic situation, explaining that when measured against real exchange rate developments where Naira, the reporting currency, had depreciated by almost 60 per cent, the returns were not as impressive. He argued that when the depreciation is discounted the corporate results would be in the negative.

Shareholding by banks

Furthermore, breakdown of the shareholding structure of the seven banks showed that the 78 directors held 10.15 billion shares comprising of 4.4 billion direct and 5.75 billion indirect shares, which represent 5.5 per cent of the banks’ total 184.8 billion shares. The 10 directors of Zenith Bank hold 2.99 billion or 9.5 per cent of the bank’s issued shares of 31.4 billion. This was followed by Access Bank where 13 directors hold 2.87 billion shares or 9.9 per cent of the 28.9 billion issued shares of the bank.

Stanbic IBTC came third with its six directors holding  1.259 billion shares, representing 12.6 per cent of the 10 billion issued shares of the bank. The 17 directors of UBA ranked fourth, holding 2.22 billion shares, representing 6.1 per cent of 36.3 billion of the bank’s issued shares. FCMB was the next with its seven directors a