GTBank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank meet over final dividends

GTB’s board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday January 22, 2019 while the boards of Zenith Bank and Access Bank will meet on Tuesday January 28 and Wednesday January 29, 2019.

Extant listing rules at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) require quoted companies to submit their annual 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 meetings.

the scheduled meetings by the three leading banks marked the onset of the earnings season citing increased demand for the shares of the banks.

The three banks, which had paid interim dividends based on their first half results, are expected to determine their final dividends at the board meetings.

The top five banks, which traditionally pay cash dividend twice a year, distributed N44.22 billion as interim cash dividend for the first half of this year, with interim dividend per share ranging from 20 kobo to N1.

The top five banks, by market capitalisation, otherwise known as the first tier banks, included Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, Zenith Bank International Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.