Wema Bank Announces First Dividend in 14 Years as Profit Rises 47%

By Dipo Olowookere

For the first time in over a decade, precisely in 14 years, shareholders of Wema Bank Plc will receive reward for their investment in the company.

Last Friday, the financial institution released its earnings for 2018 and the board recommended the payment of cash dividend of 3 kobo per share to shareholders.

However, this dividend payment is subject to approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) later in the year.

An analysis of the financial scorecard of Wema Bank indicated that the lender pushed its gross earnings up by 9.59 percent to N71.5 billion from N65.3 billion in 2017, while the interest income appreciated by 8.60 percent to N57.6 billion from N53.1 billion.

In the results, the net fee and commission increased to N6.5 billion from N5.6 billion, the net trading income rose to N5.5 billion from N4.8 billion, while the other income appreciated to N1.8 billion from N1.6 billion.

During the year, the bank’s total assets rose to N488.8 billion from N387.6 billion, while the total liabilities went up to N437.9 billion from N337.9 billion, with the shareholders fund rising to N50.9 billion from N49.6 billion.

For the 2018 financial year, while the profit before tax rose by 59.43 percent to N4.8 billion, the profit after tax rose by 47.48 percent to N3.3 billion from N2.3 billion, with the earnings per share going up by 48.28 percent to N8.60k from N5.80k.

Business Post reports that Wema Bank, before bouncing back into its present level, had undergone turbulent times, including lowering its coverage area before raising it again.

The board and management took several steps to ensure the bank became healthy again and at the last AGM, the bank promised to resume the payment of dividend very soon.