By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Wema Bank Plc will receive 4 kobo as dividend for the year ended December 31, 2020, the same amount they received in the previous year.
This development was confirmed by the board of the financial institution, which released the results of the lender on Monday to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The amount to be paid by the lender is 33 per cent of the net profit recorded in the year under review and it is in line with the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) concerning the payment of dividends by deposit money banks (DMBs).
Wema Bank said it would pay the cash reward on May 25, 2021, if it is approved by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for the same day in Lagos.
Another condition is that the name of a beneficiary must be on the register of members as at the close of business on May 12, 2021, and the registrar, Greenwich Registrars & Data Solutions Ltd, must have been authorised to pay the dividend directly into the bank account of the shareholder through the completion of the e-dividend mandate form.
In the period under review, Wema Bank slightly had it rough as its gross earnings decreased to N81.4 billion from N94.9 billion, while interest income reduced to N64.6 billion from N70.7 billion, with the interest expense going down to N33.7 billion from N44.7 billion but the net interest income at N30.9 billion, higher than N26.0 billion recorded in the 2019 financial year.
According to the results, the net fee and commission income increased to N8.4 billion from N8.0 billion, while the net trading income significantly dropped to N3.9 billion from N14.8 billion, with the other income going up to N4.1 billion from N1.2 billion and the operating income down to N42.1 billion from N44.1 billion.
Business Post reports that the personnel expenses were marginally down to N14.1 billion from N14.9 billion, while other operating costs dropped to N18.9 billion from N19.1 billion, leaving the profit before tax at N5.9 billion in contrast to N6.8 billion a year earlier and the profit after tax at N4.6 billion compared with N5.2 billion in 2019.
Wema Bank revealed in the results that customer deposits improved in the period under consideration to N804.9 billion from N577.3 billion, while loans to customers jumped to N360.1 billion from N289.2 billion, with the non-performing loans (NPLs) down to 4.69 per cent from 7.38 per cent a year earlier.
Adedapo Adesanya