By Dipo Olowookere
The board of directors of Access Bank is proposing to pay an interim dividend to shareholders of the financial institution for 2020 half year.
This development was revealed in a notice the bank sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday after its board meeting.
Members of the board of the lender gathered today to discuss the financial statements of the company for the period ended June 30, 2020.
According to the disclosure, the accounts of the company were approved during the meeting, while the payment of the dividend was also discussed.
Access Bank said it will like to reward investors of the company with the cash incentive, but the final decision lies with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Already, efforts are being made to forward the financial statements to the banking sector regulator for scrutiny and approval.
If the results are approved by the central bank, they would be filed to the exchange and the investing public will be able to have a good knowledge of the financial status of the bank and the amount to be paid as interim dividend.
Last year, the bank paid an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share to its shareholders.
Access Bank is one of the five tier-one lenders in Nigeria and it is on the premium board of the NSE currently selling at N6.25 per unit.
At the stock exchange today, shares of the company went down by 5 kobo or 0.79 per cent from the previous day’s value of N6.30 per share.
Business Post believes that the news of the interim dividend proposal may likely push the value up when the market resumes next Monday.
The stock exchange will be closed for business on Thursday and Friday for Sallah celebration in Nigeria. The federal government has declared public holiday for the two days to allow Muslims in the country to celebrate it.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale