By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have approved the payment of N19.9 billion final dividend declared by the financial institution for the year ended December 31, 2016.
This was done at the company’s 55th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Friday, April 7, 2017, in Lagos.
During the meeting, the shareholders commended UBA for the dividend declared despite the challenging operating environment last year, stressing that its earnings, profit before tax and capital adequacy ratio were impressive, irrespective of economic headwinds.
With the approved dividends, shareholders will have 55k per share, compared with the 40k per share paid in 2015. This is in addition to the 20k interim dividend earlier paid by the bank, bringing the total dividend to 75k, against 60k declared in 2015.
President of Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Bisi Bakare, said shareholders were happy with the 75k dividend declared in 2016 and urged the bank to do more in the current financial year, while advising the bank to continue to embrace cost efficient mechanism to minimise cost.
Also, the immediate past Chairman of the Ibadan Zone Shareholders Association, Mr Shola Aboderin, urged the bank’s new Managing Director, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, to surpass the achievements recorded by the immediate past Managing Director, Mr Philip Oduoza.
On his part, Dr Farouk Umar, President of Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, commended the board and management for good performance and ability to sustain dividend policy.
He said the board had tried to sustain the bank’s mission of creating superior value for the stakeholders, abiding by ethical standard and building an enduring institution.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of UBA Plc, Mr Tony Elumelu, noted that the bank’s performance in capital adequacy and risk management illustrated the board’s commitment to the best governance principles.
He said that the bank would focus on customer needs by delivering customer excellence to create sustainable shareholder value, adding that UBA would remain committed to enhance dividend to all stakeholders.
On his part, the Group Managing Director of UBA, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, attributed the company’s growth to culture of innovation in service and product offerings, investment in most relevant new technologies and continuous investment in human capital.
He said UBA was no longer a Nigerian bank but a Pan-African bank, the only bank that operates in USA, pointing out further that the bank was a fully diversified portfolio that investors should embrace all the time.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale