Some shareholders of Zenith bank Plc have expressed concerns over the enlarged membership of the board.
Some of the shareholders who responded, under strict anonymity to the outcome of the decision at the just concluded Annual General meeting (AGM) observed that the action amounted to ignoring some decent views.
Specifically, speaking at the 31st meeting held virtually on Wednesday, Nwosu queried the need for a 20-member Board since its subsidiaries also have board members.
According to Inside Business, an online platform, Nwosu said, “I have seen the report of the bank proposing a 20 member board for the Group where you would be expecting us to vote. Permit me to apologise if the issues I raise may have been raised, please pardon me. My approach is not to repeat what other people may have said.
“But I am concerned why we are talking about a 20-man board for the Group and I also noticed in this account where we dropped from 45 to 36 for the bank. Why are you asking for 20 because my understanding of this business, is that the subsidiaries are also expected to have their board if we have a well-structured board in terms of quality and numbers on the board, we don’t necessarily need a 20-member board because technically, what we have is a holding structure and all the subsidiaries report their activities to this board and why are we populating the mainboard? I am ignoring the cost structure because there is also implication in terms of the number. So, I would want to be educated”.
Continuing, he said, “I am saying all of these because I also look at the profile from page 32 to 39 and interestingly the profile itself is not indicating a dual sitting position. Is it to say that all the directors in the bank which is the holding company don’t sit on these subsidiaries because that is where we can get a better understanding of the mix of what we are doing. Because what I would ordinarily expect, is for you to bring a new director that would have gone through tutelage and assessment from a younger team”.
However, despite Nwosu’s concern, the shareholder voted to amend article 90 of the bank’s Article of Association, allowing a 20-man board of directors.
Before the amendment, Article 90 stipulated that the bank board of Directors should not be less than five and not more than fifteen.
In its resolutions, shareholders approved the adoption of the 2021 year ended Financial account for December 31st 2021.
Shareholders also voted to approve “a final dividend of N2.80 kobo making a gross dividend of N87. 9 billion from the profit after tax of the 12 months ended 31st December 2021 payable on pro-rata basis to shareholders holding fully paid ordinary shares bringing the final dividend for the financial year to N3.10 kobo per share. And a gross dividend of N97. 30 billion.”
Jim Ovia, who has clocked 70 years of age was re-elected as a non-Executive Director and thus retained his position as chairman of the board.
Omobola Ibidapo-Obe was also elected as Independent Non-executive Director of the board, while Mustapha Bello, Al Mujtaba Abubakar and Dennis Olisa were re-elected as Directors of the board.
Commenting on the dividend approved by the bank, Okeyzie Boniface, National chairman of the Progressives Shareholders Association of Nigeria commended Zenith Bank for the progression in its dividend payout to shareholders
“We should applaud Zenith Bank for the 2021 account. Mr chairman its a sign of hard work. Zenith Bank remains one Bank in Nigeria today that pays high dividends even if it’s 10 kobos. I know a bank that pays 5 kobos in dividends to their shareholders. The N3.10 kobo dividend decades by Zenith back is a good one. Despite all challenges, we just make our shareholders and investors happy and we must continue to demonstrate that. I must commend you,” Boniface said.
“I want to commend the board and management, they have done very well. By next year, we know N4 dividend is possible and if it’s not N4, we can go with N3.50 and continue in that progression,” he added.
Responding to remarks by shareholders, the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu assured the shareholders of the bank’s commitment to consistently move the bank forward.
“I feel good to know that the annual report we gave out, no matter how voluminous, you go through it page by page to bring out salient points and it’s commendable and very encouraging to us management. Some of the remarks raised by shareholders have been cancelled out by themselves during the explanation. But I will try and speak to a few things to clarify and also let you know term signs about the direction the bank is going.
“One thing is certain, the only way we are moving is forward. And that is coming from the fact that we have a strong culture, the pedigree and heritage of hard work, innovation and creativity. We are not going to let that down. We will double down and hard work to ensure that we ramp up the growth you see especially in the retail segment.
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“On the issue of the audit fee, if you look at it that is the consolidation of the whole fee. And it’s as a result of primarily the transmission of the exchange rate implication and we have Consolidated our financial position.
“But you would agree with me that the auditors are working and the auditors need to be encouraged for the good work they are doing and it’s a little enhancement and primarily the exchange rate was the reason for that.”