Zenith Bank to pay Jim Ovia N5.18 billion as dividend 

Zenith Bank Plc is ready to pay its founder and chairman, Jim Ovia, about N5.18 billion in interim dividend for the primary half of 2025, following the lender’s robust monetary efficiency.

Ovia instantly holds 4.14 billion shares within the bank, entitling him to the interim dividend of N1.25 per share, a 25% enhance from the N1.00 per share paid in the identical interval final 12 months.

This determine excludes his oblique shareholding of 1.65 billion items, which, if added, would additional elevate his whole dividend entitlement by N2.06 billion.

The bank’s efficiency  

Zenith Bank posted a revenue earlier than tax (PBT) of N625.63 billion for the half-year ended June 30, 2025, 13.95% decrease than the N727 billion recorded throughout the similar interval in 2024.

Gross earnings rose 20% year-on-year to N2.5 trillion, pushed largely by a 60% surge in curiosity revenue to N1.8 trillion, reflecting the bank’s strategic repricing of danger property and efficient treasury administration. Web curiosity revenue almost doubled, rising 90% to N1.4 trillion, whereas non-interest revenue contributed N613 billion.

Revenue after tax stood at N532 billion, translating to earnings per share (EPS) of N12.95. The bank’s stability sheet remained resilient, with whole property at N31 trillion, customer deposits climbing to N23 trillion, and a capital adequacy ratio of 26% effectively above regulatory thresholds. Asset high quality additionally improved, with the non-performing mortgage (NPL) ratio dropping to three.1% and the liquidity ratio at 69%.

The interim payout highlights Zenith Bank’s consistency in rewarding shareholders because it celebrates its thirty fifth anniversary in 2025.

Backstory 

Jim Ovia, the chairman and founding father of Zenith Bank, has constructed a popularity as certainly one of Nigeria’s most rewarded shareholders. For the 2024 monetary 12 months, he was set to earn N25.4 billion in dividends, following the bank’s record-breaking revenue after tax of N1.03 trillion, a 52.5% soar from 2023.

The payout, scheduled, would comprise a N4.00 remaining dividend and a N1.00 interim dividend, bringing the overall dividend to N5.00 per share.

This holding has constantly translated into multi-billion-naira earnings. In 2022, he was among the many billionaires who received a share of $506 billion in dividends.

Ovia pocketed N16.24 billion after Zenith declared a complete dividend of N3.20 per share, whereas in 2023, he acquired N11.35 billion from the identical payout construction of a 30 kobo interim and N2.90 remaining dividend.

Ovia based Zenith Bank in 1990 and served because the bank’s CEO till 2010, when he transitioned to chairman, a job wherein he continues to form its strategic path. Past banking, he’s a outstanding philanthropist, entrepreneur, and investor, with pursuits spanning actual property, telecommunications, and expertise.