Access Bank, Others Schedule Meetings To Decide Final Dividends To Shareholders

By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos

Shareholders of Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc and Zenith might start 2020 in a high note as the board of directors of the banks have scheduled meetings later this month to consider final dividend recommendation to be made to shareholders.

The meetings also promise to consider and approve the audited financial statement and accounts of the banks for the year ended December 31, 2019.

As a result of the notification of the scheduled meetings, Access Bank, in terms of market capitalisation had appreciated by 5.0 kobo to close at N10.15 per share at the weekend.

The notification has also stimulated investors’ cravings for the three of Nigeria’s five largest banks.

In separate regulatory filing, the three banks indicated that their directors would be meeting to review and approve the earnings report and accounts for the 2019 business year, preparatory to sending the accounts for the clearance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before release to the investing public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Access Bank board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday January 29, 2019, GTB’s board on Wednesday January 22, 2019 while the board of Zenith Bank on Tuesday January 28, 2019.

Extant listing rules at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) require quoted companies to submit their annual audited account to the Exchange not later than 90 calendar days after the relevant year end, and published same in at least two national daily newspapers not later than 21 calendar days before the date of the annual general meeting. They are also required to post same on their websites with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publications. Also, an electronic copy of the publication shall be filed with the NSE on the same day as the publication.

Most quoted companies including all banks, major manufacturers, insurers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year. The deadline for the submission of annual report for the year ended December 31, 2019 is thus Monday March 30, 2020. The NSE meanwhile gives special recognition to companies that submit their reports earlier than others.

Most analysts at the weekend said the scheduled meetings by the three leading banks marked the onset of the earnings season citing increased demand for the shares of the banks.