Zenith Bank PLC shareholders total returns improve as Zenith Bank PLC declares it's highest dividend ever.

Zenith Bank PLC in its 2020 audited financial statements declares a final dividend of 2.70k per share bringing the total dividend paid for 2020FY to N3 per shares, the highest dividend ever paid by the first tier bank as against 2.80k paid in 2019FY, This represents a 7.14% dividend growth rate.

Interest expense reduced from N148.5 billion in 2019 to N121.1 billion in 2020, this could be attributed to the regulatory requirements of The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which ordered banks to henceforth pay 10% of it’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) as the minimum interest rate on savings deposit. The MPR is the benchmark interest rate of the CBN and it is presently 12.5 per cent. This implies bank customers will now get 1.25 per cent as a minimum interest rate on their savings deposit.

Profit after tax increased by 5.2%(YoY) and also performed well in customers deposits in its custody, despite the various fintech products in the system.

Based on its 2020FY reports and my expected future performance of Zenith bank, I believe its share price is currently undervalued by the market and it an investment that could give a better shareholder returns in the long run.