Zenith Bank pays Jim Ovia $12.7 million in dividends

Key Points

• Jim Ovia received $12.7 million in dividends from Zenith Bank, a 14.29% increase, reflecting the bank’s strong 2024 earnings and shareholder-friendly policies.
• Zenith Bank posted a record N1.032 trillion ($670.7 million) profit, driven by sharp increases in interest income, trading gains, and fee and commission revenues.
• Total assets soared to N29.96 trillion ($19.5 billion), while equity rose 73.7% to N4.03 trillion ($2.62 billion), cementing Zenith’s position as Nigeria’s top financial group.

Nigerian banker Jim Ovia, the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, has pocketed a dividend of N20.33 billion ($12.69 million) from his stake in the country’s most profitable financial institution. This is a 14.29 percent jump from last year’s payout, a clear sign of the bank’s strong performance in 2024 and its steady commitment to rewarding shareholders.

Ovia, who established Zenith Bank back in 1990 and has since played a key role in steering its growth, owns a 16.2 percent stake—equal to 5,082,800,739 ordinary shares. His latest dividend boost follows shareholder approval at the bank’s 34th Annual General Meeting, held on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Lagos.

At the meeting, shareholders approved a final dividend of N4.00 ($0.0025) per share, pushing the total dividend for the 2024 financial year to N5.00 ($0.0032) per share. Altogether, Zenith Bank paid out N195.67 billion ($122.1 million) to shareholders, up from N171.2 billion the previous year.

Zenith Bank delivers best-ever results

This windfall for Ovia and other investors comes after Zenith Bank posted a record profit of N1.032 trillion ($670.7 million) in 2024—a 52.5 percent jump from the N676.9 billion ($440 million) it reported in 2023. Strong gains across all major income lines fueled the surge.

Interest income more than doubled, rising 138.6 percent from N1.14 trillion ($741.5 million) to N2.72 trillion ($1.77 billion). Fee and commission income shot up 89.3 percent to N206.9 billion ($134.5 million), while trading income nearly doubled as well, climbing 94 percent to N1.1 trillion ($716 million).

The bank’s total comprehensive income also rose sharply, moving from N1.05 trillion ($684 million) in 2023 to N1.516 trillion ($990 million) by the end of 2024. Total assets grew from N20.37 trillion ($13.24 billion) to N29.96 trillion ($19.5 billion), while liabilities increased to N25.93 trillion ($16.9 billion) from N18.04 trillion ($11.73 billion) over the same period.

Shareholders clearly benefited. Equity expanded from N2.32 trillion ($1.51 billion) to N4.03 trillion ($2.62 billion), and retained earnings climbed from N1.18 trillion ($768 million) to N2.015 trillion ($1.31 billion).

A strong bank in tough times

Today, Zenith Bank ranks as the second most valuable listed financial institution on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), with a market capitalization of N1.96 trillion ($1.22 billion). Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the lender has firmly established itself as a leader across Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa.

Yet, while its fundamentals remain rock-solid, the sharp decline in the value of the naira has taken a toll on its dollar valuation. Two years ago, Zenith was worth N851 billion—around $2.04 billion at the time. Even though the bank has grown in naira terms since then, its market cap in dollars has declined. It’s a reminder that sometimes, external forces like currency swings—not business performance—can change the way companies are valued on the global stage.