Wema Bank to commence payment of dividend soon

Posts N65.27billion gross earnings in 2017

Wema Bank has expressed optimism that the bank would commence the payment of dividend in the near future, even as the benefits of the restructuring exercise continue to impacts on its bottom-line.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Oloketuyi, responding to shareholders during the 2017 yearly general meeting in Lagos, last week, assured that the bank had witnessed a remarkable turnaround, with consistent year-on-year improvement in all key indicators.

According to him, Wema Bank should be in a position pay dividend following the various steps taken to return its retained earnings to positive.He pointed out that as the bank is poised for transformation, and value creation in the financial services, and urged shareholders not to relent on their efforts to support it.

“We know that you invested for capital appreciation, and dividend, and very soon, we will be able to fulfil this obligation. We have cleaned up our negative retained earnings. We have gone through this and it is done. I enjoin shareholders not to withdraw their support for the bank.”

The Chairman, Babatunde Kasali, explained that the bank delivered substantial proportion of its strategic goal for 2017, while undertaking bold steps to ensure that it consolidates on earlier performance.He pointed out that year-on-year, the bank recorded significant achievements in various areas, such as the launch of ALAT, Nigeria’s first fully digital bank, and built new capacities for sustainable competitive advantages.

“In our continued bid to continuously position the bank for sustainable competitive advantages, the bank invested in building new capabilities with the launch of ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank, in 2017. ALAT has recorded significant milestones especially around customer acquisition.

“Furthermore, we will continue to improve on our people through requisite trainings, while driving and gaining efficiencies within our processes.“As we go into 2018, we will continue to reinforce our commitment towards balance sheet optimisation and income generation, efficiency and value creation for the customers and shareholders.

Reviewing its performance, Kasali said the group’s gross earnings in 2017 grew from N54.36billion in 2016 to N65.27billion, while profit after Tax (PAT) stood at N2.26billion from N2.56billion in 2016.He further noted, “As a bank, we look forward to 2018 with renewed confidence. Internally, significant steps will be taken in 2018 that will deliver value for our shareholders.”

Speaking on behalf of shareholders, the National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sunny Nwosu, commended the bank for returning to the path of profitability with positive retained earnings, while urging the management to expedite steps in payment of dividends for shareholders to reap the benefits of their investment.