Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc yesterday hailed the management and board of the bank for an impressive performance for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The shareholders who spoke at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos said the gross earnings of N507.997 billion recorded in 2016, up from N432.535 billion in 2015, was highly commendable considering the challenging operating environment.

They were also highly impressed with the profit before tax of N156.748 billion recorded in 2016, which showed a significant jump above the n125.616 billion in 2015.Similarly, profit after tax rose from N105.531 billion to N129.65 billion.

The elated shareholders approved the final dividend of N55.573 billion for the year, which translates to 177 kobo per share.

Addressing the shareholders, Chairman of the Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia said despite the challenging operating environment, the bank was able to fully exploit the available opportunities to post the impressive results.

According to him, in line with its commitment to delivering superior returns to its much-valued shareholders, the bank ensured that a good chunk of the profit is set aside for them.

“In this regard, we have declared and paid you an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share in the course of 2016 financial year. We hereby propose a final dividend of 177 kobo per share. This brings the total dividend for the year ended December 31, 2016 to 202 kobo per share as against 180 kobo per share paid the previous year,” Ovia said.

He stated that even in the face of a very challenging operating environment, Zenith Bank has maintained its culture of outstanding performance and industry leadership.

“As a bank, we are monitoring developments both in the local and global economy and applying pragmatism and dynamism as appropriate. Our strategy and approach to the pursuit of financial inclusion and sustainability gives us a lot of competitive advantage to explore even new frontiers in the market,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank, Mr. Peter Amangbo said as an institution of well-primed people, the bank relied on a its pool of exceptional staff to make sound and timely decision and addressed issues in a manner that anticipated developments and demonstrated excellent understanding of the dynamics of the market and economy in 2016.

He assured that “We shall continue to demonstrate extraordinary commitment to our customer s while maintaining focus on all the areas fundamental to adding value to our partnership.”

Looking ahead, he said although 2017 will come with its challenges, and opportunities, “but I am confident that our determination, resolve and rare commitment to customer s well as our adaptive ability will ensure resounding results.”