Nigerian billionaire Jim Ovia set to collect N8.7 billion in Zenith Bank dividends

Nigerian billionaire Jim Ovia is set to collect about 8.7 billion naira, or $6.5 million, from Zenith Bank Plc's interim dividend, after the lender he founded raised its half-year payout by 20% despite a sharp drop in profit.

Zenith Bank's board proposed an interim dividend of 1.50 naira a share for 2026, up from 1.25 naira a year earlier, according to the bank's half-year financial statements filed with the Nigerian Exchange. Shareholders on the register on Oct. 23 will be paid on Oct. 30.

Ovia owns 5,801,238,332 Zenith shares, or 14.13% of the bank, the filing shows. That stake will earn him 8.70 billion naira before tax. After Nigeria's 10% withholding tax on dividends, he will receive about 7.83 billion naira, or roughly $5.9 million.

He holds 4.15 billion of the shares directly, which will pay about 6.22 billion naira. The remaining 1.66 billion shares are held through five companies, Institutional Investors Ltd., Lurot Burca Ltd., Jovis Nigeria Ltd., Veritas Registrars Ltd. and Quantum Zenith Securities Ltd., and will pay about 2.48 billion naira.

A bigger payout as profit falls

The higher dividend comes even though Zenith's earnings fell. Group profit after tax dropped 19% to 430.8 billion naira in the six months to June 30, from 532.2 billion naira a year earlier, as the tax charge more than doubled to 206.8 billion naira. The bank said the jump reflected the adoption of the new tax framework under the Nigerian Tax Act 2025.

Before tax, Zenith earned 637.6 billion naira, up from 625.6 billion naira. The improvement came largely from lower bad-loan provisions. Impairment charges fell 81% to 141.1 billion naira, after the bank cleared out loans that had been under regulatory forbearance, a relief program the Central Bank of Nigeria has been winding down.

Gross earnings fell to 1.9 trillion naira from 2.52 trillion naira. Net interest income slipped 7% to 1.25 trillion naira, while net fee and commission income rose about 40% to 178.8 billion naira. Earnings per share fell to 10.48 naira from 12.95 naira.

The balance sheet kept growing. Total assets rose to 32.65 trillion naira at the end of June from 31.46 trillion naira in December. Loans and advances climbed to 12.05 trillion naira and customer deposits to 26.35 trillion naira. The filing was signed by Chairman Mustafa Bello and Group Managing Director Adaora Umeoji.

Ovia's Zenith windfall

The interim payout follows a much larger one earlier this year. Zenith paid out 359.4 billion naira in dividends during the first half, which works out to the 8.75-naira final dividend for 2025. On Ovia's shareholding, that came to about 50.8 billion naira, or about $38 million at current exchange rates.

Together with the 1.25-naira interim dividend paid last year, which earned him about 7.25 billion naira, Ovia's shares generated about 58 billion naira in dividends from Zenith's 2025 results alone.

His stake has also soared in value. Zenith shares closed at 134.70 naira on Oct. 9, up about 118% this year from 61.80 naira at the start of January. At that price, Ovia's holding is worth about 781 billion naira, or roughly $587 million.

Ovia founded Zenith Bank in 1990 and ran it as chief executive until 2010, building it into one of Nigeria's largest lenders by assets and profit. He served as chairman from 2014 and retired from the board on April 29, 2026, according to the bank's filing, ending more than three decades on the board of the bank he created. He remains its largest individual shareholder.

His other interests include telecommunications company Visafone, which he sold to MTN Nigeria in 2016, and Quantum Zenith, a financial services group that includes the securities firm through which he holds part of his bank stake. He also founded the James Hope University in Lagos.