Ecobank Ghana has declared a dividend of ghs1.21 per share for the 2025 financial year, represented over 200% what they paid in the previous year and the highest ever in the history of the bank.
This is from a net profit of about ghs1.8 billion.
Board Chairman, Alhassan Adani said this reflects a balancing act between:
– Retaining sufficient profit to sustain long-term growth and
– Delivering tangible returns and liquidity shareholders
But some shareholders said they want more. They propose ghs2 per share. Some even questioned the percentage of profits being paid out as dividends.
One such shareholder questioned why the Bank of Bank of Ghana must approve of what shareholders get as dividends, after the regulator had “conveniently” collected it fees before tax.
Some, for instance, pointed to the over ghs4 retained earnings per share, and said ghs1.21 dividend is nothing to write home about.
They want the board to be a catalyst board to create value for shareholders.
Chairman responds
The board chair, Alhassan Andani assured them the board will be a catalyst board and deliver even better value for shareholders going forward.
In terms of the dividend policy and approval by BoG, he explained that the bank has a responsibility towards both customers and shareholders and the Bank of Ghana’s role is to ensure that the bank does not build castles in the air while shortchanging customers.
He noted the wide gap between shareholder capital and customer deposits and explained that value must also be delivered to the customers since a greater chunk of funds available to the bank comes from them.
Meanwhile, some shareholders think Ecobank deserves commendation because even some bigger banks paid up to ghs1 as dividend, so ghs1.21 from Ecobank should be appreciated by shareholders.
