Shareholders of United Bank for Africa Plc were on Monday unanimous in commending the board and management for the consistent performance over the years, which was sustained in the full-year ended December 31, 2017, amidst the challenge of containing costs.
The shareholders approved the recommendation of a total dividend of N22.229bn or 85 kobo per share.
The directors had earlier distributed 20 kobo as interim dividend per share in the half year ended June 30, 2017, even as Tony Elumelu and Kennedy Uzoka, chairman and Group Managing Director of the bank respectively assured of even more superlative performance in the coming years.
To ensure sustainability of the business and ensure such superlative performance in going forward, Nona Awoh, a shareholder of the bank, challenged the board on containing costs of operation in the face of thinning margins and slow-down in revenue heads.
He particularly spoke of containing costs of funds, while looking at the structure of the bank’s deposit, just as he urged the management to “ensure that all the legs of our business are doing well and we must constantly look at all the weak links.”
Also, Awoh expressed displeasure at the N7.5bn total dividends that remain unclaimed in the books of the bank between 2005 and 2016, which continues to rise on a yearly basis, despite efforts by stakeholders to tackle the problem.
According to the bank’s annual report, of the N16.49 bn declared for each of 2012 and 2013 full-year, N14.518bn and N14.887bn has been claimed, leaving N1.971bn and N1.602bn respectively. Also, of the N14.518bn declared in 2016, N12.727bn has been claimed, leaving N1.784bn still in the coffers of the registrars as unclaimed.
He urged all concerned to collaborate in the task of bring down the mountain of unclaimed dividend, which he described as “too high.”
Awoh also challenged the directors to work towards better disclosures, including the amount paid to directors either as monthly salaries or allowances; even as the board must work to ensure consistency of information released.
Responding to the issues raised, Elumelu said tackling the unclaimed dividend debacle is possible through continued advocacy and creating awareness.
This may not be unconnected with the fact that unclaimed dividend continues to grow on the back of issues such as wrong shareholder addresses and multiple applications during past public offers, among others. These are now being tackled considerably through electronic transfer of dividends to the accounts of shareholders and related efforts with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) at the forefront, leading other stakeholders like registrars.
On the various countries UBA operates, Elumelu said the group continues to emphasis unity, while promoting growth and development of their economies, and promoting intra-Africa trade.
He said no new disclosures were made on payments to directors, since the rates had not increased since 2010.
Also speaking at the meeting, Uzoka assured shareholders that the customer has since been elevated to the level of employer of the board, management and staff in the way they are treated.
One way this has been done, he continued, is that “customer service has been kept extremely simple.”
To better serve the group’s 15m customers across 20 countries across Africa, he said UBA has invested heavily in technology to meet dynamic and ever-changing customer preferences.