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Kenya's largest telco announces $267.58m dividend

Tuesday July 26 2016

Kenya’s mobile phone operator Safaricom has announced a special dividend of Ksh0.68 ($0.006) per share for its shareholders after posting a record profit of Ksh38.1 billion($370.72 million) for the financial year ended March 31 2016.

The one-off dividend will be paid out to shareholders who will be on the company’s register by the close of the trading session on September 2, 2016.

Chief Executive Bob Collymore said Tuesday the company would spend Ksh27.5 billion ($267.58 million) on the special dividend reflecting the improved cashflow position of the business with a total of Ksh82 billion ($797.89 million) in retained earnings.

“There is a room for this one-off special dividend due to the cash position of the company. This is an additional dividend to what we expect to recommend at next year’s annual general meeting (AGM) for the year ended March 31 2017,” he said.

Kenya’s National Treasury

The telco which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is owned 40 per cent by the UK’s Vodafone, 35 per cent by the government of Kenya and 25 per cent by the general public.

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The special dividend is in addition to the final dividend of Ksh0.76 ($0.007) per share for the year ended March 31 2016 that the board has declared.

READ: Safaricom to launch Uber taxi rival app service

Kenya’s National Treasury and Vodafone stand to reap a windfall from the special dividend helped by their large share volumes.

Safaricom controls a market share of 64.7 per cent in terms of mobile subscribers who stood at 24.41 million as at December 2015.

The company’s net profit for the year ended May 31 2016 grew 19.6 per cent to Ksh38.1 billion ($370.72 million) from Ksh31.87 billion ($310.1 million) in the last financial year.

Its Earnings per Share grew 19.6 per cent to Ksh0.95 ($0.009) from Ksh0.8 ($0.007).

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