Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and 15 other listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will be paying a total of N647.916 billion as final dividend to their shareholders for the financial year ended 2019.
Dividend is a token reward paid to the shareholders for their investment in a company’s equity, and it usually originates from the company’s net profits and it has also remained one of the key factors that traditionally drive market activities and aids investment decisions towards stocks across the globe, and Nigerian bourse is not an exception.
As companies continued to release their audited results on the NSE, the 17 companies has so far set to reward their shareholders, while investors still hopeful of others to release their audited with impressive dividend payout.
Quoted companies listed on the floor of the NSE are expected to the file their audited financial statement after 90 days at the end of every financial calendar. For the companies with the year ended December 31, have March 31 to fill in their audited results on the NSE.
According to the latest data obtained from the NSE, Dangote Cement paid the highest total dividend of N272.656 billion, translating N16 per share. MTN Nigeria declared a total dividend of N101.16 billion, while Zenith Bank to pay N78.49 billion.
Guaranty Trust Bank proposed a total dividend of N73.578 billion, Nestle Nigeria to pay N35.67 billion, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) declared N27.36 billion.
Others are Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Access Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Julius Berger, United Capital, Custodian Investment, Africa Prudential, Transcorp Hotel, Vitafoam Nigeria, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank to pay shareholders final dividends of N21.01 billion, N14.218 billion, N12.075 billion, N3.63 billion, N3 billion, N2.059 billion, N1.4 billion, N532 million, N525.42 million, N406.48 million and N145.95 million, respectively.
Market operators commended quoted companies for the dividend declared so far despite the harsh operating environment.
The chief executive officer of Sofunix Investment and Communications Limited, Sola Oni said that dividend policy is the principle that governs the quantum of earnings that a company distribute to investors as part of the return on investment, saying that the policy also defines the frequency of payment.
According to Oni, the common types of dividend policies are regular dividend policy, constant, and irregular policy. Whichever policy to be adopted can be influenced by factors such as the company’s net profit, availability of cash, shareholders’ expectation and the norm in the operating industry among others.
He noted many of the quoted companies that have announced dividend exhibited resilience, saying that for instance, in the banking sector, Zenith Bank’s N2.50 dividend amounted to 10 percent yield and it is followed by UBA Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank, stating that the operating environment is tough, hence, such companies should be commended. In the manufacturing sector, some companies have also announced good dividend.
The chief operating officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion said that the dividend yield on the NSE has in recent times continued to increase as a result of the persistent free-fall in equity prices, owing to a bouquet of factors. The ravaging Coronavirus, a global pandemic, has further propelled the panic sell offs in the local and international markets, saying that the dividend declared so far are impressive.
Speaking on the result, the Group managing director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka noted that the year 2019 was important for UBA Group, as it gained further market share in most of its countries of operation.
“The year 2019 was a very remarkable one for UBA given the adverse market developments. Nonetheless, we achieved sizable growth in balance sheet and earnings, even as we reposition the bank for the future.
“Gross earnings crossed the N500 billion threshold to N559 billion, whilst total assets also crossed the N5 trillion mark for the first time to N5.6trillion. Our strategy remains centred around unparalleled service to our esteemed customers.
“Accordingly, we are making significant investments in a technology-driven transformation journey. We have recorded early gains as shown in the 39 per cent growth in electronic banking income to N38.8bn in 2019 from N27.9bn in 2018. Our businesses are gaining commendable share in their markets across regions in Africa, as we deepen the scale and scope of our operations,” Uzoka added.
On the 2020 outlook, managing director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria, Mauricio Alarcon, stated that “We will continue to focus on the innovation and the renovation of our products and on rolling out new solutions and services in response to changing consumer needs. This will prepare us for the challenges ahead while we partner with key stakeholders for the growth of the local economy”.
“With society looking more to business to improve social amenities, Nestlé Nigeria will continue to invest in creating shared value by improving livelihoods in the communities closest to our business operations. This is in line with our purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.
“We will also drive new initiatives to empower our people to deliver outstanding results for themselves, for the organisation and for society.”
CEO of MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman said that “I am pleased with our performance in 2019, which demonstrates the progress we have made in the implementation of our BRIGHT strategy. Despite a challenging operating environment, we continued to deliver double-digit growth in service revenue in line with our medium-term guidance.
“Voice revenue growth remained healthy, and data revenue continued to accelerate, supporting a 12.6 per cent increase in service revenue with an acceleration in growth to 14 per cent year-on-year in fourth quarter (Q4) 2019,” he said.
Moolman added that in line with MTN’s dividend policy, the board has proposed a final dividend of N4.97 kobo per share to be paid out of distributable net income. This brings the total dividend for the year to N7.92 kobo per share.