VN shareholders get ready to rake it in, despite Covid-19
DESPITE the difficulties inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic, several companies plan to pay dividends at surprisingly high rates.
Sabeco Song Tien Trading & Service JSC (SST) recently announced that it will pay a 2019 dividend in cash at an astonishing rate of 347.6 per cent, meaning every shareholder will receive 34,760 ($1.50) for each share they have.
The payout date is scheduled for September 15.
With four million shares outstanding, the company plans to spend about 139 billion dong to pay the dividend. Previously, in 2018, the company paid cash dividends at a huge rate of 207 per cent.
SST was established in 2006 and the company mainly produces and trades beer, wine and soft drinks.
The company has not announced its financial statements for the quarters of 2020. Last year, its beer output reached 269 million litres. Net revenue hit 5.08 trillion dong and post-tax profit was 147 billion dong, up by 21 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively, compared to 2018. Earnings per share in 2019 stayed significantly high at 34,937 dong.
At the 2020 annual general meeting of shareholders, SST announced a plan to pay a 2020 dividend at a rate of 194.6 per cent. It forecast a post-tax profit decrease of 42 per cent to 85 billion dong.
Another brewer Saigon Beer Western JSC (WSB) has also announced it will pay a 2019 dividend at a relatively high rate of 50 per cent instead of the initially planned rate of 40 per cent.
Due to the severe impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and strict new penalties for drink drivers, most brewers have suffered sharp drops in sales consumption.
Beer firms saw consumption fall by 40-50 per cent in the first two months of this year, while restaurants and catering services lost 70-80 per cent of customers compared to the same period last year, the Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association ( VBA) said.
The VBA said Decree 100, which took effect on January 1, slapped heavy sanctions on inebriated drivers, leading to plunging sales of booze.
The industry has suffered again since the beginning of 2020 as the spread of Covid19 forces companies to announce layoffs and stores selling non-essential products are requested to shutter.
But according to the brewers, the capital for dividend payment was sourced from their undistributed profit earnings last year.
West Coach Station JSC ( WCS) also surprised shareholders after announcing a plan to spend 129 billion dong to pay 2019 dividend at a rate of 516 per cent.
Every shareholder will receive 51,600 dong for each share they have.
In 2018, the company paid a dividend at a high rate of 400 per cent, meaning each shareholder received 40,000 dong for every share they owned.
The company, listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, earned 157 billion dong in revenue and 86 billion dong in pre-tax profit last year.
It forecast revenue and post-tax profit down 17 per cent and 22 per cent this year, respectively, compared to the previous year, reaching 130 and 54 billion dong.
WCS leaders said the Covid19 pandemic had caused a sharp drop in their earnings in the first few months of the year as many transport firms were forced to stop working because of social distancing orders.
As the pandemic is being contained effectively, transportation activities are resuming but demand had not yet come back to normal.
WCS closed on Friday at 194,000 dong per share.
Cuu Long Fish JSC (ACL) has recently announced it will pay the 2019 dividend in stock at a rate of 135 per cent.
ACL reported 1.4 trillion dong in net revenue last year, down 16 per cent year-onyear. Post-tax profit touched 141.7 billion dong, down 38.5 per cent year-on-year.
Clever Group Corp (ADG) last month announced a plan to issue 3.44 million shares to pay the 2019 dividend at a rate of 41.6 per cent. It also plans to issue 6.09 million bonus shares.
Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company ( Vinexad) has also paid a 2019 dividend at a rate of 70 per cent in cash. Vinexad has charter capital of more than 12.2 billion dong. VIET NAM NEWS/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK