Dividends to be paid by 2026 - Penberton

MBABANE – Shareholders of mobile telecommunications company Eswatini Mobile can expect to start receiving cash dividends on their investment by the year 2026.

The current shareholding sees the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) being the major shareholder, with 40 per cent; followed by Cherrybite (PTY) Ltd at 18.03 per cent; then Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) with 17.17 per cent; Stage 1 Communications (PTY) Ltd has 16.39 per cent; the Members Of Parliament and designated office Bearers Defined (MOPADO) holds 4.65 per cent; the Industrial Development Company of Eswatini (IDCE) is next at 1.64 per cent; and then the Eswatini Mobile Trust Limited (15 695 Reward Shareholders) holds 0.82 per cent. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Penberton explained that the first objective right now was for Eswatini Mobile to become super efficient so that the company could start to pay its debt from the initial profits that were coming through.

He said the internal agreement was that the shareholders needed to put more funds to get the business growing, so he would like to believe that come 2026 when the company is expected to be at par with competitors, they could then pay shares. “In terms of when will our existing shareholders see any returns in terms of dividends, that will probably be in the financial year 2026. We have to first start to pay our liabilities and obligations from the profit we are generating,” he said. However, he revealed that from April 4, 2023, the Eswatini Mobile Trust shareholders would be able to validate and process their Reward Share Certificates online at www.eswatinimobiletrust.co.sz.

He explain that all the shareholders had to do was to go to the webpage and put in their IDs, then a call would be sent to their qualifying numbers.

“Once validation is successful, the Reward Share Certificates will be issued immediately and be available for download.