BY BUSINESS EDITOR
MBABANE– SBC Limited has declared an interim dividend of E20 million.
The dividend of E 0.21 cents per share was declared to all ordinary shareholders registered as such in the company’s register on December 8, 2023 and paid out on December 22, 2023.
SBC Limited Group is an investment holding company listed on the ESE that provides financial services under Select Limited (Lesotho & Eswatini) and is also behind the Malkerns Square Project.
In February, SBC declared an interim dividend of E30 million, the ESE for 2023 noted that the interim dividend of E30 million comprises 31 cents per share to ordinary shareholders who will be registered in the company’s share register at the close of business on or before 13 February 2023.
“Payment of dividend is expected to be no later than 23 February 2023. Normal and withholding tax will be deducted from dividends paid to local shareholders and non-resident shareholders respectively, where applicable” notes the ESE monthly report.
Worth noting is that the group disclosed in their six-month period ended 30 June 2022 that they recorded a substantial profit after tax of E29.4 million.
“The SBC Group revenues increased by 14.6% to E184.2m, compared to (June 2021: E160.7m), also included revenue of E7.5m, as compared to (June 2021: E3.8m) generated from the retail and residential rentals of our Malkerns Square property development.
Although the retail portion of the development was fully leased during the period under review, the residential portion was approximately 70% occupied as of 30 June 2022 (June 2021: 45%), equating to a 56% increase in occupancy since 30 June 2021” notes the investment holding company in their report for the six months ended 30 June 2022.
Moreover, the ESE monthly report observes that the local equity market’s capitalization remained constant at SZL4, 364,278,514 from December 2022 to the end of January 2023.
“Likewise, there was no change in the market capitalization because all the trades for the period under review did not cause share prices to change. Year-on-year, the market capitalization realized a 1.44% gain from SZL4, 302,346,581 in January 2022 to SZL4, 364,278,514 at the end of January 2023,” notes the ESE monthly report.
