24 Feb 2010 Emirates 24|7
 

Strong dividends despite profit dip

  • Text size
  •  
  •  

UAE firms continue to give generous dividends to shareholders despite a general fall in profits recorded by most for the financial year ending December 31, 2009.

The largest payout will be made by etisalat, which has recommended a 60 per cent dividend. The telecom operator will pay Dh4.3 billion, subject to shareholder approval.

Emirates NBDEmirates NBDLoading... will pay Dh1.1bn as dividend, with the board of directors recommending a 20 per cent cash dividend.

In the case of Oman Insurance, while the cash dividend is 40 per cent, the stock dividend proposed by the board is 10 per cent.

Among other top dividend payers are Dubai Islamic BankDubai Islamic BankLoading..., over Dh689 million, First Gulf BankFirst Gulf BankLoading... Dh687.5m and Air ArabiaAir ArabiaLoading... about Dh467m, subject to shareholder approvals.

Total dividends proposed by the companies compiled by Emirates Business so far cross Dh8bn. Majority of the firms are yet to make their dividend announcement.

"UAE firms have generally continued their policy of returning cash to shareholders through dividend payments, particularly in the case of banks," said Ian Munro, Head of Research, Mac Capital Advisors.

Most UAE banks have declared cash dividends in spite of a fall in profits as a result of high provisions for non-performing loans. Dividend payments will infuse confidence among shareholders, say analysts.

By Shveta Pathak

© Emirates Business 24/7 2010
x DISCLAIMER

Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.

Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Access to this article is subject to specific terms and condition.
 
 

Post a Comment

 
  • Comment Title (optional)
  • Express your views or tell us more about this article
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email Address
  • Company Name (optional)
Leave this field empty
 
 
Zawya Comment Policy
 
  1. Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
    1.1   Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
    1.2   Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
    1.3   Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
    1.4   Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
    1.5   Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
    1.6   Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
    1.7   Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
  2. The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
  3. Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
  4. By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.