RIYADH: Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, held a board meeting followed by the company's annual general meeting (AGM) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh on Sunday.
Prince Alwaleed said: "Kingdom Holding will distribute its first quarterly dividend of 12.5 halalas to shareholders as of March 27."
The AGM was attended by the KHC board comprising Talal Almaiman, executive director for development and domestic investments and member of the investment committee; Ahmed Halawani, executive director for private equity, international investments and member of the investment committee; Sarmad Zok, executive director of hotel investments and member of the investment committee; and Saleh Al-Sagri, Khaled Al-Saheem and Taher Agueel.
Shadi Sanbar, KHC's CFO and member of the investment committee, and Ali Al-Tabbal, deputy CFO, together with the representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and the Capital Market Authority (CMA), also attended the AGM meeting.
The board of directors and KHC's investors agreed on all the articles of the AGM including approval of the board of directors' report for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, with a 100 percent vote; approval of the company's financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011 with a 100 percent vote; releasing the board of directors for their actions during the period from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010 with a 96.36 percent vote; approval of the audit committee's proposal to select external auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the year 2011 with a 100 percent vote; approval of the board of directors' decision on the appointment of Sarmad Nabil El Zok as a member of the board of directors who was chosen to replace Pearly Shoucair with a 100 percent vote; and approval to authorize the board of directors to distribute quarterly dividends with a 100 percent vote.
In December 2010, KHC announced that pursuant to the resolution of the board of directors, the company intends to initiate its first annual cash dividend of SR550 million out of accumulated retained earnings. The cash dividend represents a payment of 5 percent of capital or 50 halalas per share to the public shareholders. With a current dividend yield of 5.7 percent to the public shareholders based on current market price, this reflects a move in the company's strategy to start distributing cash back to its shareholders as the company continues to experience improving results on the path of continuous profitability through its sound strategic plan. The cash dividend will be payable to shareholders of record in four quarterly payments of 12.5 halalas each quarter starting with the approval at the AGM, SR137.5 million every quarter.
© Arab News 2011
