Safaricom Shareholders Approve KSh26.04 Billion Dividend

Safaricom shareholders have approved a final dividend of KSh0.65 per share, amounting to KSh26.04 billion for the financial year ended 31st March 2024.

This follows an interim dividend of KSh0.55 per share, totaling KSh22.04 billion, that was paid in March 2024 bringing the total dividend payout for the year to KSh1.20 per share, representing a total of KSh48.08 billion.

The telco maintained a KSh1.20 per share dividend in net profit for the full fiscal year 2024, having recorded a mild 1.2% jump in profit after tax to shareholders in the period.

The strong performance was buoyed by a surge in service revenue in the Kenyan unit, particularly MPESA. However, the Ethiopian subsidiary dragged the overall performance with the board maintaining optimism of a break even scenario.

“In the financial year under review, the business displayed significant resilience in producing outstanding growth in both our top and bottom lines. This enabled us to achieve a major milestone, attaining, in our Kenyan business alone, earnings of more than US$1 billion before tax and interest (EBIT),” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom PLC Group CEO.

“Safaricom is the first company in the Eastern Africa region to attain this landmark number,” he added.

The approval was given at the 16th Annual General Meeting held today virtually following a recommendation from the Board of Directors earlier in March.

The dividend will be payable on or about 31 August 2024 to the Shareholders on the Register of Members as at the close of business on 31 July 2024.

“I am encouraged by the resilience demonstrated to deliver a very strong set of financial results, which enabled us to pay a similar dividend to last year’s despite the startup losses in Ethiopia. This success is attributable to strong strategy execution which has once again guided our decisions to deliver for our shareholders while giving more value to our customers.” Mr Adil Khawaja, Chairman of the Board said.

The telco exhibited resilience in their performance notwithstanding the challenging economic environment in both Kenya and Ethiopia, elevated interest rates, inflation and currency fluctuations impacting disposable income and business operations.

Safaricom has been on a bearish run for the past few weeks closing the previous trading session at KSh15.55, a year-to-date gain of 11.87%.