News Desk
MTN Nigeria, one of the leading mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country, has secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the registration of ordinary shares to allow the company to issue dividends as shares to 5,192 shareholders.
The telecom operator disclosed this in a statement signed by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah which was sent to Nigeria Exchange Limited.
The statement reads: “MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) is pleased to announce that it has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the registration of the ordinary shares issued under the recently established scrip dividend election plan (the “Plan”).
“Under the Plan, 5,192 shareholders elected to receive their FY 2022 final dividends in the form of shares, equivalent to 641,047,053 new ordinary shares of 2kobo each at N232.68 per share. This brings the total issued shares of the Company to 20,995,560,103.
“In line with the regulatory guidelines, the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) accounts of qualified shareholders will be credited in the coming days”, it added.
In investment terminology, a scrip dividend is a method through which a company allows its shareholders to receive dividends in the form of additional shares, rather than cash payments.
It would be recalled that the telecom company reported that its pre-tax profits fell by 64% to N44.6 billion in Q2 2023 second-quarter, dipping its half-year profit to N200.3 billion compared to N268.6 billion recorded in H2 2022.
However, the operating revenue for the period increased to N590.6 billion, representing an increase of 23.3% growth year-on-year.
