Sechaba Brewery Holdings Directors has advised shareholders that there remain significant amounts of unclaimed dividends in the company’s financial records. The directors did not state the amount or the number of shareholders who have not claimed their dividends.
“Shareholders are reminded to contact the Company Secretary to claim their outstanding dividends,” read part of the statement accompanying the Group’s interim financial results published last week.
Available figures show that the brewery group, which is partly owned by government through the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), has paid the highest interim dividend in 2013. According to the figures from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), Sechaba, which has market capitalisation of P2.4 billion declared a 22 thebe per share dividend payout in July, the highest interim dividend declared during that reporting particular reporting season.
When presenting the company’s interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2013 last week, group Managing Director Johan De Kok said that the company has recorded a turnover growth of 7 percent to P865.5 million.
To date Sechaba remains the only listed company that pays dividends on a quarterly basis having announced in its annual report that it’s declared dividend of P131.7 million in 2012, up by 4.2 percent over P126.3 million in the prior year. The total net dividend declared during the year increased from 95 thebe to 99 thebe per share.
Meanwhile the company’s financials shows that during the 2013 interim period, it recorded a 5 percent decline in beverage volumes, especially traditional beer volumes which fell by 23 percent due to the introduction of Traditional Beer Regulations. Non alcoholic beverages which include sparkling soft drinks, 2L PET, Source water and Mageu rose 6 percent, with Mageu leading the pack, growing by 17 percent.
At the same time, Sechaba’s Gross Profit rose 14 percent which De Kok align to continued production costs savings and the further increase sale of bulk packs. Admin expenses rose 15 percent due to increased maintenance on the ageing operating plants and increased depreciation that laid pressure on the capital expenditure.
The company’s operating profit however increased by 16 percent as a result of cost savings with operating margin increasing from 19.8 percent to 21.5 percent.
The Botswana Stock Exchange quoted firm has its Earnings Per Share (EPS) tallied at 64thebe from the previous 52thebe.
