First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB) has declared and paid a dividend of 14 kobo per ordinary share, translating to N2.77 billion for the financial period ended Monday, December 31, 2018.
The dividend was electronically paid on Monday, April 29, 2019, to shareholders whose names appeared on the Register of Members as at Thursday, April 11, 2019.
Shareholders who completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the Payment Date Registrar to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts also received payment.
The Register of Shareholders was closed from Friday, April 12, 2019, to Thursday, April 18, 2019, while Qualification Date was Thursday, April 11, 2019.
FCMB recorded an impressive financial results: FCMB records a gross revenue of N177.4 billion in 2018 against N169.9 billion in 2017. The company’s revenue grew by 4.3 percent year-on-year.
The company’s profit before tax stood at N18.4 billion in 2018 as against N11.5 billion in 2017. This represents a 73 per cent increment.
Profit after tax stood at N14.9 million in 2018 against N8.6 million in 2017. This represents an increment of 73.8 per cent.
Understanding Dividend: A dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits. When a company earns a profit or surplus, it reinvests a portion of the profit in the business (retained earnings) whilst paying a portion as dividends to the shareholders.
Distribution to shareholders may be in cash (usually a deposit into a bank account) or the issuance of further shares, otherwise known as shares repurchase. But this is usually if the company has a dividend reinvestment plan.
In other words, a dividend is allocated as a fixed amount per share with shareholders receiving a dividend in proportion to their shareholding. For the joint-stock company, paying dividends is not an expense; rather, it is the division of after-tax profits among shareholders.
About FCMB: FCMB Plc provides financial services including micro-lending, asset management, stock-broking, trusteeship, custodial services, foreign exchange, personal banking, corporate & commercial banking, investment banking and transaction banking.
The company is currently trading N1.85 on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
