Forte Oil Plc has declared an interim dividend of N1.15 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share for the financial period ended Monday, December 31, 2018.
On Monday, June 10, 2019, the dividends will be paid electronically to shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as at Monday, June 3, 2019.
While Qualification date has been scheduled for Monday, June 3, 2019, the Register of Shareholders will be closed from Tuesday, June 4, 2019, to Friday, June 7, 2019.
Company financial results: The company’s revenue increased from N28 billion in Q1 2018 to N42 billion in 2019, marking an increment of 50%.
Gross profit equally rose from N2 billion in 2018 to N3 billion in 2019, also representing a 50% increase.
Profit before tax jumped from N58 million in 2018 to N454 million in 2019, showing a hike of 677.3%. Profit after tax also increased from N2.9 billion in 2018 to N3.3 billion in 2019, representing an increase of 13.79%.
More so, earnings per share reduced from N0.41 in 2018 to N0.13 in 2019.
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 the company: Forte Oil Plc is an integrated energy group. It operates in the downstream sector, power generation, and upstream petroleum sector. The company is engaged in the marketing of petroleum products directed at the automobile, industrial, aviation, and marine markets.
Forte Oil Plc traded N27.80 in the last trading session of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).