LASACO Assurance Plc has declared a final dividend of 5 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share for 2018 business year.
The dividend will on Thursday, September 19, 2019, be paid electronically to shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as at Monday, August 19, 2019.
While the Register of Shareholders will be closed from Monday, August 19, 2019, to Friday, August 23, 2019, Qualification date has been scheduled for Friday, August 16, 2019.
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The company’s performance: LASACO has released its 2019 half-year financial results.
Its Profit After Tax grew significantly from the N382.4 million recorded during the corresponding period in 2018. The company reported a 25% growth, which hit N479.4 million in 2019 Half-Year financial report.
During the period under review, Gross Premium inched up by 11% from N6.1 billion in 2018 to N6.8 billion, while Profit Before Tax for Half-Year 2019 increased by 21% compared to the corresponding period of 2018.
In specific terms, LASACO’s PBT rose from N527.5 million in 2018 to N639.9 million this year, indicating an appreciation of N112.3 million over six months.
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 their bank accounts) or the issuance of further shares, otherwise known as shares repurchase. But this is usually done 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 shareholdings. For the joint-stock company, paying dividends is not an expense, rather, it is the division of after-tax profits among shareholders.
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