UAE firms distributed $7.8bn in cash dividends in 2016
DUBAI, June 16, 2017
The UAE-based public joint-stock companies have disttibuted cash dividends worth around Dh28.5 billion ($7.75 billion) for the fiscal year 2016, said a repport, citing the Securities and Commodities Authority.
Of the total amount, Dh27.9 billion are cash dividends, comprising 98.05 per cent, while the remaining value, around Dh600 million, is bonus shares accounting for 1.95 per cent thereof, said the state news agency Wam.
The banking sector got the lion's share of the cash coming on top of all other economic platforms, with a total value of Dh12.1 billion, followed by the telecommunications sector at Dh7.87 billion and the property sector at a total of Dh4.2 billion.
The investment and financial services sector distributed about Dh1.3 billion, while the industrial platform's share reached Dh717 million, followed by the transportation sector at Dh639 million, with other listed sectors claiming the remaining cash, according to the report.
In terms of bonus shares, the realty sector came on top with total distributed shares worth Dh259 million, followed by the banking sector at Dh162 million, it stated.
At the industrial sector, the value of bonus shares distributed surged to Dh82 million, while it was Dh27 million for the services sector, Dh15 million for the insurance sector, with the consumer staples platform claiming around Dh10 million of the remaining distributed bonus shares, it added.
