Co-op Holdings Co-operative Society will earn a dividend of Sh3.79 billion out of the total Sh5.9 billion approved by Co-operative Bank shareholders during the Annual General Meeting yesterday. The society holds shares invested in Co-op Bank on behalf of co-operative societies and unions.
Other shareholders will take home the remaining Sh2.11 billion dividend. Following the approval, all shareholders will now get a dividend payment of Sh1 per share — which is 25 per cent higher compared to the 80 cents paid out in the previous year.
Co-op Bank Group chief executive and managing director Gideon Muriuki said this will be the highest payment ever made since the bank was listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
“This year’s Sh1 dividend matches the entire initial investment by the co-operative movement in the bank thereby enabling them to recoup their investment in full and can be regarded as ‘shilling-for-shilling’ dividend payout,” he said. Muriuki said the transformation agenda it established just before the interest rate caps came into being enabled the bank build significant resilience against seasonal shocks.
He said the bank has maintained a solid dividend track record on the back of sustained profitability over the years. In 2018, the bank reported an after-tax profit of Sh12.7 billion compared to Sh11.4 billion reported the previous year.
Muriuki said the performance was due to the transformative agenda. “The agenda that we have been implementing since 2014 focused on improving operational efficiency, giving superior customer service and lowering operating costs,” he said.
