Kayode Tokede
The market capitalisation of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc reached N5.77trillion at the close of trade last week, following the f listing of additional 641,047,053 ordinary shares on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) arising from the company’s scrip dividend scheme.
The stock price of MTN Nigeria closed last week at N275.00 per share.
A scrip dividend is a method through which a company allows its shareholders to receive dividends in the form of additional shares, rather than cash payments.
The outstanding shares of the telecommunication giant on the NGX was 20,354,513,050.00 and the 641,047,053listing thrust it to 20,995,560,103.
The reported N5.77trillion in market capitalisation positioned MTN Nigeria as the second most capitalised stock on NGX, after Dangote Cement with N6.13trillion in market capitalisation.
The NGX in a statement said additional 641,047,053 ordinary shares of 2 kobo each of MTN Nigeria Communication were listed on the daily official list of the Exchange
According to the notice, “The additional shares listed on NGX arose from MTN’s Scrip Dividend Election Scheme. With this listing of the additional 641,047,053 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of MTN has now increased from 20,354,513,050 to 20,995,560,103 ordinary shares of 2 kobo each”.
Company Secretary, MTN Nigeria, Uto Ukpanah had announced in a statement that the telecommunication company obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the registration of the ordinary shares to allow the company to issue dividends as shares to 5,192 shareholders.
According to him, “MTN Nigeria Communications Plc is pleased to announce that it has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the registration of the ordinary shares issued under the recently established scrip dividend election plan (the “Plan”).
“Under the Plan, 5,192 shareholders elected to receive their FY 2022 final dividends in the form of shares, equivalent to 641,047,053 new ordinary shares of 2kobo each at N232.68 per share. This brings the total issued shares of the Company to 20,995,560,103. In line with the regulatory guidelines, the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) accounts of qualified shareholders will be credited in the coming days.”
MTN reported a 29.14per cent decline in its profit for the half year ended June 30, 2023 to N128 billion, compared to N181 billion during the same period in 2022. Conversely, the telco’s revenue grew by 21.96per cent to N1.15 trillion in H1 2023, compared to N950 billion in the same period in 2022.
