If there was ever any doubt about money for Brazil: hareholders of the Pay-TV provider’s broad-based black economic empowerment schemes will receive ordinary and special dividends amounting to R900m Share Article: PAY-TV provider MultiChoice said on Thursday that its black empowerment schemes would receive ordinary and special dividends amounting to R900m. Shareholders of the company’s broad-based black economic empowerment schemes, Phuthuma Nathi and Phuthuma Nathi 2, have seen a more than threefold rise in ordinary dividends since 2007, according to Nolo Letele, executive chairman of MultiChoice South Africa. The schemes have about 120,000 black shareholders, according to MultiChoice. The dividends announcement follows MultiChoice’s report earlier in the year of a "solid performance" for the year ended March, where it achieved a 17% rise in consolidated revenue to R23.9bn, driven by a growing subscriber base and higher advertising revenue. MultiChoice reported that its core headline earnings were up 15% on the prior year. MultiChoice said on Thursday the Phuthuma Nathi companies would receive an ordinary dividend of R480m – compared with R400m in 2012, as well as a special dividend of R420m. In turn, the Phuthuma Nathi companies would pay shareholders an ordinary dividend of 142.22c per ordinary share plus a special dividend of 124.44c per ordinary share. This meant Phuthuma Nathi shareholders would receive dividends amounting to 266.66c per ordinary Phuthuma Nathi share, compared with 118.5c in 2012 — a "significant increase of 125%", MultiChoice said. Mr Letele said the ordinary dividends received by Phuthuma Nathi shareholders "have more than tripled, growing from 43.3c per share in 2007 to 142.22c per share in 2013". He said that including 2013’s special dividend, Phuthuma Nathi shareholders had to date received R6.88 per share. MultiChoice said the special dividends had also been paid to reduce the original debt when the scheme launched in 2006. "If MultiChoice continues to do well and is able to pay dividends, the preference share debt will be paid off in the coming years and the amount of dividends received by shareholders should increase even further over time," the group said. Phuthuma Nathi shares started trading publicly in December 2011. The trading platform for the Phuthuma Nathi companies has hosted more than 16,000 deals to date, representing a volume of 10.9-million shares traded. A year ago, the limited liquidity of the Phuthuma Nathi companies was flagged by MultiChoice as part of the reason that the schemes’ share price had failed to reach analysts’ pretrading valuations. However, Phuthuma Nathi shares have climbed since then from below R40 to near R100 at Thursday’s prices. But this remains below pretrading forecasts. Nine brokerage firms approached by MultiChoice ahead of the launch of the schemes in 2011 estimated the value at between R112 and R178 a share, before discounts. Their estimates were based on cash-flow models that took into account the value of MultiChoice, its performance and how Phuthuma Nathi fitted in as a 20% shareholder. Chairman of both Phuthuma Nathi companies Mandla Langa said "Phuthuma Nathi has enabled ordinary black South Africans to invest in an innovative and cutting edge company".
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:02:00 +0000
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