Airtel Uganda has declared an interim dividend of Ush1.9 (Sh0.08) per share, handing investors who took part in its recently concluded initial public offering (IPO) an early return on their capital.
The telco, whose IPO was open to Kenyan investors, said in a notice that the Ush76 billion (Sh3.05 billion) payout will be funded out of the company’s retained earnings.
The company said the dividend shall be paid to all shareholders as at November 7, which was the date of listing of the IPO shares, which were sold between August 29 and October 27 raising Sh8.5 billion.
“The board of directors of Airtel Uganda Limited at the meeting held on November 24, 2023, resolved to declare and pay to the shareholders of the company an interim dividend for the year 2023 amounting to Ush76 billion…at a rate of Ush1.9 per share based on the company’s cumulative retained earnings as at September 30, 2023,” said Airtel Uganda in the notice.
Uganda’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF), which took up 4.2 billion shares or a 10.55 percent stake in the telco, will bank the biggest share of the dividends among the IPO buyers.
Individual investors acquired a total of 136 million shares, amounting to a 0.34 percent stake in the company.
The pension fund stepped in to boost the IPO which received an overall subscription rate of 54.45 percent after struggling to attract institutional investors.
In a bid to drum up investor interest, the company offered free incentive shares to buyers, subject to certain order volumes, with the extra stock forming part of 20 percent stake that Airtel Africa wanted to cede in the Ugandan subsidiary.
Free shares
With indications of low initial uptake, the IPO’s closure date was revised from October 13 to October 27, while incentive shares were also increased to make the offer more attractive. The free shares, for instance, were doubled from five to 10 for each 100 shares applied for by a retail investor buying more than 2,500 units.
Airtel Uganda was the latest telco to list in the East Africa region, joining MTN Uganda which is also listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).
Earlier listings were Safaricom on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and Vodacom Tanzania on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.
