Sampath Bank continues to pay a higher dividend

Sampath Bank successfully convened its 33rd Annual General Meeting at The Kingsbury in Colombo recently at which the shareholders approved the dividend proposed by the Directors for the year ended 31 December 2018. 

Accordingly, the bank announced that it will pay a final dividend of Rs 16.25 per share, consisting of a cash dividend of Rs. 5 per share and a scrip dividend of Rs. 11.25 per share, for the financial year 2018, a distribution of Rs. 4.6 billion. It is noteworthy to mention that despite the challenging macro-economic conditions; the bank has able to maintain the same level of distribution to its shareholders in 2018 when compared to the previous year.  

In recently announced results, Sampath Bank recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 18.3 billion for the year ended 31 December 2018, up by 10.5% against Rs. 16.6 billion earned in 2017, despite the additional impairment provisions made due to the adoption of the new accounting standard SLFRS 9 in 2018. This is a significant achievement given the challenging macroeconomic conditions that were present right throughout the year. 

In order to comply with the BASEL III new regulatory requirements and also to strengthen its capital base, the bank has successfully raised Rs. 20 billion worth of Tier I Capital by way of rights issues during the last 18 months. The bank also announced a further rights issue in March, the full proceeds of which are expected during Q2 2019. 

A further Rs. 20.5 billion worth of Tier II Capital was raised via BASEL III compliant debenture issues during the last 18 months, including the recently concluded debenture issue of Rs. 7 billion. The bank’s debenture issues were oversubscribed in all these instances reinforcing the level of confidence the investors have placed in Sampath Bank.