Shivam Cement to provide increased cash divided

KATHMANDU: Shivam Cement Limited is preparing to provide cash dividend of up to Rs 24.21 to its shareholders.

The 80th meeting of the company’s board of directors held on Wednesday has decided to submit the proposal at the general meeting for approval.

The company has announced that it will provide dividends worth Rs 1.065 billion from the profits made in the last fiscal year 2019/20. It will be the highest cash dividend that the company will be paying till date. It was able to increase the dividend amount after it became debt-free in July.

The company which has share investment of the public has cleared the entire loan taken when the company was being established. It had taken a loan of Rs seven billion from Nabil Bank, Nepal SBI Bank and Nepal Investment Bank under the leadership of Nepal Bank. The loan has been cleared within seven years of the company starting its operation.

The company also has 30 percent investment of the Chinese company, Hongshi Cement. Since the company has cleared all its loans, it automatically leads to a rise in its profits. As a result, shareholders are getting better output.

However, the company’s profit has of late been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the ever-increasing competition in the market. In the last fiscal year, it recorded net profit of Rs 1.065 billion while the profit was Rs 1.51 billion in the previous fiscal. The company is providing 15.78 percent dividend from the profit of these two years.

The total paid-up capital of the company isRs 4.40 billion and its share value in the secondary market stands at Rs 744.