By Peter Egwuatu with agency report
Despite the introduction of electronic dividend payment system, e- dividend, in the Nigerian capital market the total value of unclaimed dividend has risen sharply to N158.4 billion at the end of 2019, representing an increase of 32 percent from N120 billion recorded in 2018. About N100 billion of the amount is from unclaimed shares.
This was disclosed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.
The report revealed that the figure has been on the increase despite the introduction of e-dividend by SEC in 2015. From about N100 billion in 2017, it closed 2018 at over N120 billion.
Dividend is company’s earnings, decided and managed by the company’s board of directors, and paid to a class of its shareholders.
The earnings turned unclaimed when a shareholder fails to take ownership of an already paid dividend after six months.
The breakdown, according to the report, showed that unclaimed…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
