Tadawul 74 Listed Companies Distribute SR261bln, in Cash Dividends for 2021

As many as 74 companies listed on the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul, provided shareholders with cash dividends, with a total value of SR260.6 billion for the Year 2021, or part of it, at least, as some other companies have a different financial-commercial year.

Out of the total, about 23 companies announced cash dividends for the whole Year 2021, worth SR29.14 billion, which is more than what those companies distributed, during the past year (at SR19.19 billion), an increase of 51.9%, indicating that these companies have recovered from the effects of the pandemic.

6 companies announced dividends for the Year 2021

These six companies have doubled their dividends, led by Sahara International Petrochemical Company “Sipchem”, which raised its cash dividends by 347% to SR1.64 billion, compared to SR366.7 million for the Year 2020.

Saudi Fransi ranked second among the companies that raised their dividends for the whole Year 2021, as it raised its by 275% to SR1.79 billion, compared to SR479.98 million for the Year 2020, and SABIC Agricultural Nutrients company raised its distribution by 127% to SR2.02 billion, compared to SR1.892.7 billion for the Year 2020, and Riyad Bank raised the value of its cash dividends by 108% to SR3.12 billion, compared to SR1.5 billion for the Year 2020.

Meanwhile each of the Arab National Bank and Dallah Health increased dividends by 100%, to SR1.2 billion, and SR135 million for the Year 2021, compared to SR600 million and SR67.5 million, respectively, for the Year 2020.

Nine companies announced dividends for 9 months, with a value of SR218.8 billion, including STC and Aramco, and they will surely announce dividends for the fourth quarter of this year, as STC announced that it has a dividend policy for a period of three years, starting from the fourth of 2021, while Aramco announced, upon listing, its commitment to cash dividends of $75 billion annually, until 2024.

Among the nine companies were the Sulaiman Al-Habib Group, which distributed 40% more than the dividends for the whole Year 2020, and Saudi Chemical, which distributed over the nine months SR42.2 million, which is more than its distributions for the whole Year 2020.

Fitness Time distributed SR64.4 million for the nine months of 2021, while no profits were distributed for the Year 2020.

Other 36 companies announced dividends for the first half of 2021, with a value of SR11.13 billion.

The distributions of three of those companies were higher than what they distributed for the whole Year 2020, as National Gas and Industrialization announced distributions of SR56.3 million, which is 50% more than its distributions for the Year 2020, amounting to SR37.5 million, while Al-Rajhi Bank will not announce distributions of SR3.5 billion for the first half of 2021, an increase of 40% over its entire distributions, in the year 2020 of SR2.5 billion.

“SABB”, Bank Al-Jazira and the Saudi Ceramic Company distributed cash dividends for the first half of 2021, amounting to SR1.03 billion, SR287 million, and SR59.8 million, respectively, while they had not announced dividends last year.

There are 7 newly listed companies, 4 of which announced cash dividends for the first half of 2021, including Autumn, Canadian Medical Center, Burgerizzr, and Banan Real Estate, while Nayifat Finance announced dividends for the second and third quarters, and the expert for income for the period from February 21 to June 30, 2021, Mobi announced dividends for the second quarter of 2021.

On the other hand, six companies announced a future distribution policy, STC announced that its board of directors approved a distribution policy for the next three years starting from the fourth quarter of 2021, a policy based on maintaining a minimum dividend per share on a quarterly basis, at a value of SR01.00.

The company will consider paying additional distributions, so that the additional distributions are subject to the recommendation of the Board of Directors to the company’s general assembly, after evaluating the company’s financial position, future expectations and capital requirements of the company.

The additional dividends are likely to vary from one quarter to another based on the company’s performance, and the company had made additional distributions of SR2 billion for the Year 2020.

And “Al-Andalus Real Estate” announced that its board of directors approved a policy for distributing profits for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, and these are aimed at the policy to maintain a minimum dividend per share, based on 60% of the net profit annually, and the distribution will be semi-annually.

The Board of Directors of the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia has also approved a dividend distribution policy for the Years 2020, 2021 and 2022, and the company aims to distribute SR01.00 per share for each Half a year. The Canadian General Medical Center Complex Company has approved a dividend policy for the Years 2021 and 2022, and the policy aims to maintain a minimum dividend per share on the basis of SR03.00 annually and semi-annually.

Al-Moammar Information Systems (MES) announced that its board of directors approved a dividend policy for the Years 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the policy aims to maintain a minimum dividend per share based on 45% of net profits annually, provided that the distribution is half-annual.

The distribution of Alujain Holding Company in 2021 was its first distribution since 2016.

The company aims to distribute profits to the company’s shareholders, with a minimum of SR01.00, equivalent to 10% of the paid-in capital for each year for the Years 2022 and 2023.

Importance of dividends 2021

The importance of dividends during the current year comes from the fact that it is the year following the Coronavirs pandemic, which forced many companies not to distribute cash dividends or reduce the volume of distributions, as that was a norm not limited to companies inside the Kingdom but was globally prevailing.

The announced dividends for the current year or part of it have implicit reference to the improvement in the profits of these companies during the Year 2021, which has not yet begun to be announced, and the improvement in profits in the fourth quarter, in particular, and at the same time it is an indication of the improvement, in the profits of listed companies, in general, where companies are distributed amid so many sectors.