JOHANNESBURG - Shares in financially troubled Steinhoff International Holdings rose 1.63 percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R2.40, after subsidiary Steinhoff Investment Holdings announced an increased additional dividend to preference shareholders.
Steinhoff Investment Holdings, which was only exposed to the group’s African assets and South African debt and dominated by the former Pepkor business, said yesterday it had decided to declare a gross dividend of 414.02568 cents a preference share, which will be payable on August 20 to preference shareholders recorded in the company’s book at the close of business on August 17.
This dividend is payable to the holders of 15million preference shares issued by the company for the period from January 1 to June 30 this year.
The company referred to its previous dividend declaration announcement on June 29 and reported that it would increase the preference dividend by a gross amount of 10.03132c a share.
Additional dividend
In the June announcement, the company indicated the additional dividend would amount to 6.9379c a share and not 10.03132c a share as now calculated. The additional dividend was increased to compensate holders for the period between the previous preference dividend declaration date on June 29 and the July 23 eventual payment date.
The total gross amount payable to holders, including the additional dividend, therefore amounted to 424.057c a share.
The preference dividend will be paid in rand and was subject to a local dividend tax rate of 20percent, resulting in a net dividend, including the additional dividend, of 339.2456c a preference share, unless the preference shareholder is exempt from dividend tax or is entitled to a reduced rate in terms of an applicable double-tax agreement.
Steinhoff International’s share price surged in trading on the JSE on July 3 by 54.7percent to R12.12, its highest peak in more than two months. An analyst attributed this rise to the expected payment of a preference share dividend next month.
Steinhoff Investment Holdings announced last month, when its parent company published its interim financial results, that its board had declared a gross dividend of 427.42c a preference share that was payable on July 23.
Steinhoff International last month reported a 6percent decline in revenue to 9.35bn in the six months to March from the 9.90bn in the previous corresponding period. Gross profit declined by 10percent to 3.65bn from 4.07bn
Operating loss escalated to 381m from the loss of 168m.
Steinhoff also said yesterday that lenders to its subsidiary Hemisphere had agreed to hold on their debt claims, and the firm will now move to restructure the company, according to Reuters. The parties will seek to implement the restructuring of Hemisphere by August 3.
In Europe, Dirk Schreiber had stepped down as a director of Steinhoff Europe.
He stepped down as a director of the convertible-bond unit Steinhoff Finance Holding last month.