Big dividends in the mail

122 firms to pay Rs 5,500 crore interim dividend

On the back of a 100 per cent jump in share prices, investors are beaming at the prospects of big dividend cheques in the mail.

As many as 122 companies have paid out, or have proposed to pay, Rs 5,500 crore to shareholders as interim dividends in 2003-04. This is almost 25 per cent of these companies' aggregate net profit in the first nine months.

Public sector undertakings are more liberal with 16 of them proposing to pay Rs 2,134 crore as dividend out an aggregate net profit of Rs 12,776 crore in the first nine months. The remaining 106 companies have announced their intention to pay Rs 3,346 crore in dividends out of their aggregate net profit of Rs 9,259 crore.

The data on dividends announced, as compiled by the Business Standard Research Bureau, show the interim dividends range between 15 per cent and 500 per cent.

In January alone, 27 companies, including Gail, HCL Infosystems, HCL Technologies, Hero Honda, Matrix Labs, Monsanto India and Tata Motors, declared interim dividends in the range of 40-500 per cent.

Hero Honda declared a special interim dividend of 500 per cent "" Rs 10 per share of a face value of Rs 2 "" absorbing Rs 225.27 crore from its nine months' net profit of Rs 517.02 crore.

Tata Motors proposed an interim dividend of 40 per cent, the same as last year, on the back of a 218 per cent rise in net profit in the nine months of 2003-04.

Monsanto India declared a 100 per cent interim dividend against the 125 per cent paid last year.

Matrix Laboratories with a 50 per cent dividend against 100 per cent last year, HCL Infosystems 50 per cent (100 per cent), HCL Technologies 100 per cent (200 per cent), Essel Propack 70 per cent (65 per cent), Jubilant Organosys 75 per cent (90 per cent) and Navneet Publications 50 per cent (85 per cent) are a few of the companies that are paying out big.