India Inc on a dividend binge

Promoters of India Inc have been generous this financial year. First they rewarded their shareholders with a series of bonus issues, and now interim dividend are flooding the street.

Over 100 companies, flush with hefty profits in the current half year, have proposed interim dividends for the current fiscal. As many as 40 companies have already announced paying out 50 per cent or more of the total amount paid last year as dividends in the first half itself.

Out of the 104 firms, data for which were compiled by the BS Research Bureau, 54 have declared interim dividends, aggregating to Rs 1,024.07 crore in the first-half against Rs 2,574.57 crore paid during the full financial year 2003-04.

These 54 firms have posted Rs 5,277.40 crore in net profit in the first six months of 2004-05 as against a net profit of Rs 6,369.16 crore in the entire financial year 2003-04. 
 

The payout pashas
Rs crore	Interim dividend		Net profit in
	Per share (Rs)	Amount	H1, '04-05
TCS	3.00	144.03	963.26
Infosys Techn	5.00	133.28	849.32
Larsen & Toubro	10.00	124.40	452.11
Shipping Corp	4.00	112.92	528.63
G E Shipping	3.50	66.62	269.54
Satyam Computer	2.00	63.52	362.26
Asian Paints	4.00	38.37	82.71
Dabur	1.00	28.63	63.66
Reliance Energy	1.10	20.40	238.26
Jindal Steel	5.00	15.40	244.98
Godrej Consumer	2.00	11.32	34.75
Saw Pipes	2.50	9.75	33.37
Kirl Oil Engine	5.00	9.71	33.14
Himatsing Seide	5.00	9.56	21.63
Navneet Publications	5.00	9.53	27.10
Sundaram Clayton	5.00	9.49	26.84
Ingersoll-Rand	3.00	9.47	92.02
Matrix Labs	6.00	8.73	82.69
Monsanto India	10.00	8.63	40.27

Promoters, as the largest stake holders, will take home 48 per cent of this (Rs 493.62 crore) as interim dividend. Public shareholders will get a 17 per cent share or Rs 172 crore of the dividend amount, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) take home a 16 per cent share (Rs 159 crore) as interim dividend.

Of the 54 companies, 11 firms including the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Varun Shipping, Saw Pipes, Omax Autos and Shah Alloys have declared the same or more rate of interim dividend in the first half as they paid in the whole of last year.

Thirty-one companies have declared more than 40 per cent of the dividend paid out last year in the first six months itself, while three firms "" Praj Industries, Chemfab Alkalis and Axis Capital "" have announced interim dividends between 20-36 per cent against nil dividend payment last year.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which declared a maiden interim dividend of 300 per cent (Rs 3 per share on Re one paid-up) for the current year, has to pay the highest interim dividend of Rs 144.03 crore. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 963.26 crore during the six months ended September 2004.

Infosys Technologies has to make an interim dividend of Rs 133.28 crore on a net profit of Rs 849.32 crore in the first six months.