Fareast Finance won’t pay dividend for third straight year
In a meeting on Tuesday, the board of directors did not recommend any dividend for the last financial year that ended on December 31, 2019
The ill-performing non-bank financial institution Fareast Finance and Investment will not pay dividends to its shareholders for a third consecutive year.
In a meeting on Tuesday, the board of directors did not recommend any dividend for the last financial year that ended on December 31, 2019–when the company incurred losses.
The company, which did not pay dividends to its shareholders for the 2017 and 2018 financial years too, has been languishing in Category Z since 2018.
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Meanwhile, the share price of the junk company, which was listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2013, increased by 6.98% to close at Tk4.50 on the country's premier bourse on Wednesday.
Final approval regarding the dividend will come during the annual general meeting (AGM) slated for October 29 in Dhaka.
October 7 has been set as the record date–the cut-off date used to determine which shareholders are entitled to a corporate dividend.
According to the price-sensitive information released by the company, it reported a loss per share of Tk4.38 in the 2019 financial year, which had been positive in the previous year.
Additionally, the net asset value (NAV) per share amounted to Tk2.85 for the year that ended on December 31 last year.
Further, its net operating cash flow stood at negative Tk1.19, which means the company is operating with a cash crisis.
Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, its net loss decreased compared to the same time of the previous year.
In its half-yearly unaudited report, the company, which offers leasing and financing services to its clients, posted a loss per share of Tk1.11, which was Tk3.45 in the previous year at the same time.
At the end of June 30, 2020, its NAV per share was only Tk1.74, and net operating cash flow was negative Tk0.67.
The current paid-up capital of the leasing and finance company is Tk164.04 crore.
As of July this year: sponsors and directors jointly held 41.88%, institutional investors 12.45%, foreign investors 0.08%, and general investors 45.59% of the company's shares.
