KenGen managing director Rebecca Miano. FILE PHOTO | NMG Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has declared Sh1.649 billion dividends, ending shareholder’s six-month wait after the state firm delayed the decision due to lack of Auditor General.
The dividend declaration came yesterday after KenGen published its audited results for the year ended June 2019, after inspection by the new Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
This means Ms Gathungu, who assumed office on July 23, has made good her promise to prioritise audits of state-owned firms such as KenGen and Kenya Power that are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
“The directors propose to recommend to members at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM) payment of a first and final dividend of Sh0.25 per ordinary share held,” said the managing director Rebecca Miano.
The payout is scheduled around December 17 after next month’s AGM. Treasury will pocket Sh1.15 billion for its 69.99 percent stake.
KenGen board had in February released unaudited results after Capital Markets Authority clearance since the seat of auditor general was still vacant.
However, KenGen informed its investors that it could not make a dividend decision using unaudited results.
KenGen’s dividend payout is 37.5 percent below the Sh2.64 billion paid in the previous financial year and comes at a time many firms are freezing payout to preserve cash in the challenging Covid-19 environment.
The audited results showed that profit after tax dropped by Sh7 million to Sh7.88 billion from Sh7.89 billion posted in the previous period due to higher operating costs.
Yesterday’s net earnings are unchanged from the unaudited ones released late February.
The board expects Covid-19 impact to be reflected in the yet to be released results of the financial year ended June 2020.“The short-term impact of Covid-19 on the company’s performance is likely to be reflected in the 2019/2020 earnings,” said Ms Miano.KenGen half net profit to December 2019 surged 98 percent to Sh8.17 billion from Sh4.12 billion, boosted by tax savings and drilling works in Ethiopia.The firm received a tax credit of Sh1.85 billion from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) during the six-month period.The tax credit was on account of completing Olkaria V geothermal power plant with a capacity of 165 megawatts (MW) in November last year.KRA allows for investment deduction of up to 150 percent allowance on such capital expenditures.