The Saudi-British Bank recently announced that it intends to award semi-annual dividends to stockholders throughout the current year, and is therefore amending article 48 of its basic system.
Though the Bank itself refrained from specifying the amount of dividends to be distributed, market specialists estimate them at four to five Saudi riyals ($1) per stock, according to Al-Hayat daily.
The Saudi-British Bank is the first bank in Saudi Arabia to distribute semi-annual dividends. Other banks and joint stock companies in the Kingdom are likely to follow the lead of this initiative rather than distributing dividends exclusively at year-end.
The bank recently posted a net operating income of 743 million Saudi riyals ($198.1 million) for the year 2000, reflecting a 12 percent rise compared with the previous year. Earnings per share grew from SR 20.6 to SR 23.2 during the same period. –(MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
