Dubai: It sure is paying off for DEWA shareholders to hold on to their stocks, after the Dubai utility giant announced a further one-off dividend of Dh1.67 billion late on Wednesday (February 8).
That adds up to a staggering Dh9.9 billion what shareholders will be getting for the year – not just that, the total represents a 60 per cent increase on the ‘minimum’ annual dividend policy confirmed at the time of its IPO in April last.
Then, in December, DEWA announced a special dividend of Dh2.03 billion (which was what Empower, the Dubai district cooling company, paid it ahead of its own IPO in November.)
“The latest additional payout will take the DEWA dividend yield to over 8 per cent – and that’s easily the highest from any listed UAE company for 2022 from all the results announced to date,” said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners. “Apart from its own operational results, DEWA is also rewarding shareholders from the gains made through its majority holding in Empower.
“Yes, the 8 per cent plus yield was generated by two ‘one-off events’ relating to the Empower IPO and dividend. The bottom-line for DEWA shareholders is that these are astonishing returns.”
A district cooling company that manages some of Dubai most iconic developments, Empower went through its own successful IPO in November– part of a series of Dubai Government owned entities that went on to list on DFM. The process kicked-off with DEWA’s float in April.
Some power-packed numbers
Operationally, DEWA’s 2022 financials were in ‘record’ territory, with ‘consolidated’ net profit at Dh8 billion and an increase of 22 per cent the year before. The ‘standalone’ profit tally was Dh11.1 billion, and that’s a 101 per cent gain year-on-year.
The standalone sum derives from receiving Dh4.4 billion in ‘other income’. “The key drivers of this other income include Dh2.3 billion dividend received from Empower and Dh1.67 billion of profit from the sale of Empower shares,” said a DEWA statement.
“Relative to 2021, our gross profit, operating profit and net profit margins increased,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA. “For 2022, DEWA had promised to pay Dh6.2 billion in dividends - instead, DEWA intends to pay Dh9.9 billion.
“The delivery of our strategy has translated into exceptional returns to our shareholders.”
More to follow...
