HARARE - Microfinance institution GetBucks Zimbabwe (GetBucks) has declared an interim dividend of $500 000 for the six months to December 31, 2015, despite a difficult operating environment.
In a statement accompanying the MFI’s financials for its half year, GetBucks company secretary Paul Soko said the dividend was $0,0457 per share in respect of all of the company’s ordinary shares.
“The dividend is in respect of the six months ended December 31, 2015 and will be paid in full to all shareholders of the company registered at the close of business on April 15, 2016,” the company secretary said, adding that the payment of the dividend was to take place on or about April 29.
This comes as the MFI managed to raise $3,2 million through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) despite the process being undersubscribed.
Figures released by the company recently revealed that only $72 380 was subscribed by investors out of the initial target of $3,2 million resulting in the group’s underwriter, DBF Capital, taking up 97,71 percent of the IPO.
The MFI opened its offer on December 7 last year with one billion shares on the table but 2 145 120 shares were snapped up by the public — translating to a subscription rate of 2,29 percent.
Before the IPO, the specialist lender was 55 percent owned by GetBucks Limited, a company registered in Mauritius and 34,06 percent owned by Brainworks Capital Management (Private) Limited, also registered in Mauritius.
The balance was owned by various local pension funds, with the total costs associated with the listing approximately $300 000.
Meanwhile, the group posted profit of $1,9 million for the half year, despite a challenging operating environment.
Total assets surged 15 percent from $14 million to $15,8 million with over 80 percent of the assets being interest bearing.
Customer loans for the half year were also consistently above $11 million during the period under review.
The MFI’s interest income also surged 26 percent to $3,3 million from $2,8 million while operating expenses also grew to $2,4 million from $1,1 million as the group expanded after upgrading to a deposit-taking MFI.
Interest income stood at $3,3 million from $2,8 million as net cash from financing activities was also up to $1,9 million from $957 708.