Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化纖), one of the main aromatics and styrenics suppliers in Asia, on Friday said its board had approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$7 per common share, the highest since 2011 when it paid NT$7.5 to shareholders.
The company’s proposed cash dividend, if approved by shareholders on June 15, would be 25 percent higher than the NT$5.6 that it paid the previous year.
Based on last year’s record-high earnings per share (EPS) of NT$9.3, the payout ratio is 75.27 percent. With the company’s shares closing at NT$110 on Friday, the proposed dividend represents a yield of 6.36 percent.
The company said its board also gave the green light to issue up to NT$6.5 billion in unsecured corporate bonds to repay debt, fund future expansion and strengthen its working capital, a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
Formosa Chemicals is the second major unit of Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) to report a high dividend on last year’s strong performance.
Affiliate Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s (台塑石化) board on Thursday last week approved a cash dividend of NT$6.3 per share, the highest since 2008 when it paid NT$6.7 per share.
Based on last year’s record EPS of NT$8.42, the refiner’s payout ratio is 74.82 percent, compared with the previous year’s 75.47 percent.
With its shares closing at NT$116 on Friday, Formosa Petrochemical’s proposed dividend translates into a yield of 5.43 percent, higher than local banks’ fixed-term deposit interest rates.
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the flagship company of the industrial conglomerate and the nation’s largest maker of polyvinyl chloride resins, is scheduled to announce its dividend plans after a board meeting on Thursday, while the dividend policy of Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), which manufactures plastic products, fiber products, electronic materials and petrochemical products, is to be made public after its board meeting on Friday.
If the two firms were to maintain similar payout ratios of about 74 percent to 75 percent, like their affiliates, Formosa Plastics would offer its shareholders a cash dividend of NT$5.61 to NT$5.69 per share, while Nan Ya Plastics might pay NT$5.09 to NT$5.15 per share, based on last year’s EPS of NT$7.58 and NT$6.87 respectively.
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