Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its board of directors has approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$8 per common share based on last year’s earnings and NT$2 per share for this quarter’s earnings.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker said that it would distribute the former in July and the latter in the fourth quarter of this year after obtaining final approval from shareholders at a shareholders’ meeting to be held on June 5.
It would be the first time the three-decade-old company would pay two cash dividends in a calendar year, instead of the usual once per year.
The board yesterday also approved a new distribution scheme to pay cash dividends on a quarterly basis.
TSMC would be the nation’s first listed company to pay quarterly cash dividends after lawmakers passed amendments to the Company Act (公司法) last summer.
The changes aim to give greater flexibility to listed companies when arranging their cash dividend payments, instead of requiring them to pay dividends once per year.
The distribution of NT$8 per common share, same as last year, represents a payout ratio of 59 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$13.54 last year.
“TSMC intends to continue its stable dividend policy and return about 70 percent of its free cash flow to shareholders every year,” the company said in a statement.
“As the company’s business continues to grow and generates greater amounts of free cash flow, it expects to maintain a sustainable quarterly cash dividend and to distribute the cash dividend each year at a level not lower than the year before,” it said.
The board approved a proposal to distribute a total bonus of NT$47.14 billion to the company’s employees in July, TSMC said.
The board agreed to appropriate about US$3.73 billion to install advanced technology capacity and convert logic capacity to specialty technology capacity, the company said.
A budget would be earmarked for research and development capital investments and sustaining capital expenditure next quarter, the company added.
The board approved capital appropriation of US$4.91 million to increase the budget for capitalized leased assets in the first half of this year, it said.
It also promoted Liaw Y.H. (廖永豪), a senior director at Fab 15 B, to vice president, TSMC said.
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