Oops, you missed Safaricom dividend? Here’s what to do

By Nairobi Stocks Review

Safaricom completed distributing its final dividend for the financial year ended March 2021 on August 30. Some investors may have missed the dividend. If did not receive the money, all is not lost.

Safaricom runs profitable telecom and mobile money businesses. The company has a practice of sending back some of the profit it makes to its shareholders through regular dividend distributions. In the latest payout, the company distributed a dividend of Ksh0.92 per share. It previously paid an interim dividend of Ksh0.45 per share. Therefore, Safaricom’s dividend per share for the 2021 financial year ended March was Ksh1.37.

Safaricom dividend history

Safaricom has a long dividend history. The company has consistently paid dividends since its IPO. Notably, Safaricom spends 80 percent of its annual profit on dividends.

Why you may have missed Safaricom’s latest dividend

Safaricom pays the dividend to its shareholders. Therefore, if you don’t own Safaricom shares, you would be ineligible for the dividend. If you just recently purchased Safaricom shares, you may have been time barred for the latest dividend. You needed to be in the register of Safaricom shareholders by July 30 to be eligible for the latest dividend distribution.

How to qualify for Safaricom’s next dividend

Safaricom is expected to continue paying dividends to its shareholders. To qualify for the next dividend, you need to buy Safaricom shares if you are not already a shareholder.

Safaricom shares are traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. If you want to buy Safaricom shares, you will first need to open a CDS account. Once you have the account set up, you will decide the amount of shares you want to purchase and place your order. Keep in mind that the minimum number of Safaricom shares you can buy is 100 shares.