05th March 2019, Lusaka – ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH) has remitted a dividend of K16.8 million to the Ministry of Finance who own 17.25% of the Company.
This dividend is out of the K98.1 million total dividend declared for the year ended 31st March 2018.
Receiving the dividend cheque in Lusaka today, Minister of Finance Hon. Margaret Mwanakatwe commended ZCCM-IH for keeping the Company on a profitable path.
Mrs. Mwanakatwe says her Ministry is looking forward to more and much bigger dividends in the near future considering the bright prospects in copper prices.
“I would like to implore other state owned enterprises to emulate the performance of ZCCM-IH by being more creative and working hard at turning around their institutions to profitability”, said Mrs. Mwanakatwe.
She further states that her Ministry will continue to provide a conducive environment for state owned enterprises to improve their performance, by providing the right policies.
Speaking during the event, ZCCM-IH Acting Chief Executive Officer Mabvuto Chipata says ZCCM-IH remains focused on continuing to create value within the portfolio, to sustain the delivery of the return on investment for all shareholders.
“Our 2018-2023 strategic plan activities are aimed at maximising and deriving shareholder value from our existing investments in the mines and other sectors, including any new investments we will undertake as a Company”, says Mr. Chipata.
On Monday this week, ZCCM-IH also declared a NET dividend of K50.3 million to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and K14.7 million to the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA).
IDC Group Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mateyo Kaluba thanked ZCCM-IH for being consistent in paying dividends, calling on other state owned enterprises in the Group to emulate ZCCM-IH in remitting dividends to the IDC.
“We supervise a lot of companies who unfortunately over the years have not brought returns to us. As shareholders, we take special recognition of companies like ZCCM-IH who have been consistent. This is what we expect as shareholders”, says Mr. Kaluba.
He further urged ZCCM-IH to take a lead in the mining sector for the country to benefit from its mineral wealth, adding that ZCCM-IH should implore its investee companies in the mines to start declaring dividends.
Meanwhile, NAPSA General Manager Mr. Yollard Kachinda also commended ZCCM-IH for making a bold decision to declare a dividend in line with the company’s dividend policy.
“This is a very important development and a clear demonstration of the positive trajectory that we are on as far as our investments in ZCCM-IH are concerned. It is every business’ objective to make a return on its investment and this is exactly what we are seeing today” says Mr Kachinda.
As a Group, ZCCM-IH made a profit after tax of K843 million in 2018 from K729 million in 2017, representing a 16% increase in earnings.
The IDC is the majority shareholder with a 60.28% stake, while the Ministry of Finance and NAPSA holds 17.25% and 15%, respectively. The remaining 7.47% is held by various institutional and individual shareholders who will get K7.5 million of the dividend.