Bank of Maldives (BML) shareholders have approved a total dividend payout of USD16 million at the annual general meeting (AGM). The national bank stated this is a record dividend payout reflecting its best-ever performance in 2021.
At the AGM, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Managing Director Tim Sawyer said an interim dividend of USD0.84 per share was paid earlier this year and that shareholders have now approved a total dividend of USD3.11 per share, which includes the interim dividend of USD0.84 per share paid out earlier this year. He expressed his appreciation to the BML staff for their hard work and to the shareholders and customers for their confidence in the bank, adding that recent results are evidence that the bank is in the strongest position it has ever been in. He also noted the strong financial performance of BML over the last year and said that, despite price reductions on key lending products, profits increased with a substantial rise of over 470% to USD123 million after-tax.
Furthermore, CEO Sawyer said that BML will soon be increasing its credit card limit to solve the issues faced by customers in making foreign transactions. BML had set a USD250 limit on foreign transactions using credit cards in 2020 and increased the limit to USD500 in July 2021. BML last increased the limit to USD750 in October 2021.
BML stated the total dividend payout for the year 2021 is USD16.7 million and that the government, as the biggest shareholder, stands to benefit with USD8.5 million as dividend and a further USD35 million as tax for the year 2021. BML distributed USD5 million as the final dividend, at a rate of USD0.97 per share in 2020.