LISTED telecommunications company Paratus Namibia Holdings Limited has declared a 10-cents final dividend for the 2021 financial year.
This will be the highest dividend ever since the company was listed in 2017, and will be paid on 12 November this year.
This brings the yearly dividend the company has partly paid and declared to 20 cents per share.
The company released its 2021 financial statements for the year ending 30 June 2021 last week, posting a profit of N$28,9 million.
This was earned from a N$340 million revenue figure, which was mainly earned from the group's operating company, Paratus Namibia.
According to the director's commentary on the financial statements, Paratus Namibia as the operating entity, realised recurring revenue of N$305,1 million (June 2020: N$283 million), which represents a growth of 7,8% on a like-for-like basis.
Non-recurring revenue, which represents customer-premises local area network installations and equipment sales, however, slumped to N$30,8 million (June 2020: N$51,7 million).
This 40,4% decrease, according to the directors, was attributed to the slowdown in the construction of new commercial buildings as a result of the weak local economy.
Other notable figures from the statements include a N$48 million operating profit, as well as the asset balance now nearing N$1 billion at N$971 million.
Assets were at N$735 million in June last year.
The company this year also launched and listed a corporate bond to the tune of N$1 billion, of which N$200 million has been issued to date in two tranches of N$175 and N$25 million, respectively.
The two issues are maturing in 2024 and 2026, respectively, and the N$200 million has to date attracted servicing costs of N$478 275 in total.
At the launch of the bond, Paratus said its proceeds would be used for “general corporate purposes, as well as infrastructure roll-outs”.
According to the company's financial update, Paratus has installed a total of 342km of new fibre ducts for the financial year ending June 2021.
The company also said it has now acquired an erf to construct a data centre, and that construction has commenced.
The project is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2022 at a total cost of N$123 million. Total capital expenditure towards this project at year-end amounted to N$18 million.
The company offers a network across six African countries – Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia – with additional international points of presence located in Johannesburg (South Africa), Lisbon (Portugal), and London (United Kingdom).
Further particulars of the note are available on Paratus' website.
The company's shares closed yesterday at N$12 per share.
