Economy

Dangote Cement Shareholders’ Unclaimed Dividends Hit N4bn

Published

5 years ago

29/03/2021

By Dipo Olowookere

It seems all the efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reduce the huge unclaimed dividends in the capital market are not yielding the expected results.

A few years ago, the agency came up with the e-dividend policy to allow shareholders of publicly listed companies to get their cash rewards directly in their bank accounts.

Dangote Cement unclaimed dividends

Last week, Dangote Cement released its results for the 2020 financial year and after growing its revenue by 16 per cent to N1.0 trillion from N891.7 billion in 2019 and pushing its net profit higher by 38 per cent to N276.1 billion from N200.5 billion a year earlier, the board recommended the payment of N16 as final dividend.

However, what caught the attention of Business Post analysts in the financial statements was the unclaimed dividends of Dangote Cement, which increased by N500 million in one year.

According to the results, the total amount of unclaimed dividends outstanding as at December 31, 2020, was N4.0 billion compared with N3.5 billion as at December 31, 2019.

How to claim the money

In the financial documents, the company advised shareholders to come forward to claim the reward for their investment in the organisation, noting that “a list of unclaimed dividends is available on the company’s website at www.dangotecement.com.”

“The company notes that some dividend warrants have either remained unclaimed, are yet to be presented for payment by shareholders or have been returned to the company for revalidation.

“Therefore, all shareholders with unclaimed share certificates or unclaimed dividends should address their claim(s) to the registrars, Coronation Registrars Ltd, at ef****@******************rs.com or 9, Amodu Ojikutu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

“Members are encouraged to notify the registrars or the company secretary of any changes in address or other relevant information,” it added.

Reasons for the problem

Different factors are responsible for the inability of investors to get their dividend, ranging from registrars, investors, regulators, amongst others.

In some cases, registrars have been accused of deliberately frustrating the efforts of the SEC to reduce the number of unclaimed dividends.

They allegedly do this by not treating requests for the e-dividend promptly.

Investor shares experience

“For more than one year now, I have not been able to get my dividends despite submitting all the needed requirements to the registrars.

“I did my e-dividend processing through my stockbroker, Meristem Securities, and out of the about five or six they processed for me, Veritas [Registrars] has responded and has paid my Zenith Bank dividend.

“The others have not cleared up till this moment. This is not encouraging at all because it has almost killed my appetite for dividend stocks,” an investor in the stock market, Mr Aigbe Osas, informed Business Post.

How to solve it

Some stakeholders have blamed the regulators for this problem as they argued that the process can be made more seamless by allowing registrars to pay the dividend into accounts of shareholders with stockbrokers.

At the point of joining the market, investors are mandated to open an account with brokerage companies, which have all the details, including bank accounts, BVNs of their clients.

They wonder why registrars cannot liaise with the brokers and the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc to pay the cash rewards instead of asking for the filling of another form (e-dividend) for this purpose.

Economy

Akara, Kulikuli, Roasted Corn Business Not Capital Intensive—Remi Tinubu

Published

1 hour ago

26/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, has given Nigerians business advice that may not involve a lot of money to start.

Speaking with newsmen recently, the wife of President Bola Tinubu said businesses like akara (fried bean cake), kulikuli (a crunchy snack from roasted peanuts or groundnuts) and roasted corn can be set up without breaking the bank.

She disclosed that to support her husband’s Renewed Hope agenda, she has provided funding packages to traders and others to the tune of N3.5 billion.

“To start akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn and kuli-kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant,” she stated.

She further said, “We’ve encouraged Nigerians as best as we could, what is within our hands, I have given, and I keep giving. Those are the things we’ve done.”

“I remember giving for TB (tuberculosis) when I heard of many TB cases; I gave N2 billion, to breast cancer, I gave N1 billion, and to [tackle] malnutrition, I gave N500 million.

“These are the things we’ve been doing to assist the government. So, we’ve had impact in agriculture, social investment, education (as scholarship and ICT training) and others. We are still open to doing more,” she disclosed.

Economy

NASD Exchange Extends Winning Streak by 1.70%

Published

4 hours ago

26/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rallied by 1.70 per cent on Thursday, June 25, after three price gainers overpowered the two price losers recorded at the close of business.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased by N43.79 billion to N2.618 trillion from N2.574 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 72.96 points to close at 4,362.32 points, in contrast to Wednesday’s 4,289.36 points.

Yesterday, the price advancers were led by Nipco Plc, which chalked up N31.79 to close at N349.76 per unit versus the preceding day’s N317.97 per unit. Okitipupa Plc gained N18.00 to end at N298.00 per share versus the previous session’s N280.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N7.11 to N86.79 per unit from N79.68 per unit.

On the flip side, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc crumbled by 32 Kobo to close at N21.09 per share compared with the N21.41 per share it closed at midweek, and Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 25 Kobo to N2.51 per unit from N2.76 per unit.

During the session, the value of securities traded by investors went down by 86.7 per cent to N10.9 million from the preceding session’s N82.9 million, and the volume of securities dropped 84.9 per cent to 10.9 million units from the previous 82.9 million, while the number of deals grew by 84.2 per cent to 35 deals from 19 deals.

At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.4 million units exchanged for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Bears Plunge NGX All-Share Index by 0.64% to 235,074.54 Points

Published

4 hours ago

26/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further suffered a 0.64 per cent decline on Thursday as the bears tightened their grip on the bourse.

For the second straight session, all the key sectors of Customs Street pointed south, with the energy counter down by 5.22 per cent. The insurance index slumped by 2.59 per cent, the banking space depreciated by 0.28 per cent, and the consumer goods segment moderated by 0.06 per cent, while the industrial goods sector was flat, though with a marginal fall.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,493.71 points to 233,580.83 points from 235,074.54 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by N959 billion to N149.888 trillion from N150.847 trillion.

Investor sentiment remained weak after a negative market breadth index, as there were 21 price gainers and 34 price losers.

Aradel and Deap Capital went down by 10.00 per cent each to N1,575.00 and N4.05, respectively. Trans-Nationwide Express fell by 9.90 per cent to N3.64, Regency Alliance slipped by 9.57 per cent to N85 Kobo, and C&I Leasing dipped by 9.48 per cent to N28.12.

Conversely, Red Star Express grew by 9.60 per cent to N24.55, Legend Internet expanded by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 7.10 per cent to N8.30, Abbey Mortgage Bank rose by 5.45 per cent to N8.70, and Ellah Lakes improved by 4.65 per cent to N9.00.

Yesterday, market participants traded 393.7 million equities valued at N19.2 billion in 45,813 deals compared with the 488.1 million equities worth N20.9 billion transacted in 46,239 deals recorded a day earlier, implying a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 19.34 per cent, 8.13 per cent, and 0.92 per cent, respectively.

The most active stock for the session was Access Holdings with a turnover of 39.1 million units worth N896.2 million, Chams traded 24.5 million units valued at N96.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 24.1 million units for N436.9 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 23.8 million units valued at N182.2 million, and Zenith Bank transacted 18.9 million units worth N2.1 billion.