By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the players in the personal healthcare and consumer goods sectors, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, has published a list of its shareholders with unclaimed dividends.
Unclaimed dividends are cash rewards given to investors, mainly from the profits from the company’s operations, but are yet to be collected by the beneficiaries.
This has been a major source of sleepless nights for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is working to bring down the number of unclaimed dividends.
It has been reported that the value of unclaimed dividends in the nation’s stock market is over N185 billion.
To bring down this number, the SEC introduced the e-dividend payment initiative.
Through this system, investors authorise listed companies, through their registrars, to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts.
Before this system was introduced, dividends were posted in the form of a cheque via postal services to the physical address supplied by shareholders.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, PZ Cussons said it had posted the list of its unclaimed dividends on its website, advising shareholders to take the necessary steps to claim the reward of their investments.
A look at the list of the unclaimed dividends of PZ Cussons Nigeria by Business Post showed that there are 61,628 shareholders who are yet to collect their cash rewards.
“We implore affected members to contact the Registrars, First Registrars & Investor Services Limited, Plot 2, Abebe Village Road, Iganmu, Lagos, P.M.B 12692, Marina Lagos or via email at [email protected].
“We request our shareholders to kindly update their records and advise the Registrars of their updated information, including their bank account details for the payment of their dividends,” a part of the notice from the firm said, expressing its commitment to “working with all relevant stakeholders to reduce the incidence of unclaimed dividends in Nigeria.”
The list can be viewed HERE
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka