Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) will allocate its first dividend to shareholders since listing on the bourse, on April 10.

According to an announcement by PPWSA, the annual dividend will be distributed in cash.

The dividend payout ratio is seven per cent, with a total dividend of 2.4 billion riel, and the dividend per share is  27.7 riel.

“Only shareholders who are on the shareholder list as of the record date [April 10, 2013] will be entitled to the dividend,” the statement said.

“Shareholders selling shares on April 9 will still be entitled to the dividend, but shareholders buying shares on April 9 will not be entitled to the dividend.

“Dividend payments will begin from April 24 to May 3 on every working day.

“If any dividend payments are inaccurate, shareholders can raise a complaint on every working day from May 6 to May 17.”

PPWSA director-general Sim Sitha said dividend distribution would ensure investors and shareholders were rewarded for their investment in PPWSA’s securities.  

“I think it is good news for our shareholders that we can earn a profit and allocate them the dividend,” he said.

“Second, we are happy to give them the dividend in cash, which was approved by our board of directors.

“We have a mechanism to allocate the dividend to our shareholders. This dividend allocation is based not only on our revenue. I cannot tell you in detail, because it is complicated.

“Before we decided to pay the dividend, we held a meeting with our board of directors, and independent board of director represented shareholders to discuss how much we would offer and how much we would re-invest.”

Svay Hay, the president and managing director of Acleda Securities, applauded the div-idend allocation.

“It is a positive sign, emphasising the company’s operat-ion is good, and it will benefit shareholders and allow them to invest more in the market.  This will also attract new investors,” Hay said.

Lim An, the head of Acleda Securities’ paying-agent unit, said he would not finalise the shareholder list until the rec-ord date.