RMB ups dividend payout
RMB Holdings has increased its full-year dividend by 21 percent as it reaped the rewards of better income from FirstRand.
|||Johannesburg - RMB Holdings has increased its full-year dividend by 21 percent as it reaped the rewards of better income from FirstRand.
RMB Holding’s (RMH’s) only asset is a 34 percent stake in FirstRand, which owns brands such as FNB, RMB and WesBank.
FirstRand on Thursday announced a 13 percent rise in headline earnings for the year to R21.14 billion and declared a total dividend of 210 cents per share – higher than the 174 cents previously paid.
The group also reported a 17 percent rise in overall profit for the year to end-June of R23.12 billion.
As a result of these earnings, RMH was able to declare a final dividend of 154 cents per share, up from the 127.c it declared a year ago.
It notes it normalised earnings came in at R7.16 billion, up from last year’s R6.24 billion. Normalised earnings per share amounted to 507c a share compared with 441.7c in 2014.
“FirstRand's brands, FNB, RMB and WesBank all performed well, demonstrating their leading market positions,” it says in a statement.
RMH was established in 1987 by the founding members GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris. RMH represents the coming together of Rand Consolidated Investment and Rand Merchant Bank, then run by Johann Rupert.
It listed in 1993.
However, the company cautions that the year to June 2016 is expected to display more negative characteristics as economic growth will slow, and unemployment is trending upwards.
These factors, coupled with economic headwinds, could weigh on its underlying asset.
However, it says, “RMH is in agreement with FirstRand that its franchises have the appropriate strategies in place to produce resilient operational performances against this difficult economic backdrop.
“The strength of FirstRand's balance sheet and the resilience of its diverse income streams should allow FirstRand to continue to deliver sustainable and superior returns to shareholders.”
IOL