SIMBA CHAI SACCO SOCIETY LIMITED DIVIDEND POLICY

Transcription

1 SIMBA CHAI SACCO SOCIETY LIMITED DIVIDEND POLICY FINAL JULY 2017 PREPARED BY: SIMBA CHAI SACCO SOCIETY

2 Contents 1 Preliminary Application Dividend Statement of Policy Objective Scope Responsibility Dividend Declaration Number of Dividend Declarations Procedure for Declaration The Dividend Process Declaration Date Eligibility... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3 Rate of dividend Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.4 Date of records Payment date Forms of Dividend Payment Cash Dividends Bonus Shares Special One-time Dividends Retention Ratio Dividend Payment Ratio Key Dividend Policy Considerations Financial Statements Legal Restrictions Liquidity Restrictions Debt Covenants Funding Needs Double Taxation Impact Industry Players Members Expectations Commencement Date Amending and Superseding the Policy... 7 Conclusion Adoption of the Policy... 7

3 1 Preliminary 1.1 Application The Policy is intended to apply to all future Dividend Payments of the Sacco. 1.2 Dividend Dividend shall be understood to refer to the Sacco s earnings distributed, allocated or paid out to its existing bona fide members qualifying and ranking with regards to the earnings period under consideration. 2 Statement of Policy 2.1 Objective The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Sacco meets its dividend obligations in line with its member s expectations. 2.2 Scope The Policy focuses on the Sacco s compliance with the express and implied statutory i.e. the Sacco Society Regulatory Authority (SASRA), industry and internal requirements relating to the dividend process. 2.3 Responsibility It is the responsibility of the Board to document, and implements a prudent Dividend Policy in line with Sacco Act 2008 and Regulation of 2010 requirements, industry norms and the Sacco s objective. The strategy and policies should be communicated to Board of directors and senior management and all other appropriate stakeholders. 2.4 Eligibility Dividend will be paid to bona fide members of SIMBA CHAI SACCO LIMITED. The bona fide members are: Those members on the register of members as at 31 st December of the financial year. Must have contributed deposits for at least 6 months during the financial/dividend year.

4 2.5 Rate of dividend Rate of Dividend shall be determined by Board of Directors Interest on members savings/deposits shall also be determined by Board of Directors guided by key policy dividend considerations as stipulated in note 8 but subject for approval during ADM. Dividends and Interest on members deposits shall be paid on prorata basis. All above shall be subjected to withholding tax at the prevailing rates. 3. Dividend Declaration 3.1 Number of Dividend Declarations The Sacco shall only have one dividend declarations for any one given Accounting Period. These declarations shall be in respect of; Final dividend payable twelve months after the accounting year to which it relates. 3.2 Procedure for Declaration A final dividend for any accounting period shall be proposed by Directors at a Board Meeting and evidenced in the Board minutes. The proposed final dividend shall then be presented to the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for their approval. 3. The Dividend Process Dividend shall be declared and approved by the Sacco s Board each time they are paid and subject to the following three important dates which shall be expressly stated. 3.1 Declaration Date The declaration date is the day the Board of Director s announces their intention to pay a dividend. On this day, the Sacco shall create a liability on its books; it owes the money to the members. On the declaration date, the Board shall also announce a date of record and a payment date. 3.2 Date of records It is the day upon which the bona fide members on record are entitled to the upcoming dividend payment. This shall serve as the due date for deducting the withholding tax on the dividends. 3.3 Payment date This is the date the dividend shall actually be available to the Members of Sacco.

5 4. Forms of Dividend Payment The following are the approved forms of dividend payments to be applied by the Sacco; 5.1 Cash Dividends These shall be paid out of the Sacco s surplus earnings for the financial year to which they relate or from the appropriation reserve. 5.2 Bonus Shares These shall be paid out of the Sacco s surplus earnings for the financial year to which they relate or from the appropriate reserve and shall be credited to the individual members share ledger accounts. 5.3 Special One-time Dividends In addition to regular dividends, the Board of Directors shall reserve the right to declare and recommend the payment of a special one-time dividend in the form of cash, or Bonus Dividends. These shall be paid under special circumstances specifically pre-determined by the Board. This shall require a special resolution in a Board meeting and minutes to evidence such a decision. Some of the special circumstances shall arise for e.g. from; huge sums recovery of loans and interest previously written off, extra ordinary income / gains, a major litigation win or super profits from liquidation of an investment. 6. Retention Ratio The Board shall determine the percentage of net income that is to be retained in the business and not paid out to members over and above the 20% statutory requirements. This ratio shall be determined on the basis of the Sacco s annual budget, projected and desired growth, strategic plan, Business Plan, current and immediate future working capital requirements. 7. Dividend Payment Ratio The Board shall determine the percentage of net income that is to be paid out to members in the form of dividend, referred to as dividend payout ratio, in line with the desired retention ratio. 8. Key Dividend Policy Considerations 8.1 Financial Statements All the Sacco s dividend payments shall be on the basis of Audited accounts and computed Financial Evaluations Measures so as to establish the Sacco s accurate liquidity and state of affairs.

6 8.2 Legal Restrictions The dividend payments cannot legally exceed the Sacco s Appropriation Account (Reserves). This shall safeguard the members investment in the Sacco. The Sacco shall not pay dividends unless it has complied with the prescribed capital adequacy and any other requirement that the Authority may impose. Shares may earn dividends paid from net surplus after required transfers to reserves at the end of a financial year in accordance with the dividend policy of the Sacco. 8.3 Liquidity Restrictions The Board shall evaluate a minimum liquidity balance below which NO dividend payments are to be made. Such an evaluation shall be in line with the Sacco s Annual Budget, Performance Projections and statutory requirements. 8.4 Debt Covenants All dividend payments shall be in strict compliance to the contracts entered into between the Sacco and the lenders. Thus the Board of Directors shall continuously review all outstanding debt contract provisions prior to declaring and authorizing payment of dividend. 8.5 Funding Needs The Board reserves the right to withhold full or part of dividend payment so as to meet urgent investment opportunities available. 8.6 Double Taxation Impact The Board shall accord due consideration to the impact of taxation on the form of dividend payment adopted. The effects of the Sacco s income taxes paid on its income earned and the subsequent withholding tax paid its members from the dividend income paid out to them which in essence give rise to the double taxation impact. 8.7 Industry Players All dividend declarations and payments should be effected upon prior consideration of the general / average dividend payment patterns of comparable organizations in the industry. 8.8 Members Expectations The Board shall be tasked with the responsibility of continually assessing the expectations of its members with regards to current and future dividends especially in line with the Sacco s

7 performance, for a given financial year, as well as the general industry norms based past patterns or any other available and relevant information. 9. Commencement Date The Sacco shall set the effective date upon which the approved Dividend Policy Document shall be enforced. 10. Amending and Superseding the Policy The document shall provide the manner and procedure for its additions, deletions, alterations and subsequent review and adoption. Conclusion The Board of Directors shall review the final adopted Dividend Policy after every two years and any changes arising from such review shall be communicated as soon as possible to all the relevant stakeholders Adoption of the Policy We, the undersigned, individually and collectively, give commitment to the implementation of the Dividend Policy by appending our signatures Board of Directors No. Name Position Signature WITNESSED BY CEO