Shareholders of the leading security solutions company, G4S (Botswana) Limited are smiling all the way to the bank, after almost P20 million is declared as dividend for the 2017 full year, Chairman Lebang Mpotokwane announced.
G4S announced that it paid an interim normal dividend of P9.7 million and a final normal dividend of P9.6 million. However, P19.3million has been proposed during 2017, equating to a total dividend of 24.13 thebe (gross of tax), marking 13.8 percent growth from 2016 in returns for the company shareholders. G4S Botswana is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and has a shareholding partnership in which G4S International 105 UK holds 70 percent of the shares while the remaining 30 percent are in the hands of citizens and local institutions.
Stellar performance by G4S during the 2017 full year led to increased dividends, after a disappointing 2016 performance. According to Mpotokwane, 2016 was a year of change during which G4S saw a number of challenges raised by economic, political and social forces.
“It was a year of uncertainty, complexity and volatility as we witnessed our Profit Before Tax decline by 19 percent against 2015. However, 2017brought a change in fortunes for G4S Botswana (Limited) as we performed exceptionally well,” he said.
The chairman said that having reorganised G4S portfolio to become more resilient and competitive, G4S is now more stable and on more sound financial footing, realizing a Profit Before Tax of P40.22 million, which represents an improvement of 25.6 percent over 2016.
He said revenue grew at 2.2 percent in a subdued economy, which struggled to break the 4 percent growth mark amid a record number of closures in the mining sector. This is by far the best performance, from a Profit Before Tax perspective, that G4S has ever recorded.