QNS Sugar Joint Stock Company (stock code: QNS) has recently announced its annual general meeting documents for the year 2024. Accordingly, the company plans to distribute cash dividends for the year 2023 at a rate of 40% (4,000 VND/share), equivalent to approximately 1,428 billion VND.
Prior to this, QNS had advanced a 20% dividend and also announced the record date on April 17th to pay the remaining 20%, equivalent to 714 billion VND.
This is the highest cash dividend payout in QNS’s history. Previously, the company had paid dividends at a rate of 50%, including 20% in cash and the remaining 30% in shares. The dividend payouts in other years ranged from 20% to 35%.
In the year 2023, the company recorded revenues of over 10,000 billion VND and after-tax profits of 2,189 billion VND, an increase of 21% and 70% respectively, compared to the same period, both being record-breaking figures.
Regarding business plans, QNS has set a target for total revenue of 9,000 billion VND and after-tax profits of 1,341 billion VND for the year 2024, a decrease of 14% and 39% respectively compared to the achievement in 2023. The dividend payout ratio for 2024 is expected to be 15% or higher.
In addition, the Board of Directors of QNS proposed issuing over 10.7 million ESOP shares, equivalent to 3% of the outstanding shares, due to high business growth. The issuance price will be based on the book value at the end of 2023.
The funds raised from the planned issuance will be used to supplement the working capital for production and business activities. If the issuance is successful, the charter capital will increase from 3,569 billion VND to 3,676 billion VND.
QNS also requests shareholders’ opinions on maintaining the ESOP policy for 2024. Accordingly, the company will issue an additional 1% if the growth rate generates a return of 7.5-15%, 2% if the growth rate is 15-20%, and 3% if the growth rate exceeds 20%. The shares will be restricted from transfer. Since listing on the stock market in 2016, QNS has only carried out one ESOP share issuance in mid-2019, with a volume of 5.85 million units.
