MANILA, Philippines — Listed chemicals company D&L Industries is confident it will continue to be profitable despite the difficult business environment brought about by COVID-19.
Management is banking on its robust balance sheet and operational resilience.
The company yesterday declared a regular cash dividend of P0.183 per share to shareholders of record as of Oct. 2. Ex-date is on Sept. 29 while payment will be made on Oct. 28.
“This year’s dividend translates to a dividend yield of 3.3 percent based on Thursday’s closing price of P5.59 per share. Total amount to be paid to shareholders is P1.3 billion, which is equivalent to 50 percent of last year’s net income,” it said in a statement.
Moving forward, management remains highly committed to its dividend policy of a 50 percent payout ratio based on the previous year’s net income.
In 2019, D&L Industries’ recurring net income reached P2.6 billion or earnings per share of P0.367, reflecting a decline of 18 percent year-on-year.
In its report to shareholders, D&L said the decline in earnings last year was caused by a confluence of external factors which included an inflation scare that started in 2018 that persisted until the first half of 2019, delayed passage of the 2019 national budget, and escalation of the various trade wars, including the one between US and China.
However, the company saw an improvement in its businesses in the first two months of the year.
Despite the early gains, COVID-19 changed the business environment.
“The gains were erased as things quickly took a turn for the worse, with the government imposing various restrictions on the movement of people and goods in response to the COVID pandemic. The varying degrees of community quarantine negatively affected company operations. As a result, the company’s net income fell 43 percent year-on-year to P802 million for the first half,” it said.