Vietnam’s largest brewery firm to pay cash dividend

HCM City (VNA) - Sai Gon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) will pay its first cash dividend for the 2020 financial year on December 18.

The dividend rate is set at 20 percent, meaning shareholders will receive 2,000 VND (0.086 USD) per share.

The total dividend rate Sabeco set for 2020 is 35 percent. The list of beneficiary shareholders will be finalised on December 1.

With nearly 641.3 million shares, the value of the upcoming dividend is about 1.28 trillion VND (nearly 55 million USD).

The two biggest shareholders – the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd – will receive 461 billion VND and 687 billion VND, respectively.

SCIC recently received Sabeco shares from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, now owning 36 percent of the company.

Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd became the major shareholder at Sabeco in late 2017, possessing a 53.59 percent stake.

Sabeco has been hit by a stricter policy to prevent drunk driving and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the third quarter of the year, Sabeco posted a 17 percent annual decline in net revenue, which fell to 8.05 trillion VND. But net profit was almost unchanged at 1.47 trillion VND.

In January-September, total revenue dropped 29 percent year-on-year to more than 20 trillion VND and net profit was down a fifth year-on-year to 3.4 trillion VND./.