The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has announced that public joint-stock companies in the UAE dispensed a total of AED61.73 billion ($16.8 billion) in cash dividends and bonus shares over the past year.
Of this total, AED58 billion (94 percent) was designated for cash dividends, while AED3.72 billion (6 percent) was allocated for bonus shares, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Leading the way in dividend payouts was the banking sector, which issued AED18.35 billion in cash dividends. The energy sector followed closely behind, distributing AED11.36 billion. Significant contributions also came from telecommunications and utilities, which provided approximately AED8.73 billion and AED8.72 billion, respectively.
The real estate sector ranked fifth with total distributions of AED5.54 billion, followed by the transportation sector at AED1.87 billion, the services sector at AED1.06 billion, the insurance sector at AED975.3 million, the investment and financial services sector at AED849.9 million, the industrial sector at AED274.04 million, and the consumer goods sector at AED199.6 million.
Non-listed companies contributed AED60 million in total distributions.
The cash dividends included both those sanctioned by general assemblies and those derived from interim financial results for 2023.
In terms of bonus shares, the banking sector also led with AED3.439 billion, trailed by the services sector with AED281.7 million.
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