Safaricom Investment Co-operative (SIC) shareholders have approved a Sh176.9 million dividend payout at the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM). This translates to 7% per share dividend up from 4.69% per share paid in 2021.
The pay-out comes after the investment society posted a Sh542.9 million gross profit, compared to Sh396.3 million posted in 2021. The growth in profit is attributed to an increase in land revenue that grew by 92% to Sh1.8 billion up from Sh949.8 million and housing revenue that grew by 15% to Sh86.7 million up from Sh75.3 million realized in 2021.
“Our financial performance has improved across all metrics, and this would not be possible without the collaborative efforts of the team. We continue to implement innovative solutions that have cemented our performance through adverse economic times and those that focus on driving value to our investors,” said SIC Chairman Peter Gichangi during the AGM.
Total assets for the year grew to Sh5.7 billion up from Sh5.2 billion reported in 2021. This was attributed to the growth in trade receivables, cash and bank balances and current assets held for sale.
Consequently, total expenses for the year grew by 19% to Sh238.5 million up from Sh200.4 million. The jump in expenses was driven by the administration and personnel costs of the organization.
The co-operatives CEO Sarah Wahogo said their al at SIC is to create a model investment co-operative. To achieve this, we have started the process of automating our systems and adopting new technology to help us optimize operations and capitalize on market opportunities. We have also onboarded new staff members to increase capabilities in the organization and to streamline our skill set so that we can achieve better results,” said Safaricom Investment Co-operative CEO Sarah Wahogo.
The sale of land continues to be the main revenue driver for the Society, accounting for 92% of the overall revenues.
