LEADING agriculture technology firm Calata Corp. said on Monday it will soon distribute stock dividends worth P215.9 million in favor of all its investors.
In a regulatory filing, the company said its board of directors green-lighted the declaration of a stock dividend at the rate of 12 percent, equivalent to 43,179,240 common shares.
This is in line with its positive performance resulting from aggressive business growth and expansion, the firm added.
Record and payments dates are yet to be announced, subsequent to Calata’s upcoming special stockholders’ meeting.
The settlement of said dividend shall be taken from its unrestricted retained earnings as of end of last year. Calata reported a growth in net income to P127.7 million as of December 31, 2014, from P88.5 million during the same period in 2013.
This was mainly driven by reductions on the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 85.36 percent to 83.16 percent.
The company has been able to increase revenues from P1.6 billion to P1.7 billion year on year.
As a publicly listed firm, Calata is mainly involved in livestock and agricultural business, with three operating segments, namely, distribution, retail and farming.
Currently, it distributes animal feeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals, soya, and seeds and other products. Its retail operation is carried out through Agri Phil Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary.
Roderick L. Abad