JG SUMMIT Holdings, Inc. is paying a 5% stock dividend to stockholders as it reclassifies its preferred non-voting shares into preferred voting shares.
In a special meeting held virtually on Tuesday, stockholders of JG Summit approved the declaration of stock dividends equivalent to 5% of its total issued and outstanding shares, which will be additional to the declared cash dividends of 38 centavos per share for 2020.
This is equivalent to 358,142,083 common shares and 200 million preferred voting shares, which will be issued and paid for out of the unrestricted retained earnings of JG Summit as of end-2019 to all stockholders as of Oct. 30, 2020. The dividends will be distributed on Nov. 25.
“The preparation considers the declaration of 5% stock dividends as further remuneration to the stockholders given the growth of the corporation. This will also strengthen our capital base and ensures that the corporation remains tax compliant,” Maria Celia H. Fernandez-Estavillo, JG Summit corporate secretary, said during the meeting.
In line with this, the stockholders also approved reclassifying the company’s non-voting shares, which increased its preferred voting shares to 204 billion with a par value of 1 centavo each.
The company said the decision will strengthen its capitalization by minimizing stock issuance costs. It will also facilitate issuing proportionate stock dividends to both common and preferred voting shares, and maintain the cash and property dividends of preferred voting shares to 1/100 of common shares.
JG Summit noted that the proposed amendments, which are still subject to the approval of regulators, are not expected to have any adverse effect on its business operations nor its capital structure.
The company posted an attributable net loss of P720.25 million in the first semester, reversing its profits of P17.4 billion last year, due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic to its airline, petrochemical and property businesses.
JG Summit shares closed at P64.10 each on Tuesday, up P1.60 or 2.56% from the last session. — Denise A. Valdez
