RIL announces bonus share in 1:1
In a Diwali gift for its
shareholders, the Reliance Industries (RIL) board today recommended one bonus
share for every share held and a dividend of Rs 13 a share.
The last time India's largest
private sector company gave bonus shares to its shareholders was 12 years ago.
This year, 39 companies have announced bonus shares so far. Before RIL,
state-owned Indian Oil Corporation had announced a 1:1 bonus issue last month.
The dividend will result in a
payment of Rs 2,219 crore, inclusive of taxes of Rs 322 crore. Both the bonus
shares and dividend will accrue to the shareholders of Reliance Petroleum
(RPL), which has been amalgamated recently with the company. Reliance shares
fell 1.57 per cent to Rs 2,099 on the Bombay Stock Excha nge, declining for the
fourth straight day. The free-share announcement was made after the stock
markets closed.
"The proposal for bonus and
dividend continues Reliance's tradition of rewarding shareholders on a
sustained basis," a company statement said.
RIL had raised Rs 3,190 crore last
month, selling treasury stock at an average of Rs 2,125 apiece. The company had
created the treasury stocks in 2002, when it merged Reliance Petroleum. The
company has almost 200 million such shares.
On a standalone basis, RIL's audited
net profit stood at Rs 15,637 crore for 2008-09 against Rs 15,261 crore in the
previous year. The company's standalone net turnover was Rs 143,907 crore in
the last fiscal, while it was Rs 134,338 crore in 2007-08. The comapny has
spent Rs 102,288 crore towards buying raw materials including crude. Thus, the
expenditure stood at Rs 123,359 crore.
The company said that it has
recognised Rs 370 crore towards liabilities on account of corporate guarantee
issues on behalf of a subsidiary, being an exceptional item. In the previous
year, exceptional item of Rs 4,733 crore represent gains primarily arising out
of transactions concerning Reliance Petroleum shares.
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