Mighty River Power, the first of the state-owned power companies to be partially privatised last year, will pay a special dividend to shareholders after the latest board review of its capital management.
The Auckland-based company will pay 5c per share to its 102,000 shareholders on December 11, with a record date of November 20, it said. That amounts to about $70 million in total. The board made the decision yesterday as part of an ongoing capital management review. The company will update shareholders about capital management initiatives and the dividend policy at today's annual meeting.
"The positive outcomes we achieved in FY2014, along with our decisions around capital structure - including a successful $300 million capital bond offer - have given us some flexibility and options that have allowed us to pay this special dividend to our shareholders," said chairwoman Joan Withers.
In August, the company lifted its final dividend by half a cent to 8.3c per share, taking total distributions to 13.5c, 4 per cent above prospectus forecast and 13 per cent ahead of the dividend declared in the last financial year.
Shares of the power company rose 0.9 per cent to $2.84 and have gained 32 per cent this year.
