KUWAIT CITY, March 21: A total of 59 companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange announced cash dividends for the fiscal ending on December 31, 2021, worth 986.448 million dinars, according to statistics prepared by Al-Rai daily based on figures provided by KAMCO Invest. Out of the 60 companies that have announced dividends so far for 2021, 39 companies have declared cash dividends ranging between 1 and 400 percent, while 20 have announced mixed cash dividends and the bonus, while one company, Al-Safat Investments, settled for distributing 5% bonus shares.

The bonus shares distributions for the companies announced so far ranged between 1.5 and 100 percent. According to the statistics, 20 companies accounted for about 87% of the total value of cash dividends for the announced companies so far, as their total cash dividends for 2021 amounted to about 857.76 million dinars, led by the National Bank of Kuwait, whose cash dividends amounted to about 215.78 million, then Zain with total dividends amounted to 142.79 million from last year, followed by “KFH” with 100,442 million. The total cash dividends for the banking sector (10 banks, including Ahli United Bank-Bahrain) amounted to about 523.597 million dinars, which constituted 53 percent of the total distributions approved by the listed companies for 2021 so far.

As for the most distributed distribution of “cash” as a percentage, “Humansoft” came first with the recommendation of its board of directors to distribute 400 percent of the value of the share (400 fils per share) for 2021, followed by “Boursa Kuwait” with 65 fils per share, then stc with 60 fils. In the insurance sector, Warba Insurance Company came among the most companies in the sector in terms of cash dividend yield, with 6.66 percent. With regard to the shares that distributed the most bonus shares, stc came first with the recommendation of its board of directors to distribute 100 percent bonus shares to its shareholders for 2021, followed by Noor Financial Investment Company with 25 percent, then Eid Food with 17 percent, then “KFH” with 10 percent, and Al-Ahli United - Bahrain with 9.07 percent.