Of this total, 94% was cash dividends and 6% was bonus shares.
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) said that UAE public joint stock companies distributed a total of 61.73 billion dirhams ($16.8 billion) in cash dividends and bonus shares in the past year.
Of this total, 58 billion dirhams (94 percent) was earmarked for cash dividends and 3.72 billion dirhams (6 percent) was allocated as bonus shares, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The banking sector was the top dividend payer, paying out AED 18.35 billion in cash dividends, followed by the energy sector with AED 11.36 billion. The telecommunications and utilities sectors also made significant contributions, paying out around AED 8.73 billion and AED 8.72 billion respectively.
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The real estate sector ranked fifth with a total distribution of AED 5.54 billion, followed by transport with AED 1.87 billion, services with AED 1.06 billion, insurance with AED 975.3 million, investment and financial services with AED 849.9 million, industrial with AED 274.04 million and consumer goods with AED 199.6 million.
Total distributions by unlisted companies were AED60 million.
The cash dividends include both those approved at the general meeting and those derived from the interim financial results for fiscal year 2023.
In terms of bonus share, the banking sector also led the way with AED 3,439 million, followed by the services sector with AED 281.7 million.
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