Bank of Maldives shareholders have approved a total dividend payout of MVR 258 million with MVR 48 per share, at the Bank’s Annual General Meeting held at Hotel Jen last night. This is a record dividend payout reflecting the Bank’s best ever performance in 2021.
BML’s CEO and Managing Director Tim Sawyer commented “Earlier this year, an interim dividend of MVR 13 per share was paid. Shareholders have tonight approved a total dividend of MVR 48 per share. This MVR 48 per share includes the interim dividend of MVR 13 per share paid out earlier this year. This is the highest approved in the Bank’s history.
Following a year which saw record-breaking performance for Bank of Maldives, Tim further said the Bank is in the “strongest position it has ever been in.” Tim highlighted the successful trajectory of the Bank over the past three years during a turbulent time globally.
“We survived Covid. We were able to continue lending, continue providing key services and continue to provide substantial debt relief to keep the country going. When the Maldives was at its most troubled, BML stood firm and ensured the economic survival of the country.”
At the same time, Tim noted the Bank’s strong financial performance over the last year. “Despite price reductions on key lending products, profits increased with a substantial rise of over 470% to 1.9 billion Rufiyaa after tax.”
“We now have a set of new strategic pillars – Financial Stability, Operational Excellence and Customer Experience – and goals that we have committed to achieve in the next three years. Attention to customer service is of course, not new. Despite Covid, improving customer service has been a key priority with the expansion of our nationwide footprint, digitization of our back-end-operations and introduction of new services such as the wallet feature on our App. We have also increased resources to expand our capacity and ensure business continuity. Much more remains to be done but customer surveys show that we are starting to succeed.”
Speaking about the team at the Bank, Tim recognized the growing talent saying “It has been pleasing over the last 3 years to see new Maldivians coming onto the Executive management team, be it through promotion or through recruitment. Today, the Bank is operating with 99% Maldivians and the next generation of leaders are starting to make their mark too which means it will remain Maldivian led in the future. It is something we should be proud of.”
He also added, “I would like to extend my appreciation to our staff for their hard work and to our shareholders and customers for their confidence in the Bank. While we will continue to work tirelessly to meet service expectations, the results today are evidence that the Bank is in the strongest position it has ever been in.”
The total dividend payout for the year 2021 is MVR 258 million and the Government, as the biggest shareholder, stands to benefit with MVR 131 million as dividend and a further MVR 543 million as tax for the year 2021.
In 2020, the Bank distributed MVR 80.7 million as the final dividend, at a rate of MVR15 per share.
