Shares of Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS) ended 6.68 per cent higher on the BSE on Friday after the company announced an interim dividend of ₹485 a share.
Record high The scrip of the Mumbai-based IT products company closed at ₹3,935.35, up ₹242.85 compared with Thursday’s closing price. Immediately after the announcement, the stock jumped to a high of ₹4,072 intraday on the NSE, which is also a record high for the counter on the NSE.
“The interim dividend will be paid to the equity shareholders of the company on or before September 29,” the company informed the stock exchanges.
The dividend payout will result in an outgo of over ₹4,000 crore, given that the company has 8.41 crore shares in all.
Over ₹6,600 cr balance For the year ended March 31, the company had reported cash and bank balances of ₹6,672.6 crore, increased from ₹5,471 crore in the previous financial year.
Oracle Financials reported a net profit of ₹394.4 crore in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal and revenue of ₹1,073 crore.
The biggest beneficiary of the move will be its promoter Oracle Global Mauritius, which will reap a windfall gain of more than ₹3,000 crore.
According to stock exchange data, the company’s promoter holds about 75 per cent of its shares. About 14,000 individual shareholders control 5.71 per cent stake in the company.
Dividend paying spree Indian IT companies have been on a dividend paying spree of late.
The country’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services has recently reported a collective outgo of over ₹12,500 crore. The company had paid out a dividend of ₹45 a share in August. This included a special dividend of ₹40/share on account of the 10th anniversary of the company going public. In July, the company paid out a dividend, announced in June, of ₹20 a share.
Another IT major Infosys is sitting on a huge cash pile. At the end of June, cash and cash equivalents stand at ₹25,000 crore. Former Infosys top officials including V Balakrishnan and TV Mohandas Pai in June had urged the management to buy back shares worth ₹11,200 crore.