Bank of Maldives (BML) shareholders have voted to approve a dividend pay-out of MVR 129.17 million, with MVR 24 per share.

The shareholders made the decision at the BML Annual General Meeting held at Hotel Jen on Tuesday night.

This is the highest dividend pay-out in BML’s history. The state, as BML’s largest shareholder, will benefit from the increased payout and total state receipts will amount to MVR 390 million when both taxation and dividend payments are taken into account.

BML’s Profit Before Tax was MVR 1.6 billion, an increase of 13% from 2017. BML stated that this is a positive result achieved notwithstanding the higher funding costs, and unlike in the previous year, performance did not benefit from any one-off gains. Profit After Tax has now surpassed the MVR 1 billion threshold for the past three consecutive years.

Addressing shareholders, CEO Tim Sawyer said that BML is pleased that shareholders will benefit from their progress with the highest dividend pay-out in the Bank’s history, and that financial performance of BML has never been better nor loan book standards higher, adding that these factors are inter-linked in terms of BML’s robust profitability and capital position at year end.

He said this positive platform enabled BML to significantly expand their community investments throughout the year and positions them to continue such investment moving forward.