RIYADH: Banque Saudi Fransi’s shares dropped in early Monday trading despite getting its shareholders’ approval to pay out SR1.8 billion ($480 million) in annual dividends.
The share price shed 3.4 percent to SR48.2 as of 11:15 a.m. Saudi time.
The Saudi bank will distribute SR0.65 per share for the first half of 2021, and SR0.85 per share for the second half, bringing the total dividend per share to SR1.80, a bourse filing showed.
This comes after it posted a 12 percent increase in first-quarter profit to SR875 million.
In 2021, profits of Banque Saudi Fransi soared to SR3.45 billion, from SR1.55 billion a year earlier, mainly driven by lower impairment charges for credit losses
