BHEL pays 79% dividend for 2016-17, highest in 3 years

The total dividend for this year amounts to Rs 386.72 cr

State-owned power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has paid a final equity dividend of 39 per cent for 2016-17.

With this, the total dividend paid during the year stands at 79 per cent, including an interim one of 40 per cent paid earlier, BHEL said in a statement on Wednesday.

The figure is four times the dividend paid in the previous year and its highest in the last three years.

In value terms, the total dividend for 2016-17 amounts to Rs 386.72 crore. With the move, the company has maintained its impeccable track record of rewarding investors by paying dividends uninterruptedly for four decades without a break.

A cheque of Rs 120.39 crore towards the final dividend for 2016-17 on the equity (63.06 per cent) held by the central government was presented by BHEL Chairman and Managing Director Atul Sobti to Heavy Industries Minister Anant G Geete here today.

BHEL has paid a total dividend of Rs 244 crore to the Government of India for 2016-17, including the interim dividend paid earlier.

In spite of 2016-17 posing headwinds, BHEL achieved double-digit growth in top line and bounced back into profit, reversing the declining trend of the last three years and ending the year with significant traction in growth drivers.

During the year, BHEL recorded a turnover of Rs 28,840 crore, up 11 per cent over the previous year, and profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 628 crore compared to loss of Rs 1,164 crore (Ind-AS restated) in the previous fiscal.

Ind-AS is short for Indian Accounting Standard.

Net profit (profit after tax) stood at Rs 496 crore against net loss of Rs 710 crore (Ind-AS restated) in the previous year.