Sterlite Tech board approves interim dividend of 25% per share

Optical fibre maker Sterlite Technologies on Thursday said its board has approved an interim dividend of 25% for the year 2016-17.

"The board of directors of the company by circular resolution on November 02, 2016 has considered and declared an interim dividend of Rs 0.5 per equity share i.E. 25% on face value of Rs 2 per share," Sterlite Technologies said in a BSE filing.

The record date will be on Friday, November 11, 2016.

The company in a statement said that the initiative is in line with the its dividend distribution policy of paying out around 30% of consolidated profit after tax.

Sterlite Technologies makes optical fibre and deals in designing, building and managing Internet networks.

The company last week posted 40% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 56 crore in the second quarter ended on September 30.

Sterlite registered a net profit of Rs 39.97 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total income from operations, however, declined by 3.6% to Rs 550.65 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 571.43 crore in the same period last year.

During the reported quarter, Sterlite saw a strong and expanding global demand for optical fibre, supported by growth in the China market.

Sterlite Tech posted a total volume of 6.1 million fibre kilometre (fkm) in the reported quarter compared to 5.5 million fkm in previous quarter.

The company said it added new orders worth Rs 731 crore in the current quarter, leading to order book of Rs 2,324 crore at the end of first half of current financial year.

Shares of Sterlite were trading at Rs 96.15 a unit, down by 1.74% compared to previous close, at BSE around 13.55 HRS.