Total Payout May Touch 1100 Per Cent

Lakme Ltd is likely to pay a final dividend of between 400-500 per cent taking its total dividend for 1997-98 to an astounding 1,100 per cent, top institutional sources said. The erstwhile cosmetics major has also applied to the Company Law Board (CLB) for paying the final dividend out of its reserves.

The interim dividend is likely to paid out of the funds received from Hindustan Lever for the sale of the cosmetic business. In order to be able to pay this dividend from its reserves, the company has already applied for exemption from the company law board. There should not be any problem in getting this permission, as the law preventing dividend payments out of the reserves are only applicable to operating companies, confirmed an institutional shareholder in Lakme.

Therefore, Lakme being only a shell company at present, should get this exemption, sources added.