Roxas okays 20% stock dividend

Roxas Holdings Inc., the holding and investments company of the largest sugar group in the country, has been given the go-signal to grant its shareholders a 20-percent stock dividend to partly cover the P500-milion increase in its authorized capital.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Roxas Holdings’ application for the hike in its authorized capital from P1 billlion to P1.5 billion and a corresponding declaration of a 20-percent stock dividend worth about P183 million.

The record date for the dividend is set on Feb. 28 , with payment date to be announced later.

Roxas Holdings has 976.39 million in outstanding shares currently valued at P888.52 million. As of the close of trading yesterday, its share price rose by three centavos or 3.3 percent to 94 centavos.

The holding company was spun off from the restructuring in late 2001 of two publicly-listed sugar firms Central Azucarera Don Pedro (CADP) and Central Azucarera de la Carlota (CAC), with the latter also changing its name to CADP Group Corp. which is 73 percent owned by the new parent entity Roxas Holdings.

The reorganization was intended to consolidate its sugar businesses and to transform it into a diversified holding and investment corporation.

The consolidation program involves the spin-off of its Batangas sugar business to a subsidiary that will, in turn be integrated with CADP Group Corp.

The group, which has operations in Negros and Batangas, contributes a combined 16 percent of total industry production with a raw sugar production of about 36 million bags during the past crop year.