Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
India’s largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a special dividend of Rs 67 alongside an interim dividend of Rs 8 during its December quarter earnings, taking the total dividend for the quarter to Rs 75.
This, along with two other interim dividends of Rs 8 each takes the total cash dividend announced by the company to a record Rs 91 per share during the current financial year.
TCS’ dividend payout during the previous two financial years stood at Rs 43 and Rs 38 respectively.
The Tata Group behemoth has been distributing dividend every year since its listing in 2004. It boasts of an average Dividend Per Share (DPS) of Rs 45.75 over the last ten years through financial year 2022. Barring the current financial year, the highest ever dividend paid by TCS was in financial year 2015, when it paid Rs 79 apiece to shareholders and in financial year 2020, where the Dividend Per Share stood at Rs 73.
In absolute terms, the total dividend payout by TCS during the current financial year stands at Rs 33,297 crore. In comparison, Vedanta and its Zinc unit Hindustan Zinc come a distant second, with dividend payouts worth Rs 25,463 crore and Rs 15,422 crore respectively.
Additionally, the announcement of the special dividend during the December quarter has taken TCS’ current payout ratio past 100 percent for the current financial year. The company had previously announced special dividends in October 2019 and July 2014, according to Bloomberg data.
The management of TCS maintained its exit margin guidance for the current financial year at 25 percent, despite the figure marginally missing estimates for the December quarter.
