Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The board of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution (ADNOC Distribution) has approved to pay out interim cash dividends of AED 1.285 billion or 10.29 fils per share for the first half (H1) of 2020.

This cash dividend distribution is part of the full-year 2020 dividend payment of AED 2.57 billion or AED 20.57 fils per share, up 7% from AED 2.39 billion in 2019, according to a press release on Wednesday.

The company is expected to distribute half of the annual dividends in October 2020 and the other half in April 2021.

The entitlement date was set on 7 October 2020.

In March 2020, the company amended its dividend policy for 2021 onwards by setting a AED 2.57 billion dividend for 2021 and a dividend equal to at least 75% of distributable profits from 2022 onwards.

The Acting CEO of ADNOC Distribution, Ahmed Al Shamsi, commented: "With our resilient business model offering stable and predictable cash flows and low exposure to oil price volatility, we are confident in our ability to pay a generous dividend to our shareholders, while also maintaining a significant capacity to deploy capital through a disciplined investment strategy."

It is noteworthy to mention that in the first half (H1) of 2020, the company's net profits decreased by 22.4% to AED 910 million, compared to AED 1.17 billion in the year-ago period.