The companies listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) have paid the highest ever dividends in year 2021 –Rs499.84 billion – which was 87 percent higher compared to year 2020, spokesperson to Finance Ministry Muzzammil Aslam said on Monday.
In 2020, the dividend stream from stock exchange companies was around Rs267.608 billion.
Sector-wise, commercial banks paid the highest dividend of Rs139.17 billion in 2021. This was followed by oil and gas companies as they paid dividends of Rs71.12 billion in 2021 compared to Rs44.608 billion in 2020.
Next in line are fertilizer, power generation and distribution, food and chemical companies with cash dividend of Rs59 billion, Rs34 billion, Rs26 billion and Rs 25.7 billion, respectively.
Moreover, dividends from banks were almost doubled to Rs139bn in CY21 from Rs 64.251bn in 2020.
Fertilizer sector paid Rs59 billion in 2021 against Rs47.96 billion the previous year.
