Electronic payment of dividends can reduce your losses

In a recent article we wrote about what is a dividend and why it is important.

Many shareholders are entitled to receive dividends but do not receive them.  Some shareholders have not received their dividend payments for many years.

The most common reasons for this are that many shareholders are sent their dividends by cheque and it is not collected or stolen or they have not updated the register with their existing postal address.

The company’s share registry is responsible for payment of dividends on behalf of the company.  The share registry records the mailing address of every shareholder.  Unfortunately, many shareholders change their address but do not notify the share registry of their new mailing address. As a result, when the dividend cheque is mailed out to the shareholder, the cheque is returned to the share registry because the shareholder is no longer at the old address.

As recently reported in the Post Courier, over the last decade the PNG market has been organically transitioning from an analog to an increasingly digitally inclusive market.

These days, many companies can pay shareholders their dividends electronically by depositing it directly into the shareholder’s bank account.  This is of considerable benefit to both the shareholder and the company.

There are two ways to ensure you receive your dividend payments.

The best way is to contact the company’s share registry to have your past and future dividends paid electronically into your bank account.  This ensures you receive dividends quickly, with greater certainty and with lower risk of loss, theft or fraud.  You should ask the registry to update your mailing address at the same time.  You may need to provide identification with your request.

If you still want to receive your dividends by cheque, you will need to contact the company’s share registry and ask them to update your mailing address.  You may need to provide identification with your request.  However, you will remain at higher risk of loss, theft or fraud.

The table below shows the share registry for each PNGX listed company and their preferred method to pay dividends.

The Papua New Guinea contact details for the share registries are

Ensuring that you update your address on the share register also ensures you receive other communications from the company, such as annual reports and any notice of general meeting of shareholders.

PNGX encourages payment of dividends electronically.

The information in this article is general in nature and you should take care to inform yourself about the specific characteristics of a particular investment before making a decision to invest in it. PNGX recommends discussing your investment objectives and needs with a stockbroker or qualified financial adviser. In PNG, you can either contact JMP Securities Limited or Kina Securities Limited.

By following these articles and reading more information available on the PNGX website (www.pngx.com.pg) you can build your wealth and invest in PNG.