This morning, I read that ST Engineering has cancelled its dividend payout from a post in an investing forum. At that moment, I was shocked as so far no companies had announce dividend payout and cancelled it due to the impact from COVID-19. I quickly checked upon ST Engineering’s website and found the related news. It was not true that ST Engineering has cancelled its dividend payout. It was because the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) has to be deferred to a later date.
If you didn’t know, the proposed final dividend of 10.0 cents per share is subjected to shareholders’ approval at the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), under Singapore law. With the deferment of the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), the record date and payment date of the proposed final dividend will have to be deferred as well.
The following FAQ is extracted from ST Engineering’s website:
ST Engineering is deferring its AGM to a later date (to be confirmed) as legislative amendments on the holding of meetings are expected to be introduced at the next sitting of Parliament on or about 7 April 2020.
The legislative amendments are intended to provide legal certainty on the holding of meetings in light of the safe distancing measures recently announced by the Ministry of Health.
ST Engineering intends to convene its AGM after these legislative amendments have been passed and the necessary arrangements have been put in place in order to adopt the recommended measures for conducting meetings (as appropriate) and implement the safe distancing measures put in place by the Ministry of Health.
I do hope if you receive any news that dividends are deferred, do not panic. Check out the company’s website first for clarity.