GO plc recommends €0.16c in dividend, despite challenging year

With a total shareholder return averaging 8.31% over the past 5 years, GO remains one of the best performing publicly listed companies in Malta. It has consistently delivered shareholder returns above the market average.  

During 2020, the Group generated revenue of €185.2 million (2019: €177.8 million), an increase of €7.4 million (4.2% increase) over the comparative year.  Revenue from GO’s local telecommunications segment suffered a marginal decline of 0.9% compared to 2019, mainly driven by the significant drop in international roaming traffic due to the travel restrictions. GO’s investments however continued to deliver additional value, in fact during 2020 GO invested €57.2 million, €7.9 million higher than the previous year.

Based on this performance, the Board of Directors has resolved to recommend a dividend of €0.16 per share, the highest dividend ever paid to shareholders when excluding extraordinary events. The payment of this Net Dividend amounts to the total sum of €16.21 million.

“2020 really tested our ability as a Company to adapt, innovate and continue to connect people and businesses at a time when connectivity proved critical to peoples’ wellbeing, lives and livelihoods. I am very proud to have witnessed the experience and resiliency of this long-standing company as it continued to deliver immense value to our customers and our shareholders. Such performance is nothing short of remarkable and proves that with the right people, the right strategy and culture, we can continue to achieve great things,” stated Samir Saied, Chairman of GO.

GO’s CEO Nikhil Patil stated “Notwithstanding the period of intense organisational transformation, we continued to post excellent financial results and deliver higher shareholder returns. We took the challenge of 2020 as an opportunity to revisit our purpose, which we believe is ‘to drive a digital Malta where no-one is left behind’. I strongly believe that by staying true to our purpose, we managed to navigate through this pandemic, supported the community, kept our customers connected and yet successfully executed our top business priorities and in many ways, surpassed our result expectations.”

The final dividend for the year ending 31 December 2020 will be paid on Monday 31 May 2021 to all shareholders who are on the shareholders’ register as at Tuesday 27 April 2021.

The Annual General Meeting will be held remotely on Thursday 27 May 2021.