PR Newswire
London, June 18
The Diverse Income Trust plc
(the "Company")
The Company has today declared a fourth interim dividend in respect of the financial period ended 31 May 2015 of 1.0 pence per ordinary share, payable on 28 August 2015 to ordinary shareholders on the register on 26 June 2015. The ex-dividend date will be 25 June 2015.
In the year ended 31 May 2015, the revenue received by the Company has grown from 2.70p to 3.58p, and the total of the four interim dividends paid/declared to shareholders to date has increased from 2.25p to 2.40p, an increase of 6.7%.
At the time of the launch, the Company proposed to pay four quarterly dividends a year, declared as interim dividends so that they could be paid soon after they were declared, without the need to await formal approval at the Annual General Meeting.
The Board is aware that some shareholders would prefer that the last dividend of each year be approved formally by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, prior to its payment. Unfortunately, if the fourth interim dividend were to be re-designated as a final dividend, then its payment date would have to be held back for several weeks until after the AGM.
The Board is now proposing that what would have been the first interim for the forthcoming year is re-designated as a final dividend for this financial year. This will not interrupt the timing of the ongoing stream of dividends paid to shareholders. The effect of this change would be that five dividends would be paid to shareholders in this year's accounting period and that in future years there would be four dividends, comprising the three interim dividends as previously together with the newly re-designated final dividend.
The Board will be seeking approval of this change at the AGM. The Board wishes to re-emphasise that this will not change the existing pattern of dividend payments to shareholders.
18 June 2015
