BANGKOK, Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Noble Development Public Company Limited (SET: NOBLE) approved a cash dividend of THB 6.9 per share for the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year 2018. The Company's dividend is the largest payout in its history, and a reflection of the Board of Director's commitment to create shareholder value and confidence in the Company's future cashflows.
"The justification behind this dividend is two-fold: the first is to make up for low dividend payouts in the last several years whereby average payouts have lagged substantially behind our peers -- the Company's average payout ratio for the last 7 years is only 16% whereas the industry average is 48%; and the second rationale is a rapid accumulation of cash on the balance sheet after successful built up of sales backlog at the end of Q3/2018 of over THB 16,800 million that will be reflected in our books starting from Q4/2018," said Mr. Frank Leung, NOBLE Vice Chairman and Co-CEO. "The Board of Directors and the Company's executives are committed to proactively manage its equity base and maximise our Return on Equity to create shareholder value."
"The payment of this dividend is entirely created by the Company strong operating cash flow rather than new debt issuance. After this payout, Net Interest Bearing Debt to Equity Ratio of Noble is comfortably within our bond and debt covenants at below 2.5, and we expect to further strengthen our balance sheet by lowering our long term debt to around 2.1 by end of 2019."
Furthermore, the Company will continue to invest over THB 2.5 billion in new land acquisition in Bangkok residential markets this year. We also have one of the most attractive completed inventory portfolios and project pipelines in the market, and have had outstanding sales momentum in Q1/2019, particularly in the overseas market. There is no doubt that the Company has the resources to continue to make investments for sustainable growth."
NOBLE price at the end of market closed on February 22, 2019 is THB 20 per share, an increase of THB 1.50 or 8.11% from pervious market closed.
ABOUT NOBLE DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
The Company (www.noblehome.com) is a pioneer and leader in innovative and create unique residential projects to meet and bring higher quality to customer satisfaction. The Company has developed various types of residential projects i.e. land plot, single detached houses, townhouses, low rise and high rise condominiums.
As of November 2018, the Company has launched a total of 46 residential projects. 8 of these projects were developed and launched before year 2002 with the total value of THB 4,800 million, while 38 of these projects were developed and launched between year 2002 and 2018 with the total value of THB 81,700 million.
For more information, please contact:
Piyatip Diloksri | Investor Relation Department
Email: Piyatip.d@noblehome.com
Tel: +662-251-9955 Ext. 1410
