In the 1990s and 2000s, hundreds of Nigerians bought shares. Unfortunately, most of them never followed up on how to receive their dividends.
If you’re one of the individuals who have not claimed their dividends, here is a guide to calculating backlogs of your dividends.
How to know the total dividend payable to you
To better grasp how to calculate unclaimed dividends, let’s consider a case study: Mr. Smith purchased 5,000 units of MSL Foods Shares in 2010. MSL Foods declares dividends annually and distributes them to its shareholders.
However, Mr. Smith’s dividends remain unclaimed due to insufficient information. Upon conducting research, he discovers that he has 10 years’ worth of unclaimed dividends.
Calculation:
To know how much dividend Mr Smith should receive from 2010 to 2019, he needs to multiply the number of shares held (5,000) by the dividend per share declared by MSL Foods
Assuming the company paid NGN2.60 per unit to its shareholders in 2010, that’s 5,000 X NGN2.60. Do the same for each year then sum them all up and talk to your stockbroker to fill an e-dividend mandate form.
| Year | Number of Units | Dividend Declared (NGN) | Amount Payable (NGN) |
| 2010 | 5,000 | 2.60 | 13,000 |
| 2011 | 5,000 | 2.75 | 13,750 |
| 2012 | 5,000 | 3.35 | 16,750 |
| 2013 | 5,000 | 4.50 | 22,500 |
| 2014 | 5,000 | 4 | 20,000 |
| 2015 | 5,000 | 4.70 | 23,500 |
| 2016 | 5,000 | 4.90 | 24,500 |
| 2017 | 5,000 | 5 | 25,000 |
| 2018 | 5,000 | 6 | 30,000 |
| 2019 | 5,000 | 4.90 | 24,500 |
Featured image: Micheile Henderson on Unsplash