Maihapa Ndjavera
The Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings (NPTH) received a dividend of N$572.2 million from its subsidiaries Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) and Telecom Namibia for the 2019/2020 financial year.
NPTH board chairperson Sencia Kaizemi-Rukata said last week at their annual general meeting (AGM) that despite the prevailing challenging economic conditions, both MTC and Telecom honoured their dividend obligations.
These were interim and final dividends of N$569.5 million from MTC, and Preference Shares Dividends of N$2.7 million from Telecom.
NPTH is the holding company of Telecom Namibia Limited (Telecom), Namibia Post Limited (Nampost), and Mobile Telecommunications Ltd (MTC). In addition, NPTH is the custodian responsible for the management and administration of properties on behalf of its subsidiaries.
At the same occasion, NPTH declared ordinary dividends to Government as the ultimate shareholder, which was represented by public enterprises minister Leon Jooste.
“From the Namibian public enterprises sphere, NPTH is one of the few public entities that observed its intentions to declare and pay dividends to the government, and NPTH is proud to be associated with other commercial entities who ploughed back into the government, especially during these dire economic climates where the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected businesses domestically, regionally and globally,” Kaizemi-Rukata stated.
She added that NPTH, being a commercial public entity, is furthermore committed to supporting President Hage Geingob as well as Government to realise the objectives of the Harambee Prosperity Plan ll, as well as the national development plans (NDPs) and Vision 2030.
For the September 2020 financial year-end, NPTH generated revenue of approximately N$1.1 billion, inclusive of the annual dividend payments received from its subsidiaries. The said revenue was generated from various streams, of which N$997.8 million was received from MTC and N$176 million from the property management administration.
During 2016 and with the support of its shareholder, NPTH injected N$400 million into Telecom Namibia. In a bid to protect its interests, NPTH entered into a preference shares agreement with Telecom Namibia, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a dividend payment from Telecom’s income. This commitment with Telecom has continued to yield positive results, with the company declaring preference share payments of N$2.2 million in 2017, N$10.3 million in 2018, and N$2.7 million in 2020.
In 2018, Cabinet approved a 100% acquisition of shareholding in MTC by purchasing the remaining 34% through NPTH from Netherlands-based company Samba DutchCo for N$2.3 billion. This made the entity 100% wholly Namibian government-owned from the previous 66%.
During the financial years 2017/2018 and 2019/2020, NPTH renovated a total of 32 properties. Two of these projects entailed major renovations, namely NamPost Couriers (2018) and Telecom Namibia (2019). The company is occupied during the current financial year with major renovations at NamPost headquarters, with these renovations to be completed in June 2021.