Guaranty Trust Bank Has delayed dividends payout to investors in its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) due to difficulties in sourcing dollars, the bank disclosed Tuesday.
In a note to GDR holders, the bank explained that its registrar – the company which maintains lists of bond and shareholders – was in a queue with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for dollars to make the payout.
Rise in dollar demand, estimated at over $2 billion has pushed the apex bank into rationing dollars to companies and banks demanding for the greenback.
With the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, depressed and foreign exchange reserves dwindling, its central bank is hanging on to dollars to support the naira – leaving a shortage of hard currency supply for investors and importers.
GT Bank, Nigeria’s top lender, declined to comment on the size of the dividend to be paid to holders of its GDRs, which are traded in London. It issued the GDRs in 2007 to raise $750 million. It paid out a total dividend of N2.80 per share in 2019.
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