Reliance Capital to pay special dividend of 50 percent

Mumbai : Reliance Capital Monday said it will pay shareholders a special interim dividend of 50 per cent, Rs.5 per equity share of Rs.10 each, in addition to the 75 percent dividend already paid for 2011-12.

“The special interim dividend will be paid to the shareholders of the company on or before Oct 10, 2012,” the company said. The company has already paid a dividend of 75 percent at Rs.7.50 per equity share.

The company’s decision to pay the dividend follows Chairman Anil Ambani’s announcement Sep 4 that the board of Reliance Capital would consider paying a special interim dividend to mark 25 years of Reliance Capital.

Addressing the annual general meeting of the company, Ambani also said the group will consider an initial public offering for its life insurance arm at an appropriate time.

The life insurance arm already has a strategic investor in Nippon Life.

Last month, the company had announced the conclusion of a 26-percent stake sale in its asset management company to Japan’s Nippon Life for $290 million, which has been the largest such deal in India’s mutual fund industry till date.

This was after Nippon Life had acquired a similar 26-percent stake in Reliance Life, the life insurance arm of Reliance Capital, for $680 billion, which pegged the valuation of the group’s life insurance business at $2.6 billion.

During the meeting with shareholders, Ambani had reported a 21 percent rise in consolidated total income at Rs.66 billion ($1.4 billion) for Reliance Capital during 2011-12, and a 57 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs. 4.6 billion ($95 million).