Delta  sales down buoyed by sorghum beer faces problem paying dividends

Delta also said it had failed to pay up to $30 million in dividends to its foreign investors as a result of delays by local banks to settle foreign payments.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of an acute shortage of banknotes, with the authorities planning  to introduce a token currency in the form of bond notes.

Government has prioritised repatriating profits and dividends to foreign investors.

Delta finance director Mathlogonolo Valela told an analysts briefing that local banks were having difficulties in processing international payments.

“We still owe major shareholders some dividends from last time because banks have delayed payments and we owe foreign creditors,” he said.

“We have  a foreign loan of about $30 million from Mauritius which falls due in the next 15 months but we are taking measures that should resolve the issue.  We will never allow our creditors to be exposed to that extent but this is not something we can control.”

Delta declared a dividend of $57 million for the full-year to March 2016.

The board declared an interim dividend of two cents per share, totalling $25.8 million to be paid in December.

Delta’s major shareholders are Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV with a 38.2 percent stake, Old Mutual 14.1 percent and Templeton Asset Management , 3.45 percent.-The Source

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