Sebi asks companies to declare dividends in ‘clear’ terms

Sebi has finetuned guidelines on dividend payments,bonus issue,IPOs and preferential allotment of warrants. Mandating that listed companies should declare dividend only on per-share basis,Sebi said,“Presently there is no uniformity in declaring dividend. Declaration of dividend as a percentage of face value has the potential to mislead the investors in case face values of the shares of two companies are different.”

Sebi has also decided to reduce the period for completing a bonus issue to 15 days,where no shareholders’ approval is required as per Articles of Association of the company and to 60 days where shareholders’ approval is required.

Sebi has allowed an issuer to declare the floor price or price band for an IPO at least two working days before the date of opening of the IPO. “This will enable issuers to adjust the floor price accordingly. In most cases it will help provide a more realistic lower price band in the event of a bearish market,” said a stockbroker.