House-building group Abbey has decided to pay a special interim dividend of 40p per share, at a cost of £14.2 million (A18 million) to the cash-rich company. It will be paid on May 31st to shareholders on the register on May 19th. The shares, which have been languishing, responded positively, gaining 11 per cent to 200p sterling in London and 18 cents to A3.28 in Dublin. The shares reached a high of A6.03 in 1998; since then, they have fallen from favour, slipping to a low of A3 this year.
The special dividend, Abbey said, "is funded primarily from the recent sale of investments in particular investment properties held in Ireland".
The properties, located in Dublin, were in Fenian Street and a car-park in Trinity Street, which sold for £8 million and £9 million respectively. There will be a surplus on the balance sheet value of £13.5 million and, after tax, the proceeds will pay for the special dividend.
The payment dwarfs the total dividend of 14.7 cents paid last year but represents less than half of the projected cash of A36 million at the end of this year.
Abbey said it expected to report another good financial result in August and "is entering the new trading year with a firm order book".
The company plans to build more than 730 houses this year, around the same as last year but higher turnover will come from higher prices and bigger houses. Growth in the number of houses was planned for 2001 and there was a three-year land bank, he said.
