Payment of dividends to holders of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) global depository receipts (GDRs) has been delayed due to difficulties in sourcing dollars, the lender said on Tuesday.
According to Reuters News, the Bank said in a note to GDR holders that its registrar – the company which maintains lists of bond and shareholders – was in a queue with the Nigerian central bank for dollars to make the payout.
Yet the central bank is struggling to make hard currency sales following a recent surge in demand.
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 2.80 naira per share in 2019.
