BMIT Technologies plc on Thursday announced that it has issued 8,006,582 fully paid-up ordinary shares as payment of a scrip dividend to shareholders.

This move was first announced in the company’s Annual Report for 2023, released last March. In the report, the Board of Directors had recommended for approval the payment of a total net dividend of €5 million, paid by way of scrip, at the Annual General Meeting held in May. This resolution was approved.

A scrip dividend is when a company provides investors with the option to receive additional shares in the business rather than a cash dividend. This allows a company to retain cash for use in the business.

In its latest announcement, BMIT Technologies stated that the shares, having a nominal value of €0.10 each, have been issued and allotted to the shareholders who elected to receive new shares in the company instead of a cash dividend.

As a result, the issued share capital of the company has increased to 211,601,892 fully paid-up ordinary shares, carrying a nominal value of €0.10 each. This reflects a total issued share capital value of €21.2 million.

The new ordinary shares have been admitted to the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange and trading is “expected to commence immediately,” it affirmed.

BMIT Technologies plc forms part of BMIT Technologies Group, which also includes BM IT Limited, BM Support Services Limited, and Bellnet Limited. The group provides customers with data centre and hosting services, public, private and hybrid cloud services, as well as managed IT services.

During 2023, it acquired the 278 sites that make up GO plc’s passive telecoms assets, necessary for the telecoms company to function, for a total figure of €46.6 million. BMIT is now responsible for maintaining the cell towers and providing GO with hosting and co-location services for an initial 30-year period.

As described in the Annual Report for 2023, the group’s revenue for the year amounted to €28.7 million, 11.2 per cent higher than 2022 (€25.8 million). In a year characterised by increased investment aimed at diversifying its operations, BMIT Technologies Group recorded €7.7 million in pre-tax profit, representing a drop of 8.2 per cent from 2022 (€8.3 million).