Eddie..

Keep up the good work,you are the voice of reason in my disturbed mind.

By the way what is the minimum ammount of shares that one can buy for family Bank

@ Nyari,

I feel you..Dividends are like TASTING the 1st Chapati to down your salivation as you wait for the whole Hog to cook! But if yu nibble on Every 1st Chapo,you will have nothing to Place on the Dining Table for your Guests!

Familly Bank in this case cannot afford to give out a Cent in my opinion having in mind that CBK has put a Deadline for Banks to Recapilize to a minimum of 1B in a couple of months. Every cent needs to go towards this Goal and that explains why ALL banks want to move further away from this minimum Capital to enable them Loan out More and Take in More Deposits !

The Maximum Ratio for Bank Deposits to Capital is 10:1 .Deposits shouldnt be more than 10 times of Capital . Diamond and others are issuing Rights for this agenda...But FB cannot give out Rights that soon coz it has yet to Prove credence and CBK/CMA cant allow that so far..hence the Need to Freeze Dividends in the meantime !

@ Eddie,

I agree with you totally I'd also prefer a bonus anytime. I'd even advise any bank wanting to give dividends to shelve the idea and instead capitalize the retained earning for a generous bonus.

However my question still stands,most companies feel the need to reward their investors after an IPO (private placement in the case of FBL) particularly if the investors were mostly retail as it generates a feeling of goodwill and attachement to the particular stock. A good example would be NBK just as you said retail investors just don't understand about capital gains. That's why I felt they might just go for the dividend option.

A combination of the two would be a better option.

Eddie

Keep up with the 'civic education' Quite informative

Hi,

Real Investing Focuses on Capital Gains and not on Dividends.

As much as EPS is a Crucial parameter to watch when investing,Bonuses (Capital gain) is the Real Deal.

When you do the seasons without Dividends dont feel Shortchanged because all the Reserves are still your Wealth in waiting ( ShareHolders' equity ),as long as yu hold on your Stocks.

Putting your Eyes on Dividends is a Myopic Attribute that is very common with the Uninformed Poor folks who believe in PEANUT DIVIDENDS and they dont Understand  what Investing in Stocks entails.

They Hold on Redundant Stocks for Ages (Total Kenya) only because of the "Healthy" DPS,and they lose out on other Capital Gaining stocks like KPL/JUBILEE/NATION/EQITY etc,only because the Latter pay "little" Dividends!

Last year i was in the Midst of these folks at the  NBK steamy AGM and they were all too Ready to Vote for their Shares to be Reduced in NBK's Capital Base for the sake of Receiving Dividends!..remember NBK's saga of Negative Capital..?? They couldnt understand how NBK was Paid 20B by the govt and not pay them a cent.

Family Bank is a Growth Company ,Keep buying them.

@ Eddie,

Oh yeah that's true. It's only available to existing shareholders who also happen to be their customers. It's definately a way of rewarding their customers who have supported them over the years. Though I joined them during the placement,they've been good to me.

Was wondering about the bonus. Wouldn't it be prudent for a company that has held shareholder funds for an year to opt for dividends. This would set a bench mark for future dividends and market itself to potenial shareholders (once they list) i.e. EPS & DPS.

Will definately be buying some more

I mentioned here last year -2007 that guys should get these shares but i was snobbed badly !

Family Bank will definitely give out a Bonus of 1:1 so as to Capitalize all their Reserves before they Hit the NSE in early 2009. So in the meantime its about Capital gains and No dividends.

Their 2007 results were Super...2008  may be good though at a lower increment due to the elections Chaos.

I understand the OTC is yet to commence and what is now possible is Inhouse Trading only!

Only EXISTING SHARE HOLDERS can buy from EXISTING share Holders..Call it a RIGHTS TRADING..

Too bad if you didnt buy in the "IPO"..but definitely one will eventually get them at a PREMIUM (120+) and upwards of 200 bob in 2009 if God preserves this Country !