By IANS
Bangalore : Infosys Technologies Ltd chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy Friday hinted that the company's board may look into the dividend policy if the circumstances changed.
"I think the board will have to obviously decide about the dividend every year. If the circumstances change, certainly we will look into it," Murthy told IANS on the sidelines of the company's 26th annual general meeting (AGM) here.
Murthy's reply was in response to a Mumbai shareholder seeking a review of the company's policy that limits dividend up to 20 percent of the net income.
"As a growth company, as a high-tech company, we have taken a decision that we will distribute dividend up to 20 percent of the net income in a year. So we have stuck to that.
"In the US, high tech and growth companies don't give anything (read dividend) because they want to plough back all that into the business. As there is a tradition of giving out dividend in India, we have decided to have a policy of 20 percent," Murthy pointed out.
Earlier, the Infosys chief mentor told the shareholders the dividend policy dictated that the company limit any dividend payout to 20 percent of the net income generated during the year.
"In keeping with our dividend policy, we recommended a final dividend of Rs.6.5 per share (130 percent on par value of Rs.5 per share). Along with the interim dividend of Rs.5 per share (100 percent on par value of Rs.5 per share), the total dividend of fiscal 2007 would be Rs.11.5 (230 percent on par value of Rs.5 per share).
The dividend, including dividend tax, as a percentage of profit after tax, is 19.9 percent as compared to 19.4 percent in the previous fiscal (2006-07), excluding the silver jubilee dividend)," Murthy informed the shareholders.