How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria - Tips to Make Money in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday April 21, 2012 12:13:55:

Dividends are incomes that your investment in stocks bring for you. When a Nigerian company declares dividends, it means they are going to pay shareholders a certain amount of money for every unit of shares they hold as at that financial year end.

So if you have, say 10,000 units of say Zenith bank and the company declares a dividend of N1 per share, it means that you will be paid N1*10,000 units = N10,000.

How does the Nigerian company pay their shares?
They normally do this by sending out dividend warrants which are monetary instruments that are issued in the shareholder's name and will only be converted to cash in that same shareholder's name. They are like cheques but a bit different. So when the company's registrar normally issues these warrants, they are meant to reach the registered addresses of all the shareholders within a time period else they would be returned back to the registrar.

How to collect your dividend warrant
When your company declares a dividend and starts issuing warrants, you should be ready to receive such warrants at your registered address. You may also make a visit to your company registrar to collect your dividend warrant if it has not been sent to you or you prefer receiving it in person. They would normally give it by hand to you if it has not yet been dispatched or returned and if you provide valid form of identification.

How to cash your dividend warrant
Like cheques, they can be cashed into current accounts or other savings account that accept them. If your company has the same banker as you do, it may be faster to cash your dividend warrant with that bank. There is normally a charge attached to cashing such warrants so that explains why some banks don't even accept dividend warrants with a value below their flat charges. for eg. N200 dividend warrant.
So just go to your bank and pay it in using a cheque slip, fill in the details, issuing company, cheque number and your account.

What if my dividend warrant expires
Normally it seems the time period for cashing a dividend warrant before it expires is about 6 months so if one expires, how do you go about it? I'm not quite sure about this but if it a reasonable amount of money, I believe your company registrar can re-issue a new one for you or give you an alternative form of payment rather than including yours into unclaimed dividends which in Nigeria has grown to over N4bn in recent years. So I think there is possibility of expired dividend warrants being re-issued by your registrar if your contact them.

Pay a visit to your company registrar if necessary
On a personal experience, I've once gone to one of these company registrars - First Registrars especially and there were a lot of people there. Some came for dividend warrants and some came for share certificates and some just wanted to know how many shares they were issued after the ipo's. I guess they won't be much people now after the market slowed down.
So if you have any problem with your share certificate or dividends, your best bet it to go to the company registrar of the company you invested in.

How long does it take to cash your dividend warrant
After you've already made deposit into your account, the bank should clear it within a few days. I think the highest it can take is 21 days.

Comments:

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Reply by funke bright on Tuesday June 5, 2012 at 11:52:46:

can i sell my dividend warrant checque to burea d change?,

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Reply by Felix Okoli on Tuesday June 5, 2012 at 11:52:46:

Bureau de change have no business with dividend warrant. They only change currencies. Your dividend warrant can only be cashed in your name such as your bank account

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Reply by OBAHOPO TEMITOPE OLORUNTOBI on Friday September 13, 2013 at 9:53:9:

PLEASE, I HAVE SOME UNCLAIMED DIVIDED THAT I HAVE NOT RECEIVE SINCE 2008. HOW DO I RECEIVE THEM OR CLAIM THEM. IT IS FOR DANGOTE FLOUR OF 2008, 2009, 2012. KINDLY REPLY ME THROUGH MY E-MAILS ADDRESS ABOVE. THANKS.

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Reply by Felix Okoli on Friday September 13, 2013 at 9:53:9:

You will need to go to Dangote Flour registrars and ask them to reissue your dividend

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Posted by Ali musa on Thursday May 29, 2014 at 11:17:44:

Pls I have an unclaimed dividend since I bought the share in 2008. How will I received or claimed my dividends from 2009,2010,2011,2012, and 2013. pls reply to me via my e-mail.

Re: How to cash your dividend warrant in Nigeria Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday May 29, 2014 at 11:17:44:

Just go to your company's registrar office and they will update your dividends for you.

Shop online in Nigeria