Keo approves €2.11m interim dividend for shareholders

Keo plc will pay shareholders an interim dividend totalling €2,109,096 by November 29, following a decision by the company’s board of directors on October 20, the Cypriot beverage producer announced on Wednesday. The distribution amounts to five cents per fully paid ordinary share, representing a higher per-share payment than the four-cent dividend completed by the company in August. Shareholders registered in the Cyprus Stock Exchange’s records on November 2 will be entitled to receive the latest dividend. Keo shares will trade ex-dividend from October 30, meaning investors purchasing shares from that date will not qualify for the payment. Investors buying shares by the close of trading on October 29, the last cum-dividend date, will be eligible for the distribution. The company also clarified that investors holding securities through an off-floor transfer completed by the November 2 record date will qualify for the dividend. Payments are scheduled to be made by November 29, the company confirmed. The decision comes less than two months after Keo completed a €1.69 million dividend distribution in August, equivalent to four cents per fully paid ordinary share. That earlier payment had been approved at the company’s annual general meeting in July and was funded from profits generated in 2024 and held in its revenue reserve. The latest distribution comes as Keo faces weaker sales and lower earnings. For the first half of 2026, the company reported net profit of €2.97m, down from €3.23m in the corresponding period of 2025, while turnover fell by 3.13 per cent to €32.35m from €33.40m. Gross profit remained broadly stable at €11.28m, compared with €11.31m a year earlier, allowing the gross profit margin to improve to 34.9 per cent from 33.9 per cent. However, profit from operations declined to €2.51m from €2.93m. Keo’s full-year results for 2025 also showed easing profitability, with operating profit falling to €8.80m from €9.30m in 2024, while turnover declined by 1.1 per cent. The company attributed the earlier fall in annual turnover to the absence of a one-off sales agreement that had boosted the previous year’s figures.