Cenkos' dividend policy, as stated in the 2018 Annual Report, is to use earnings and cash flow to underpin shareholder returns through a combination of dividend payments and share buy-backs into treasury. Their goal is to pay a stable ordinary dividend, reinvest in the firm and return excess cash to shareholders subject to capital and liquidity requirements and the prevailing market conditions and outlook. As at 30 June 2019, Cenkos had a capital resources surplus of £15.9 million (30 June 2018: £12.0 million) above the Pillar 1 regulatory capital requirement.
The Board proposes an interim dividend of 2.0p per share. The payment of this interim dividend will trigger payments to staff under the Compensatory Award Plan 2009 ('CAP') of £0.03 million in H2 2019 (H2 2018: £0.2 million). The dividend will be paid on 5 November 2019 to all shareholders on the register at 3 October 2019.
Since Their flotation on AIM in October 2006, they have paid out 135p in dividends (prior to the 2.0p proposed interim dividend for 2019) and bought back 19.5 million shares at a cost of £25.4 million for cancellation, thereby increasing the Group's prospective earnings per share. They have therefore returned £113.0 million of cash to shareholders, equivalent to 174.3p per share (before 2019's interim dividend).
