A number of state-owned enterprises are making profits but only one is paying dividends, the Auditor General has revealed.
“I noted that only Housing Finance Bank Limited declared dividends of UGX.32.56Bn in the year under review (2023/2024) up from UGX.29.23Bn declared in the prior year. Out of the declared dividends, government received UGX.14.37Bn during the year higher than UGX.10.07Bn received in the prior year,” says Edward Akol, the Auditor General in his report for the
audit year ended 31st December 2024 presented to Parliament recently.
“I further noted that although some companies were making significant amounts of profits, they were not paying dividends to Government. Examples included UETCL, UEGCL, NEC and Post Bank among others,” the report says.
The AG says the enterprises attributed the non-payment of dividends to retention of funds to fund planned investments/projects.
“I advised the Accountant General to ensure that entities operationalise dividend policies that provide for equitable allocation of profits to investment as well as shareholders,” Akol says.
Analysis by Business Focus shows that Housing Finance Bank is Uganda’s 7th most profitable bank in a market of 25 banks. The bank’s profit increased by 11.43% to Shs65.13bn in 2023, up from Shs58.45bn in 2022.
Michael Mugabi, the Managing Director at Housing Finance, attributed the bank’s growth to digital transformation and revenue diversification efforts.
PostBank, another indigenous bank owned by the Government, made a profit of Shs27.53bn in 2023, up from Shs15.16bn in 2022. This represents a growth of 81.6%. However, despite making a profit, the bank didn’t pay dividends to the government, according to the Auditor General.
Other companies that made profits in 2023/24 include Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) (Shs82.25Bn), Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL) (Shs54.28Bn) and NEC Luwero Industries Limited (Shs10.65bn) among others.
