KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd (KL:AJI) has declared a first and final dividend of 38.4 sen per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2024).

The dividend will be paid on Sept 25, with the ex-date fixed for Aug 29, according to the group's exchange filing on Thursday.

This dividend is significantly higher than the 9.1 sen per share paid for FY2023.

It also comes after Ajinomoto paid a special dividend of RM2.12 per share on May 30. The special dividend had been announced in July last year after a land disposal exercise.

The group had sold six parcels of land along Jalan Kuchai Lama to Tan Sri David Law Tien Seng, better known as TS Law, for RM408 million.

The gain from the land disposal helped Ajinomoto report a 15-fold rise in its net profit for 4QFY2024 to a record RM364.21 million, from RM23.1 million a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue declined 3.26% to RM152.76 million, attributed to lower sales volume of Ajinomoto seasoning in both domestic and export markets.

For the entire FY2024, net profit increased over 14 times to a record high of RM401.42 million, up from RM27.49 million in FY2023. This growth was primarily fueled by the sizable divestment gain booked in the final financial quarter. Full-year revenue also hit a record high of RM636.45 million, compared with RM603.75 million in the previous year.

Ajinomoto’s shares closed down six sen or 0.39% at RM15.24 on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalization of RM926.57 million.