Dear Editor,
It has been a number of years since DDL issued bonus shares to shareholders, and one is left to wonder why. The non-issue of bonus shares is stifling small shareholders who look forward to a yearly dividend based on a dollar and not the current value of each share.
Some shareholders are very comfortable with their dividends since they own millions of shares, but the small shareholders remain marginalized.
Dividends are not paid on the issue of bonus shares thus increasing the cash flow, but the subsequent increase of dividends based on the increase in shares more than compensates for that one-time loss. The bonus shares also act as an incentive, since small shareholders cannot afford to buy shares at current value while receiving dividends at the dollar value. To buy one hundred thousand shares at market value will cost one million dollars, while the yearly ROI on a hundred thousand shares at dollar value will be $40,000 at 40% dividend. Recovery of capital at this rate will take 25 years. To highlight the disparity, a person who has two million shares will earn a yearly dividend of eight hundred thousand dollars on a 40% dividend payment as against eighty thousand dollars for a person with two hundred thousand shares.
See how the rich get richer while the poor remain in poverty.
Yours faithfully,
D. Sookdeo
DDL Shareholder
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to DDL for any comment they might wish to make.
