Chobe Holdings (Chobe), a tourism corporation chaired and partially owned by Botswana-based businessman Jonathan Gibson, plans to deliver a total dividend of $5.29 million for the fiscal year ending February 29, 2024.
The board recommended a final dividend of BWP71.88 million ($5.29 million), or BWP0.8 ($0.059) per share, according to a recent report.
The $5.29-million dividend, which will be paid from retained earnings, comes after the board announced that group profit before tax for the fiscal year ending February 29, 2024, is estimated to be 44-54 percent higher than BWP135.6 million ($10 million) declared for the previous fiscal year ending February 28, 2023.
The earnings estimate follows the group’s 2023 financial report, which showed revenue of BWP410.92 million ($30.32 million) and profit of BWP104.59 million ($7.71 million). Total assets were BWP550.76 million ($40.6 million), with retained earnings being BWP259.04 million ($19.1 million).
Chobe Holdings manages 12 ecotourism resorts and camps under several names, including Desert & Delta Safaris, Chobe Game Lodge, Ker & Downey Botswana, and Sedia Riverside Hotel, on leased land in Northern Botswana and Namibia’s Caprivi Strip.
The group also owns Safari Air, a wholly-owned air charter operator that serves its camps and lodges, and North West Air Proprietary, which offers repair services to the firm’s aircraft and third parties. Gibson, Chobe Holdings’ deputy chairman and one of the most wealthy investors on the Botswana Stock Exchange, owns 31,830,406 ordinary shares of the company.
While specifics about the company’s overall performance for the fiscal year ending February 29, 2024, are pending, the dividend announcement demonstrates the group’s commitment to balance shareholder returns with strategic growth ambitions.