Muddled thinking by Ryman’s board

An underwritten dividend reinvestment plan hardly dented Ryman’s debt. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 21 Dec 2022

Whatever was Ryman Healthcare’s board thinking?Sure, it finally broke one of the company’s long-standing taboos, that of asking shareholders for more capital.But rather than, say, a rights issue, the board decided to be half-arsed about it and launch a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP).That in itself is a bit silly – Ryman itself pays no tax, so it has no imputation credits to attach to the dividend and that means shareholders will have to pay tax on it.If the company had just kept the 8.8 cents per share dividend, nobody would...

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