Huawei plans dividends of $10.7b on strong comeback

Huawei Technologies Co plans to give its staff 77.1 billion yuan ($10.7 billion) in dividends under its employee stock ownership plan or ESOP, after the Chinese tech company made a strong comeback to the 5G smartphone market.

The dividend will be 1.50 yuan a share, and the payment will be made in March or April, three Huawei employees told China Daily. The company did not respond to requests for confirmation.

Huawei, which is wholly owned by its employees, has about 51.3 billion shares outstanding. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has shares in the firm as a natural person and he also participates in the ESOP, which has been in place since Huawei was set up in 1987 and is implemented through the Union of Huawei Investment and Holding.