Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Shares will trade ex-dividend today (August 18) after Indian Railways’ PSU has completed its FY22 final dividend on August 19, 2022, the record date for qualifying shareholders to pay.

In a regulatory filing, the IRCTC said: “If approved at the annual general meeting, the company has set Friday, August 19, 2022, as the date for determining members’ entitlement to a final dividend for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.”

Shares of IRCTC were at Rs 675.8, up 0.85% from the BSE’s previous close. The stock has been rising for the past three days, gaining 1.43% during that time.

For FY21-22, the IRCTC board has approved a final dividend of Rs 1.5 per share. The interim dividend of Rs 2 per share announced in February 2022 is in addition to the final dividend of Rs 1.5 per share. Dividends are subject to approval by the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

According to CNBC Awaaz, IRCTC has also issued a tender to monetize rail ticketing data, passenger data that IRCTC should provide that could increase profits.

Ex-dividend is a stock that trades without the value of the next dividend payment. A stock is ex-dividend if it trades on or after the ex-dividend date. If you buy a stock after it goes ex-dividend, you own it, but you don’t get its next dividend payment. Instead, the payment will be made to the person who sold you the stock.

For example, if a company that owns Rs 335 shares declare a dividend of Rs 5, on the ex-dividend date, the share price may drop to Rs 330 because the company no longer owns Rs 5. Typically, the dividend date for a pre-stock is one business day before the record date.

The Indian Railways ticketing unit reported that its quarterly profit margin fell by 820 basis points compared to last year’s period. IRCTC reported a net profit of Rs 248.5 crore for the quarter that ended June 2022, almost triple the same period last year.

Its internet ticketing unit’s revenue share fell to 35.4% in April-June from 42.3% in the previous three months.