Superdrug pays billionaire owner Li Ka-shing £35 million

Superdrug has paid out £35 million in dividends to its Hong Kong owner Li Ka-shing, according to The Telegraph.

The health and beauty retailer has been under the ownership of Ka-shing's Chinese conglomerate since 2002. In addition to Superdrug, he also owns pub chain Greene King and the Three mobile phone network.

According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at $35.9 billion and is one of "most influential businessmen" in Asia. The newspaper reported Superdrug had halted dividend payments in 2020 after the pandemic hit, but they were resumed in the year to 1 January as lockdown restrictions were lifted.

In a statement on The Telegraph, Superdrug said: “Retail has had a tough period weathering the storm of the pandemic and in 2020 we took the decision to stop all dividend payments.

"In 2021 we have seen footfall start to return to the high street and continued growth in our online sales. Accordingly we have paid an appropriate amount of dividends in relation to the revenue and profit delivered within the Superdrug business.”

Superdrug recently released its financial results for the 53 weeks ending 1 January 2022, revealing a 5.1% increase in revenue to £1.168 billion.

The company reported a "challenging period" with the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue in the first quarter down 29% compared to the same period in 2020.

Peter Macnab, CEO of Superdrug, said: "Although we expect the UK retail environment to remain challenging, the resilience of our online and healthcare channels, coupled with our clear future strategy to operate in both the offline and online channels, focus on our cost base and drive efficiencies that can be invested in improving our customer and colleague offering, leaves us well positioned to grow successfully in 2022 and beyond.”