my understanding of the legl position under the corporations act...

my understanding of the legl position under the corporations act (not that I am giving legal advice) is that once the company has declared a dividend it becomes a debt due to qualifying shareholders. Therefore the company does not have the option to "choose" to not pay it. The main issue is capacity to pay. Do they have enough cash to actually pay the dividend. I am sure as hell a bank wont allow any of their facilitis to be drawn down to pay dividends. I think the company needs to keep the market informed in a full and frank manner about discussions with its bankers. If the company is wound up, shareholders would be merely unsecured creditors to the extent of the dividend. So you could kiss that goodbye given AMA's level of debt. Looks to me like AMA is teetering on the edge .... watch this like a hawk over the next few days if you have bought in for the dividend!!! If the company does survive i would suggest that they will not in the future pay anywhere near the current dividend in the short term.