The questions was specifically asked at the AGM: Given that any special dividend is neutral to the acquisition price (in that its reduced by the sp div), why cannot the sp div be increased to use up the franking credits the company holds?"
The answer: under the Act, a company can only pay dividends from retained earnings.
The fact that companies have used borrowings to pay divvies is immaterial: they had the "retained earnings" on their books to pay out the divvy, but insufficient cash to actually do so, so they borrowed.
The payout is likely to be higher than 13c because retained earnings at the end of Mar 2017 was 13c/share. By the end of July (or whatever cutoff they choose or are forced to accept by the t/o timetable) the retained earnings will be higher by about 4 months' normal business. I can't see that being more than a couple of cents per share.
Special divvy, page-8
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