Novabev Group board of directors recommends dividends for 2023 of 225 rubles per share

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - The board of directors of Novabev Group , one of Russia's leading producers and distributors of alcohol, has recommended dividends of 225 rubles per share for 2023, information from the company shows.

The payout could be 2.75 billion rubles not including dividends on treasury shares.

The annual meeting of Novabev shareholders is scheduled for April 25, 2024. Shareholders on record as of April 1 will be eligible to attend.

The proposed dividend record date is May 13.

"If the general meeting of shareholders approves the final dividends, the total payment for the year, including the interim dividends paid for H1 and Q3 2023, will be 680 rubles per share before tax, or 8.06 billion rubles in total, which corresponds to 100% of Novabev Group's net profit under IFRS for 2023," the company said.

The company first paid dividends for 2019 at 32 rubles per share or 407.8 million rubles in total. Shareholders received 10 rubles or 124.2 million rubles for H1 2020. The final dividend for 2020 amounted to 90 rubles per share, or 1.234 billion rubles, and for 2021, 47.24 rubles per share or 649.3 million rubles with interim dividends for H1 of 72.76 rubles or 1 billion rubles.

Dividends for the first half of 2022 totaled 150 rubles per share or 1.996 billion rubles in total. In addition, in, the company's shareholders approved dividends for 9M of 2022 of 75 rubles per share from the retained net profit of previous years or 968 million rubles in total. Final dividends for 2022 were 625 rubles per share or 7.476 billion rubles and 89% of IFRS net profit.

Dividends for H1 2023 were 320 rubles per share or 4.922 billion rubles in total, and dividends for 9M were 135 rubles per share or 2.076 billion rubles.

The company's charter capital is 1.58 billion rubles, and is divided into 15.8 million ordinary shares with a par value of 100 rubles each.

In December 2022, the founder of the company, Alexander Mechetin, stepped down as chairman of the board and reduced his stake from 58% to 39.38%. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, this stake passed to the Orient-West company. Orient-West currently owns 35.39%, Synergy Capital owns 13.34% and Synergy Market 11.79%. The co-owners of the company also include its top managers. The free float is 15%. Company shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange .

Novabev Group, formerly Beluga Group, one of the leading producers of alcoholic beverages in Russia, increased sales 1% to 17 million decaliters in 2023 compared with 2022. Sales revenue grew 20% to 116.9 billion rubles but net profit fell 4% to 8.064 billion rubles.

The group owns five distilleries, one pure spirit plant, the Golubitskoye Estate winery, its own distribution system and the WineLab retail chain. The group is also the exclusive supplier of wine from a number of global producers and brands.