4 May 2018 10:49

Alrosa might pay out 5.24 rubles/share for 2017, 41% less than for 2016

MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - The supervisory board of Alrosa has recommended that shareholders vote to pay out dividends for 2017 in the amount of 5.24 rubles per share, the Russian diamond miner reported.

Alrosa paid shareholders 8.93 rubles per share, so dividends for 2017 could be 41% lower.

Alrosa has been paying shareholders 50% of net profit to IFRS since 2015. The company's IFRS net profit dropped about 40% to 78.616 billion rubles in 2017, mainly due to the strengthening of the ruble last year; the decrease in profit in dollar terms was not as steep.

Alrosa may allocate a total of 38.592 billion rubles as dividends for 2017. Alrosa made a net profit to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) of 16.854 billion rubles in 2017, almost all of which will go towards dividends. The company will use a portion of retained earnings from past years to pay dividends for 2017.

Recommended dividends for 2017 are 50% of IFRS net profit and dividend yield is 6%, as expected, analysts at BCS said.