Polymetal's to pay 50% of adjusted net profit under new dividend policy
MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - Polymetal will pay 50% of adjusted net profit as dividends instead of 30% under a change to the dividend policy approved by the company's board of directors on Tuesday.
Dividends will be paid on a semiannual basis, the silver and gold miner said in a statement. The new policy will take effect beginning with interim dividends for 2017.
In addition, the net debt/EBITDA threshold under which dividends are paid has been raised to 2.5x from 1.75x. As follows from the statement, now the payment of regular dividends is strictly limited by this indicator, whereas earlier, if the threshold was exceeded, the payment of dividends was subject to the board's discretion.
"We believe that the increased regular dividend payout ratio and firm leverage ceiling represent a more predictable and transparent capital structure. We hope the changes are welcomed by investors and the analyst community. The new policy further reinforces our commitment to capital discipline and substantial dividends," Polymetal CEO Vitaly Nesis was cited as saying in the statement.
Special dividends will be paid at the discretion of the board of directors, as before. "The Board will continue to consider the potential for a special dividend on an annual basis. The special dividend decision will be based, among other factors, on available free cash flow (post regular dividends), forward-looking financial projections, market outlook, and other relevant factors," the Polymetal statement said.
Polymetal, Russia's largest silver producer and one of the country's biggest gold miners, has operations in Magadan and Sverdlovsk regions, Khabarovsk Territory, Chukotka, Kazakhstan and Armenia.
The company is listed on the LSE and Moscow Exchange, with a free float of more than 50%. Polymetal's largest shareholders are Alexander Nesis's ICT Group with 26.69%, Petr Kellner's PPF Group with 12.83% and the family of Alexander Mamut with 10.06%.