Surgutneftegas preferred shares fall more than 4% on dividend concerns
MOSCOW. May 12 (Interfax) - Preferred shares of Surgutneftegas during the day on Tuesday fell more than 4% on rumors that the company is planning to participate in the purchase of a state share package of Rosneft (19.5%).
This caused concerns by investors about the size of the company's future dividends, which still have a large forex liquidity cushion.
On the Moscow Exchange , Surgutneftegas' preferred shares fell to 39.2 rubles (-4.2%), the shares lost all growth that occurred during last week, which was four days due to holidays. The ordinary shares of the company fell on Tuesday by only 1.2% to 36.02 rubles.
The Economic Development Ministry does not have information on the possible sale of 19.5% of Rosneft's shares to Surgutneftegas, and the ministry is not preparing any directives on the matter, an official representative from the ministry told Interfax.
"We don't have any information on this area. We haven't prepared any directives," the representative said.
The Economic Development Ministry is in charge of privatization within Russia.
On Tuesday Bloomberg reported with reference to anonymous sources that Surgutneftegas may buy a 19.5% stake in state-owned Rosneft, which is planned to be put on sale in the framework of privatization.
As a result the state company may have a partner, which would help refinance Rosneft's $23.5 billion of debt, the deadline for repayment of which will be this year, Bloomberg's sources said.
According to a source, which was cited by Bloomberg, this would be a good deal for the oil sector, and for Rosneft it would have a revitalizing effect. The raising of funds by Surgutneftegas would also reduce pressure on the budget at the same time that the government is developing support measures for Russian enterprises during the first recession in six years, Bloomberg said.
The press secretary of President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the information, noting that Surgutneftegas is a private company. Surgutneftegas chief Vladimir Bogdanov declined to comment through the company's press service.
