VTB could shift dividend range from 10%-20% to 15%-25% of IFRS profit
MOSCOW. June 19 (Interfax) - VTB could shift its dividend range from 10%-20% to 15%-25% of net profit to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the bank's chief, Andrei Kostin, said at the annual shareholders meeting.
"We think it is possible to shift our dividend payout range from 10%-20%, as set down in our strategy, to 15%-20% of group earnings to IFRS," Kostin said.
"We will recommend the government [change the corridor], [and] we are hoping they support us," he added.
"I think the number one task is to move this corridor to the upper range, to 25% of IFRS net profit. Then yield will be significantly increased and to a large degree approach the deposit rate," Kostin said. He did not specify by which year the bank was planning to reach this level of dividend payments.
"Though the year will be difficult, my personal opinion is that dividend flow mustn't fall under any conditions," Kostin added.
VTB's supervisory board has recommended dividends for 2013 amounting to 0.116 kopecks for one ordinary share. In all, the bank could pay 15.034 billion rubles in dividends. 15% of a total net profit of 100.5 billion rubles may be paid in dividends.
VTB, Russia's second biggest bank, paid dividends totaling 14.959 billion rubles (0.00143 rubles per share) for 2012 or 16.5% of the IFRS net profit (90.6 billion rubles).
A new dividend policy by Sberbank , Russia's biggest bank, proposes that 20% of net profit to IFRS be paid in dividends.