|
Articles & publications
20.05.2010
Svyazinvest posts profit: state holding to allocate 25% to dividendsKommersant, Vladimir Lavitsky, Inna Erokhina
Svyazinvest will pay the state dividends amounting to 25% of its net profit, or RUR 87.466 mln, according to a letter forwarded by the general director of the state holding Evgeny Yurchenko to the State Property Management Agency. Svyazinvest proposes spending another RUR 262.4 mln to raise its own charter capital. Last year, as a result of the economic downturn, the government authorized state-owned companies not to pay out dividends, but as early as April proposed shelling out at least 25% of net profit. In addition to Svyazinvest, Aeroflot, Transneft and Sovkomflot are also prepared to part with a quarter of their profit.
The fact that Svyazinvest gad advised paying out 25% of its net profit was reported to Kommersant by the holding’s general director Evgeny Yurchenko. He confirmed that the relevant documents have already been forwarded to the State Property Management Agency. As stated in the letter (Kommersant managed to read a copy of it), net profit from Svyazinvest’s current activities in 2009 amounted to RUR 349.867 mln.
The state holding is prepared to pay out a quarter of its net profit (RUR 87.466) as dividends. Svyazinvest expects to spend another RUR 262.4 mln (75% of net profit from current activities) on raising its own charter capital. The state holding needs cash in the run-up to the reorganization procedure, as a result of which all of its key assets are to be merged with on the basis of Rostelecom. In addition, Mr. Yurchenko emphasized that the holding’s investments will go up by 43.6% year-on-year in 2010 and will amount to RUR 47 bln.
People at Sistema, which, through Comstar-UTS, owns a 25% + 1 share stake in Svyazinvest, declined to comment on the state holding’s dividends. Gazprombank analyst Anna Kurbatova believes that Svyazinvest left itself quite a small amount. “It’s hard to say how much longer Svyazinvest will exist (in the process of the reorganization the holding company is to be wound up – Kommersant), and RUR 260 is quite a small amount given that the work of consultants alone could cost several million dollars”, Ms. Kurbatova went on to say.
State companies are required to allocate 25% of their net profit for dividends, but last year, at the height of the crisis, the state authorized companies to retain their 2008 profit earnings. Svyazinvest has generally adhered to this guideline and the state holding paid out 100% of its net profit to dividend payouts on its 2007 activities.
In 2009, RUR 20 bln of revenue was underpaid to the national budget due to the refusal to pay out 25% of net profit, based on an estimate provided by the State Property Management Agency. And in April, First Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov issued a letter with a proposal to abandon the anti-crisis dividend strategy. Mr. Shuvalov proposed forming the 2010 directives for annual general shareholders meetings to allocate at least 25% of net profit to dividends. There could be some exceptions, but only after approvals have been received on this issue from the relevant vice prime ministers.
Aside from Svyazinvest, Transneft, which paid out RUR 3.893 bln in RAS net profit on its 2009 activities, has also agreed to pay out dividends at the rate recommended by Mr. Shuvalov. The Board of Directors of Aeroflot (RAS 2009 net profit equal to RUR 1.55 bln) has also advised paying out 25% of its net profit. Sovkomflot advised paying out 2009 dividends equal to RUR 920.5 mln, or 82% of its RAS net profit. VTB is also prepared to pay out 25% of its 2009 RAS profit (RUR 28 bln) as dividends.
However, not all companies have adhered to the recommendation to pay out at least 25% of their net profit. ALROSA paid out just 10% of its net profit, amounting to RUR 2.3 bln to the state, while Rosneft paid out only 11.7%, with RAS net profit equal to RUR 24.38 bln.
The annual general shareholders meeting of Gazprom, which will approve the gas giant’s 2009 dividends, is scheduled to take place on June 25. The company has announced that it intends to revert to its traditional dividend policy and will pay out 17.5% of its profit to shareholders. Last year, the government authorized the company to pay out a mere 5% of its profit. Sberbank intends to disburse 10% of its profit as dividends. The lender’s 2009 RAS profit amounted to RUR 36.2 bln, based on consolidated data.
|
