Romania’s largest oil & gas producer OMV Petrom has proposed its shareholders to distribute them minimum 30% of this year’s net profit as dividends, in the absence of adverse developments in the foreign markets.

This doesn’t mean that the company will change its general dividend policy. This dividend distribution will apply only to 2016, reads a company press release.

OMV Petrom recorded a net profit of almost EUR 91 million in the first half of the year, down 61% compared to the same period last year. The group’s sales dropped by 18% to over EUR 1.6 billion.

This year, OMV Petrom didn’t pay any dividends to its shareholders, for the first time in six years, after the group recorded losses in 2015, due to the steep drop in international oil prices.

Austrian group OMV owns 51% of OMV Petrom’s shares, the Romanian state holds a 20.64% stake, and investment fund Fondul Proprietatea has a 19% stake. OMV Petrom’s shares have dropped 26% in the past 12 months. The company is currently valued at EUR 3.2 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com