Romania’s biggest electricity distributor ups dividends by 19% on higher profit

Romania’s biggest electricity distributor and supplier Electrica, which is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, plans to pay EUR 65 million worth of dividends to its shareholders, 19% more than last year. The gross dividend per share is RON 0.86 and represents almost 7% of the current share price, which was RON 12.42 (on March 17). The proposed dividends represent 80% of Electrica’s consolidated net profit attributable to its shareholders. The group’s total consolidated net profit went up by almost 17% last year, to EUR 108 million, as the revenues increased by 9%, to EUR 1.24 billion. However, the consolidated net profit attributable to the company’s shareholders was some EUR 81 million while the remaining EUR 27 million corresponded to the minority interests that Fondul Proprietatea holds in Electrica’s subsidiaries. Electrica’s main shareholder is the Romanian state, which owns 49% of the group’s shares. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is the group’s biggest institutional investor, with over 8% of the shares. Electrica has a market capitalization of some EUR 964 million. Board dismisses largest Romanian electricity distributor’s CEO Romania’s Electrica to start talks with Fondul Proprietatea for subsidiaries editor@romania-insider.com