Romania's Government gets EUR 223 mln dividends from gas producer Romgaz

Romgaz, one of the two largest gas producers in Romania, will pay total dividends of RON 1.47 billion (EUR 323 million) from last year’s net profit and profits remained undistributed in previous years, according to a press release sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Romgaz will grant its shareholders dividends of over EUR 203 million from last year’s profit, as well as over EUR 120 million from its reserves. The Romanian state, which has a stake of 70% in the company, will get EUR 226 million worth of dividends. The dividend per share is RON 3.82 and stands for 11.3% of the current share price, which was RON 33.7 at yesterday’s closing. A Government memorandum from January imposed that state-owned companies should distribute as dividends minimum 90% of their 2016 net profits. In 2016, Romgaz recorded a net profit of EUR 225 million. The gas producer saw a net profit of EUR 124.3 million in the first quarter of this year, up 15.7% over the same period last year. The company’s turnover went up by 9.8% between January and March this year over the same period in 2016 to almost EUR 330 million. Romanian gas producer Romgaz develops largest onshore gas field discovered in 30 years editor@romania-insider.com