Page 88 - RusRPTJul20

Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). For 2018, Gazprom paid 16.61 ruble per share, or 27% of its IFRS net profit, in dividends
The shareholders of Russian oil and gas company​ ​Surgutneftegaz​ have approved paying 0.65 rubles per common share and 0.97 rubles per preferred share​, or a total of around 30.69 billion rubles, in dividends for 2019, the company said on Tuesday. The record date for dividends is July 20.
● Metal & Mining
Alrosa​’s CEO said the current crisis will affect the company’s dividends. Interfax reported. Separately, Alrosa’s CEO Ivanov said he hopes Alrosa’s profitability will recover after activity in the diamond market resumes. He added that if the market recovers faster than the company expects, then it will still have the opportunity to sell from diamonds from inventories, allowing the company’s profitability to start recovering to historical levels (40-50%).
Mechel​ released dividend recommendations on June 1.​ The recommendations include: no dividends for common shares for FY19 as the company is cash flow negative; Rb3.48/share for preferred dividends (4.5% yield); and record date on 17 July, 2020. The minimum payout for prefs is so they do not become voting shares. The company would only have an investment case if coking coal prices nearly double vs spot levels.
Vladimir Potanin, the head and the co-owner of​ ​Norilsk Nickel​, the Russian metals major, suggested cutting dividends for 2020 ​and capping the total payment at $1bn, Interfax and Vedomosti daily reported on June 11 citing unnamed sources. The ​federal emergency called following a spill of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel​ at the Norilsk combined heat and power (CHP) plant poses immediate risks for Norilsk Nickel that controls the plant. But so far no additional pressure on the company was seen from Kremlin, while the clean-up costs for the spill ​could be limited to only $150mn​. Putin has so far specifically avoided mentioning Potanin’s name when he publically berated officials for the accident. To remind, in 2019 NorNickel paid almost $5bn in dividends, and its shareholders Interros, Potanin’s holding comapny (36.4%), aluminium major Rusal of Oleg Deripaska (27.8%) and Crispian of Roman Abramovich (4.2%) have been clashing over the decision on how to manage the cash flow of the metals major in the longest running shareholder conflict in Russian history.
● Other
VTB Capital (VTBC) in its review of the Russian utility sector warns that 2020 dividends payable in 2021 for utility names could end up on the lower side of investor expectations. ​The ​analysts maintain​ the view that government support measures, expectations for 2H20 fossil-fuel generation and price recovery, as well as ​milder than anticipated non-payments​, are likely to provide a "solid platform from which core businesses across the sector could recover" from the coronavirus (COVID-19) shocks. "However, taking into account the preference of most Russian utility companies for nominal net profit as the base for calculations, we might end up in a situation in which operational profitability is offset by bad debt reserves and write-offs," which could lead to lower dividend payments, VTBC warns.
AFK​ ​Sistema​ will increase its dividend payments in 2020​, chairman of the board Vladimir Yevtushenko said during an annual general shareholders meeting on June 28. "We will fully revise our take on dividend policy from the viewpoint of a sharp increase in dividend payments," he said as cited by Tass, adding that "the increase in dividend payouts will be not even 18%, but substantially higher." Sistema shareholders decided to allocate RUB0.13 per one ordinary share (RUB2.6 per GDR), or a total of RUB1.25bn ($17.9mn), for 2019 dividend payment. The previous dividend policy of the corporation
88​ RUSSIA Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com