Shareholders of agroholding Astarta will consider paying a dividend of EUR0.5 per share for 2022, worth EUR12.5 mln, the company said in a statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the statement, the distribution of profits for the previous year will be discussed at the May 24 shareholder meeting, which will be held on April 19.
In addition, shareholders are expected to instruct the board to hold talks with the company’s current auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and its competitors, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and Baker Tilly, and, depending on the outcome, appoint one of these firms as external auditor.
As reported, Astarta first paid a EUR12.155 million dividend in June 2021 based on its 2020 performance in the same amount as currently proposed – EUR0.5 per share. In the military year 2022, the company refused to pay them.
Agropromholding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, received EUR65.16 million in net profit in 2022, down 46.8% from 201.
Holding EBITDA last year decreased by 23.2% – to EUR154.77 mln, while revenues increased by 3.8% – to EUR510.07 mln.
Astarta shares rose 1 percent last Friday to PLN30.45 per share (about EUR6.6 per share).
“The company’s policy is to pay dividends at a level consistent with the Group’s growth and development plans, while maintaining a reasonable level of liquidity. The dividend policy will, however, be reviewed from time to time and the payment of any future dividends will actually be at the discretion of the general meeting of shareholders upon recommendation of the board of directors and taking into account various factors, including business prospects, future earnings, cash requirements, financial situation, expansion plans and Cyprus law requirements,” the company said in the dividend policy.
