Astarta Agro Holding plans to pay dividends for 2023 in the amount of EUR0.5 per share for a total of EUR12.5 million, which is in line with the previous year.
As stated in the company’s announcement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the relevant draft decision has been included in the agenda of the shareholders’ meeting to be held in Nicosia (Cyprus) on June 4 this year.
Other issues include: adoption of a new remuneration policy; confirmation of PriceWaterhouseCoopers as auditor for 2023; and instructing the board of directors to elect an auditor for 2024.
As reported, Astarta first paid EUR12.155 million in dividends in June 2021 based on the results of 2020 in the same amount as proposed now – EUR0.5 per share. In the military year of 2022, the company refused to pay them, and then paid them in 2023.
In 2023, Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR618.93 million.
Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchik’s family currently owns about 40.66% of the company. Fairfax Financial Holdings is also a major shareholder with 29.91%, and another 2.62% of shares belong to the company itself and were previously bought back as part of a buyback.
Astarta’s shares are currently quoted at PLN26.6 per share (about EUR6.23 per share), while about a year ago, when the dividend decision was approved, the rate was PLN32.80 per share (about EUR7.28 per share).