Agroholding Astarta will pay dividends for 2024 in the amount of EUR0.5 per share for a total of EUR12.5 million, which is in line with the previous two years.
The decision was made at the company’s annual general meeting on June 12, according to a statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
The shareholders instructed the board of directors, which proposed the dividends, to determine the payment dates.
In addition, the meeting approved a new version of the company’s remuneration policy, which provides for a new long-term incentive (LTI) mechanism for the remuneration of executive management through the allocation or transfer of company shares to a special trust to be established by the board of directors for the benefit of such persons.
Astarta’s shareholders also approved the issue of new shares in the amount of up to 5% of its authorized capital without preemptive rights, provided that they are distributed solely for the purpose of implementing an employee incentive program, and delegated to the board of directors the authority to issue such shares.
According to information on the stock exchange, the largest shareholders of Astarta are currently Albacon Ventures Ltd, CEO Viktor Ivanchik – 41.4%, which held 53.3% of the votes at the meeting, as well as companies controlled by Fairfax Financial Holdings: Odyssey Reinsurance Company – 7.67%, HWIC Global Equity Fund – 7.29%, and United States Fire Insurance Company – 6.93%.
In addition, the company reported that on June 12, Ivanchik’s Albacon purchased another 5.28 thousand shares on the stock exchange at an average price of PLN59.97 ($14.04 at the current exchange rate) and increased its stake to 10 million 364.50 thousand shares.
As reported, Astarta paid EUR12.155 million in dividends for the first time in June 2021 based on its 2020 results, in the same amount as now – EUR0.5 per share. In the war-torn year of 2022, the company refused to pay dividends, but then paid them in 2023 and 2024.
Astarta shares fell by 1.2% on Friday, June 13, to PLN58.4 per share, while about a year ago, when the dividend decision was approved, the price was PLN29.25 (about EUR6.81) per share, and a year earlier – PLN32.80 (about EUR7.28) per share.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, increased its net profit by 34.5% to EUR83.25 million in 2024, while its consolidated revenue decreased by 1.1% to EUR612.15 million.
The family of Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchik owned about 41.48% of the shares at the beginning of this year, having bought 1.22% last year. Fairfax Financial Holdings is also a major shareholder with 29.91%, and another 2.12% of the shares belong to the company itself and were previously bought back.
