MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The board of directors of Beluga Group has recommended that shareholders approve the payment of dividends for 2022 in the amount of 400 rubles per share, with the total amount of dividend payment equaling 4.5 bln rubles ($60 mln), the alcohol company said in a statement on Monday.
"At the meeting held on March 13, the Board of Directors recommended that the Annual General Shareholders Meeting approve the payment of final dividends for 2022 in the amount of 400 rubles per share before tax, for a total of 4,512.2 mln rubles, excluding payment of dividends on treasury shares," the statement reads.
If the general meeting of shareholders approves the final dividends, the total payment for the year, including the interim dividends paid for 1H and 3Q 2022, will be 625 rubles per share before tax, in total — 7,475.9 mln rubles, which is 89% of the group’s net consolidated profit for 2022 under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the company explained.
The Annual General Shareholders Meeting will be held on April, 15, 2023 in absentia. It is recommended that the list of shareholders entitled to receive dividends be drawn up as of April, 26, 2023.
According to the current dividend policy of the company, the amount is at least 50% of consolidated net profit under IFRS while a target frequency is at least twice a year.
Beluga Group runs five factories, one ethanol plant, the Golubitskoe Estate winery, as well as manages its own distribution system and specialized alcohol retail chain WineLab. The company’s portfolio includes all main categories of the alcohol market in all price segments. The key brands of its own production are the super-premium vodka Beluga, the vodka brands Belenkaya, Arkhangelskaya, Snow Owl (Belaya Sova), Myagkov, the Russian brandy brands Golden Reserve and Bastion. In 2022, net profit of Beluga Group under IFRS grew 2.2-fold compared with the previous year to 8.4 bln rubles ($111 mln).