Novatek board proposes H1 dividends

The board of Russia’s largest LNG exporter Novatek has proposed paying out rubles 43.2bn ($655mn) of its first-half profits in dividends, the company said in a stock exchange filing on August 23.

The payout equates to rubles 14.23 per ordinary share or rubles 142.3 per global depository receipt (GDR), and amounts to 9.6% of Novatek’s net income in the six-month period, which came in at rubles 451bn.  In contrast, Novatek issued rubles 28bn in interim dividends last year, or 37% of its profit of rubles 75.2bn.

The company's dividend policy will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders on September 30.

Novatek’s earnings have risen dramatically this year thanks to its Yamal LNG export terminal reaching full capacity last December. But it has also hiked spending on growth, raising capital expenditure to rubles 73.7bn in January through June, from rubles 31.8bn a year earlier.