The company will distribute a total of CZK 3.2 bn.
Prague, 26 June 2008 – The annual general meeting of shareholders of UNIPETROL, a.s today passed a resolution to pay out a gross dividend of CZK 17.65 per share. This means a gross dividend yield of 6.53% (according to the share price on the Prague Stock Exchange yesterday). The total amount to be paid out in dividend is CZK 3,200,558,584.60 (over CZK 3.2 bn). All those who own UNIPETROL shares as at 26 June 2008 are entitled to receive the dividend.
“UNIPETROL completed successfully the major part of its restructuring. Today it is a highly competitive and financially strong company and we consider it to be one of the most valuable parts of the PKN ORLEN Group,” says Wojciech Heydel, PKN ORLEN President and Chairman of the Unipetrol Supervisory Board.
The dividend payment will be due from 29 August 2008.
The decision to distribute dividends comes for the first time after UNIPETROL was privatised three years ago. Since then the new majority owner – PKN ORLEN – has focused on the company’s restructuring and improvements in its financial performance. In the previous three fiscal years UNIPETROL invested more than CZK 11.5 bn (see graph) in the modernisation and extension of its production facilities, in the reorganisation of management processes, and in a major upgrade of its Benzina retail network. In 2008 Unipetrol Group will invest an additional CZK 6.5 bn *).
“In a situation when the company had more cash than it needed and our indebtedness remained very low, paying out dividends was a logical step,” says François Vleugels, UNIPETROL CEO. “We stay in a good condition to cover all planned investments and we are also ready to go for potential reasonable acquisitions,” he adds.
The general meeting also approved the financial statements for 2007 and the UNIPETROL Management Report for 2007. In 2007 the company reported revenues of CZK 88.8 bn and a net profit of CZK 1.22 bn.
*) This sum also includes total investments in Česká rafinérská and in the Butadien Kralupy joint venture
Unipetrol’s investments* between 2004 and 2007
*) Acquisition of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (in CZK m)
UNIPETROL is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became part of PKN ORLEN Group, the largest downstream oil company in Central Europe. UNIPETROL primarily focuses on crude oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these areas UNIPETROL group is one of the leading players in both the Czech and Central European markets. UNIPETROL is one of the Czech Republic’s most important companies according to revenues and it employs approximately 4,500 people.
UNIPETROL’s largest shareholder is PKN ORLEN with a stake of 62,992 %. A total of 181,334,764 shares have been issued and the company has over 140,000 shareholders.
Contact:
Blanka Růžičková
Spokesperson
UNIPETROL, a.s.
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 731 881 111
E-mail: blanka.ruzickova@unipetrol.cz