Report: Sberbank may pay 35–37.5% of profit in 2017 dividends

MOSCOW, Mar 26 (PRIME) -- Russian national top lender Sberbank may agree with the government to pay 35–37.5% of net profit in dividends for 2017 in the next few weeks, Bloomberg reported Monday citing sources.

The bank’s supervisory board is slated to consider the dividends on April 17.

Sources said that state-controlled Sberbank is ready to pay 35% of net profit, while the Finance Ministry insists on payment of 37.5%, while at the end of last year the government expected to receive 40% of net profit. Even if Sberbank pays 37.5% of profit in dividends, the budget will be short of 15 billion rubles this year, one of the sources said.

CEO German Gref said in January that Sberbank could increase dividends for 2017 to 35% of net profit calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

In 2017, Sberbank’s IFRS net profit rose 38.2% to 748.7 billion rubles.

The bank paid 135.5 billion rubles, or 25% of net profit, in dividends for 2016.

(57.1072 rubles – U.S. $1)

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