Sistema says not to pay dividends for Jan–Sep, to reduce debt

MOSCOW, Nov 27 (PRIME) -- Russian multi-industry holding Sistema will not pay interim dividends for January–September, and will allocate the funds to debt reduction, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, citing President Andrei Dubovskov.

"Increasing shareholder value is our overriding long term priority. We believe that the optimal strategy to achieve this goal is to focus on developing our key portfolio companies and reducing Sistema's debt. As a result the corporation has decided not to pay an interim dividend for 2018 and rather to use cash resources to pay down debt,” Dubovskov said.

He also said that Sistema understands the importance of dividend yield for shareholders and will consider paying dividends for 2018.

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