ALROSA's Exec. Committee Recommends Dividend Increase

ALROSA’s executive committee approved the company's annual report in which rough production was flat year on year at 34.4 million carats and aggregate diamond sales in 2012 rose 3.6 percent to $4.61 billion. The committee noted that rough diamond sales amounted to $4.45 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent from 2011. Profit, in local currency and as reported under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS), jumped 34 percent year on year to RUB 39.7 billion, but by dollar value the figure rose 25 percent to $1.3 billion.

Given these results, the committee recommended a 10 percent year on year increase in dividends or  RUB 1.11 per ordinary share of 50 kopecks par value. The proposed  dividends would amount to about $259 million (RUB 8.175 billion). The committee also  proposed that ALROSA retain the remaining $996 billion (RUB 31.5 billion) in profit. Their recommendation was sent to ALROSA's supervisory board for consideration and final approval.
Russian firms whose shares are in federal ownership must allocate at least 25 percent of its profit to dividends under the RAS, less  income received from revaluation of financial investments. ALROSA’s profit (without revaluation of financial investments) in 2012 amounted to $796 million (RUB 25.182 billion), according to the committee, therefore it allocated  32.5 percent of profit for dividends.

Source: diamonds.net