Rosneft will pay record dividends

Rosneft fully fulfills its obligations to shareholders and even against the backdrop of a sharp decrease in oil prices and pandemia of coronavirus infection previously adopted dividend policy. On April 21, the board of directors of the company recommended the meeting of shareholders to decide on the payment of dividends for the 2nd half of 2019 in the amount of 18.07 rubles per share. If the decision is approved, then this will become a record half -year dividends in the history of Rosneft.

The total dividends for 2019 will also become record: 33.41 rubles per share, this is 1.3 times more than in 2018. Based on the quotes for the closure of the auction on April 15, the dividend profitability reached 11%. In total, 191.5 billion rubles will go to dividends, and taking into account the payment for 1 half - 354.1 billion rubles, 50% of Rosneft's net profit according to the IFRS standards for 2019 and is a record for the company.

Many other largest oil and gas companies either reduced the size of dividends or transferred them to a later date. For example, Brazilian Petrobras transfers dividends for 2019 from May to December 2020. Councils of directors of American companies Murphy Oil, Ocidental Petroleum Corporation and Apache Corp. The reduction of quarterly dividends was approved by 50%, 86%and 90%, respectively. And Continental Resources, one of the largest shale oil manufacturers in the United States, completely abandoned the quarterly payment of dividends.

Given that at the same time Rosneft conducts a promotion program for shares, the payment of record dividends can provide noticeable support for the company's shares.

Recall, on March 18, 2020, the Rosneft board of directors decided to change the parameters of the acquisition program in the open market and the GDR, which began in August 2018. Some program restrictions were removed, and the redemption procedure was simplified. The decision was made during a sharp decrease in oil prices, from 65 to $ 30 per barrel and the collapse of the stock market. Rosneft shares then fell 3 times, which does not reflect the fundamental value of the company. In total, from the beginning of the implementation of the program until April 22, 25.1 million shares and the GDR were bought. At the same time, many of the largest international oil companies, in particular: Chevron, Shell, Equinor, Eni, Total, Repsol, have already announced the suspension of reverse promotion programs.