8 Aug 2016 07:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8 August 2016
Sistema's Board of Directors recommends paying RUB 3.67 bn in interim dividends
Moscow, 8 August 2016. - The Board of Directors of Sistema PJSFC (hereinafter, "Sistema" or "the Company") (LSE: SSA; MOEX: AFKS), a Russian public diversified holding company, on 5 August 2016 passed a resolution to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) with absentee voting to approve payment of interim dividends for the first six months of 2016.
The Board of Directors recommended paying RUB 3.667 billion in dividends for the first half of 2016, or RUB 0.38 per Sistema ordinary share (RUB 7.6 per GDR).
The recommended dividend was calculated based on the weighted average price of Sistema's ordinary shares on Moscow Exchange during the first half of 2016. In accordance with Sistema's new dividend policy adopted in April 2016, the total dividend for each reporting year will be, at a minimum, the higher of either an amount equivalent to a dividend yield* of 4% per Sistema ordinary share or RUB 0.67 per share.
Sistema President Mikhail Shamolin said: "The Company is starting to pay interim dividends as per our new dividend policy, which aims to deliver a predictable dividend yield and increase payouts. We are pleased that our efforts to grow Sistema's portfolio companies and increase their efficiency are allowing us to increase returns to shareholders, while at the same time implementing a programme to optimise our debt and reinvesting funds in new high-potential assets and projects".
The dividend record date as per the Board of Directors' recommendation to the EGM is 7 October 2016.
The record date for shareholders eligible to participate in the EGM is 29 August 2016. The date of the EGM (the cut-off date for submitting ballot papers) is 23 September 2016.
Materials for the EGM will be available from 23 August 2016 on Sistema's website (www.sistema.ru) and from 2 September 2016 by request from Sistema's offices.
*Sistema's calculation of the average dividend yield on its ordinary shares uses the weighted average price of one ordinary share of the Company traded on Moscow Exchange in the relevant reporting period (full year or six months).
***
For further information, please visit www.sistema.com or contact:
IR division Yuri Krebs Tel.: +7 (495) 730 66 00 y.krebs@sistema.ru
| Press Service Sergei Kopytov Tel.: +7 (495) 228 15 32 kopytov@sistema.ru
|
Sistema is a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company serving over 150 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high technology, banking, retail, timber processing, agriculture, real estate, pharmaceuticals, tourism and healthcare services. The company was founded in 1993. Its revenue in 2015 reached RUB 708.6bn; its total assets equalled RUB 1.3tn as of 31 December 2015. Sistema's global depository receipts are listed under the symbol "SSA" on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the "AFKS" ticker on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Website: www.sistema.com