Russias largest lending institution Sberbanksaid Monday that it will pay out record dividends for the 3rd successive year on its 2024 results.The payment lines up with the Finance Ministrys push for state-owned companies to distribute a minimum of half of their revenues as dividends.
The ministry holds a majority stake in Sberbank through the National Welfare Fund.Sberbank will pay 786.9 billion rubles ($10 billion) in dividends for 2024, or 34.84 rubles per share, following a record yearly profit of 1.58 trillion rubles ($22.9 billion), up nearly 5% from the previous year.Dividends from significant state companies supply an essential source of income for Russias federal spending plan, which has earmarked a record 13.2 trillion rubles, or 6.2% of GDP, for defense spending this year.Sberbank also published record payments of 752 billion rubles for 2023 and 565 billion rubles for 2022.
It plans to continue paying 50% of its net earnings in dividends through a minimum of 2026, according to the business newspaperKommersant.About 25% of the 2024 dividend payment will be held in limited accounts for foreign shareholders from nations labeled unfriendly by Moscow, Kommersant reported.