May 15 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian cable manufacturer Emka [BUL:EMKA] said on Monday that it will ask its shareholders to approve a capital increase to 43.4 million levs ($24.1 million/22.2 million euro) from 21.7 million levs by converting part of its profits into new shares.
Emka is considering issuing some 21.7 million new ordinary shares of 1 lev in par value each, to be distributed to existing investors at a ratio of one new unit for each share held, the company said in a bourse filing.
At the same time, management will also propose the distribution of a gross dividend of 0.15789 levs per share for 2022, or an overall amount of 3.43 million levs. That sum represents about 30% of Emka's total net profit of 11.47 million levs for last year, with the balance to be retained as undistributed profit.
The planned capital increase would be funded by Emka's undistributed profits for 2022 and previous years.
In 2022, Emka nearly doubled its net profit to 11.8 million levs compared to 6.6 million levs a year earlier.
Last year, the company paid out a gross dividend of 0.15789 levs per share, or 3.43 million levs, for 2021, which represented an 87% rise in the dividend amount compared to the prior year.
Emka's general meeting will take place on June 19, the filing also showed.
Shares in Emka last traded flat at 3.98 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on Friday.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)