March 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's UniCredit Bulbank, part of Italy's UniCredit Group, plans to distribute as dividend its entire profit of 313.8 million levs ($175.7 million/160.4 million euro) reported for last year, local media reported on Monday.
A decision on the proposed dividend payout will be voted on at a shareholder meeting scheduled for April 7 and it is also subject to regulatory approval by the central bank, business news outlet Capital.bg reported.
Last year, UniCredit Bulbank said it would reinvest into its capital its entire profit for 2020 in the amount of 224 million levs. The shareholders decided not to distribute the bank's profit in accordance with instructions from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).
In February 2022, the BNB lifted the ban on dividend payouts it had imposed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The central bank, however, said it would require lenders to "submit distribution plans that will be subject to supervisory dialogue", Capital noted.
UniCredit Group holds a stake of about 99.5% in UniCredit Bulbank's capital.
UniCredit Bulbank was the largest lender in terms of assets among 25 banks and branches of foreign banks in Bulgaria at the end of January, according to the most recent BNB data available.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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