March 25 (SeeNews) - Croatia's Istarska Kreditna Banka Umag [ZSE:IKBA] said it is abandoning its previous plan to distribute a dividend for 2019 and will instead retain last year's profit to comply with the central bank's new regulations prompted by the coronavirus crisis.
Istarska made the announcement in a filing with the Zagreb bourse earlier this week.
The change in plan followed last week's decision of Croatia's central bank to bar local lenders from distributing dividend and other remuneration for last year as part of measures aimed to ensure that the liquidity of the banking system will support the domestic economy amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The central bank has said it believes that banks should contribute to the efforts for alleviating the social and economic consequences of the crisis.
Istarska Kreditna Banka Umag said last month it was planning to distribute a dividend of 75 kuna ($10.6/9.9 euro) per share from its 2019 profit, up from the 70 kuna dividend it paid for 2018.
The bank's shares closed 6.67% lower at 1,120 kuna on the Zagreb bourse on Tuesday. They did not trade at opening on Wednesday.
(1 euro = 7.61089 kuna)