March 28 (SeeNews) - Steel radiator manufacturer Korado Bulgaria [BUL:4KX], part of Czech Republic-based Korado Group, said on Thursday it plans to pay out 2.502 million levs ($1.44 million/1.28 million euro) in dividend for the second half of 2018.
Korado Bulgaria's shareholders will vote on the proposed dividend payout of 0.19 levs per share at a meeting on May 15, company officials said during a news conference in Sofia.
The company has already paid out a dividend of 0.10 levs per share, or a total of 1.317 million levs, for the first half of 2018.
Korado Bulgaria's net profit rose by an annual 10% to 5.3 million levs in 2018, as its revenue increased by 3.2% to 44 million levs despite a drop in sales volume.
It sold 547,138 units in 2018, down from 555,747 in 2017. On the domestic market, Korado Bulgaria sold 10,532 units last year, as compared to 15,946 a year earlier.
Korado Bulgaria's domestic operations are negatively impacted by competition from Turkish manufacturers, especially in the most popular segment, its CEO Jiri Reznicek said during the news conference.
To address this challenge, the company is focusing on higher-value added products, shifting to comprehensive heating systems from individual products, and optimising costs. Korado Bulgaria is also counting on support from a recently-contracted major client - a German company with operations in most European countries which has helped the company introduce online sales.
Consequently, Korado Bulgaria expects its domestic sales to improve this year, as it aims to retain its market share, sales director Tsvetelina Kabakchieva said.
On foreign markets, Korado Bulgaria has recently resumed exports to Russia, Korado Group CEO Vojtech Chamek said.
For this year the company's main goal on the capital market is to enter the blue-chip SOFIX index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, as well as to continue to increase its liquidity. To achieve this, it is planning a series of measures, which could entail calling an extraordinary shareholders meeting, Chamek added without elaborating.
The target is achievable in the current year, he commented.
In 2017 the company increased its capital to 13.2 million levs from 8.8 million levs through a bonus share issue.
Chamek also said Korado Bulgaria is considering introducing some new, extremely sophisticated products on the local market, as these plans are impacting the planned investment in a painting shop.
The company's shares closed at 7.00 levs on the Sofia stock exchange on Wednesday. They had not traded by 4.10 p.m. on Thursday.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)