June 16 (SeeNews) - Shareholders of Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz [BSE:SNG] decided to distribute a gross dividend of 3.82 lei ($0.93/0.83 euro) per share for 2016, up from 2.7 lei per share paid in 2015.
Of the total, 2.40 lei per share will be paid from the 2016 net profit of 1.02 billion lei and the remaining 1.42 lei per share will be paid from retained earnings from previous years, Romgaz said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, on Thursday.
This distribution of dividend for 2016 net profit was made considering a memorandum from the finance ministry which said the company should distribute as dividend at least 90% of the profit, Romgaz added.
Romgaz's net profit decreased 14.2% on the year in 2016, due to a drop in domestic demand for natural gas, a fall in gas prices and strong competition from imported gas.
Shares of blue chip Romgaz were traded 0.15% lower at 32.5 lei as at 1309 CET on Friday on the BVB.
Romania's energy ministry holds a 70% stake in the company.
(1 euro=4.5812 Romanian lei)