Moneta's shareholders approve proposal to not pay dividend

Prague, Sept 2 (CTK) - Moneta Money Bank's general meeting approved the board's proposal to re-direct 2019's net earnings to the company and not pay out dividend, Moneta said in a press release today.

The board suggested this step because of impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and following recommendations of the Czech National Bank (CNB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA), according to the press release.

Investors expected the information, which is why Moneta's shares are not reacting much, Cyrrus analyst Tomas Pfeiler told CTK. They were losing 0.18 percent on the Prague Stock Exchange (BCPP) after 15:00.

Moneta's shareholders expect that the bank will resume its dividend policy in 2021, Pfeiler said.

Moneta can afford dividend payment because its capital adequacy ratio is robust, he said, adding that the retaining of profit was rather a precaution.

Moneta also said that one of the world's oldest stock indexes, MSCI, had upgraded its rating from BBB to A, putting it on the top 30 percent list of rated companies in the world.

In March, Moneta said it would suspend its dividend policy because of the unpredictable situation caused by the pandemic and its impacts on the Czech economy.

Moneta's consolidated net profit fell by 4.3 percent to Kc4bn last year. The bank planned to distribute a Kc6.65 per share dividend for 2019, however, shareholders received only an interim payment of Kc3.30 per share in December.

The general meeting approved 2019's business results and the election of supervisory board members (Ronald Clark, Michal Petrman and Denis Hall) and audit committee members (Michal Petrman and Denis Hall). All the appointed have started their second term since May 2016 when the bank entered the BCPP.

Shareholders also agreed on the policy on remuneration and auditor election for 2020, and approved an alteration to the bank's articles of association to introduce electronic voting. The bank expects to increase security, accessibility and comfort of future general meetings, and the Central Securities Depository Prague plans to launch the system in 2021.

Moneta Money Bank has operated under this name since 2016 when it changed it from GE Money Bank because it entered the BCPP. It is one of the biggest companies listed there.

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