Russia’s Rusal recommended its first dividend in five years on Tuesday – an interim payment of $0.02 per share – after reporting strong first-half financial results earlier in August.
Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China, boosted its January-June core earnings by 37% to $1.8 billion amid higher aluminum prices.
The payment for the first half of 2022 would reach $304 million, according to Reuters calculations based on Rusal’s issued share capital, if shareholders approve the board’s recommendation on Sept. 30.
Rusal, controlled by EN+ Group with a 56.9% stake, last paid a dividend for the first half of 2017, when it returned $300 million to shareholders.
Sual Partners, which owns 25.5% of Rusal, has been calling for the resumption of dividend payments since 2021, but the company was focused on reducing its debt.
(By Anastasia Lyrchikova and Polina Devitt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)