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VTB chief wants to pay out dividends in shares
“Given quite a hard situation with banking capital we are proposing to allow banks to pay at least part of the dividends in the form of shares,” said VTB Board Chairman Andrey Kostin. Mikhail Sukhov, deputy chairman at Russia’s central bank, told Reuters he supports the idea. VTB plans to pay out 15 billion roubles in 2012 dividends, or 16.5 percent of last year’s net profit of 90.6 billion roubles. Corporations can distribute profits to shareholders two ways: by paying ‘cash’ or by creating more company shares and rewarding dividends as stock. The risk slightly increases, because the rate of return is dictated by the stock rate, and not the profits themselves. Stock dividends can yield a tremendous profit for shareholders, as long as the company’s capitalization increases, and doesn’t tank. The practice of paying out dividends by share is highly unusual in Europe and American banking institutions. This can be a lot of money, over time, and is attractive to people who are looking for assured income from their investments. In May, VTB raised $3.2 billion in their second public offering, which is part of the bank’s drive to privatize state assets and reduce state influence in business. Before the sale, the government held 75.5 percent of the bank, and now its share is down to 60.9 percent, as the Kremlin mandated its stake must remain above 60 percent. The sale boosted the bank’s Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio to 11.9 percent from 10.3 percent in December. Last year, VTB bought back shares held by minority shareholders at the 2007 IPO price of 13.6 kopeks, by order of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The bank spent almost 11.4 billion roubles buying back these shares. Around 55 percent of the new shares sold in VTB’s capital raising were purchased by the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, Norway and Azerbaijan. Russian billionaires Mikhail Prokhorov and Suleiman Kerimov have both bought into VTB’s secondary public offering. Prokhorov’s Onexim Group has invested over $400 million in bank stock. The sale of 2.5 trillion new shares were priced at 4.1 kopeks a piece, but traded higher at 4.6 kopeks the day of the offering. … Read More
Holder Laid the Groundwork for “Too Big to Jail” In 1999
Specifically, in 1999, as Deputy Attorney General, Holder wrote a memo arguing against prosecuting large financial service companies. … Read More
South Stream: A fresh element of Russian-European energy cooperation?
South Stream is a multinational gas pipeline project based on a strategic agreement between Gazprom (Russia) and ENI (Italy). Currently the pipeline will cross Russia by land and go under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, then to Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and finally to Northern Italy. The Black Sea section of South Stream will stretch about 900 km, going as deep as 2250 meters. The pipe will be filled with gas from Russia, as well as Central Asia, with a projected capacity of around 63 bln cubic meters.A number of European countries intend to take part in the project. Agreements on the construction of the land section of the pipeline were signed with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. Discussions with FYR Macedonia are underway. Some of the EU’s leading energy companys also plan to take part in the project which testifies to its strategic importance and economic feasibility. On September 16, 2011 in Sochi representatives of Gazprom, ENI, EDF (France) and Wintershall (Germany) signed a shareholders’ agreement on the construction of the subsea section of the pipeline. Local energy companies are also heavily involved in the current discussions on the land pipeline construction in each of the participating European counntries. We consider the South Stream pipeline project to be a significant addition to the transportation system of conventional gas to Europe and believe that it will increase diversification, improve the current infrastructure and make a positive contribution to the overall fabric of Russia-EU energy cooperation. The project is feasible economically and it can easily be filled to capacity. The system meets all modern environmental and technological standards, thus enhancing the security of the overall energy supply network of the European continent. We are confident that South Stream will become a significant project for Europe. According to both Russian and European experts it has the potential to become an integral part of the EU’s energy transportation system, helping to meet the ever increasing demand for cleaner fuels. … Read More
MetroPCS shareholders agree to T-Mobile merger
MetroPCS shareholders have voted in favor of merging the company with the nation’s fourth largest wireless provider. Shareholder approval was the last major hurdle the deal faced as regulators had already given the merger the green light earlier this year. … Read More
Apple to dish out $100 billion to shareholders
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple is opening the doors to its bank vault, saying it will distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders over two years. At the same time, the company said it expects sales for the current quarter to fall from the year before, which would be the first decline in many years.Apple Inc. on Tuesday said it will buy back $60 billion in shares – the largest buyback authorization in history. It is also raising its dividend by 15 percent.Investors have been clamoring for Apple to give them access to its cash hoard, which ended March at an unprecedented $145 billion. Apple’s tight grip on its cash has been blamed for the steep decline in its stock price over the winter.News of the cash bonanza coincided with the company’s release of a poor quarterly outlook for the three-month period that ends in June. The June quarter is generally a weak one for Apple, since consumers tend to hold off for the next iPhone, which the company usually releases in the fall.Apple shares rose $18.87, or 4.6 percent, to $425 in extended trading. The shares are still down 40 percent from the peak hit on Sept. 21, when the iPhone 5 went on sale.Continue Reading… … Read More
Upcoming Netflix family plan allows four simultaneous streams
Netflix recently announced some new family-oriented changes to the streaming service. In a quarterly letter to shareholders, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells noted the company intended to launch a new family plan that would allow up to four simultaneous streams for just $11.99 per month. … Read More
