OREANDA-NEWS. April 15, 2009. Sberbank could disburse 10% of RAS net income in FY 2008 dividend payouts, flat y-o-y, notwithstanding the crisis, a bank executive said. “The level (of dividend payouts) will be the same as in 2007”, the source said. In 2007, Sberbank also allocated 10% of net profit, or RUB 11.66 bn to dividend payouts, up 33% on the year-earlier period. Dividends amounted to RUB 0.51 on commons and RUB 0.65 on prefs.

According to preliminary data, the bank’s FY 2008 net profit under RAS came in at RUB 109 bn. However, another source close to the Supervisory Board said that the board did not discuss FY 2008 dividend payouts so far and only approved the AGM date and agenda. “The Supervisory Board’s meeting to address dividend payouts will be held on May 15 after the audited financials are released”, the source specified.

Sberbank’s major shareholders, the Bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry [ID:nMSE52O0OU], threw their weight behind the idea to pay at least modest dividends to shareholders of Russian state-run banks, notwithstanding the crisis. The bank’s chairman German Gref also favored the idea of sharing profit with shareholders. Sberbank formally announced that an AGM is slated for June 26, 2009 and the cut-off date is midnight May 8, 2009.