Profil:
KGHM Polska Miedź SAKGHM copper needs investment but does not resign from dividends in future
Listed copper and silver producer KGHM currently needs development investments, hence the decision of the management board not to recommend payment of a dividend for 2024, CEO Andrzej Szydlo told a press conference. KGHM is, however, ready to discuss the possibility of sharing the profit with investors in the future.
"At the current stage at KGHM, the most important thing is to ensure safe growth, hence the need for free funds to invest for the future," CEO Szydlo said.
"This is related to the overall policy of the board and our dividend recommendations," he explained.
KGHM's deputy CEO for finance Piotr Krzyzewski pointed out that money needed to be invested very responsibly.
"We make rational decisions to look at the dividend issue on the one hand, but also for investors to see where value is built, what investments are necessary and what return they will bring," CFO Krzyzewski said.
"We are not changing the dividend policy. The moment we announce the strategy we are ready to sit down with investors and analysts and have a preliminary conversation about how we see the flows in the next years, to listen to each other," he added.
KGHM said on Thursday that the company's management board is recommending to its general meeting of shareholders not to pay a dividend from the 2024 profit and to allocate it entirely to reserve capital.
In developing the recommendation, the company's management board took into account, first and foremost, an assessment of the financial needs of the KGHM Polska Miedz Group in the context of realising its short- and long-term investment plans.
The management board proposal has been approved by KGHM's supervisory board.
In 2024, the group paid a dividend of PLN 1.5 (EUR 0.36) per share from its 2023 profit.
pr/ ao/
