
Please try another search
By Andrey Ostroukh and Elena Fabrichnaya
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Moscow Exchange (MM:MOEX) plans to channel all of its free cash flow into dividends and will also raise a dividend payout floor to 60% from 55% of net profit under a new dividend policy announced on Tuesday.
Russia's main stock exchange has also approved a new strategy for the five-years to 2024, including longer trading hours and an expanded range of products and services.
The five-year plan, designed to ensure at least a 10% annual commission fee growth, will also improve the cyber stability of the exchange's key systems.
"Our main goal is to maintain the reliability of our systems in line with the best industry standards and satisfy the needs of our customers," the head of Moscow Exchange Yury Denisov told reporters when presenting the new strategy.
The Moscow Exchange plans to double its retail investor base from the current 3 million people in the next five years, said Denisov, who took over as CEO in May 2019.
The exchange said it would continue paying dividends on an annual basis.
This has disappointed hopes of some analysts', particularly VTB Capital, for interim dividends. BCS Brokerage also said earlier that an interim dividend payout would have a positive impact on the Moscow Exchange shares.
"The new dividend policy has been designed to balance long-term growth and financial stability with the continued strengthening of the investment case," Oleg Vyugin, Chairman of Moscow Exchange's Supervisory Board said in a statement.
MOEX shares rose 1.9% on the day to 91.39 roubles each, their highest since Oct. 7, following the announcement on the new strategy.
The bourse's free cash flow, seen as a measure of profitability in financial analysis, takes into account investments needed to maintain and expand its business, as well as regulatory requirements applicable to the Moscow Exchange and its subsidiaries.
Retail investors have been attracted to the Moscow Exchange as its key rouble-denominated index MOEX (IMOEX) has climbed by about 15% so far this year and the average dividend yield of stocks traded on the exchange is at 7%, above an average deposit rate for banks, the Moscow Exchange said.
The central bank is the largest shareholder of the Moscow Exchange with around an 11.8% stake, followed by the country's largest lender Sberbank (MM:SBER) with about 10%, according to the Moscow Exchange data.
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.