Outlook cut for 2020.
“Based on the new risk incurred due to the pandemic, the Board of Directors’ expectation for the Group’s earnings in the current year differ from what was communicated in conjunction with the preliminary financial figures published on 25 February 2020,” the salmon farmer company wrote in a statement on the Oslo Stock Exchange on Friday.
During the presentation of the annual result, February 25 this year, the Board of Directors proposed a dividend of NOK 2.30 per share for distribution in 2020. This will not happen now.
“The spread of the corona pandemic has reduced predictability in the global economy. On this basis, the Board of Directors has adjusted its proposal for allocation of the annual profit figure for 2019. The Board of Directors now proposes that the Annual General Meeting adopts a dividend payment of NOK 1.50 per share,” it added.
The board of directors will also request authorisation from the Annual General Meeting to pay up to NOK 0.8 per share as dividend before the end of the present year. To compare, the dividend for the financial year 2018 was NOK 2 per share.
“The shareholders shall feel confident that the Board of Directors’ management of profit allocation is appropriate at all times and during this current and other period of uncertainty. After careful consideration, the Board of Directors has weighed up the shareholders’ need for predictability, reallocation of capital and the need to take into account the increased level of risk currently dominating the global economy,” Lerøy’s board added.
