Banking shares are the most important assets in the SIF portfolios but they have not generated any dividends in the past few years, because banks either posted losses or used the profit for consolidation. Things are different in 2016.
Banca Transilvania, in which four SIF hold stake, decided to pay RON1.2 billion dividends from its record 2015 profit, which is a first since 2009. SIF Moldova (SIF2.RO), SIF Banat-Crisana (SIF1.RO), SIF Muntenia (SIF4.RO) and SIF Oltenia (SIF5.RO) own 16% in Banca Transilvania together, so they will collect RON192 million dividends, a record amount.
The dividend income reported by SIF will go towards dividend payments to SIF shareholders and to investments.
“Banks resuming dividend payment will show in SIF’s balance sheets. If banking dividend income is certain this year, next year it remains to be seen how the banking profits will be affected by a potential enforcement of the debt discharge law and the stress tests conducted by BNR (Romania’s central bank i.e.),” said Adriana Marin, analyst with brokerage firm Ipopema Securities.
BRD SocGen, in which SIF Transilvania (SIF3.RO), SIF Oltenia and SIF Banat-Crisana own stake, will pay RON223 million gross dividends from its 2015 profit, after a three-year hiatus. The three stand to collect RON18 million.
Erste Bank (EBS.RO), the owner of BCR, will pay EUR215 million dividends from the almost EUR1 billion profit posted in 2015. SIF Banat-Crisana is the only one that still owns Erste shares, a 2.6 million-share stake it got from the sale of its BCR stake to the Austrian group.
Although they did budget the dividend income at record high levels in the profit category, the SIF are quite pessimistic about 2016 and all five of them budgeted lower profits for this year. (EUR1=RON4.4669)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)