The holders of participation certificates will receive a dividend of 8% of the nominal value, the bank said in a call to shareholders for a meeting due May 15.
Erste’s shareholders will not receive dividends for the business year 2011, because the distributable balance sheet profit will be depleted once the dividend on the participation certificates is paid.
“According to the terms of issue regarding the participation certificates of the Erste Group Bank AG, the full distribution of dividends to participation certificate holders takes precedence over the distribution of dividends to shareholders,” the statement noted.
Erste reported a loss of roughly EUR719 million in 2011, due to several one-time expenses, including goodwill write-downs and additional risk provisions. In 2010, the Austrian bank reported a net profit of EUR878.7 million.