Kernel to pay USD 0.44 DPS on February 15
5 January 2022
Ukrainian
sunflower oil producer and grain trader Kernel (KER PW, KERPW) will pay a
dividend of USD 0.44 per share for FY21 on Feb. 15, the company announced in a
regulatory filing on Jan. 4.
The
record date for the payment will be Feb. 8. The dividend payment will be
subject to deduction of Luxembourg withholding tax at a rate of 15%. The total
amount to be distributed to shareholders will be USD 35.6 mln (vs. USD 35.3 mln
paid for FY20), and the total number of shares with dividend rights amounts to
80.8 mln, according to the filing.
Recall,
Kernel spent USD 49 mln on buying back, via a tender,
3.23 mln of its shares in September under its 2-year USD 250 mln program to buy
back up to 19.2 mln of its shares. The second buyback tender, announced in October, resulted in no offers from
the shareholders.
Kernel
had USD 534 mln of cash on its balance sheet at end-September. In December,
Kernel spent about USD 215 mln on an early redemption of its Eurobond that was
due in January 2022.
Dmytro
Khoroshun: Kernel might return additional capital to shareholders via further
share buybacks in 2022, as it has about USD 200 mln to spend on the program.
The dividend yield will amount to 3.1% (using the
share price as of Jan. 4) and the payout ratio will be 6.9% (vs. 39.3% for
FY18, 11.1% for FY19, and 29.9% for FY20) as a result of the February payment,
we calculate.
