Russian gas company Gazprom's profit plunged last year, company scraps dividend

Russian gas company Gazprom's net profit fell by more than 40 percent last year to 1.226 trillion rubles (around CZK 336 billion). The company attributed the decline to higher taxes in the second half of the year. It also said it would not pay an annual dividend, Reuters reported today. Gazprom shares fell by around four percent in response to the news. The company, which is majority-owned by the Russian government, already paid a record interim dividend last year totalling 1.2 trillion rubles.

Russia became the target of extensive economic and financial sanctions imposed by Western countries last year following its military attack on Ukraine. Gazprom began curbing gas supplies to Europe last year, but the company benefited from a sharp rise in commodity prices. Gazprom's export volume nearly halved last year to 101 billion cubic metres, according to Reuters.

Gazprom said today that the interim dividend alone had already exceeded its target dividend payout level of 50 percent of net profit. The company therefore decided not to make any further payments to shareholders for last year.