Altri to pay dividend because of ‘very strong’ financial position

The president of Altri’s board of directors, Paulo Fernandes, said that the pulp and paper company will distribute dividends to shareholders because, despite the crisis caused by Covid-19, it has a “very strong” financial situation.

“Altri will make a dividend distribution, because it had a very good year last year, the prices were very high,” said Paulo Fernandes to journalists at an audience with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in Belém.

However, Paulo Fernandes stressed that the dividend is half of what the company distributed the previous year “because conditions obviously require more caution,” referring to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Still, the businessman said that Altri has “a very strong financial situation” and does not depend on the national market.

Altri, a pulp and paper producer, recorded profits of €100.8 million last year, a drop of 48.1 percent compared to 2018, the group said in a statement released on March 13.

In 2019, Altri’s total revenues were €753.5 million, a decrease of 4% compared to 2018, stated the company, with “revenues from pulp sales amounting to approximately €660 million, or 3% less than the previous year”, reads the same note.

The Board of Directors proposes the distribution of €61.5 million in dividends to shareholders for 2019, which translates into a gross dividend of €0.30 per share. The proposal will be voted at the General Shareholders’ Meeting scheduled for April 30th.