KRUK plans to pay dividend and is ready to consolidate Polish debt market
The KRUK Group, one of the largest debt management companies in Central Europe, plans to pay PLN 94 million in dividend, or PLN 5 per share. This would be one third of the estimated preliminary* net profit reported by KRUK for 2017 and the highest dividend ever paid by the company.
“It was a good year for us and today we want to share the profits with our investors. I believe that the best listed companies should not only grow dynamically, but also distribute their profits,” said Piotr Krupa, KRUK ‘s CEO.
It would be the fourth consecutive time when the company pays dividend on record-high profits*. What is important, currently KRUK is one of the least indebted organisations in the global debt management sector.
“We take our investors very seriously. Our business goes back 20 years and we know well how important their trust is. Therefore, our priority is to have a robust balance sheet that would allow us to share profits and maintain an ambitious rate of growth. Today our debt ratios are the lowest among global debt management companies. We want to demonstrate that leading debt managers do not only reach out for capital, but can also be a source of capital themselves,” added Mr Krupa.
In the opinion of the management board, the proposed dividend takes into account KRUK’s current financing needs, including acquisitions, as well as the current level of debt and the company’s financial condition.
“Poland’s debt management market has already matured. The supply of new debt is stable and the prices paid for debt portfolios are among the highest in Europe. A natural consequence will be further market consolidation. With declining returns on new investments and debt problems faced by our competitors, today KRUK is ready to become an active market consolidator. We want to effectively implement strategies for our shareholders and to provide the best solutions for debtors – our clients,” commented Piotr Krupa.
*On January 10th 2018, the KRUK Group reported its preliminary estimated net profit for 2017 at PLN 300 million (see current report: https://pl.kruk.eu/relacje-inwestorskie/raporty/raporty-biezace/raport-biezacy-nr -2-2018-information-about-and-payment-related-portfolios-receivables-and-preliminary-estimated-result-financial-groups-crow-for-2017-year). The final result may change and KRUK will provide information in the full-year report, to be released on March 19th 2018.