Czech Philip Morris Lifts Dividend on Higher Profits

Source from:  Reuters 03/30/2011

PRAGUE, March 29 (Reuters) - Cigarette maker Philip Morris Czech Republic (TABKsp.PR) said on Tuesday it proposed to a pay a 60 percent higher dividend than a year ago, pushing shares to a 2-1/2 month high. The Czech group plans a 1,260 crowns ($72.50) per share gross dividend from 2010 profits, up from 780 crowns a share the previous year, it said in an invitation to its annual shareholders meeting. Net profit rose 13 percent year-on-year to 2.43 billion crowns last year for the tobacco group, which is active in the Czech and Slovak markets and is majority owned by Philip Morris International (PM.N). It also said it would pay out retained earnings from previous years as part of the dividend after only paying out fully net profits in recent years. "The change in dividend policy, although it is not clear whether it will be kept in future years, should have a strong positive impact in the following weeks," Komercni Banka said. Shares were up 7.5 percent to 10,420 crowns at 1307 GMT, strongly outperforming a 0.1 percent drop in Prague's index .PX. (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mike Nesbit) ($1=17.38 Czech Crown) Enditem