SIF Transilvania to disburse same dividends as last year despite 42% lower profit

SIF Transilvania (SIF3) board of directors proposes the company's shareholders the awarding of a gross dividend of 0.03 lei/share from net income generated in 2010, with the dividend being flat from 2009 and 2008.
Last year, SIF Transilvania generated a net income of 66.9m lei (15.7m euros), the lowest in four years. In 2009, the investment company had reported a record high profit of 116.6m lei (27.4m euros).
SIF Transilvania's intention to distribute almost half of last year's income in form of dividends comes as SIF3 shares in the past year posted the steepest fall among SIF stock, of over 30% (in March 4, 2010-March 4, 2011), while the BET-FI index lost 15.7% in the same period.
SIF3 management had to maintain the level of dividends in a bid to regain its appeal among investors, though SIF heads have in recent years tried to retain as much of generated income as possible for new investments.
The gross dividend proposed by SIF Transilvania offers a 5.3% yield, taking into account the latest stock price on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, of 0.565 lei/share. Last year, gross dividend yielded less than 4.5%.