At the share price before the announcement, the DY amounted to 16.3%. Ex-date is set for 12 April 2023, while the payment date is set for 8 May 2023. Simultaneously, ZABA’s shareholders approved the start of the share buyback program.

Yesterday, ZABA’s General Meeting of Shareholders was held. At the meeting, approval for the distribution of profit and the start of the 2023 share buyback program was given. As was already proposed, ZABA will distribute EUR 0.74 per share from the 2022 net profit of the Bank, implying a payout ratio of 100%. This would imply a DY of 7.14%. Simultaneously, ZABA will pay out EUR 0.95 per share from the retained earnings, implying a DY of 9.13%. This would mean that out of the retained earnings of EUR 824.2m, EUR 304.2m will be paid out, implying a payout ratio of 36.9%.

Together, these dividend payments imply a DY of 16.3% before their announcement, which would also be one of the highest dividend yields in Croatia currently available. The ex-date is set for 12 April 2023, while the payment date is set for 8 May 2023.

ZABA dividends per share (EUR) & dividend yield (2012 – 2023)

Source: ZABA, InterCapital Research

Meanwhile, the GSM also approved the start of ZABA’s share buyback program. According to the program, they will buy a maximum of 120k shares on the market, with several of the expected conditions applied. These conditions include that the share price cannot be 10% higher/lower than the average market price on the day before the transaction, as well as that the shares can either be bought directly on the exchange, or through block trades. Lastly, the maximum amount that can be utilized for the share buyback is EUR 1.3m. The new share buyback program runs until 31 December 2023.