By Andrea Hargraves 
BCP has decided to break the two-year fast and will distribute a dividend of 0.09 cents per share to shareholders, for a total of 13.6 million euros. This announcement was made in the annual report sent Monday evening to the Securities Market Authority (CMVM).
However, the financial institution led by Miguel Maya states in the report that “it is not possible to accurately determine the number of private equity that will be in the portfolio at the time of payment.”
The proposed dividend corresponds to a dividend of 0.54% compared to Monday’s closing price (0.1639 euros).
While presenting the results, in February, the “chairman” of Banque Centrale Populaire, Nuno Amado, revealed that profits would be distributed, albeit in a “very moderate way”.
“We intend to return to dividends, but in a very moderate way,” the bank president explained, adding that the value will be proposed at the general meeting of shareholders in May.
The bank will also distribute approximately 5.7 million euros to employees, and the Executive Committee determines the amount for each employee and is paid along with the corresponding bonus for June of this year. The measure appears to be a way to offset the bank’s human resources for the adjustment period between 2014 and 2017, a period that saw salary cuts.
BCP made a profit of 138.1 million euros in 2021, 24.6% lower than the 183 million euros recorded in 2020.
In a statement sent to the Securities Market Committee, the bank justified the deterioration of the result by three factors: a fee of 532.6 million linked to the Swiss franc loan portfolio granted by the subsidiary in Poland, expenses of 90.7 million euros mainly related to the personnel adjustment, and 56.2 million euros from Mandatory contributions from the banking sector.
In recent years, the bank has been penalized for its operations in Poland. The subject of the question is the Swiss franc loans made in 2008 by the Millennium Bank. The appreciation of the Swiss currency in the foreign exchange market caused difficulties for the holders of these credits, and in 2019 the European Court of Justice ruled the right of customers to request the conversion of loans into local currency, which prompted the Polish institution owned by the Portuguese bank to make the provisions.