Tumbling oil prices may hit Rosneft dividend

Rosneft profit fell by almost half in 2016 after crude prices reached 12-year lows at the beginning of the year. Dividends are likely to follow suit.

Net income fell to 181 billion rubles in 2016 from 355 billion rubles, the company said on Wednesday. Sales fell 3.1 per cent to 4.99 trillion rubles.

The dividend may be 6 rubles a share according to estimates from Otkritie Capital in Moscow. This is based on Rosneft’s policy to pay out a minimum of 35 per cent of profit. This implies a yield of about 1.7 per cent at the current share price.