Gazprom dividends: forecast, annual payments

Gazprom holds a leading position in the commodity economy of Russia. Only in 2017, the parent company earned 100.3 billion rubles. Every investor wants to bite off a piece of this “pie”. The company throughout the history has consistently paid dividends, and the volatility of the asset (the difference between the maximum and minimum cost) throughout the year reaches 20-30%.

Why does Gazprom attract investors so much?

The Russian gas giant is actually a monopolist in the domestic market. At the same time, the company takes 43rd place on the world stage, according to the Forbes Global 2000 rating for 2018. Moreover, in the industry, the company is steadily holding the second place in the world in terms of gas production, second only to Saudi Aramco from Saudi Arabia.

In terms of natural gas reserves, the company is significantly ahead of all competitors. According to experts, they amount to 36 trillion cubic meters. In addition, Gazprom owns the world's largest natural gas transportation system.

The company successfully supplies blue fuel domestically and abroad. Despite developments in the field of solar energy, the demand for traditional energy sources remains high and stable.

The world's natural gas reserves are limited. This opens up wide prospects for Gazprom for further development. In the future, the company may become a monopolist not only in Russia, but also in the world.

This explains why Gazprom shares are popular. With a face value of 5 rubles, today stocks are traded at around 140 rubles apiece.

Back in 2016, the company's profit amounted to 411.4 billion rubles. In 2017, it sank sharply - almost 4 times. However, Gazprom is still interesting for investors. In a crisis, the oil and gas industry is still a stable and reliable haven for investors.

Payout Analysis for Gazprom Shares

According to the Charter of the company, from 17.5 to 35% of profit is allocated for the payment of dividends. But only if reserves are formed. Otherwise - 10% according to RAS. Such a policy was approved by the company in 2010. Prior to this, investors could only count on 30% of the company's net profit.

Statistics show that Gazprom is trying not to reduce dividends below the level already achieved by the company. In practice, this does not always work. As can be seen from the table below, the company paid the largest dividends in 2011 - 8.97 rubles per share. And the very next year, the size of the payment decreased by almost half and still has not reached a new peak.

Gazprom dividends by years

They did not pay dividends only once in the entire history of the company - in 1998, during a default in the country.

A general meeting of shareholders is scheduled for June 25, 2018, where the issue of paying dividends for 2017 will be decided. The Board of Directors proposed to pay 8.04 rubles per share. And this is despite the fact that the company's profits sagged significantly.

To date, 23 673 512 900 shares have been issued. Accordingly, 190.3 billion rubles will be allocated for the payment of dividends.

This practice makes the calculation of dividends predictable and increases investor confidence.

Nevertheless, dividends in no case should not be considered as the main income. Even income on bank deposits will be higher, though without inflation. It is no secret that her level is actually much higher than the official one. Everyone feels it on their own wallet.

Still, the profit from investing in stocks is formed due to the growth of the market value. However, Gazprom’s dividends represent a good, and most importantly, stable bonus.

Where and how to buy: step-by-step instructions for the average investor

Imagine a person who decided to become a shareholder of Gazprom. Where to begin? The first thing to do is to open a brokerage account. A broker is an intermediary who will buy and sell shares on the stock exchange as directed by the investor.

The main criterion for choosing a broker is the availability of a license from the Central Bank. Pay attention also to the cost of services and various commissions. Another key dimension is the analytics provided.

How to open an account with a broker?

Open an account is not difficult. This can be done remotely, via the Internet or in the company’s office. Documents will be required - the same as for opening a bank account: passport, TIN, insurance certificate. Each company adheres to its standards in this matter.

What to do next?

Next, you will have to register a personal account, install a special program - a trading terminal, sign an agreement and deposit money to trade into your account. Usually the whole procedure takes 30-60 minutes and is not difficult.

After the contract is signed and the account for investments is replenished, you can proceed to transactions. It is simple and intuitive - just select the asset you need in the trading terminal, fill in several fields and click the "Buy" or "Sell" button.

How to get Gazprom dividends: payment deadlines

The register of shareholders is closed in June-July. Everyone on this list will automatically receive dividend payments on Gazprom shares. No action is needed to do this. It is enough just to have shares in the property.

The deadline for the purchase of shares is 3 days before the closing of the register. Within 25 days after this date, the broker will credit the dividend payment to your account. Moreover, in this case, he acts as a tax agent - the money will be credited to the account already, net of 13% tax.

It is possible for holders of paper shares to receive dividends on an account with Gazprombank or on a card of the same bank.

Comparison of a deposit at Sberbank and the purchase of Gazprom shares in 2017

Imagine an investor who decided to invest 1,000,000 rubles in January 2017. The first option is a deposit at Sberbank; it would have brought him 80,000 rubles of profit by the end of the year. We will take into account the real inflation rate, which amounted to 13% - the purchasing power of 1,000,000 rubles turned into 870,000 rubles. Thus, the investor lost 50,000 rubles on this investment.

Now consider the second option - investing in Gazprom shares. To minimize the effect of exchange rate differences, shares were bought at 100,000 rubles every month. The table below illustrates this clearly:

As you can see, a total of 7,663 shares were acquired. Selling them in December 2017 at 132.5 rubles apiece, the investor earned 15 347 rubles. In addition, in June dividends of 8.03 rubles per share were paid. Total - 34 721 rubles. If one purchased shares with this money, then in December the additional profit would have amounted to 36,083 rubles. In total, adhering to such a strategy, in 2017 the investor would have earned 51,430 rubles.

However, with such high inflation, it would be wrong to take profits at the end of the year. Already at the end of January 2018, the price broke through the level of 152 rubles per share. According to statistics, it is in the first quarter of the year that the price of Gazprom shares reaches its peak.

Accordingly, during this period it is necessary to take profits. Then the investor would receive 1,164,776 rubles for 7,663 shares. Add to this the dividends of 36,083 rubles. Then the income would be 200 859 rubles, which is much more attractive than a bank deposit.

Forecast for 2018-2019

Thanks to the company's dividend policy, approved in 2010, it became much easier to make a forecast on Gazprom’s dividends.

Analyzing statistics over recent years, it can be assumed that Gazprom will not reduce dividends below 8 rubles per share. This would adversely affect the image and investment attractiveness of the company.

However, do not forget that the profit in 2017 dipped almost 4 times. And immediately reached the minimum value over the past 15 years.

At the end of 2018, it should grow slightly. Recall that in 2017 Gazprom had to pay more than $ 2 billion to Naftogaz of Ukraine in order to execute the decision of the Stockholm court. In part, the sharp decline in company revenues is also due to anti-Russian sanctions.

Therefore, it is unlikely that in 2018-2019 the company's profit will reach its previous high values. Accordingly, it is not worth waiting for Gazprom to pay dividends. This was stated in an interview with RBC by the head of the company Alexey Miller.

Most likely, the dividend amount of Gazprom in 2018-2019 will remain at the same level - in the region of 8.04-8.05 rubles per share. However, in the future it will continue to grow.

At the current value of the shares, Gazprom’s dividends provide a yield of 6–6.5% per annum, which is not very attractive for the investor. And it is impossible to guarantee an increase in the market value in the current economic conditions.

Subsidiaries of Gazprom

In this situation, analysts advise paying attention not to the parent company, but to Gazprom subsidiaries. In particular, shareholders recently approved Gazprom Neft's record dividends of 15 rubles per share. This is 40% more than the previous record - in 2016 the company paid 10.68 rubles per share.

Interestingly, unlike Gazprom, Gazprom Neft in 2017 increased its net profit by 26%, earning 253.3 billion rubles.

These indicators were achieved thanks to the introduction of a single digital business management platform, new large-scale mining projects, as well as the active modernization of processing assets.

To summarize

Gazprom is one of the world's largest companies. It has broad prospects for further growth and development, therefore, it will always be attractive to investors. As for the payment of dividends, Gazprom is notable for its enviable stability and constancy in this matter.

The company set a record for dividend payments in 2011. Then the company paid 8.97 rubles per share. And only once in the entire history were dividends not paid to Gazprom shareholders - in 1998.

Today, the investor can count on 6-6.5% per annum, if we take into account only dividend income. At first glance, this is slightly less than a bank deposit. However, consider the real inflation rate, which is 10–13%. Under such conditions, the investor will only lose on deposit. But high inflation contributes to an increase in the market value of shares.

This is an insurance that allows investors to protect their savings from depreciation. Indeed, the less the purchasing power of money, the more expensive are tangible assets. Therefore, investing in the real sector, for example, in Gazprom, in the current economic conditions is preferable.

According to Alexey Miller, the company intends to direct significant funds to new large-scale projects: the Turkish Stream and Power of Siberia gas pipelines, the development of new fields abroad, the Yamal megaproject and others. Therefore, the prospects for the development of the company do not raise doubts among analysts.