LISBON (Reuters) – U.S. personal fairness fund Lone Star and Portuguese authorities are set to share 1.3 billion euros ($1.34 billion) when Novo Banco makes its first dividend payout within the coming months.
Novo Banco was created in 2014, carved out of the collapsed Portuguese financial institution BES after a multi-billion-euro state bailout.
Since 2017 Novo Banco has been 75% owned by U.S. personal fairness Lone Star, with the Portuguese banking decision fund and the state proudly owning the remaining 25% stake.
Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento mentioned on Wednesday that “Novo Banco requested the European Central Financial institution for authorisation to distribute that quantity of dividends” to shareholders bearing in mind the financial institution’s outcomes and its collected extra capital following a protracted ban on dividend payouts.
The financial institution was banned from making dividend payouts from 2017 till December 2025, however final month the three shareholders agreed to raise that ban, paving the way in which for a possible preliminary public providing this 12 months.
It has develop into overcapitalised with a core Tier-1 totally loaded capital ratio of 20.7%, greater than double the minimal requirement of 9.3%.
“The state as an entire – decision fund and the Treasury – ought to obtain greater than 300 million euros in dividends in April or Could, which remains to be a small a part of what taxpayers put within the financial institution,” the minister mentioned.
Novo Banco misplaced 1.3 billion euros ($1.37 billion) in 2020, pressured by impairments nonetheless linked to belongings inherited from BES, however returned to revenue within the following three years.
It made a consolidated web revenue of 610 million euros within the first 9 months of 2024.
($1 = 0.9677 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves. Modifying by Jane Merriman)
