Sopharma sells stake in Serbian subsidiary

Sopharma books 30.4% y/y rise in net income to BGN 33.8m in H1 2016 on divestments, according to the company’s interim financial statement published yesterday.
Books reveal weak top line with 10% drop in sales due to approx. 25% drop in sales to Russia as the Russian economy and purchasing power hit the country. Overall sales added up to BGN 78.9m.

Cost cutting helped save the operating performance with EBITDA almost flat at BGN 21.3m while EBIT increased 3.6% y/y to BGN 14.3m.

Net income, however, rose 30.4% y/y to BGN 33.8m as financial revenue from the sale of a subsidiary and dividend income added up. In May 2016, Sopharma sold its 51% stake in Serbian Ivancic and Sons to an undisclosed buyer. The stake’s book value prior to the deal was BGN 5.7 m while the recorded profit from the transaction is BGN 12.7m. In addition, the company booked dividend income of BGN 8.9m, most of it to come from Sopharma Trading (SO5 BU).

Dividend payments to Sopharma shareholders will start 3 August

Sopharma will start dividend payments on August 3rd, 201. Its shareholders approved in June a BGN 0.07 DPS, yielding 2.6% at current market quotes.
In July 2016, Sopharma also activated shares buy backs acquiring approx. 150k shares over the last few weeks. As of July 27th, the company owns 5.45 million shares or 4.04% of its share capital, according to a statement by Sopharma.

Sopharma shares on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange

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