Dividend payout proves to be hot potato at PZU shareholder's meeting

At yesterday's general shareholders' meeting of insurance giant PZU, the hottest topic for debate was the amount of money that should be paid out in dividends. In 2003, PZU posted a zł.900 million profit and originally planned to pay out zł.449 million to shareholders, or zł.5.40 per share. However, Gabriel Wujek, the State Treasury's representative, proposed that only zł.241 million should be paid out, which caused uproar among the firms' employees. Eureko, one of PZU's shareholders, demanded a stable dividend policy that would secure shareholders 25% of the net profit each year. Additionally, Eureko postulated introducing the owners' supervision of the PZU group to manage the company more effectively. Finally, Eureko wanted PZU's shareholders with at least 10% stakes in the company to take the necessary steps to accelerate PZU's IPO preparations. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) J.J.