Zywiec to pay out zl. 20 per share?

The management of Zywiec may pay a record-breaking dividend of zl. 20 per share for 2002. Unless the shareholders meeting votes against the plan, around zl. 227 million will be paid out to the brewer's owners. The main shareholder, Heineken, controlling 62% of votes, approves of the plan. Such a high dividend is a reality because in 2002 the company made a net profit of zl. 72 million, following several years of losses. Besides, Zywiec possesses additional money, held in a special dividend fund created in mid-2002, into which zl. 269 million was transferred from spare capital. The brewer's managers said at a conference yesterday that there was a chance that a dividend would also be paid in future years as the company plans to increase sales by 3%-5% in 2003. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.21) K.Z.