The Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) will receive a cash dividend of VND2.55 trillion (US$109 million) from the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) for its performance in 2018.

The figure is equivalent to a dividend rate of 26 per cent, meaning each shareholder with one share will receive VND2,600. The deadline for the registration to receive the dividend is May 31. They payouts will take place on July 23.

The state ownership in PLX was transferred from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to CMSC last November.

Nguyen Hoang Anh, chairman of the CMSC, said Petrolimex was still one of the largest contributors to the committee and the State budget. In 2018, Petrolimex paid taxes of VND38.2 trillion ($1.64 billion) to the State budget.

In previous years, PLX maintained a cash dividend rate of 30 per cent and is one of the few State-owned corporations that pays large cash dividends.

At present, CMSC owns 83.85 per cent stake in Petrolimex but will reduce its capital in PLX to 51 per cent from 2019-20.

A major shareholder of PLX, JX Nippon Oil & Enegry Viet Nam, said it was willing to raise its ownership in PLX from 8.84 per cent to 20 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2019, PLX earned nearly VND1.3 trillion in after-tax profit, up 29 per cent over the same period last year and fulfilling 30 per cent of the yearly plan. — VNS