Orphanides declares 1c dividend

The Board of Orphanides Supermarkets (ORF) approved the payment of a dividend of 1 cent per share representing a dividend yield of 4.5% and a dividend payout ratio of 26% of profits, its first since it was listed in 1998. The dividend declaration needs shareholder approval when the Company’s AGM will be held on June 4 2005.

The Board of Orphanides also approved the final results for 2004, with profits surging by 84% year-on-year to CYP 3.86 mln. Revenues were reported at CYP 78.2 mln, up by 6% year-on-year. Gross profit increased by 17.5% to CYP 14.2 mln with gross profit margins improving by 170bps to 18.1%. The improvement in margins is the result of a better product mix tilted towards higher margin products, and the Company’s continuous efforts to contain cost of sales.

Operating expenses increased by 7.9% to CYP 10.8 mln and other operating income advanced by 13.4% to CYP 2.4 mln. EBITDA surged by 29.5% to CYP 7 mln, yielding a margin of 9% compared to 7.4% in 2003.

Net Profit margin improved from 2.3% in 2003 to 4.0%. The Company’s earnings per share reached 3.86 cent per share.