Stocks Dividends

MOSCOW, April 20- Russia's Gazprom Neft said on Friday its board had recommended a dividend of 15 roubles per share on 2017 results.

PARIS, April 20- AccorHotels, Europe's biggest hotel group, will make further acquisitions in coming years, using cash from the sale of a majority stake in its property business rather than paying a special dividend, its chief executive said on Friday. In February, the company agreed to sell 55 percent of its AccorInvest property business to sovereign and...

*Economic net income per share 65 cents vs 45 cents expected by analysts. Blackstone posted economic net income per share of 65 cents in the first quarter, down from 81 cents a year earlier. New York- based Blackstone also said it plans to pay a 30 cent special dividend in 2018, returning to shareholders a portion of the proceeds from the conclusion of its...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands— Unilever, the consumer goods multinational whose brands include Dove, Knorr and Ben& Jerry's, says it is planning a share buyback worth up to 6 billion euros later this year. Unilever said Thursday that sales in the first quarter were hit by unfavorable currency exchange rates and fell 5.2 percent to 12.6 billion euros compared with the...

LONDON, April 19- British department store group Debenhams on Thursday warned on the full-year outlook for the second time in four months and cut its dividend as it reported a 52 percent slump in first-half profit. The retailer, which issued a profit warning in January, also said Matt Smith, its chief financial officer, was quitting the retailer to become finance...

*Wema eyes bond sale this year, equity next year. LAGOS, April 18- Wema Bank plans to raise 20 billion naira from the bond market by July and aims to pay a dividend this year for the first time in a decade, paving the way for an equity sale next year, its chief financial officer said. Tunde Mabawonku said the mid-tier bank was focused on selling debt this year after it raised...

LAGOS, April 18- Nigeria's Wema Bank will issue the second tranche of a 50 billion naira debt programme from next month and aims to pay a dividend this year for the first time in a decade, its deputy chief executive said on Wednesday. It also targets 10 percent loan growth in 2018 by focusing on small firms, Ademola Adebise said. In July, Wema Bank said it could issue debt...

MOSCOW, April 17- Russia's biggest bank Sberbank plans to double its dividends on its 2017 financial results to 271 billion roubles, German Gref, the bank's CEO, said on Tuesday. Shares in Sberbank and rival VTB fell sharply last week in response to a new round of U.S. sanctions targeting some of Russia's biggest businessmen. Gref told reporters on Tuesday Sberbank...

*Dana Gas buoyed by dividend hopes. DUBAI, April 15- Most Gulf stock markets rose on Sunday due to firm oil prices and relief that the weekend's military attack on Syria was relatively limited in scope and there was no immediate retaliation. The United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles after a suspected poison gas attack in Syria a week earlier.

*To pay surprise dividend of 0.57 euro per share for 2017. HAMBURG, March 28- Demand for shipping is growing and could outpace the supply of new vessels next year, helping to boost profits at Hapag-Lloyd as it also reaps the benefits of a recent merger, the German company said on Wednesday. However, the Hamburg- based firm's CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said on Wednesday that...

FRANKFURT, March 28- Container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd announced a surprise dividend to shareholders on Wednesday and forecast a rise in annual earnings this year thanks to synergies from its merger with Gulf peer UASC. The German group said it would pay its shareholders 0.57 euro per share for 2017- its first dividend since its stock market listing in...

TOKYO, March 28- Japanese stocks fell on Wednesday, led by a sell-off in tech firms after their U.S. counterparts skidded on concerns about government regulation, while ex-dividend trades added to the broader losses. The Nikkei share average ended 1.3 percent lower to 21,031.31. Nissan Motor fell 2.7 percent, SMFG declined 1.5 percent and Daiwa Securities was...

HOUSTON, March 25- Nearly a third of the 25 top U.S. shale oil producers have paid or pledged to pay dividends this year, according to Reuters review of financial filings, the largest number since the shale boom took off a decade ago. Shares of the Midland, Texas- based company, which operates in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oilfield, are up about 11 percent since the...

PARIS, March 21- French luxury goods maker Hermes, known for $10,000- plus leather handbags such as the Birkin, rewarded shareholders on Wednesday with a higher dividend and a one-off payout after a bumper year for sales and profits. The company, originally a saddle and harness maker founded in 1837, joined luxury rivals such as Louis Vuitton- owner LVMH and...

LONDON, March 19- Oil trader Vitol and private equity giant Carlyle will list their European downstream venture Varo Energy in Amsterdam this year, looking to raise funds to expand while luring investors with a hefty dividend pledge. Varo, which saw underlying earnings rise to $371 million last year from $328 million in 2016, didn't say how much it hoped to raise...