MAJOR foreign investors in Slovakia have sent record-high dividends to their home countries this year, the Pravda daily reported on July 6.
Dividends leaving Slovakia from U.S. Steel, the gas utility SPP, the Slovnaft oil refinery, banks, power distributors and small businesses, added up to Sk70 billion (€2.1 billion), the Slovenská Sporiteľňa bank reported.
"The economy is growing quickly, as are corporate profits," Slovenská Sporiteľňa analyst Michal Mušák told the daily. "So the outflow of dividends will probably not slow down in the near future."
The dividends came from last year's profits.
Mušák expects the amount of money ending up in the hands of foreign owners will rise in the future.
"Some big investments made in the recent past, such as by car-makers, will begin creating profits," he said.
16. Jul 2007 at 0:00 | From press reports
