AUTONEWS

Total maintains stable dividends in "exceptional circumstances"
French oil company Total has pledged to keep cash dividend payments stable and said it could remain balanced even with low oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic, which led the company to drop 35% in first quarter earnings.
The company also raised its climate ambitions, saying that it aims to achieve zero net emissions in its operations and products distributed to consumers by 2050 at the latest, although only in Europe.
For the main oil companies in the world, the crisis caused by the new coronavirus exacerbates the effects of a climate crisis that already prevented some investors from applying it to the fossil fuel sector.
Maintaining dividends is a way of attracting shareholders - and Total's shares advanced 7.5% in the session, with the announcement that the company will keep its dividends stable in the first quarter, at 0.66 euros per share, helped by the low debt-to-equity ratio. Payments will be made entirely in cash.
"The group is facing exceptional circumstances: the health crisis due to Covid-19, which is affecting the world economy and creating major uncertainties, and the oil market crisis, with the sharp drop in prices since March," he said in a statement. Total Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne.
Total said Pouyanne's remuneration this year will be cut by about 30% compared to the previous year, and that other executives and board members will also receive less.
The oil company planned to accelerate the growth of dividends in the coming years, with a "guidance" of advancement of 5% to 6% per year. On Tuesday, however, Total did not provide projections for payments in the full year 2020. by Felix Bate