PLIVA REALISED ABOUT US91 MILLION OF PROFIT LAST YEAR

ZAGREB, June 3 (Hina) - The shareholders' assembly of the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva on Thursday decided to pay in dividends about US$20.6 million of its last year's net profit amounting to about US$91 million. The price of dividends is US$1.05 (7.35 kuna) per share. The assembly also decided to retain profit worth about US$65.9 million, whereas some US$4.5 million would be directed into the assembly's reserves. The head of Pliva's management board, Zeljko Covic, stressed the company last year managed to retain its value despite the poor economic situation caused by the crisis in Russia. According to Covic, some companies from central and east Europe, which can be compared to Pliva, lost as much as 20 to 60 per cent of their value. The overall value of Pliva decreased by a mere two per cent. The new name of the company - Pliva d.d. farmaceutska industrija (Pliva Ltd. Pharmaceutical Industry) - reflects the company's strategic orientation to the field of pharmaceutics. The company's management intends to continue developing and improving the business so that the company could retain its position of the leading pharmaceutical company in central and east Europe. (hina) rml