Russia's Evraz has no plan for share buyback in 'challenging' market
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's Evraz (LSE: EVR.L - news) , one of the country's largest steelmakers, said on Wednesday it has no plans for further share buybacks and would need to see a reduction in net debt before considering paying dividends.
"We have no plans for further share buybacks. We believe we are in a much more challenging market environment overall ... so we'll be prioritising deleveraging and keeping a liquidity cushion over all other capital deployment options," its chief financial officer, Pavel Tatyanin, told Reuters in London.
He added that the company's dividend policy had also changed accordingly.
In order to consider paying dividends, Evraz would not only need to see a net debt to earnings (EBITDA) ratio below 3, but also a reduction in overall net debt every six months. (Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Dale Hudson)