Credit Suisse Splits 2019 Dividend in Two

Credit Suisse Group AG said Thursday that it will pay its 2019 dividend in two installments following a request from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as FINMA.
The Swiss bank said that it will propose a dividend of 0.1388 Swiss francs ($0.143) gross per share at its AGM on April 30, half which will be paid from retained earnings and the other half coming form the capital contribution reserves.
The bank will propose another dividend of the same amount in autumn, it said.
“While the board remains of the opinion that Credit Suisse’s financial strength would have continued to support the original dividend proposal made to our shareholders, we believe that this response to FINMA’s request, in alignment with the similar decisions made by our peers, is a prudent and responsible step to preserving capital in the face of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Credit Suisse said.
Credit Suisse had previously planned to distribute a dividend of CHF0.2776 gross per share, it said.