Geneva: Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, paid its top executives and staff a special dividend of $820m in 2015, regulatory filings show.
The dividend, distributed among a group of about 350 top employees who are also shareholders, came as the company confirmed it posted net income of $1.6bn , the highest profit for the trading house since 2011, filings with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce show.
The dividend payments are awarded to employee-shareholders of the privately held company in addition to salaries and bonuses. From 2008 to 2015, Vitol shareholders were awarded payouts totaling about $6.4bn , the filings show.
Vitol’s CFO Jeff Dellapina had said the payouts haven’t prevented the company from continuing to invest in its business.
“Over the past 10 years we’ve reinvested 50 percent of the profits in the business -- an appropriate level for an established and growing company,” he said.
A Vitol spokeswoman in London declined to comment. The documents also show Vitol’s board of directors’ total remuneration increased more than six-fold to $26m in 2015 from $4m a year earlier.
Vitol’s board includes Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor, Switzerland Managing Director David Fransen, Head of Asia Kho Hui Meng, Mike Loya the US trading head and Russell Hardy, a senior executive.
