OMV's Final AGM Under Stern Approves €4.40 Dividend, Warns of Gas Storage Crunch

OMV shareholders approved a €4.40 dividend (7.2% yield) amid climate protests. Outgoing CEO Alfred Stern warns European gas storage faces challenges. Emma Delaney to lead from September.

Alfred Stern's last shareholder meeting as OMV chief was anything but a quiet send-off. Shareholders voted with over 99% approval to pay a total dividend of €4.40 per share for 2025, even as climate activists briefly disrupted the proceedings and a major investor called for greater transparency. The payout, split between €3.15 regular and €1.25 special, will be ex-dividend on 8 June 2026 and paid three days later.

The €4.40 total is a clear step back from the €4.75 distributed the previous year, a drop that Stern attributed mainly to the halving of dividends from the Borouge chemicals joint venture, which cost the group an estimated 60 to 70 cents per share. Deka Investment, holding roughly 0.27% of OMV, voted in favour but used the AGM to demand more clarity on climate strategy and worker protection in conflict zones.

Despite the lower absolute payout, the yield remains eye-catching. With the stock closing at €61.25 on AGM day and later edging up to €62.35, the implied gross yield sits around 7.2%, just below the 52-week high of €63.85 hit on 19 May. The 30-day annualised volatility of 19.2% and an RSI of 57.4 point to a calm near-term picture, while the 20% premium to the 200-day moving average signals a solid uptrend.

Stern used his final address to deliver a stark warning about European gas storage. While short-term supply is secure, he said filling storage for the coming months will be "a significant challenge" due to constrained global LNG availability and disruptions from the Iran war on trade routes. On the positive side, OMV has completely replaced Russian gas deliveries for the first time in 60 years, and the Neptune Deep project in Romania is expected to bolster domestic supply. However, the planned IPO of Borouge International has been postponed to 2027.

From September, Emma Delaney, a former BP executive, will take the helm with a mandate to accelerate the shift toward renewables, geothermal, and sustainable fuels. The supervisory board also saw changes: Edith Hlawati and Patrick Lammers were confirmed, while Andreas Klauser and Ahmed El-Hoshy joined. A revamped remuneration system with stronger ESG metrics passed, though some investors criticised a lack of transparency on individual performance targets.

Operationally, the first quarter of 2026 delivered a clean CCS operating result of €1.025 billion and operating cash flow of €776 million (€1.624 billion excluding working capital). Segment performance was mixed: Energy slipped to €723 million, Fuels held steady at €113 million, and Chemicals jumped to €245 million. OMV plans organic capex of around €3.4 billion for the full year and expects Brent to trade between $85 and $95 a barrel, with European refinery utilisation above 90%.