Zentiva says to raise dividends as pct of profit

...2006 compared with a year earlier after reporting a 17.3 percent gain in net profits.

"Given that we achieved relatively solid results for 2006, it can be expected that the board of directors will present a proposal to increase the dividend payments as a percentage of net profit," Chief Executive Jiri Michal told a news conference.

The company, whose dividend policy is to pay out between 15 and 20 percent of net income, said earlier on Monday it would make a dividend announcement on Apr. 27.

Zentiva, 25 percent owned by France's Sanofi-Aventis , paid dividends of 9.5 crowns per share on 2005 net profit of 1.88 billion crowns.