BIETIGHEIM-BISSINGEN (dpa-AFX) - The mechanical engineering company Dürr intends to keep its dividend stable despite a decline in profits. The management is again proposing a dividend of 70 cents per share, the company announced on Tuesday in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Baden-Württemberg. At the end of February, Dürr CEO Jochen Weyrauch had already held out the prospect of a stable dividend when presenting the figures for the past year.

The payout ratio based on consolidated earnings after taxes increased from 36 percent in the previous year to 44 percent. This is slightly above the usual range of 30 to 40 percent.

Last year, as already announced, profit after tax fell by around 18% to just over 110 million euros. The reason for this was the cost of job cuts at the Homag Group, in which Dürr bundles its woodworking business. Around 600 of the almost 7500 jobs at Homag are to be cut, 350 of them in Germany./mne/jha/