Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) will be paying out dividends to its shareholders for the first time in 15 years. The 35th annual general meeting of the state-owned monopoly held on Friday approved a dividend payment of Rs145 million from its cumulative profits of Rs1.58 billion.

NOC has a paid-up capital of Rs292.3 million. The dividend payment amounts to 50 percent of its paid-up capital.

The Supply and Finance ministries and the Department of Supply Management own 99 percent of NOC’s shares. The rest is held by National Trading, Rastriya Beema Company, Nepal Bank and Rastriya Banijya Bank.

The three government entities will receive dividend payments totalling Rs145.4 million. Similarly, National Trading will get Rs375,000, Rastriya Beema Company Rs225,000, Nepal Bank Rs112,500 and Rastriya Banijya Bank Rs75,000.

“The enterprise has decided to pay dividends only after it was able to earn a cumulative profit,” NOC Acting Deputy Managing Director Nagendra Sah said.

NOC has been facing continuous losses since 2001-02. Although it earned profits for a few months in 2008-09, it could not distribute dividends as it had racked up massive cumulative losses.

According to the Annual Performance Review Report of Public Enterprises released by the Finance Ministry last year, NOC was one of the 21 public enterprises that had earned profits in 2014-15.

The corporation started earning profits after it adopted an auto pricing system in September 2014. It had paid off its dues worth more than Rs36 billion by mid-June last year. According to NOC’s annual report, it earned a profit of Rs19 billion in the last fiscal year. Profits are projected to reach Rs10 billion this year.

NOC is estimated to earn a profit of Rs400 million per month based on the recently revised price list sent by its sole supplier Indian Oil Corporation.

NOC makes a profit on all petroleum products except cooking gas. According to Sah, the corporation plans to build essential infrastructure like storage plants out of its profits. Inspired by rising sales in recent days, the corporation is mulling to issue shares to the public in a bid to boost its paid-up capital.

NOC’s paid-up capital amounted to a mere Rs90 million until a few months ago. The Finance Ministry then agreed to capitalise the Asian Development Bank’s Rs200 million grant to build storage tanks at its depots in Thankot, Amlekhgunj, Pokhara and Tribhuvan International Airport.