Abstract
Public companies' dividend policy is permanently the subject of intensive research. In line with trends of this research, this paper focuses on the dividend policy of companies in the energy sector in Poland, and study the determinants of dividend pay-outs in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic decade. The aim of the research is to identify determinants of dividend pay-outs of public energy companies, analysing such factors as financial efficiency, ownership structure, capital size, economic sector, and the application of equality policies in hiring managers. The research covered the period from 2010 to 2019. The financial efficiency of the companies was measured by single indicators and a synthetic vector measure (VSMD). It was found that (1) energy companies are incomparably larger than other non-financial companies, (2) the VSMD measure as a determinant of dividend pay-outs is better than single financial ratios, (3) State Treasury ownership is an important factor in dividend policy, (4) representation of women in management is far from sufficient in terms of EU equality law, and (5) gender structure of statutory bodies do not influence dividend payouts.