Dortmund pays meager dividend on sales

German soccer champions and cup winners, Borussia Dortmund, saw profits surge four times in the 2011/2012 season. But the club's huge debt keeps fans of the stock market from cheering a solid return on investment. Borussia Dortmund was able to boost sales to a total of 191 million euros ($243 million) in the 2011/2012 German soccer season, posting a 34.3-million-euro net profit, the German soccer champions announced Tuesday. In the season - which saw Borussia Dortmund win the Bundesliga championship for a second time in a row, in addition to becoming national cup winners - sales were primarily driven by a "surge" in income from broadcasting rights, as well as from a series of "lucrative" transfers of players. The club, which is Germany's only publicly listed soccer team, said it was able to reduce its debt by 15.5 million euros to a total of 40.6 million in 2012. However, shareholders in the club would get just six euro cents per share, Borussia Dortmund said, as only about 11 percent of the profit - approximately 3.7 million euros - would be paid out as dividend. As a result, Borussia Dortmund shares dropped half a percentage point to 2.56 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Tuesday, underlining that the stock - issued at 11 euros per share in 2000 - might just be a good investment for die-hard Dortmund supporters.