 |
Dividend |
Portion of net profit that the Annual General Meeting decides to distribute to shareholders. The amount of the dividend is recommended by the Board of Directors. It represents the revenue on the share and the amount can vary from one year to the next depending on the company's results and policy.
At the 14 May 2003 Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors will recommend a net dividend of EUR 1.20 per new share, unchanged from the previous year. Including the dividend tax credit of 50% received by individual shareholders resident in France, the gross dividend will be EUR 1.80. The dividend will be payable as from 12 June 2003. The proposed distribution amounts to EUR 1,075.1 million, compared with EUR 1,063.9 million in 2002. The proposed payout rate is 32.6% (1). Dividend growth (in euros per share)
Payment of the dividend
The Annual Meeting, pursuant to the recommendation of the Board of Directors, set up the terms and conditions governing the payment of the dividend. The dividend may be paid in cash or with an option to receive payment in the form of additional shares. The option must be exercised, generally, within a period of three weeks after the cutting off of the coupon. The formalities are completed with the financial intermediaries authorized to pay the dividend.
Case of the dividend paid with additional shares
The new shares covered by this option bear interest from January 1st of the current year, and are issued at a price equal to at least 90% of the average of the first prices quoted during the twenty stock market sessions preceding the date of the Annual Meeting, less the net amount of the dividend. In the event that the dividend due does not correspond to a round number of shares, the shareholder may choose to be paid a balancing cash adjustment or, alternatively, to pay a further amount allowing him to acquire an additional share. Since the Annual Meeting dated May 4th 1999, the dividend can not be paid anymore with shares.
Stock dividend