Within the terms of its dividend policy and demonstrating its commitment to its shareholders, the board of directors of Ebro Foods, S.A. resolved today to propose at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting the distribution of an extraordinary scrip dividend, payable on 11 December 2012.
The extraordinary scrip dividend will consist of the delivery of treasury stock representing up to 1% of the capital, equivalent to 1,538,653 shares, at a rate of 1 share for every 99 held, and an associated dividend as payment on account for shareholders subject to withholding under current tax laws, or the equivalent in cash for those who are not.
The distribution of this extraordinary scrip dividend, which supplements the pay-out of €69.2 million corresponding to the ordinary dividend proposed by the Ebro Foods board on 21 December 2011 of 0.45 €/share, and the pay-out of €23.08 million corresponding to the interim dividend proposed by the board on 15 June of 0.15 €/share, is a continuation of the company’s policy in recent years of increasing the remuneration of its shareholders.
Despite the difficulties of the current economic situation, Ebro has sufficient financial standing to be able to implement this ambitious dividend policy for the benefit of all its shareholders.
20% increase in the Foundation’s budget
Within the framework of its Social Responsibility Policy, the Ebro Foods board resolved today to propose at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting a 20% increase in the funding of the Ebro Foods Foundation, to enable the Foundation to meet and channel the larger number of requests for assistance it is receiving in these times of economic crisis. Consequently, the cash budget assigned to the Ebro Foundation will be raised from €500,000 to €600,000, supplemented by products donated by the principal Group companies to the different food banks in their respective countries, valued at over €700,000 in 2011.
The Ebro Foundation (www.fundacionebrofoods.es) promotes Ebro’s social and welfare actions, acting in the following areas: vocational training of the disabled; financing of social and welfare action in the parts of Spain in which the Group has a major presence; development of agricultural and food safety projects in the third world; and contributions of products and cash to different Spanish, US and French food banks.
