· Apart from the ordinary dividend (55.4 million euro), in 2009 Ebro Puleva will distribute two extraordinary dividends: one in cash in a sum identical to the ordinary dividend and another in kind, consisting of own shares for a value of 34.3 million euro.
· It will distribute more than 145 million euro among its shareholders in 2009.
· The payments will be staggered throughout 2009.
Madrid, 25 March 2009. Within the framework of its dividend policy and demonstrating its commitment to its shareholders, the Board of Directors of Ebro Puleva, S.A. resolved earlier today to propose the distribution of two extraordinary dividends at the forthcoming AGM, subject to completion of the sale of its sugar business. One of these dividends would be paid in kind on conclusion of the sale and the other in cash, payable in quarterly instalments throughout 2009.
The extraordinary dividend in kind will consist of distributing shares from the treasury stock to use up the existing share premium, in a sum of 34.3 million euro, capped by the number of own shares held at the date of the AGM. The shares will be valued at the average closing price of the share in the last twenty sessions prior to the date of the AGM.
The extraordinary dividend in cash will be 0.36 euro per share, made in three quarterly payments of 0.12 euro per share. The payments will be made on the following dates: 2 July, 2 October and 22 December 2009, coinciding with the last three quarterly payments of the ordinary dividend (0.09 euro per share). The total remuneration for the shareholder in each of these payments will thus be 0.21 euro per share.
The distribution of both extraordinary dividends plus the payment of 55.4 million euro corresponding to the ordinary dividend, approved by the Ebro Puleva board on 19 December 2008, is almost triple the remuneration paid to the company¿s shareholders in recent years.
Despite the difficulties of the prevailing economic situation, the Ebro Puleva Group, whose debt will be vastly reduced by the sale of its sugar business, has sufficient financial standing to carry out this ambitious dividend policy for the benefit of all its shareholders.
