OREANDA-NEWS. The Ordinary General Meeting, held on May 29, 2015 under the chairmanship of Thierry Desmarest, declared a dividend for 2014 of €2.44 per share. Taking into account the three interim dividends of €0.61 per share paid on September 26, 2014, December 17, 2014, and March 25, 2015 respectively, the final dividend for 2014 to be paid is equal to €0.61 per share. In addition, the Ordinary General Meeting decided that each shareholder will have the option between payment of this final dividend in cash or in new shares of the Company, each choice being exclusive of the other.

The share price for the new shares which will be issued as payment of the final dividend is set at €42.02. This price is equal to the average opening price on the Euronext Paris for the 20 trading days preceding the Ordinary General Meeting, reduced by the amount of the final dividend, with a 10% discount, rounded up to the nearest cent. Shares issued in this way will carry immediate dividend rights and will accordingly give the right to any distribution decided from the date they are issued. An application will be made to admit the new shares for trading on the Euronext Paris market.

The ex-dividend date for the final dividend for 2014 is set for June 8, 2015. The period for exercising the option will begin on June 8, 2015 and will end on June 22, 2015, both dates inclusive. The option may be exercised on request with authorized financial brokers. 

Any shareholder who does not exercise this option within the specified time period will receive the whole of the final dividend due to them in cash. The date for the payment in cash is set for July 1, 2015. 

For shareholders who elect to receive the final dividend in shares, the date for the delivery of shares is set for July 1, 2015. If the amount of the final dividend for which the option of payment in shares is exercised does not correspond to a whole number of shares, the shareholder will receive the number of shares immediately below, plus a balancing cash adjustment.