A long-term investment
A loyal and stable shareholder base
Dividend policy
Air Liquide was created in 1902 thanks to individual shareholders. The company paid its first dividends in 1907 and never ceased since. Air Liquide was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1913.
For more than 10 years, the pay-out ratio is stable, at around 50% of the Group net profit. Over the last 30 years, dividends kept increasing regularly or were at least maintained.
The Air Liquide dividend is paid in cash once a year after the General Shareholders’ Meeting which takes place in May. Air Liquide’s ex-date is around mid-May.
A strong share ownership culture
A differentiating feature of Air Liquide is the high proportion of individual shareholders: together, 410,000 individual shareholders hold some 33% of the share capital at the end of 2016.
Their loyalty is attributable to a long history of steady earnings growth, resulting from the constant development of Air Liquide’s markets and the solidity of its economic model.
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Free share attribution: scrip issues
Air Liquide regularly does a scrip issue, usually every other year. The coming one, 1 free share allocated for 10 shares, will take place on October 4, 2017. These attributions are proposed by the Board of Directors and require the General shareholders meeting approval. Free shares receive the same voting rights, dividends and loyalty bonus as the shares held to receive them.
28 scrip issues over the last 60 years
Some 28 scrip issues have been done over the last 60 years. The share capital increases are through the capitalization of retained earnings. This is not a dividend. The number of shares increases whereas the share price immediately decreases in the same order of magnitude. The characteristic of these free share offers is that they do not modify the value of the portfolio of an Air Liquide shareholder. They just make it more liquid by maintaining a lower share price.
The positive impacts of the scrip issues are:
- By reducing the share price, they help to maintain the shares at a “reasonable / affordable” level
- They contribute to improving share liquidity
- The following year, a facially flat dividend per share would represent an increase in the dividend paid for all shareholders due to the higher number of shares
Fractional rights are paid in cash. Long term registered shareholders, individual or institutional having held their shares for more than 2 calendar years, receive 10% more free shares.
Note: All the historical published per share data (stock market prices, earnings and dividends) must be adjusted to take into account this increase in the number of shares. Do not hesitate to contact the IR team to adjust by the correct rate.
Loyalty bonus
Principle
- +10% dividend
- +10% free shares (in case of a free share attribution)
All shareholders, individual and institutional, who have held registered shares (either direct or intermediary) for more than two full calendar years, can benefit from the loyalty bonus, which results in a 10% dividend increase and 10% more free shares. Shares must be held until dividend payment and free share attribution dates (generally in May-June).
The “Intermediary registered” form
For institutional investors, intermediary registered shares are a good compromise. You can enjoy the advantages of registered shares and the convenience of maintaining the shares in your normal portfolio. You receive all the documentation directly, in particular the documents relative to the General Shareholders meeting (Notice of meeting, voting form…) and are entitled to the loyalty bonus if you hold your shares for more two full calendar.
Note: According to French Law, the number of shares entitled to the loyalty bonus is limited, for anyone shareholder, to 0.5% of the Company’s capital.
Air Liquide shares can be allocated four ISIN “value codes”, to distinguish the status of registered shares, depending on the year in which they will have the loyalty bonus entitlement.
| Permanent value codes | Intermediate value codes |
|---|---|
| FR0000120073 All bearer or registered shares that have not been held in registered form for more than 1 year are listed under this value code. Loyalty bonus in 2019 |
FR0012187102 Shares registered in 2014. Loyalty bonus in 2017 |
| FR0000053951 Registered shares that already qualify for the loyalty bonus. |
FR0013018769 Shares recorded in registered form in 2015 that will qualify for the loyalty bonus in 2018. Loyalty bonus in 2018 |
TSR: Total Shareholder Return
Total Shareholder Return (TSR) is an annualized rate of return for a shareholder who buys a share at the beginning of a period and sells it at the end of the period. This calculation takes into account the change in the share price, dividends paid, including loyalty bonuses, considering that they are also reinvested in shares, as well as free share attributions.
Average annual growth of the portfolio as of December 31, 2016:
| For capital invested | Air Liquide – Registered shares(a) |
Air Liquide – Bearer shares(a) |
CAC 40 index – reinvested(b) |
|---|---|---|---|
| over 5 years (December 31, 2011) |
+9.6% | +9.3% | +7.9% |
| over 10 years (December 31, 2006) |
+8.7% | +8.3% | +3.5% |
| over 20 years (December 31, 1996) |
+10.9% | +10.3% | +7.8% |
(a) The TSR on registered shares is higher than the TSR on bearer shares because the registered shareholder benefits from loyalty bonuses.
(b) CAC 40 index with gross dividends reinvested.
Portfolio value of a registered shareholder who reinvested his or her dividends each year in shares, earned the loyalty bonus and collected free shares.
