The shareholders, deliberating according to the quorum and majority required for Ordinary Shareholders’ Meetings, having noted that, considering the fiscal year 2016 earnings of 482,384,945 euros and the retained earnings of 6,813,611,106 euros as of December 31, 2016, distributable earnings for the year amount to a total of 7,295,996,051 euros, approve the proposals of the Board of Directors regarding the appropriation of earnings. The shareholders hereby decide to appropriate distributable earnings as follows:
Legal reserve |
24,119,247 euros |
Retained earnings |
6,234,203,854 euros |
Dividend (including the loyalty dividend) |
1,037,672,950 euros |
Hence, a dividend of 2.60 euros shall be paid to each of the shares conferring entitlement to a dividend, it being specified that in the event of a change in the number of shares conferring entitlement to a dividend compared to the 388,875,761 shares making up the share capital as of December 31, 2016, the overall dividend amount would be adjusted accordingly and the amount appropriated to the retained earnings account would be determined on the basis of the dividend effectively paid.
The dividend payment date will be set for May 17, 2017:
- for direct registered shares: directly by the Company, based on the means of payment indicated by the holders;
- for intermediary registered shares, as well as for bearer shares which are registered in shareholder accounts: by the authorized intermediaries to whom the management of these shares has been entrusted.
The dividend distributions made with respect to the last three fiscal years are as follows:
|
Total amount distributed (a) (in euros) |
Number of shares concerned (b) |
Dividend distributed eligible in its entirety for the 40% allowance referred to in article 158-3-2° of the French Tax Code (in euros) |
Fiscal year 2013 |
Ordinary dividend |
797,720,774 |
312,831,676 |
2.55 |
Loyalty dividend |
23,176,483 |
92,705,933 |
0.25 |
Fiscal year 2014 |
Ordinary dividend |
879,425,851 |
344,872,883 |
2.55 |
Loyalty dividend |
25,661,003 |
102,644,011 |
0.25 |
Fiscal year 2015 |
Ordinary dividend |
894,823,802 |
344,163,001 |
2.60 |
Loyalty dividend |
26,751,221 |
102,889,311 |
0.26 |
(a) Theoretical values calculated based on the number of shares as of December 31 for each fiscal year.
(b) Number of shares expressed historically as of December 31 for each fiscal year.
The amounts effectively paid after adjustment were as follows:
- fiscal year 2013 – ordinary dividend: 793,400,084 euros for 311,137,288 shares; loyalty dividend: 21,538,427 euros for 86,153,707 shares;
- fiscal year 2014 – ordinary dividend: 874,131,348 euros for 342,796,607 shares; loyalty dividend: 23,909,031 euros for 95,636,122 shares,
- fiscal year 2015 – ordinary dividend: 895,276,249 euros for 344,337,019 shares; loyalty dividend: 25,311,759 euros for 97,352,920 shares.
The adjustment arises from the change in the number of treasury shares, from the final determination of the loyalty dividend taking into account shares sold between January 1 and the ex-dividend date, from the exercise of options over this same period and the capital increase reserved for employees.
Pursuant to the provisions of the articles of association, a loyalty dividend of 10%, i.e. 0.26 euro per share with a par value of 5.50 euros, shall be granted to shares which have been held in registered form since December 31, 2014, and which remain held in this form continuously until May 17, 2017, the dividend payment date.
In accordance with the provisions of article 243 bis of the French Tax Code, it is specified that the ordinary and loyalty dividends are also in their entirety eligible for the 40% allowance referred to in section 2° of paragraph 3 of article 158 of the aforementioned code.
The total amount of the loyalty dividend for the 102,292,196 shares which have been held in registered form since December 31, 2014, and which remained held in this form continuously until December 31, 2016, amounts to 26,595,971 euros.
The total loyalty dividend corresponding to these 102,292,196 shares that cease to be held in registered form between January 1, 2017 and May 17, 2017, the dividend payment date, shall be deducted from the aforementioned amount.