- Unchanged dividend proposal of € 0.70 per Class A share
- Shareholders may receive dividends in cash or shares
- Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg supports proposal
The Supervisory Board and Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) will propose a scrip dividend to the virtual Annual General Meeting on 20 August 2020. In times of zero or negative interest, this innovative model for dividend distribution will provide shareholders with the opportunity to quickly and easily reinvest their capital in the company. This will allow HHLA to maintain stable financial liquidity even in challenging times with limited forecasting reliability. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the major shareholder in HHLA, will support this proposal.
In March 2020, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board had recommended that approximately 50 percent of the net profit allocable to shareholders be distributed as dividends. The company remains committed to this distribution amount. HHLA remains faithful to the dividend policy it has followed since its initial public offering in 2007, which stipulates a distribution of 50 to 70 percent of the net profit. In view of the existing uncertainties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, HHLA is forging new paths to fulfil both the shareholders’ legitimate interests in a distribution and the company’s interest in preserving liquidity.
“HHLA closed the 2019 financial year very successfully,” declared Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of the Executive Board. “We want our shareholders to participate in this success. This is a signal of confidence which we are sending deliberately, notwithstanding the changed situation due to the coronavirus pandemic,” added Titzrath. “Our proposal demonstrates our reliability to our shareholders. By adopting the share option, our company will have additional room to manoeuvre so we can continue to successfully develop HHLA.”
Presumably from 21 August 2020 to 7 September 2020, shareholders will have time to decide on one of the two distribution options. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, as the majority shareholder, has decided to support this model and to receive the dividend, its municipal holding HGV is entitled to, in the form of listed shares in HHLA.
