Shareholder information

Each year the Annual General Meeting votes on the dividend proposal. The following graph plots the final dividends paid or proposed to shareholders. 

Euroclear plc provides a facility on the internet called the Bulletin Board (BB) for the purpose of improving liquidity and facilitating bilateral dealings in ordinary shares in the capital of the company.

The service is provided free of charge and is normally accessible twice a year for a period of three weeks. Access to the BB is granted to existing shareholders and, at the Board’s discretion, to other institutions who have accepted the terms and conditions of the BB and, subject to confirmation of status, have been registered as users.

BB is not a trading facility. In general terms, the BB provides its users with a secure internet facility which allows them:

• review the Euroclear group’s audited/unaudited consolidated financial results for the preceding six months, in abridged format, and net asset value of the shares (which are posted at the beginning of each session)
• to post sell/buy indications for a certain amount of shares at a given price
• to consult the sell/buy indications posted by other users
• to consult the price at which trades, originated in the BB were executed and for which the parties have agreed that the price (not their identity) be posted
• to contact parties which have posted sell/buy indications and eventually negotiate/agree directly with them the terms of the trade off-line (the BB is not an electronic trade matching system)

Since Euroclear plc will not become involved in negotiating or agreeing any trade or price for its own shares, after the buyer and seller have agreed a trade, they must notify the Executive Secretary of its terms so that the necessary legal and administrative formalities can be initiated, including submitting the intended shares transfer for approval by the Board of Directors, as foreseen in article 34 of the Articles of Association of the company.