Richemont Annual General Meeting 2006
14 SEP 2006
At the Annual General Meeting of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA held today in Bellevue, Geneva, the shareholders approved the results for the year, including the proposals of the board of directors for the appropriation of retained earnings at 31 March 2006.
A dividend of € 0.05 per Richemont unit will be paid to unitholders on the share capital of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. The dividend will be payable to holders of ‘A’ and ‘B’ units on 18 September 2006 against presentation of coupon number 6, free of charges but subject to Swiss withholding tax at 35 per cent. This represents a total dividend payable of € 27 862 265, excluding units held in treasury. The Swiss franc equivalent of this amount, calculated at the exchange rate prevailing as at the time of the Annual General Meeting, is CHF 44 214 629. The remaining available retained earnings of the Company at 31 March 2006, of CHF 752 898 449 after payment of the dividend, will be carried forward.
In addition, a dividend of € 1.05 will be paid by Richemont SA, Luxembourg, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. This consists of an ordinary dividend of € 0.55 and a special dividend of € 0.50 per unit and will be payable to holders of ‘A’ and ‘B’ units without deduction of withholding taxes or charges, on 18 September 2006, against presentation of coupon number 7.
The total dividend for the year, payable by both entities, will therefore be € 1.10 per unit, before deduction of withholding tax.
Two members of the Board, Mr Leo Deschuyteneer and Mr Ernst Verloop, did not seek re-election. The shareholders of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA re-elected all other the serving members of the board of directors and, in addition, appointed Mr Ruggero Magnoni, and Mr Jan Rupert to the Board.
The transfer of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA’s registered office to 50 chemin de la Chênaie, 1293 Bellevue, Geneva was also formally approved by the shareholders.
About Richemont
Richemont owns a portfolio of leading international brands or ‘Maisons’, which are managed independently of one another, recognising their individuality and uniqueness. The businesses operate in five areas: Jewellery Maisons, being Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels; Specialist watchmakers, which is made up of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, IWC, Baume & Mercier, Vacheron Constantin, Officine Panerai and A. Lange & Söhne; Writing instrument Maisons - Montblanc and Montegrappa; Leather and accessories Maisons, being Alfred Dunhill and Lancel; and Other businesses, which includes, specifically, Chloé as well as other smaller Maisons and watch component manufacturing activities for third parties.
In addition to its luxury goods business, Richemont holds an 18.8 per cent interest in British American Tobacco.