Dividend Policy
In coherence with Aperam’s Financial Policy (Link), Aperam’s dividend policy consists of a base dividend, anticipated to progressively increase over time. The Company targets a Net Financial Debt/EBITDA ratio of <1x (through the cycle). In the (unlikely) event that Net Financial Debt/EBITDA exceeds 1x, then the Company will review the dividend policy.
Gross Dividend per share evolution, in EUR:
Dividend technicalities
The Company increased its base dividend by about 15% from EUR 1.53/share to EUR 1.75/share (approved at the next Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2019), as the Company continues to improve its sustainable profitability benefiting from its strategic actions.
The dividend payments occur in four equal quarterly installments of EUR 0.4375 (gross) per share in 2019 as described below in the detailed dividend schedule.
A Luxembourg withholding tax of 15% is applied on the gross dividend amounts.
Table: Detailed dividend schedule 2019
| 1st Quarterly Payment (interim) | 2nd Quarterly Payment | 3rd Quarterly Payment | 4th Quarterly Payment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announcement Date | 26 February 2019 | 13 May 2019 | 13 August 2019 | 12 November 2019 |
| Ex-Dividend | 01 March 2019 | 16 May 2019 | 16 August 2019 | 15 November 2019 |
| Record Date | 04 March 2019 | 17 May 2019 | 19 August 2019 | 18 November 2019 |
| Payment Date | 26 March 2019 | 13 June 2019 | 13 September 2019 | 11 December 2019 |
For shares traded in the United States on the OTC market in the form of New York registry shares, dividends are paid in US dollars and converted from Euros to US dollars based on the EURUSD ECB fixing exchange rate of the date, which is not a Target closing day, immediately following the announcement.
In order to benefit from exemption of Luxembourg dividend withholding tax at source, an “Informative Memorandum” describing the procedure to obtain an exemption at source of the Luxembourg dividend withholding tax is available here.
