The Shareholders' Meeting, held in Madrid, approved the Ferrovial Flexible Dividend programme, which allows investors to choose between a number of remuneration options, in line with trends at other companies. Ferrovial offers a choice to shareholders who prefer the tax advantages of a scrip dividend.
The Shareholders' Meeting has approved the Ferrovial Flexible Dividend programme, under which investors can choose between a number of remuneration options, in line with trends at other companies.
The goal is to offer a choice to shareholders who prefer the tax advantages of a scrip dividend.
With Ferrovial Flexible Dividend, shareholders can choose to receive remuneration in shares or cash, with their corresponding tax conditions.
Ferrovial Flexible Dividend, which will be executed in July, will replace the traditional 2013 supplementary dividend payment income and the 2014 interim dividend. Under this programme, each shareholder will automatically be entitled to receive a warrant, free of charge and of withholding tax, for every Ferrovial share he/she owns. Subsequently, he/she will automatically receive the shares corresponding to the number of warrants.
Alternatively, the shareholder can choose to be paid in cash. To that end, the shareholder must instruct the depository, within the established deadlines, to sell the warrants to Ferrovial (at a guaranteed fixed price subject to a withholding tax) or in the market (at market prices, with no withholding tax).
The shareholder may also choose a combined approach. To collect part or all in cash, the shareholder must inform the depository in accordance with the provisional schedule: between 2 and 10 July (to sell the warrants to Ferrovial) or between 2 and 16 July (to sell them in the market).
The Shareholders' Meeting approved two bonus share issues for this programme, corresponding to the 2013 supplementary dividend and the 2014 interim dividend.
As part of this initiative, a capital reduction through the amortisation of previously acquired own shares was also approved, with a view to increasing Ferrovial’s earnings per share.
Provisional schedule
- 26 June. Establishment of the number of free warrants required to receive one new share and the price at which Ferrovial will purchase the warrants.
- 1 July 2014. Publication of the capital increase announcement in the Official Bulletin of the Mercantile Register. Record date for the assignment of warrants free of charge (23:59 CET).
- 2 July 2014. Period commences for trading the free warrants and for requesting remuneration in cash. Ferrovial shares trade ex-coupon.
- 10 July 2014. End of period for requesting remuneration in cash (i.e. by selling the warrants to Ferrovial).
- 16 July 2014. End of period for trading the warrants. Acquisition by FERROVIAL of the warrants from shareholders who requested they be purchased by the company.
- 17 July 2014. Publication of a regulatory disclosure indicating the final result of the operation.
- 21 July 2014. Payment in cash to shareholders who chose to sell their warrants to Ferrovial.
- 25 July 2014. Estimated date when the new shares will begin trading on the Spanish stock markets, subject to obtaining the necessary authorisations.
