Neutralization of the treasury shares existing at December 31, 2020
Treasury shares held at the end of the year, including those owned under the liquidity contract, are deducted from the share capital.
The portfolio of treasury shares showed the following movements in 2019 and 2020:
Number of shares | |
|---|---|
Treasury shares held on January 1, 2019(1) | Treasury shares held on January 1, 2019(1) Number of shares 4 009 493 |
Disposals (exercise of stock options) and deliveries of free shares | Disposals (exercise of stock options) and deliveries of free shares Number of shares (526 509) |
Movements as part of the liquidity contract | Movements as part of the liquidity contract Number of shares (2 750) |
Treasury shares held on December 31, 2019(1) | Treasury shares held on December 31, 2019(1) Number of shares 3 480 234 |
Disposals (exercise of stock options) and deliveries of free shares | Disposals (exercise of stock options) and deliveries of free shares Number of shares (1 074 183) |
Movements as part of the liquidity contract | Movements as part of the liquidity contract Number of shares (214 792) |
Treasury shares held on December 31, 2020(1) | Treasury shares held on December 31, 2020(1) Number of shares 2 191 259 |
(1) Including 68,458 shares held as part of the liquidity contract on December 31, 2020, and 283,250 on December 31, 2019.
Per share (in euros) | Total | |
|---|---|---|
Dividends paid in 2020 (for the 2019 financial year) | Dividends paid in 2020 (for the 2019 financial year) Per share (in euros) 1,15 | Dividends paid in 2020 (for the 2019 financial year) Total 273 (1) |
Dividends proposed to the General Shareholders’ Meeting (for the 2020 financial year) | Dividends proposed to the General Shareholders’ Meeting (for the 2020 financial year) Per share (in euros) 2,00 | Dividends proposed to the General Shareholders’ Meeting (for the 2020 financial year) Total 495 (2) |
(1) Amount paid, depending on shareholder option, in cash or shares. Dividends paid in shares amounted to euro 172 million, resulting in the creation of 7,035,496 shares.
(2) Amount for all shares outstanding on December 31, 2020, including treasury shares.
The Groupe’s policy is to maintain a solid capital base in order to maintain the confidence of investors, creditors and the market and to support future activity development. The Groupe’s management pays particular attention to the debt-to-equity ratio, which is defined as net debt (financial debt less cash and cash equivalents) divided by equity (including non-controlling interests) and has calculated that the ideal debt-to-equity ratio is less than 0.8. As at December 31, 2020 the debt-to-equity ratio, taking lease liabilities into account, was 0.41. At December 31, 2019, it was 0.71.
Management also monitors the dividend payout rate, which is defined as the ratio between the dividend per share and diluted headline earnings per share. Given the amount of the dividend (euro 2 per share) to be proposed to the next General Shareholders’ Meeting, the rate will be 46.8% for financial year 2020 compared to a rate of 22.9% for financial year 2019.
