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 2022 and 2023:
| unspecified | Number of shares |
|---|---|
| Treasury shares held on December 31, 2021 | 3,861,900 |
| Disposals (exercise of stock options) and vesting of free shares | (1,546,529) |
| Buybacks of treasury shares | - |
| Movements as part of the liquidity contract | 4,424 |
| Treasury shares held on December 31, 2022 (1) | 2,319,795 |
| Disposals (exercise of stock options) and vesting of free shares | (1,545,833) |
| Buybacks of treasury shares | 3,000,000 |
| Movements as part of the liquidity contract | (36,595) |
| Treasury shares held on December 31, 2023 (1) | 3,737,367 |
In 2023, as part of a share repurchase plan, Publicis Groupe SA bought back 3,000,000 of its shares for an amount of euro 222 million. The purpose of this program was to meet obligations related to the current free share plans for employees without issuing new shares.
| not-included | Per share (in euros) | Total (in millions of euros) |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends paid in 2023 (for the 2022 financial year) | 2.90 | 726 (1) |
| Dividends proposed to the General Shareholders’ Meeting (for the 2023 financial year) | 3.40 | 865 (2) |
The Group’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 Group’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 0.80.
As of December 31, 2023, the debt‑to‑equity ratio, taking lease liabilities into account, was 0.15. At December 31, 2022, this ratio was 0.20.
Management also monitors the dividend payout rate, which is defined as the ratio between the dividend per share and the diluted headline earnings per share. Given the level of dividend (euro 3.40 per share) that will be proposed to the next General Shareholders' Meeting, the rate will be 48.9% for the 2023 financial year compared to 45.7% for the 2022 financial year.
