Declaration by the Board of Fortis N.V. and Fortis SA/NV regarding
payment of dividends with respect to the 2009 financial year
On 15 March 2009, the Board of Fortis N.V. and Fortis SA/NV ("the
Parent Companies") confirmed that no dividend would be proposed for
the 2008 financial year. As a result, upcoming coupon payments on the
outstanding FRESH and CASHES become payable by issuing Fortis shares
through the Alternative Coupon Satisfaction Method as mandated under
the terms and conditions of the FRESH and CASHES, until such time as
the Parent Companies publicly announce their intention to resume
payment of a dividend.
The recent General Meeting of Shareholders of Fortis SA/NV approved
the proposal to restore the level of distributable reserves. Based on
this decision the Board of the Parent Companies met today to consider
whether it would resume dividend payments for the 2009 financial
year.
The Board confirms its intention to resume the payment of a dividend
for the 2009 financial year. The dividend will be equal to or in
excess of the Threshold Dividend Yield as required under the terms of
both the FRESH and CASHES which implies a dividend yield of at least
0.5% (in accordance with the terms of both the FRESH and the CASHES).
As a result of this public announcement to resume payment of
dividends on the Fortis Shares, the mandatory usage of the
Alternative Coupon Satisfaction Method to satisfy coupons to be paid
on the FRESH and the CASHES is no longer applicable. Consequently the
CASHES coupon due on 19 June 2009 (to be paid by Fortis Bank) and the
FRESH coupon due on 7 August 2009 (to be paid by the Parent
Companies) will be paid in cash.
More information regarding the CASHES and the FRESH is available on
http://www.fortisbank.com/en/debtinvestors/disclaimer_prospectuses.asp,
on http://www.holding.fortis.com/Debtinvestors/index.asp and on
http://www.holding.fortis.com/yourquestions.
Fortis holding (Fortis SA/NV and Fortis N.V.) consists of (1) a 75%
ownership of Fortis Insurance Belgium (2) Fortis Insurance
International, (3) a 45% stake in Royal Park Investments - a
structured credit portfolio entity - and (4) financial assets and
liabilities of various financing vehicles. Fortis Insurance Belgium
is overall market leader and a leading player in the Employee
Benefits market. The international insurance activities (Fortis
Insurance International) are located in the UK, where Fortis is the
third largest player in the market for private car insurance, France,
Hong Kong, Luxembourg (Non-Life), Germany, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine
and joint ventures in Luxembourg (Life), Portugal, with Millenniumbcp
Fortis being a clear market leader, China, Malaysia, India and
Thailand. Fortis currently employs over 10,000 people.
Press Contacts:
Brussels: +32 (0)2 228 82 92 Utrecht: +31 (0)30 226 32 61
Investor Relations:
Brussels: +32 (0)2 565 53 78 Utrecht: +31 (0)30 226 65 66
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.