Amended proposal regarding dividend
The Board of Directors has decided to withdraw its previous proposal to the Annual General Meeting regarding a dividend of SEK 1.90 per share. The company has a strong financial position and good liquidity. The Board has decided as a precautionary measure, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertain prevailing economic situation and given the fact that it is currently difficult to assess developments, the Board therefore proposes to the Annual General meeting to resolve that no dividend should be paid.
Wallenstam’s Board has previously proposed a dividend of SEK 1.90 per share, spread over two payments dates ‒ a payment of SEK 0.95 in May and a payment of SEK 0.95 in November. The Board has today taken the decision to withdraw this proposal and instead it is proposed that the Annual General Meeting on April 28 pass a resolution that no dividend be paid for the 2019 financial year. The Board intends to wait until the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic can be better assessed and if circumstances allow, the ambition is to call an Extraordinary General Meeting during the second half of 2020. In the event of an Extraordinary General Meeting, a new proposal will be submitted for a dividend and the size of the dividend.
“Wallenstam has a strong financial position with products in demand in the form of rental apartments in the metropolitan areas of Stockholm and Gothenburg and commercial premises in CBD locations in Gothenburg. The company invests approximately SEK 3 billion annually in new construction of rental apartments and we think it is important to ensure the security of being able to continue this work, which creates many jobs and new housing. In view of what is happening in society, we want to allow for further freedom of action and for this reason we are revising our proposal and will wait and see regarding the dividend,” says Ulrica Jansson Messing, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Wallenstam’s Annual General Meeting will take place on April 28, 2020. For more information, see www.wallenstam.se/arsstamma.
For further information, please contact:
Susann Linde, CFO and Head of Investor Relations Wallenstam AB, tel. +46 31 20 00 00 or +46 705 17 11 34
This is information that Wallenstam AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 17:15 CET on April 2, 2020.
Wallenstam is a property company that manages, builds and develops properties for sustainable living and enterprise in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala. The property holding is valued at around SEK 52 billion and the customer base consists of just over 9,000 households and 1,000 enterprises. The total lettable area is around 1 million sq m. Wallenstam is self-sufficient in renewable energy through its own wind turbines in operation. The company’s B shares have been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 1984.