21 April 2008
IL Sole 24 ORE S.p.A.: Annual General Shareholders' meeting - FY2007 financial statements approved with the best operating result of the last decade
Milan, 21 April 2008 - The Annual General Meeting of shareholders of Il Sole 24 ORE S.p.A., held today under the chairmanship of Giancarlo Cerutti, approved FY2007 separate financial statements and distribution of a dividend of € 0.1208 for special-category shares and of € 0.1052 for ordinary shares. The dividend will be paid as from 2 May 2008, with coupon detachment on 28 April 2008, and will be paid to shares outstanding on the date of coupon detachment.
The AGM also appointed Marino Vago as non executive director of the Company, confirming the previous co-optation, and appointed Marco Weigmann as the fifteenth member of the Board of Directors.
On the date of his appointment, Marino Vago did not own any shareholding in Il Sole 24 Ore SpA. The lawyer Marco Weigmann, a Studio Tosetto, Weigmann e Associati’s senior partner, on the date of appointment did not own any shareholding in Il Sole 24 Ore SpA.
The professional resumés of the two new directors are available on the Company’s website (www.gruppoilsole24ore.com), in the Governance section.
On the date of his appointment, Marino Vago did not own any shareholding in Il Sole 24 Ore SpA. The lawyer Marco Weigmann, a Studio Tosetto, Weigmann e Associati’s senior partner, on the date of appointment did not own any shareholding in Il Sole 24 Ore SpA.
The professional resumés of the two new directors are available on the Company’s website (www.gruppoilsole24ore.com), in the Governance section.
FY2007 financial statements and Dividend. The parent company ended FY2007 with sales of € 512.6 mn, up by 3.2% YoY, mainly thanks to the growth of advertising revenues, which grew to € 204.7 mn (+10.5% vs. 2006).
EBITDA amounted to € 57.9 mn vs. € 46.5 mn in 2006.
Net profit amounted to € 37.4 mn, growing by € 14.6 mn vs. FY2006.
This result was affected by some non-recurring items including – for 2007 – income arising from recalculation of post-employment employee benefits following legislative changes (€ 4.6 mn), the costs of attribution of bonus shares
to employees (€ 1.8 mn), and the capital gain on sale of London Stock Exchange Group shares (€ 13.3 mn) and – for 2006 – the capital gain on disposal of non current assets.
EBITDA amounted to € 57.9 mn vs. € 46.5 mn in 2006.
Net profit amounted to € 37.4 mn, growing by € 14.6 mn vs. FY2006.
This result was affected by some non-recurring items including – for 2007 – income arising from recalculation of post-employment employee benefits following legislative changes (€ 4.6 mn), the costs of attribution of bonus shares
to employees (€ 1.8 mn), and the capital gain on sale of London Stock Exchange Group shares (€ 13.3 mn) and – for 2006 – the capital gain on disposal of non current assets.
As regards the dividend, the AGM approved the proposal for distribution of a dividendtotalling € 13.910.913,83 of which € 4.442.913,83 for the holders of special-category shares (i.e. € 0.1208 for each of the 36,779,088 special-category shares outstanding) and € 9.468.000,00 to holders of ordinary shares (i.e. € 0.1052 for each of the 90,000,000 ordinary shares outstanding). Given the IPO price of € 5.75, the annualised dividend yield of special-category shares is 5.1%.
The dividend premium payable under Company By-laws to special-category shares held by the company has been reallocated to the special-category shares outstanding.
“The commitment of corporate management, of the journalistic team, and of all employees has enabled the company to reach the historic milestone of listing, achieved with entry of the Milan Bourse on 6 December 2007 – with the best operating result of the last decade and thus with the soundness that enabled the Group to be one of the few major companies going public in the most difficult time experienced by European financial markets in the last 20 years. The fact of opening up to the market with placement of 27.6% of the Group’s share capital and the 2% limit on share ownership further strengthens the independence and transparency of news and in-depth analysis that is the great professional asset of the Il Sole 24 ORE Group. As regards this, we would like to recall the fact that, thanks to the far-sighted choice of our shareholder Confindustria (the Confederation of Italian Industry), all IPO proceeds have entered our accounts,
to be totally dedicated to the Group’s growth” commented the Chairman of the Il Sole 24 Ore Group, Giancarlo Cerutti.
to be totally dedicated to the Group’s growth” commented the Chairman of the Il Sole 24 Ore Group, Giancarlo Cerutti.
For further information:
Press office, Il Sole 24 ORE:
Ginevra Cozzi - Tel. +39 02/3022.4945 – Cell. +39 335/1350144
PMS: Fabio Marando – Cell. +39 329/4605000
Press office, Il Sole 24 ORE:
Ginevra Cozzi - Tel. +39 02/3022.4945 – Cell. +39 335/1350144
PMS: Fabio Marando – Cell. +39 329/4605000