EVS BROADCAST EQUIPMENT SA 
By The Board proposes a dividend translating into a pay-out ratio of 86%, in line with the average of the last 10 years
EVS Broadcast Equipment, the leading provider of live video production systems, today published the invitation to its combined Ordinary, Special and extraordinary General Meeting, to be held on May 20, 2014, at its headquarters in Liège.
Aside from the usual topics, the Board of Directors will propose shareholders, during the Ordinary General Meeting, to approve the following resolutions:
- The payment of a total gross dividend of EUR 2.16 (including the interim dividend of EUR 1.16 paid in last November), implying a final gross dividend of EUR 1.00 to be paid on June 2, 2014;
- A profit sharing plan in the form of a grant of 37 EVS shares for EVS employees, adjusted for the employee time spent with the firm in 2013;
- The renewal of the mandates of Acces Direct and Christian Raskin as Independent Directors.
The dividend proposal (18.2% lower than 2012) takes into account the 18.5% decrease of net profit in an uneven year 2013, the reviewed budget for the new headquarter (between EUR 55 million and EUR 60 million), mainly due higher investments in future-proof equipment), the willingness to keep some financial flexibility if the company needs to accelerate investments for growth and the cautiousness of the EVS management relating to the short term market conditions (as announced in 2013 results press release). The Board has also decided to adapt the dividend policy. As from 2013, the Board of Directors has established a dividend policy which aims at paying a high portion of the net profit, taking into account the cash needed to finance the company growth, and with a maximum pay-out ratio of 100%. This EUR 2.16 dividend represents a pay-out ratio of 85.7% (in line with average of last 10 years) and a dividend yield of 4.4% (gross dividend divided by average share price in 2013);
In line with the desire of the Board to increase the number of independent Directors, an internal rule has been set to limit non-executives Board mandates duration to a maximum of 12 years or 3 successive mandates. Therefore, Francis Bodson, Jean Dumbruch and Jacques Galloy are not re-eligible as they have been Board members for more than 12 years. They have all three been instrumental in building the success of EVS since a long time. The Board wants to express its sincere gratitude for their continued support and longstanding commitment to the development of the group.
A Special General Meeting will follow the Ordinary General meeting to propose shareholders to approve change of control clauses in relation with the EUR 24 million senior debt secured in last November 2013 with BEI, ING and BNPPF.
An Extraordinary General Meeting will also take place, to propose shareholders to renew the authorizations given to the Board to buy back shares and to use the authorized capital procedures. Both authorizations are not valid in case of takeover bids.
All documents relating to the combined General Meeting of May 20 are available on the website of EVS Broadcast Equipment at www.evs.com:
http://www.evs.com/, including the 2013 financial annual report.
| For more information, please contact: Joop JANSSEN, Managing Director & CEO Magdalena BARON, Senior Vice President, CFO Geoffroy d'OULTREMONT, Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Communication EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A., Liege Science Park, 16 rue du Bois Saint-Jean, B-4102 Seraing, Belgium Tel: +32 4 361 70 14. E-mail: corpcom@evs.com; www.evs.com: http://www.evs.com/ |
| Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the business, financial condition, and results of operations of EVS and its affiliates. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of EVS's management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties relate to changes in technology and market requirements, the company's concentration on one industry, decline in demand for the company's products and those of its affiliates, inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications, and loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition which could cause the actual results or performance of the company to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. EVS undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. About EVS EVS provides its customers with reliable and innovative technology to enable the production of live, enriched video programming, allowing them to work more efficiently and boost their revenue streams. Its industry-leading broadcast and media production systems are used by broadcasters, production companies, post-production facilities, film studios, content owners and archive libraries around the globe. It spans four key markets - Sports, Entertainment, News and Media. Founded in 1994, its innovative Live Slow Motion system revolutionized live broadcasting. Its reliable and integrated tapeless solutions, based around its market-leading XT server range, are now widely used to deliver live productions worldwide. Today, it continues to develop practical innovations, such as its C-Cast second-screen delivery platform, to help customers maximize the value of their media content. The company is headquartered in Belgium and has offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America. Approximately 500 EVS professionals from 21 offices are selling its branded products in over 100 countries, and provide customer support globally. EVS is a public company traded on Euronext Brussels: EVS, ISIN: BE0003820371. For more information, please visit www.evs.com: http://www.evs.com/. dcinex, of which EVS owns 41.3%, is the European leader for Digital Cinema technology and services in Europe with more than 5,500 committed digital screens in Europe, out of which 3,700 have already been deployed. www.dcinex.com: http://www.dcinex.com/. |
http://hugin.info/133958/R/1778006/607138.pdf
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: EVS Broadcast Equipment via Globenewswire
