AkzoNobel on the capital markets
Held investor update in April 2017 to outline new strategy and update financial guidance.
Proposed dividend of €2.50 per share (up 52% on 2016) and special cash dividend of €4.00 per share, as advance proceeds for separation of Specialty Chemicals.
Two EGMs held during the year, to appoint Board of Management and Supervisory Board members, and to further explain AkzoNobel’s response to the proposals made by PPG. Approval granted for the separation of Specialty Chemicals.
A strong case for investment
With well-established global brands and a portfolio of businesses holding leadership positions in many markets, we offer a strong case for investment.
Close dialog with the capital markets
During the year, AkzoNobel was subject to three bids for a takeover by PPG, who subsequently withdrew their offer on June 1, 2017. In April, the company presented an investor update, which included 2020 guidance and details of a new strategy to accelerate growth and value creation by creating two focused businesses. Following shareholder approval for the separation of Specialty Chemicals, the company is on track for the completion of this process by April 2018. Subsequent management changes have taken place during the year. However, both the Investor Relations team and management have continued to attend conferences – as well as hold meetings with investors and analysts – while a program of meetings was arranged in the latter half of the year to introduce the new CEO. AkzoNobel also announced a range of measures during 2017 designed to strengthen and maintain a constructive dialog with its shareholders. This included the creation of a Supervisory Board committee for shareholder relations, with David Mayhew and team from JP Morgan Cazenove appointed as advisor for shareholder relations. These actions reinforce the fact that there has been intensive shareholder engagement, with a continued open and constructive dialog.
Listings
AkzoNobel’s common shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The company is included in the AEX Index, which consists of the top 25 listed companies in the Netherlands, ranked on the basis of their turnover in the stock market and free float. The AkzoNobel weight in the AEX index was 3.51% at year-end 2017. During the year, 232 million AkzoNobel shares were traded on Euronext Amsterdam (2016: 168 million). AkzoNobel has a sponsored level 1 ADR program and ADRs can be traded on the international OTCQX platform in the US.
See the table below for stock codes and ticker symbols:
Euronext ticker symbol |
AKZA |
ISIN common share |
NL0000009132 |
OTC ticker symbol |
AKZOY |
ISIN ADR |
US0101993055 |
Sedol code |
5458314 |
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
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Year-end (share price in €) |
61.68 |
59.39 |
73.02 |
||||
Year-high (share price in €)1 |
74.81 |
64.74 |
82.64 |
||||
Year-low (share price in €)1 |
55.65 |
50.17 |
59.11 |
||||
Year-average (share price in €) |
64.91 |
58.83 |
74.42 |
||||
Average daily trade (in € millions) |
44.1 |
38.8 |
67.4 |
||||
Average daily trade (in millions of shares) |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
||||
Number of shares outstanding at year-end (in millions) |
249 |
252 |
253 |
||||
Market capitalization at year-end (in € billions) |
15.4 |
15.0 |
18.4 |
||||
Net income per share (in €) |
3.95 |
3.85 |
3.31 |
||||
Dividend per share (in €) |
1.55 |
1.65 |
2.50 |
||||
Dividend yield (in %)2 |
2.5 |
2.8 |
3.4 |
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Analyst recommendations
At year-end 2017, AkzoNobel was covered by 23 equity brokers, of which two were restricted. Recommendations were as follows (see diagram):
Analyst recommendations
in %
