Changes in equity

(XLS:) Download XLS

in € millions

Sub­scribed share capital

Addi­tional paid-in capital

Cashflow hedge reserve

Cumu­lative trans­lation reserves

Other (legal) reserves and undis­tributed profit

Share­holders’ equity

Non-control­ling interests

Group equity

Balance at December 31, 2017

505

769

15

(549)

5,125

5,865

442

6,307

Impact adoption IFRS 9

–

–

–

–

(3)

(3)

–

(3)

Impact adoption IFRS 15

–

–

–

–

(48)

(48)

(5)

(53)

Impact application IAS 29

–

–

–

23

–

23

–

23

Balance at January 1, 2018

505

769

15

(526)

5,074

5,837

437

6,274

Profit for the period

–

–

–

–

825

825

45

870

Other comprehensive income

–

–

35

(172)

(15)

(152)

(24)

(176)

Comprehensive income for the period

–

–

35

(172)

810

673

21

694

Dividend

5

191

–

–

(491)

(295)

(21)

(316)

Equity-settled transactions

–

–

–

–

28

28

–

28

Issue of common shares

2

(2)

–

–

–

–

–

–

Acquisitions and divestments

–

–

–

–

(18)

(18)

(11)

(29)

Balance at September 30, 2018

512

958

50

(698)

5,403

6,225

426

6,651

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at December 31, 2018

512

958

–

(608)

10,972

11,834

204

12,038

Profit for the period

–

–

–

–

458

458

33

491

Other comprehensive income

–

–

–

89

(55)

34

3

37

Comprehensive income for the period

–

–

–

89

403

492

36

528

Dividend

–

–

–

–

(1,341)

(1,341)

(12)

(1,353)

Share repurchase

–

–

–

–

(2,207)

(2,207)

–

(2,207)

Capital repayment and share consolidation

(407)

(958)

–

–

(635)

(2,000)

–

(2,000)

Equity-settled transactions

–

–

–

–

13

13

–

13

Issue of common shares

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Balance at September 30, 2019

105

–

–

(519)

7,205

6,791

228

7,019

Shareholders' equity

Shareholders’ equity decreased from €11.8 billion at year-end 2018 to €6.8 billion at the end of September, 2019, due to the net effect of:

  • Share repurchase of €2.2 billion
  • Capital repayment and share consolidation of €2.0 billion
  • Special cash dividend of €1.0 billion
  • Profit for the period of €458 million
  • Final 2018 dividend of €315 million
  • Currency effects of €89 million positive (including taxes)
  • Actuarial losses of €55 million (including taxes)

Dividend

Our dividend policy is to pay a stable to rising dividend. The final 2018 dividend of €1.43 per consolidated share was approved by the AGM in May 2019 and was paid to our shareholders. The total 2018 dividend amounted to €1.80 per share (2017: €2.50, including €0.85 related to the Specialty Chemicals business).

In line with our announcement on April 19, 2017, we are returning the vast majority of the net proceeds from the separation of the Specialty Chemicals business to our shareholders:

  • The Extraordinary General Meeting of November 13, 2018, approved to return an amount of €2.0 billion to shareholders by means of a capital repayment and share consolidation, which was executed in January 2019. A share consolidation ratio of 9:8 was applied
  • We distributed €1.0 billion by means of a special cash dividend of €4.50 per common share (post consolidation) on February 25, 2019
  • A share buyback program to repurchase common shares up to the value of €2.5 billion has started and is due to be completed at the end of 2019. €2.2 billion was executed in the first three quarters of 2019, thus acquiring 27.8 million common shares. We intend to cancel these shares after repurchase. In Q3 2019, 17.4 million shares were acquired.

An interim dividend of €0.41 per share (post consolidation) will be paid. In 2018, an interim dividend of €0.37 was paid.

Please refer to the Financial calendar for dividend payment dates.

Outstanding share capital

The outstanding share capital was 210.6 million common shares at the end of September 2019. This included 10.4 million shares acquired in the share buyback program, which have not been yet cancelled. The weighted average number of shares in Q3 2019 was 204.3 million. This number of shares was the basis for calculation of earnings per share in Q3 2019.