NOTA DE PRENSA PRESS RELEASE
Madrid, 14 May 2012
• César Alierta, the Chairman of Telefónica, reiterated the Company's unwavering commitment to its shareholders and expressed his conviction that the company remains an excellent investment choice even amid the current economic uncertainty.
• The Shareholders' Meeting approved all the resolutions submitted.
Madrid, 14 May 2012.- The General Shareholders' Meeting held today approved the proposed dividend payment by means of a scrip dividend, so it will be the shareholders themselves who decide whether part of the second tranche of the 2011 dividend (aproximately 0.30€) is paid in cash or in shares, being the rest in cash. This second tranche, of 0.83 euros per share, will be paid on 18 May, completing payment of the dividend for 2011 amounting to 1.60 euros.
Over the course of the Shareholders' Meeting, which was
held in Madrid, the Chairman of Telefónica and its Board of
Directors, César Alierta, presented a report in which he
described as exceptional the dividend yield offered by the
Company, stating that it is "the highest return of the
world's top one hundred companies by market
capitalisation, underlining our Company's steadfast
commitment to its shareholders." The proposed 2012 dividend
totals 1.50 euros per share, including a cash payment of 1.30
euros, with a share buyback accounting for the remaining
amount. According to César Alierta, this dividend "translates
into a 13.3% yield at the current share price(*), which means
that Telefónica remains an excellent investment opportunity
even in the challenging current economic circumstances."
Since 2005 Telefónica has steadily increased its dividend per
share, earmarking over 40 billion euros for shareholder
remuneration in this seven-year period.
César Alierta also reviewed the Company's solid earnings
in 2011, which were in line with the targets announced, and
underlined the importance of the geographical diversification
undertaken in the difficult prevailing economic climate. "We
are witnessing the rise of a new global economic order,"
the Chairman stated in his report, "driven chiefly by
growth in the emerging economies, which are playing an
increasingly prominent role in decision-making in a
globalised world. This further underlines the important
competitive advantage that geographic diversification affords
our company. In this context, Telefónica has made progress
towards its objective of capturing growth in all the
different markets where it is present and the Company ended
2011 with over 306 million customers.
In his report, the Chairman of Telefónica highlighted to shareholders the bright prospects of the digital environment in which the Company operates, which is consistently outpacing global economic growth thanks to the ongoing digitisation process. This process extends beyond communication needs and is connected with the insatiable demand for digital applications and services in spheres such as public administration, education and entertainment with the aim of
Telefónica, S.A. | Communications Office | Tel: +34 91 482 38 00 |
Ronda de la Comunicación, s/n 28050 Madrid |
enhancing efficiency and improving quality of life. In this
context, the digitisation process was inextricably linked
with developments in mobile telephony and broadband in 2011,
a year when worldwide smartphone sales outstripped those of
PCs. According to César Alierta: "we can conclude that
Telefónica operates in an industry with outstanding growth
prospects, and, rest assured, we will continue to deliver
further improvements moving forward."
In addition, Telefónica's Chairman underlined the
importance of extracting full benefit from the deals struck
with sector companies and of forging partnerships that
bolster our global position. Thanks to its strategic focus,
Telefónica already boasts international partners of the
calibre of China Unicom, via a strategic alliance, and
Telecom Italia, through an industrial deal struck in
2007. Agreements are also in place with other major players
including Etisalat, Bouygues and
Sunrise under the Partners Program which the Company
heads.
The creation last September of Telefónica Digital is in
perfect keeping with Telefónica's vow to "seize all
available growth opportunities in the digital world, thus
speeding up innovation, broadening and reinforcing our
portfolio of products and services and maximising the
advantages of our broad customer base", César Alierta
explained in his speech distributed to shareholders. The
creation of the new Global Resources operating unit, which
will boost efficiency and sustainability, and the
concentration of the business into two major geographic
units, Telefónica Europa and Telefónica Latinoamérica will
undoubtedly also strengthen the Company's strategy,
enhancing its international positioning in the digital world
and, in short, its global leadership. "Our
aspiration," César Alierta concludes, "is to become
the best global communications company in the digital
world."
In addition to the scrip dividend, the Shareholders'
Meeting also approved a reduction in the Company's share
capital via the cancellation of treasury stock to
4,479,787,122 euros divided into the same number of ordinary
shares. Share capital has been reduced by 84,209,363 euros
charged to voluntary reserves.
Also, and in addition to sanctioning the annual financial
statements and the reelection of the auditor,
Telefónica's shareholders approved the reelection of the
directors César Alierta Izuel, José María Álvarez-Pallete,
Gonzalo Hinojosa Fernández de Angulo and Pablo Isla Álvarez
de Tejera for an additional five-year period and ratified the
interim appointment of Ignacio Moreno Martínez as a
proprietary Director.
Finally, the Shareholders' Meeting also approved the
proposed amendments to the articles of Telefónica's
By-Laws and Regulations for the General Shareholders'
Meeting, and the corporate website.
(*) 11.29 euros on 25 April 2012
Telefónica, S.A. | Communications Office | Tel: +34 91 482 38 00 |
Ronda de la Comunicación, s/n 28050 Madrid |
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