Solvac SA : Increase in net profits of 3% compared to 2014

1. Net income in 2015 rose by 3% compared with 2014 despite exceptional expenses of EUR 3.7 million linked to the capital increase. Cash revenue of Solvac, including inflow of dividends from its participation in Solvay, came to EUR 87.7 million versus 81.9 million in 2014, i.e., an increase of 7.0% attributable to the increase in dividends per share paid or decided by Solvay as shown in the table below:

 (*): 'Cash revenue' means net dividend inflow from the participation in Solvay and interest earned.

(**): 'Cash income' means the cash revenue reduced by interest charges and other financial/operational income and expenses).

(***): This amount takes into account the dividend decided on the number of Solvay shares held by Solvac before Solvay's capital increase (i.e., 25,578,267 shares). The dividend decided on the shares received during the capital increase and the shares purchased afterwards (i.e., EUR 9 million on a total of 6,537,503 shares) has not been reported in the income but has been taken as a deduction from the financial participation in accordance with Belgian and international accounting rules.

(****): The exceptional items of the period concern principally all the expenses incurred by Solvac for its capital increase of 22 December 2015.

Insofar as the company accounts (see 3 hereinafter) authorise it, it is on the basis of cash income, and after covering expenses (mainly financial charges) that the Board of Directors determines the amounts of dividends proposed for distribution by Solvac.

2. The Board of Directors has prepared the consolidated financial statements of Solvac as of 31 December 2015. These accounts have been submitted to the statutory Auditor. They are presented according to IFRS standards.

Consolidated income statement

 (1) Net income per share and the net diluted income per share are identical. The average weighted number of shares used for the calculation per share was 15,267,881 in 2014 and 15,418,468 in 2015 (taking into account the capital increase which occurred on 22 December 2015 and the purchase of shares made during the final quarter of 2015).

Solvac recorded on 31 December 2015 net consolidated income of EUR 121 million (i.e., EUR 7.8 per share) versus EUR 19 million (i.e., EUR 1.3 per share) in 2014, as a result of the change in income from applying the equity method to Solvay.

3. The Board of Directors reports the numbers of the corporate accounts relating to Solvac SA in 2015:

Due to exceptional items (expenses relating to the capital increase of Solvac) in 2015, after-tax income came to EUR 79.0 while net recurrent income was EUR 82.7 million. In 2014, given the absence of exceptional items, the net recurrent income matched income after taxes, i.e., EUR 76.6 million.

 The Board of Directors will propose to the Shareholders Meeting to allocate an amount of EUR 5,5 million to the legal reserve to bring it to EUR 19,3 million, or 10% of the share capital in accordance with legislation. The retained earnings will amount to EUR 1.382 million in 2015, compared to EUR 1.385 million in 2014.

4. Two interim dividend payments were made, respectively on 27 August 2015 and 24 November 2015, the second representing in principle the balance due, which the General Shareholdings Meeting had to confirm. In total, each share received in 2015 a gross compensation 6.25% greater than in 2014:

5. The Board of Directors of Solvay decided on 24 February to make a payment on 17 May 2016 of the balance due on the dividend for the 2015 financial year, which comes to EUR 1.94 gross and per share.

Taking into account the interim dividend paid in January 2016, the gross dividend of Solvay, for the fiscal year 2015, reaches 3.30 EUR per share, up to 3.3%, compared to a 2014 historical dividend of € 3.40 gross per share or € 3.20 after adjusting for a factor of 0.9398 following Solvay's rights issue completed on December 21, 2015. At a global unchanged dividend, the dividend per share is adjusted as to taking account of the largest number of Solvay shares following the capital increase.

The amount of the dividends to be received by Solvac in 2016 is expected to rise by more than 20% to approximately 106 MEUR due to:

- the total (and not partial) subscription by Solvac, exercising all its rights, namely 6,394,567 new shares;

- the subscription (above its part) and purchase of 538,291 additional Solvay shares in December 2015 and January 2016;

- the decision of Solvay to raise its adjusted gross dividend of 3.1953 EUR to 3.30 EUR per share. 

1. Report of the statutory auditor

Deloitte confirmed that the fieldwork related to the audit of the consolidated financial statements of Solvac SA and its subsidiaries, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union, and with the legal and regulatory requirements applicable in Belgium, is substantially completed. Deloitte confirmed that the financial information presented in this press release requires no comments on its part and is in agreement with the consolidated financial statements of Solvac. The full audit report related to the audit of the consolidated financial statements will be shown in the 2015 Annual Report.  The full report of the Statutory Auditor relating to the annual financial information will be included in the 2015 annual report to be published on the Internet (www.solvac.be) on 31 March 2016.

 2. Content

This press release contains regulated information and is established in compliance with applicable IFRS rules. An analysis of risk management appears in the annual report, which will be available on the Internet (www.solvac.be).

 3. Solvac shares

4. Statement by the responsible persons

M. JP. Delwart, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and  M. B. de Laguiche, Managing Director of Solvac, confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

a) the financial information, prepared in conformity with applicable accounting standards, reflects a true and fair view of the net worth, the financial situation and the results of the Solvac Group and of Solvac S.A.

b) the report contains a faithful presentation of significant events occurring in the 2015 financial year and their impact on the financial information.

c) there are no transactions with related parties.

Key dates for financial communications

·  31 March 2016 : Publication of the 2015 annual report on www.solvac.be

·  10 May 2016: Ordinary General Meeting of the Shareholders (2:30 p.m.)

· 29 July 2016: Results from the first half of 2016 and announcement of the first interim dividend for financial year 2016

· 25 August 2016: Payment of the first interim dividend for financial year 2016

· 14 December 2016: Announcement of the second interim dividend for financial year  2016

·  27 December 2016: Payment of the second interim dividend for financial year 2016

For additional information, please contact:

SOLVAC S.A.

Investor Relations

Rue des Champs Elysées, 43

1050 Brussels

Belgium

Tel. : 32 2,639 66 30

Fax : 32 2 639 66 31

Email: Investors.relations@solvac.be

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