STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- NCC's Annual General Meeting on April 3, 2002
-- Dividend of SEK 2.25 (4.50) per share to be paid
-- The Board received renewed authorization to repurchase a maximum of 10 percent of the total number of shares
-- President and Chief Executive Officer Alf Goransson informed the Meeting that the long-term financial objective has been increased to a return of 15 percent on equity after tax
During his address to the Annual General Meeting, NCC's President and Chief Executive Officer, Alf Goransson, described the comprehensive action program that has been initiated in the Company, which features a new Group structure, the closure or restructuring of unprofitable units, a focus on core business and a more selective project-tendering policy.
"We are in the midst of a major process of change, which will result in NCC having a more limited reach in the short term, while becoming a leaner yet sharper company. In the long term, however, growth will be required if we are to achieve sustainable profitability. Many parts of our core business are profitable, but not sufficiently so. The consolidation work currently under way will show us the segments that generate best profitability and it is in these segments that we will invest and expand," said Goransson.
"In view of the actions we have taken, we believe that NCC will report a profit of at least SEK 1 billion this year, plus the capital gain on the sale of NVS. We are also raising our long-term financial objective, in terms of the return on equity, from 12 to 15 percent after tax," Goransson explained.
The Meeting approved the Board of Directors' proposal that an ordinary dividend of SEK 2.25 per share be paid, corresponding to a 50-percent reduction compared with the preceding year. Dividends are expected to be sent to shareholders via VPC (the Swedish Securities Register Center) on April 11, 2002.
The Meeting authorized the Board to repurchase a maximum of 10 percent of the total number of NCC shares prior to the next Annual General Meeting. The shares are to be purchased on Stockholmsborsen at prices within the registered span of share prices at each particular purchase occasion. The reason for the repurchases is to cover allotments for 2001 of options under the Company's rolling options program for approximately 160 senior executives.
The Board has previously decided that the options program will be discontinued as of 2002 and be replaced by a bonus system linked to the Company's profitability and cash flow. Within the framework of the options program and based on current market conditions, approximately 3.3 million options will be issued and a corresponding number of Series B shares will be transferred to cover requests for exercise of the options.
To date, NCC has repurchased 3,474,589 Series B shares at an average price of SEK 73.64, corresponding to 3.2 percent of the total number of shares.
The Meeting re-elected the sitting members of the Nomination Committee, namely Johan Bjorkman, who is also Chairman of the Committee, Antonia Ax:son Johnson and Erik Asbrink. The Meeting re-elected Antonia Ax:son Johnson, Tomas Billing, Fredrik Lundberg, Carl Wilhelm Ros and Marcus Storch to the Board. Goransson was elected new Member of the Board.
At the statutory meeting of the Board of Directors held directly after the Annual General Meeting, Tomas Billing was re-elected Chairman and Fredrik Lundberg was re-elected Deputy Chairman of the Board.
Based on the authorization of the Annual General Meeting, the Board decided to repurchase a maximum of 10 percent of the total number of NCC shares.
All of NCC's press releases are available on www.ncc.se NCC is one of the leading construction and property development companies in the Nordic region. NCC has annual sales of SEK 46 billion, with 28,000 employees.
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