Holmen's Board decided on Wednesday to propose to the Annual General Meeting scheduled for 30 March 2004 to pay an ordinary dividend of SEK 10 per share and an extra dividend of SEK 30 per share.
The ordinary dividend will amount to some MSEK 800 and the extra dividend to some MSEK 2,400.
Holmen's target for its capital structure is for the debt/equity ratio to amount to between 0.5 and 0.7. Provided the AGM resolves in favour of the Board's proposal, Holmen's debt/equity ratio, after payment of the ordinary and extra dividends, will be some 0.5.
Holmen's dividend target is that the ordinary dividend should correspond to 5-7 per cent of equity. The current proposal to pay an ordinary dividend of SEK 10 per share corresponds to some 6 per cent of the equity after payment of the proposed extra dividend.
The Board has opted to decide on its dividend proposal at this early date as payment of an extra dividend will involve adjustments to the conditions for the convertibles and warrants issued in 1998, which may be converted or subscribed to during February and March 2004.
For further information, please contact Göran Lundin, Holmen's President and CEO, or Anders Almgren, CFO.
Tel +46 8 666 21 00.