Deutsche EuroShop AG
Deutsche EuroShop plans dividend increase

Deutsche EuroShop plans dividend increase

The executive board (Vorstand) of Deutsche EuroShop AG, Hamburg (the “Company”), plans to propose a dividend of € 2.50 per share (+150% compared to the dividend paid in the previous year) at the upcoming annual general meeting, which is scheduled to take place in August 2023, in order to distribute to shareholders parts of the profits retained for precautionary reasons during the Corona pandemic. This was agreed today by the Executive Board and the members of the committee (Präsidium) of the supervisory board (Aufsichtsrat). Based on the number of 76,464,319 shares issued, this corresponds to an amount of € 191,160,797.50 to be distributed from the retained earnings of the 2022 financial year.

The Company is also examining possibilities to further increase its ability to distribute, insofar as its liquidity situation permits this at the given time. To this end, the Company plans to release retained earnings of € 669.9 million in the financial statements for the 2022 financial year. In order to ensure that the Company maintains an adequate liquidity reserve (minimum liquidity) of currently € 100 million for the ongoing operation of its business, to meet the requirements of loan agreements with financing banks and for the implementation of planned investments in accordance with the respective current corporate planning, the Company has concluded a loan agreement with the major shareholder, Hercules BidCo GmbH, Hamburg, and thus a related party within the meaning of § 111a of the Stock Corporation Act (AktG). According to this agreement, Hercules BidCo GmbH grants an interest-free loan to the Company if a resolution on the appropriation of profits passed with its majority of votes at the upcoming or future annual general meetings of the Company should lead to a shortfall of the respective applicable minimum liquidity. The minimum liquidity that the executive board and the supervisory board deem appropriate is regularly reassessed on the basis of the corporate planning. The corresponding loan facility initially comprises € 500.0 million and has an indefinite period. The amount of the loan facility is reduced over the term by 50% of the annual profits (Jahresüberschuss) of the Company for the fiscal year 2023 and any consecutive fiscal years, dividend distributions resolved upon by the annual general meeting in agreement with proposals by the management as well as amounts added back to retained earnings based on resolutions by the annual general meeting. The loan agreement is still subject to the approval of the company’s supervisory board (taking into account any conflicts of interest of individual supervisory board members). It is currently planned to obtain the approval of the supervisory board for the conclusion of the agreement at the latest at the next regular supervisory board meeting, which is scheduled for 25 April 2023 and at which a decision is also to be made with respect to the approval of the annual financial statements.

The final resolution on the management’s proposal to the annual general meeting on the appropriation of profits is to be passed only in connection with the convocation of the annual general meeting. The exact date of the annual general meeting is expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Issued by: Patrick Kiss, Head of Investor & Public Relations