The shareholders of Compagnie des Alpes, gathered today in Paris for a Combined Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting, have followed the voting recommendations of the Board of Directors for all submitted resolutions.
They approved the payment of a cash dividend of 1euro per share and the option to pay out the dividend in shares. The ex-dividend date is the morning of March 27, 2009, with payment on April 27, 2009.
Shareholders opting for payment in shares should submit a request to their usual financial intermediary during the period from March 27, 2009, to April 17, 2009. The issue price for new shares has been set at 22.17 euros, which is the average closing price for the previous twenty trading sessions from February 19, 2009, to March 18, 2009, minus the net dividend.
Shareholders also approved the change in the company’s mode of administration and corporate governance. Compagnie des Alpes is now administered by a twelve-member Board of Directors, presided by a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
This change received the unanimous support of the shareholders represented on the Board and aims to provide the Group with leaner, more reactive management, better able to handle adjustments necessary for the Group’s business model.
In line with this, appointed director Dominique Marcel was appointed Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer during the meeting of the Board of Directors that followed the Shareholders’ Meeting.
He appointed the four former members of the Management Board as Associate Managing Directors. For the present they will have the same duties and powers as before. New duties and powers will be specified shortly, as the Company’s current reorganization comes to an end.
The Group has embarked on a fundamental review of its organization in order to simplify it, hone its efficiency, and focus it on a performance-based, integrated industrial strategy.
The following topics were among those addressed during the Meeting’s discussions:
So far, business for the 2008–2009 winter-sports season matches the forecasts announced during the presentation of results on December 19, 2008. At March 13, 2009, with about 75% of the season over, visitor numbers at ski areas were down about 3% from FY 2007–2008. Reservations for professional accommodations for the entire 2008–2009 season were down 2.9% at March 1. The decrease is largely concentrated in March because of the
shift into April of Easter weekend and the vacation days that usually accompany it, especially for the foreign clientele.
Business up to March 1 represents only about 15% of annual visitor numbers at leisure parks. It is up about 10%, thanks to the solid performance of parks open during the All Saints’ Day and Christmas seasons.
Upcoming events:
Q2 sales (January to March): April 29, 2009 (before market open)
H1 results (October 2008 to March 2009): May 27, 2009
Compagnie des Alpes is a major player in the field of leisure production in Europe. The company operates 38 leisure sites, including 17 leading ski areas in the Alps (including Tignes, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Les Menuires, Méribel, and Chamonix) and 21 leisure parks (including Parc Astérix, Grévin, Walibi, etc.) in seven European countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the UK. Consolidated sales were 579 million euros (23 million visitors) for the financial year ending September 30, 2008, with Group net profit of 36.2 million euros. CDA is in the indices SBF 250, CAC mid 100, and CAC mid & small 190.
See Also: Compagnie des Alpes First quarter sales rise sharply: +15.5%
Amusement Parks: A Good Year at Compagnie des Alp
Philippe Segretain is named Chairman of the Compagnie des Alpes Supervisory Board
