Saint Gobain Or Regulatory News (COD)

19 Mar 2009 17:31



Paris, March 19, 2009

At its meeting today, the Board of Directors of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain decided to call the Annual General Meeting on June 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. at the Palais des Congrès convention center in Paris. 

The Board will recommend at the Meeting paying a cash dividend of €1 per share and offering shareholders a dividend reinvestment option*. Based on the closing share price on March 19, the €1 dividend represents a net yield of 4.7%. The record date (June 9) will be followed by a 15-day period (from June 10 to 24) during which shareholders may exercise their reinvestment option. As a result, payment of the dividend - in cash or in stock - will take place on July 2. 

In line with the terms of the agreement entered into on March 20, 2008, Gilles Schnepp, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Legrand, will be proposed for election as the third representative of Wendel on the Saint-Gobain Board of Directors, to replace Gian Paolo Caccini who has reached the age limit specified in the bylaws. 

Shareholders will also be invited to re-elect as directors Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, Jean-Martin Folz, Chairman of AFEP , Michel Pébereau, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas and Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Air France-KLM. 

* For the stock dividend, the Board will recommend setting to the Annual General Meeting the issue price of the new shares at a 10% discount on the average of the opening prices quoted for Compagnie de Saint-Gobain shares over the 20 trading days preceding the Annual General Meeting on June 4, after deducting the dividend from this average.

About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain, a worldwide leader in the residential construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building materials, providing innovative solutions in expanding emerging markets and in the buoyant energy efficiency and environmental protection segments. With €43.8 billion of sales in 2008, Saint-Gobain is present in 59 countries and employs nearly 210,000 people.