HSBC Holdings Regulatory News (HSBA)

4 Jul 2006 16:30

HSBC Holdings PLC04 July 2006 The following is a translation of a news release issued by The Saudi BritishBank, a 40 per cent indirectly-held associate of HSBC Holdings plc. THE SAUDI BRITISH BANK DISTRIBUTES SAR609.4 MILLION AS INTERIM DIVIDEND FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2006 The Chairman of The Saudi British Bank (SABB), Sheikh Abdullah Bin MohammedAl-Hugail, has announced that the bank's Board of Directors has approved thedistribution of a net interim dividend of SAR1.5 per share (after deduction ofZakat) subject to obtaining official approvals from local regulatoryauthorities. This will result in a total gross interim dividend payment ofSAR609.4 million before deduction of Zakat, representing an increase of 15.9 percent over the same period last year. Dividends will be credited on 23 July 2006 to shareholders with accounts linkedto their investment portfolios and who are on the bank's share registry on 15July 2006, who maintain accounts with SABB and whose details are available atthe share registry. Shareholders who have share certificates which have not been deposited ininvestment portfolios should contact the Saudi Share Registration Company withproof of their investment portfolio numbers before 15 July 2006, to enable thebank to transfer the dividends to their accounts. Al-Hugail commented that the Board's decision to approve the dividenddistribution is in line with the bank's aim to consistently reward itsshareholders. The HSBC GroupThe Saudi British Bank is a 40 per cent, indirectly-held associate of HSBCHoldings plc, and a member of the HSBC Group. Serving over 125 million customersworldwide, the HSBC Group has over 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territoriesin Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.With assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, HSBC is one of the world'slargest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwideas 'the world's local bank'. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange