ZOL.L Regulatory News (ZOL)

22 Sep 2005 09:17

Crosby Capital Partners Inc22 September 2005 22 September 2005 CROSBY CAPITAL PARTNERS INC. ("Crosby" or the "Company") Announcement of the company's first dividend of US$5 cents per share A meeting of the Company's board of directors, held in Hong Kong on ThursdaySeptember 22nd, has approved a resolution to pay a cash dividend to shareholdersof US$5 cents per share, or approximately US$12 million. The dividend will be paid on 21 October 2005 to shareholders of record on 30September 2005. The company's shares will trade on an ex-dividend basis from 28September 2005. Chief Executive, Simon Fry commented "I am very pleased indeed to be able to announce Crosby's first cash dividendto its shareholders. I believe that the dividend, although not substantial, issignificant as it provides evidence in the form of actions rather than wordsthat our business continues to be robust and vibrant. The pleasure that themanagement team derive from this announcement cannot be overstated and we wouldlike to thank all our shareholders for their exemplary support since our listinglast year." He added "our interim results, and the activity that we have generated sincethat time has allowed your board to decide that it is the right time to returnsome of the fruits of our success to you. As we are not a traditional investmentcompany or hedge fund, and we do not invest shareholders' or other corporateequity into deals, the returns that we generate from our activity are notreinvested, but are used to pay our operating expenses, and above that, in theabsence of a strategic acquisition, are returned to shareholders. As previouslyannounced, earlier this month, we sold a small percentage of our holding in IBDaiwa for US$40.4 million. (see RNS dated "9 September 2005") After ensuringthat working capital requirements for our fast growing business are accountedfor on a conservative and prudent basis and ensuring that we retain enoughliquidity to exercise more IB Daiwa warrants in the future we are delighted tobe able to pay the remaining balance out to our shareholders. I would request that shareholders should avoid making any long-term judgementsabout future dividends, other than to continue to assume that your managementwill strive to return any excess cash that we are able to generate to you. Asmost of our shareholders are aware, the Merchant Banking business is not an areawhere we can accurately predict the timing of the cash realisation of our dealinventory and therefore, going forward, our dividend payment schedule isunlikely to fit the "norm" of a year end cycle. ." For further information please contact At Crosby Martin Angus Tel: +852 2169 2800 Simon Fry Tel: +44 207 590 2800 At Fishburn-HedgesAndy Berry Tel: +44 207 839 4321 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange