The share
The Swedish Match share is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. Total share capital at the end of the year amounted to 390 MSEK, distributed among 267 million shares with a quotient value of 1.4589 SEK each. Each share carries one vote. A round lot was 200 shares during 2007.
Turnover
Total turnover in 2007 amounted to 683,973,976 Swedish Match shares on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, with a daily average turnover of approximately 2.7 million shares. The turnover rate, or the liquidity of the share on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, was 246 percent during the year, compared with the average of 139 percent for the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm.
Price trend
The Company’s market capitalization at year-end 2007 amounted to 41.3 billion SEK. The share price increased by 20.7 percent during the year, while the OMXS 30 Index decreased by 5.7 percent. The lowest price paid during the year was 115.50 SEK on March 14, and the highest price paid was 156.00 SEK on December 13.
Ownership structure1)
At year-end, foreign ownership interests corresponded to 78.0 percent of total share capital2), a decrease of 2.8 percentage points compared with 2006. Swedish ownership interests, totalling 22.0 percent, were distributed among institutions, with 5.4 percent of the share capital, mutual funds, with 7.5 percent, and private individuals, with 9.1 percent. The 10 largest shareholders accounted for 35.8 percent of the share capital2).
| 1) |
Source: SIS Ägarservice, according to VPC. |
| 2) |
Excluding shares held in treasury by Swedish Match AB, which corresponds to 4.2 |
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percent of the total number of shares. |
Dividend
During the year’s strategic review, the overall capital structure and dividend policy have been analyzed and revised. Accordingly, the earlier dividend policy stipulating a dividend within a range of 30 to 50 percent of net profit for the year has been amended and the policy now specifies that the dividend should be within the range of 40 to 60 percent of earnings per share, adjusted for larger one time items.
The Board of Directors intends to propose to the Annual General Meeting a dividend for 2007 of 3.50 SEK (2.50) per share, for a total of 896 MSEK (664), based on the 255.9 million of shares outstanding at the end of the year. The dividend corresponds to 45 percent (31) of EPS for the year.
Repurchase of shares
A repurchase of shares is in principle a reverse new share issue, and provides the opportunity to continuously work to optimize the capital structure in the balance sheet. Against the background of Swedish Match’s stable and strong cash flow, the Board takes a favourable view of share buybacks. The size and scope of the share buybacks depend on Swedish Match’s financial position, net profit, anticipated future profitability, cash flow, investments and expansion plans. Other factors that influence buybacks are the share price, the Group’s interest and tax expenses and the earnings available for distribution.
Largest shareholders as of December 31, 20071) 2)
Source: SIS Ägarservice, according to VPC and data known by Swedish Match. |
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% of share |
| Owner |
No. of shares |
capital |
| Parvus Asset Management |
26,314,200 |
10.3 |
| Wellington Management Company |
24,962,273 |
9.8 |
| Morgan Stanley Investment Management |
14,117,937 |
5.5 |
| Swedbank Robur Funds |
11,125,200 |
2.3 |
| SHB/SPP Funds |
5,939,679 |
2.0 |
| SEB Funds |
5,086,662 |
1.6 |
| Nordea Funds |
4,021,694 |
1.3 |
| Third Swedish National Pension Fund |
3,267,167 |
1.0 |
| The Children’s Investment Fund |
2,576,693 |
1.0 |
| Govt of Singapore Inv Corp |
2,487,400 |
1.0 |
| Total of 10 largest shareholders |
99,898,905 |
35.8 |
| Others |
155,975,895 |
64.2 |
| TOTAL |
255,874,800 |
100.0 |
| 1) |
Certain shareholders may, through custodial accounts, have larger holding than what is |
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apparent from the shareholders’ register. |
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| 2) |
Registered direct ownership and ownership through trustees. In addition the |
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Company owns 11,125,200 shares acquired through buybacks. |
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| Transfer of capital to Swedish Match shareholders |
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| MSEK |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
Total |
| Dividends |
558 |
612 |
627 |
664 |
896* |
3,357 |
| Repurchase of own |
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| shares, net |
904 |
576 |
1,411 |
3,585 |
2,453 |
8,929 |
| Total |
1,462 |
1,188 |
2,038 |
4,249 |
3,349 |
12,286 |
| * Dividend proposed for fiscal year 2007 based on number of shares outstanding at year end. |
| Share distribution at December 31, 2007 |
|
| Size of holding |
No. of owners |
% |
No. of shares |
% |
| 1 – 1,000 |
49,378 |
90.5 |
10,697,712 |
4.2 |
| 1,001 – 5,000 |
4,231 |
7.7 |
8,436,985 |
3.3 |
| 5,001 – 20,000 |
569 |
1.0 |
5,200,329 |
2.0 |
| 20,001 – 50,000 |
120 |
0.2 |
3,833,609 |
1.4 |
| 50,001 – 100,000 |
68 |
0.1 |
4,924,487 |
1.8 |
| 100,001 – 1,000,000 |
181 |
0.3 |
64,048,940 |
24.0 |
| 1,000,001 – |
47 |
<0.2> |
158,732,738 |
63.3 |
| Total* |
54,594 |
100.0 |
255,874,800 |
100.0 |
* Excluding shares held by Swedish Match. Source: SIS Ägarservice AB, based on VPC.
| Share data1) |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
| Earnings per share, basic, SEK |
4.68 |
6.18 |
5.61 |
8.13 |
7.82 |
| Earnings per share, diluted, SEK |
4.66 |
6.15 |
5.59 |
8.10 |
7.80 |
| Dividend per share, SEK |
1.70 |
1.90 |
2.10 |
2.50 |
3.502) |
| Dividend yield at year-end, % |
2.31 |
2.47 |
2.24 |
1.95 |
2.27 |
| Dividend pay-out ratio, %3) |
36 |
30 |
35 |
31 |
45 |
| Market price at year-end, SEK |
73.50 |
77.00 |
93.50 |
128.00 |
154.50 |
| Market capitalization at year-end, billion SEK |
24.8 |
25.9 |
30.3 |
35.1 |
41.3 |
| P/E ratio after tax |
15.7 |
12.5 |
16.7 |
15.8 |
19.8 |
| EBIT multiple |
12.3 |
11.1 |
11.2 |
13.0 |
16.2 |
| Total return, % |
10.1 |
7.0 |
24.2 |
39.5 |
22.7 |
| Average number of shares, basic |
332,679,210 |
325,708,645 |
315,128,554 |
287,062,345 |
262,604,644 |
| Average number of shares, diluted |
334,162,492 |
327,013,542 |
316,226,392 |
288,161,247 |
263,405,637 |
| Average daily turnover, million |
1.9 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2.7 |
| Turnover rate, % |
131 |
127 |
163 |
168 |
246 |
| Number of shareholders |
98,425 |
94,860 |
87,840 |
58,287 |
54,594 |
| Where appropriate, figures have been adjusted for bonus issue element at redemption. |
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| 1) |
Data as of 2004 is based on IFRS accounting standards. Data for 2003 is based on the Swedish accounting principles then applicable. |
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| 2) |
Board proposal. |
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| 3) |
Dividend paid/prior year’s earnings. |
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Consolidated Income Statement
