Dividend Declaration

RNS Number : 8510F

Hammerson PLC

26 February 2018

 

Hammerson plc (the 'Company')

Dividend Declaration

Dividend No. 134

26 February 2018

The Board of Directors of the Company has proposed a final dividend of 14.8 pence per share for the period ended 31 December 2017, subject to approval by the shareholders of the Company at the Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 24 April 2018.

7.4 pence per share will be treated as a Property Income Distribution ("PID"), net of withholding tax where appropriate, and 7.4 pence per share will be paid as a normal dividend.

The Company will not be offering a scrip dividend alternative, but for shareholders who wish to receive their dividend in the form of shares, the Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") will be available.

The key dates are as follows:

	2018
Dividend declaration announcement released	Monday, 26 February
Last day to effect removal of shares between the United Kingdom (UK) and South African (SA) registers	Monday, 5 March
Currency conversion announcement released by 11h00 (SA time)	Tuesday, 6 March
Last day to trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to qualify for the dividend	Tuesday, 13 March
Ex‑dividend on the JSE from commencement of trading on	Wednesday, 14 March
Ex‑dividend on the London Stock Exchange from the commencement of trading on	Thursday, 15 March
Record date (applicable to both the UK principal register and the SA branch register)	Friday, 16 March
Removal of shares between the UK and SA registers permissible from	Monday, 19 March
Last day for receipt of DRIP mandates by Central Securities Depository Participants (CSDPs)	Friday, 23 March
Last day for receipt of DRIP elections to SA Transfer Secretaries	Monday, 26 March by 13h00 (SA time)
Last day for receipt of DRIP elections by UK Registrars	Thursday, 5 April
Final dividend payable (UK and SA)	Thursday, 26 April
DRIP purchases settlement date (subject to market conditions and the purchase of shares in the open market)	Tuesday, 15 May

Notes:

1.   The removal of shares to and from the UK principal register and the SA branch register will not be permitted between Tuesday, 6 March 2018 and the close of business on Friday, 16 March 2018, both dates inclusive.

2.   Shareholders registered on the SA branch register should note that, in accordance with the requirements of Strate, no dematerialisation or rematerialisation of shares will be possible from Wednesday, 14 March 2018 to Friday, 16 March 2018, both dates inclusive.

3.   The final dividend should be regarded as a 'foreign dividend' for SA income tax and dividends tax purposes.

4.   Shareholders registered on the SA branch register will be paid in SA Rand.

5.   SA dividends tax, at the rate of 20% will apply to cash PIDs and dividends payable by the Company unless the beneficial owner of the dividend is exempt from SA dividends tax (e.g. if it is a South African resident company). Under the double tax agreement between the UK and SA ("the DTA"), the maximum tax payable in the UK is 15%.  South African resident shareholders are therefore entitled to claim the excess of 5% from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs ("HMRC"). As SA shareholders are entitled to reclaim this excess from HMRC, the maximum rebate allowable in respect of the UK withholding tax against the SA dividends tax is 15%, which means that the Company will have to withhold a further 5% from the dividend in South Africa to bring the total dividends tax to 20%. In summary, therefore, 20% will be withheld in the UK, a further 5% will be withheld in SA (where appropriate), but South African resident shareholders will be entitled to claim back 5% from HMRC, which will bring the overall total to 20%.

6.   Those shareholders who already participate in the DRIP need not complete a DRIP mandate form for each dividend as such forms provide an ongoing authority to participate in the DRIP until cancelled in writing.

7.   Shareholders on the UK principal register who wish to participate in the DRIP should complete an application form online at: www.signalshares.com.

8.   Shareholders registered on the SA branch register who hold their shares through the Strate system and who wish to participate in the DRIP should contact their CSDP.

9.   Copies of the terms and conditions of the UK DRIP are available from the UK Registrars.

10. As at Monday, 26 February 2018, being the declaration date of the final dividend, the Company had a total of 794,227,196 ordinary shares in issue. There are no shares held in treasury.

11. The final dividend will be paid out of the Company's UK distributable reserves.

12. The dates above are subject to change. Any changes made will be communicated as soon as practicably possible.

Registered Office	UK Registrars	SA Transfer Secretaries
Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9GE United Kingdom	Link Asset Services The Registry 34 Beckenham Road Beckenham Kent BR3 4TU United Kingdom	Computershare Investor Services Proprietary Limited (Registration number 2004/003647/07) 1st Floor, Rosebank Towers, 15 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank, 2196 South Africa (PO Box 61051, Marshalltown, 2107, South Africa)

For further information contact:

Sarah Booth

General Counsel and Company Secretary

Tel: [phone]

The announcement above has also been released on the SENS system of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

 

END

 

 

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