ATTRACTIVE DISTRIBUTION POLICY AND INVESTMENT PROGRAMME GUARANTEEING LONG TERM GROWTH

Up 15% over the previous fiscal year, the dividend voted by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 10 November 2009 was 0.66 € per share, representing almost 59% of consolidated net income Group share. This high distribution rate reflects Eutelsat’s ambition to guarantee attractive remuneration for shareholders investing in the Group, while pursuing major self-financed investment programmes that will guarantee long term business growth.

The financial community has welcomed Eutelsat Communications for posting a clear and ambitious strategy with results in line with stated targets. As a result, the Group’s share has appreciated by over 10% over the last 12 months in a stock market environment that declined by 5.9% for CAC 40 stock and 4.7% for the SBF 120.

With few satellite operators listed on the world’s stock markets, Eutelsat has given priority to communicating with institutional investors and financial analysts. This dialogue includes road-shows in Europe, North America and Asia, management participation in conferences organised by financial institutions, and individual meetings and conference calls on the occasion of company results. This year, the Group met with almost 300 institutional investors.

While the floating shareholding of Eutelsat Communications is still dominated by institutional investors, the number of private investors grew by over 40% in 2009.

Eutelsat is keen to ensure that everyone has access to clear and transparent information with a dedicated section on the company website, www. eutelsat.com, which allows shareholders to have direct access to information about Group developments, resources and results.

Building on successful meetings initiated in 2007/2008, this year Eutelsat met with private shareholders in Annecy, Caen, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nancy and Paris. Eutelsat was also present at the Actionaria investors’ fair in November in Paris. This policy focusing on local dialogue will continue in 2009/2010.

< previous