SOLV Solvac SA

First interim gross dividend 2022 at €3.35, an increase of 2,8%

Press ReleaseEmbargo, August 3rd, 2023 after 5:40 pm

Regulated information

  

1. The cash revenue1, driven by dividends from the investment in Solvay amounts to €132.1 million compared to €125.6 million in 2022, and is higher compared to last year thanks to the increase of the unit dividend of Solvay, as indicated in the table below:

	1st Half 2022	1st Half 2023
Solvay dividend per share – January (in €)	1.50	1.54
Number of Solvay shares held by Solvac (in million)	32.6	32.6
Solvay dividend received in January (in million €) (a)	48.9	50.2
Solvay dividend per share – May (in €)	2.35	2.51
Number of Solvay shares held by Solvac (in million)	32.6	32.6
Solvay dividend received in May (in million €) (b)	76.7	81.9
Cash revenue (a) + (b)1 (in million €)	125.6	132.1
Operating expenses (in million €)	-1.1	-1.2
Other operating expenses (in million €)2	0.0	-0.4
Cost of borrowing (in million €)	-1.5	-1.3
Cash income1 (in million €)	123.1	129.2

Solvac holds 30.81% in Solvay as of the end of June 2023, unchanged compared to December 31st, 2022. Insofar the company’s statutory accounts authorize, it is on the basis of cash income, after covering expenses, that the Board of Directors determines the amounts proposed for distribution by Solvac.

2. The Board of Directors has prepared the Solvac consolidated financial statements on June 30th, 2023. These accounts have been approved by the Board of Directors on August 3rd, 2023. These accounts have been submitted to the Statutory Auditor. They are presented according to IFRS standards as adopted in the European Union.

Consolidated income statement

€ million	1st Half 2022	1st Half 2023
Income from investments accounted for under the equity method	327.8	138.9
Operating expenses	-1.1	-1.2
Other operating expense2	0.0	-0.4
Cost of borrowings	-1.4	-1.3
Net income	325.3	136.0
Net income and diluted earnings per share (€)3	15.2	6.4

1 Solvac uses certain non-IFRS performance indicators that are defined here:

• Cash revenue refers to income received during the period. It is defined as the cash flow obtained by the payment of dividends received from Solvay.
• Cash income means the cash revenue reduced by the interest charges and other income and expenses (financial/operational). It is on the basis of this indicator that the Board of Directors determines the amounts proposed for distribution by Solvac. See detail of calculation in note 8, page 10 of current press release.

2.The expenses for the studies and the analysis of the separation project prepared by Solvay ; these expenses mainly consist of external    services delivered by financial and juridical advisors.  3.The net income per share and the net diluted income per share are identical. The average weighted number of shares used for the calculation per share was 21,375,033 in June 2023 and in 2022

On June 30th, 2023 Solvac recorded a net consolidated income of €136.0 million (namely, €6.4 per share) versus€325.3 million (namely, €15.2 per share) in the same period in 2022, as a result of the evolution in the equity method applied to Solvay’s results, based on IFRS.

It should be noted that the underlying profit for the period attributed to Solvay shareholders increased by 5.6%, from €839 million to €886 million

3. The Board of Directors reports the figures of the statutory accounts relating to Solvac SA (Belgian GAAP) for the 1st half of 2023:

€ million	1st Half 2022	1st Half 2023
Financial result	75.2	80.6
Operating result	-1.0	-1.2
Non-recurrent result	0.0	-0.4
Profit before tax	74.2	79.0
Profit after tax	74.2	79.0

The net income after tax is €79.0 million, up by 6.4% compared to the result at the 1st half 2022 (€74.2 million) due to the increase of the unit dividend obtained from Solvay.

4. In accordance with the dividend distribution policy of the company, the Board of Directors decided to set the first interim dividend at 60% of the total dividend of the previous year, being €3.35 gross. This amount is increased by 2.8% compared to the first interim dividend of 2022.

The net amount of the first interim dividend settles at €2.345, after deduction of a withholding tax of 30%(1). This first interim dividend will be paid on August 24, 2023 and will lead to a gross distribution of €71,6 million. The Solvac shares will trade ex-dividend on Euronext Brussels, from Friday August 11, 2023 and transactions must be notified to us on Wednesday August 16, 2023 at the latest. Any transaction not registered on this date must be recovered (purchase) or returned (sale) by the financial intermediary who executed the transaction.

The second interim dividend which will be decided by the Board, will be released on December 14, 2023 and will be paid on December 29, 2023.

With an unchanged dividend policy, Solvay's interim dividend which would be decided in November should increase following the increase of €0.20 gross per share in Solvay's total ex-22 dividend.

In line with its policy of distributing substantially all of Solvay's dividends after deducting its costs and financial charges, the Board of Directors is expected to decide in December to increase the total dividend for the 2023 financial year to €5.81 gross per share. Such a distribution would result in a cash outflow in 2023 of €124.2 million.

The second interim payment should therefore amount to €2.46 gross per share, i.e. €1.722 net per share (after deduction of the withholding tax of 30%).

1. To our non-resident shareholders, Belgium has entered into international tax treaties with a certain number of foreign countries, which generally limit the burden of this withholding tax to 15% or even 10% (https://www.solvac.be/actualites/communications-de-dividende/). The first part of the form 276 DIV-AUT, duly completed, stamped by the foreign service of taxation on which the applicant depends and signed must arrive at Solvac on September 3, 2023.

5. Remarks

Content

This press release contains regulated information and is prepared in accordance with the IAS 34 standard “Interim Financial Statements”. The analysis of risk management is presented in the annual report, available on the Internet (www.solvac.be). There are no changes in the identification of risks on June 30th 2023 compared to December 31st, 2022.

Solvac Shares                                                                                                                                                              

	December 2022	June 2023
Number of shares outstanding at end of period	21,375,033	21,375,033
Average number of shares for calculating results per share according to IFRS	21,375,033	21,375,033
Average number of shares for calculating diluted results per share according to IFRS	21,375,033	21,375,033

6. Statement of the accountable persons

Mr Jean Marie Solvay, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Mr Melchior de Vogüé, member of the Board of Directors declare that to their knowledge:

1. 1. the condensed financial statements, prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, of the financial position and the results of the issuer and the business included in the consolidation;
   2. the interim report includes a faithful statement on the development of the business, the results and the situation of the issuer and the business included in the consolidation, as well as a description of the  main risks and uncertainties they face.
   3. The main risks and uncertainties are in accordance with the assessment disclosed in the Risk Management section of the Solvac 2022 Annual Report, taking into account the current economic and financial environment.

Key financial reporting dates

4. 4. August 24th, 2023: Payment of the first interim dividend for the 2023 financial year
   5. December 14th, 2023: after 5:40 pm  Press Release “Second interim dividend”
   6. December 29th, 2023: Payment of the second interim dividend for the 2023 financial year.

For more information, please contact:

SOLVAC S.A.

Investor RelationsRue des Champs Elysées, 43 - 1050 Brussels Tel.: 32/2/639 66 30Fax: 32/2/639 66 31Email: Investor.relations@solvac.be

 

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Attachment

• Press Release 03 08 2023