Standard Chartered PLC COVID-19: dividend, buy-back & new commitments (3180I)
April 01 2020 - 02:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTAN
RNS Number : 3180I
Standard Chartered PLC
01 April 2020
STANDARD CHARTERED PLC
31 March 2020
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COVID-19: dividend, buy-back and new commitments
Dividends and share buy-back
Standard Chartered PLC (the Group) announces that in response to
a request from the Prudential Regulation Authority and as a
consequence of the unprecedented challenges facing the world due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, its board has decided after careful
consideration to withdraw the recommendation to pay a final
dividend for 2019 of 20 cents per ordinary share and to suspend the
buy-back programme announced on 28 February 2020.
Furthermore, no interim dividend on ordinary shares will be
accrued, recommended or paid in 2020. The board's recommendation
regarding a final dividend in 2020 will take into account the
financial performance of the Group for the full year and the
medium-term outlook at that time.
The board fully recognises the importance of dividends to the
Group's owners. However, suspending shareholder distributions at
this time will allow the Group to maximise its support for
individuals, businesses and the communities in which it operates
whilst at the same time preserving strong capital ratios and
investing to transform the business for the long term.
The Group is well capitalised with low leverage and high levels
of loss-absorbing capacity. Its capital and liquidity metrics
remain well above regulatory thresholds.
Charitable funding and increased financing
The Group has a commitment to be 'Here for good'. It has always
stepped up to live to that promise in times of challenge and is
doing so again now.
With immediate effect the Group is launching a $50 million
global fund to provide assistance to those affected by COVID-19.
The Group will immediately contribute $25 million, will match other
contributions including those made by its employees and will make
further contributions as needed to reach the total. All board and
management team members will be making personal contributions to
the fund.
The Group has already implemented several other initiatives to
provide economic support to clients and protect their wellbeing and
to support the Group's 84,000 employees around the world.
And yesterday the Group announced that it is committing up to $1
billion of financing, offered at preferential rates, for companies
that are providing goods and services to help in the fight against
COVID-19, as well as to support the efforts of those that are
re-deploying production resources to help fight the pandemic.
Remuneration and trading performance update
The board has committed to ensure that decisions regarding 2020
remuneration, including executive remuneration, will be taken in
the light of the Group's overall performance and the challenges
faced by the Group's various stakeholders resulting from the spread
of COVID-19.
The Group will provide an update on its performance in the
year-to-date and more details regarding its response to the
COVID-19 pandemic at its first quarter earnings announcement on 29
April 2020.
Further information
The decisions announced today relate to the Group's ordinary
shares and not to any other Group instruments.
As at the end of 30 March 2020 the Group had through the
buy-back programme announced on 28 February 2020 purchased 38
million ordinary shares of $0.50 each through J.P. Morgan
Securities plc for consideration of $218 million, representing a
volume-weighted average price per share of GBP4.77. The Group holds
no shares in Treasury.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. This announcement will also
be available on the group's website at:
https://www.sc.com/en/investors/stock-exchange-announcements/
Enquiries to:
Mark Stride, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0) 20 7885 8596
Julie Gibson, Head of Media Relations +44 (0) 20 7885 2434
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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