THE HAGUE, January 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The Board of Royal Dutch Shell
plc ("RDS")(NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B) today announced an interim
dividend in respect of the fourth quarter of 2014 of US$0.47 per A ordinary share ("A Share") and B
ordinary share ("B Share"), an increase of US$0.02 on the equivalent US dollar dividend for
the same quarter last year.
The Board expects that the first quarter 2015 interim dividend
will be US$0.47, equal to the US
dollar dividend for the same quarter in the previous year. The
first quarter 2015 interim dividend is scheduled to be announced on
April 30, 2015.
Details relating to the fourth quarter 2014 interim
dividend
It is expected that cash dividends on the B Shares will be paid
via the Dividend Access Mechanism from UK-sourced income of the
Shell Group.
Per ordinary share Q4 2014
RDS A Shares (US$) 0.47
RDS B Shares (US$) 0.47
Cash dividends on A Shares will be paid, by default, in euro,
although holders of A Shares will be able to elect to receive
dividends in pounds sterling.
Cash dividends on B Shares will be paid, by default, in pounds
sterling, although holders of B Shares will be able to elect to
receive dividends in euro.
The pounds sterling and euro equivalent dividend payments will
be announced on March 6, 2015.
Per ADS Q4 2014
RDS A ADSs (US$) 0.94
RDS B ADSs (US$) 0.94
Cash dividends on American Depository Shares ("ADSs") will be
paid in US dollars.
ADS stands for an American Depositary Share. ADR stands for an
American Depositary Receipt. An ADR is a certificate that evidences
ADSs. ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbols RDS.A and
RDS.B. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares, two A Shares in the
case of RDS.A or two B Shares in the case of RDS.B. In many
cases the terms ADR and ADS are used interchangeably.
Dividend timetable for the fourth quarter 2014 interim
dividend
Announcement date January 29, 2015
Ex-dividend date RDS A ADSs and RDS B ADSs (Note 1) February 11, 2015
Ex-dividend date RDS A and RDS B shares (Note 1) February 12, 2015
Record date February 13, 2015
Closing of currency election (Note 2) February 27, 2015
Pounds sterling and euro equivalents announcement date March 6, 2015
Payment date March 20, 2015
Note 1
The London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam, with effect
from October 6, 2014 reduced the
standard settlement cycle in accordance with the Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on improving securities
settlement in the European Union and on central securities
depositories (CSDs) and amending Directive 98/26/EC (the "CSD
Regulation"). This CSD Regulation aims to harmonise EU securities
settlement cycles towards a T + 2 cycle. As a result, RDS A shares
and RDS B shares traded on these markets will now settle one day
quicker than the RDS A ADSs and RDS B ADSs traded in the United States. Record dates will not
change. The timings of these are detailed above.
Note 2
A different currency election date may apply to shareholders
holding shares in a securities account with a bank or financial
institution ultimately holding through Euroclear Nederland.
Please contact your broker, financial intermediary, bank or
financial institution where you hold your securities account for
the election deadline that applies.
Taxation cash dividends
Cash dividends on A Shares will be subject to the deduction of
Netherlands dividend withholding
tax at the rate of 15%, which may be reduced in certain
circumstances. Provided certain conditions are met, shareholders in
receipt of A Share cash dividends may also be entitled to a
non-payable dividend tax credit in the United Kingdom.
Shareholders resident in the United
Kingdom, receiving cash dividends on B Shares through the
Dividend Access Mechanism, are entitled to a tax credit. This tax
credit is not repayable. Non-residents may also be entitled to a
tax credit, if double tax arrangements between the United Kingdom and their country of residence
so provide, or if they are eligible for relief given to
non-residents with certain special connections with the
United Kingdom or to nationals of
states in the European Economic Area.
The amount of tax credit is 10/90ths of the cash dividend, the
tax credit referable to the fourth quarter 2014 interim dividend of
US$0.47 is US$0.05 per ordinary share and the dividend and
tax credit together amount to US$0.52. The pounds sterling and euro equivalents
will be announced on March 6,
2015.
Dividend reinvestment plan
Equiniti and ABN AMRO Bank N.V. each have established a
dividend reinvestment facility which enables RDS shareholders to
elect to have their dividend payments used to purchase RDS shares
of the same class as those already held by them. The dividend
reinvestment plans (the "DRIPs") are provided by ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
in respect of shares held through Euroclear Nederland and by
Equiniti in respect of all other shares (but not ADSs). DRIPs for
the ADSs (both Class A ADSs and Class B ADSs) traded on the NYSE
are available through The Bank of New York Mellon.
Enquiries about the DRIPs, including how to elect to participate
and information about the reinvestment mechanisms under the
respective plans should, in the case of shareholders holding
through Euroclear Nederland, be directed to their bank or broker
and in the case of all other shareholders (other than holders of
ADSs) to Equiniti. Enquiries relating to the DRIPs for ADSs (both
Class A ADSs and Class B ADSs) should be made to The Bank of New
York Mellon.
CAUTIONARY NOTE:
The companies in which Royal Dutch
Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are
separate entities. In this release "Shell", "Shell group" and
"Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes
used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in
general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to
refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them.
These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served
by identifying the particular company or companies. "Subsidiaries",
"Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this release
refer to companies over which Royal Dutch
Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control.
Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred
to "joint ventures" and companies over which Shell has significant
influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as
"associates". In this release, joint ventures and associates may
also be referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term
"Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct
and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture,
partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party
interest.
This release contains forward-looking statements concerning the
financial condition, results of operations and businesses of
Royal Dutch Shell. All statements
other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to
be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
statements of future expectations that are based on management's
current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results,
performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include,
among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of
Royal Dutch Shell to market risks
and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs,
estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These
forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and
phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate",
"expect", "goals", "intend", "may", "objectives", "outlook",
"plan", "probably", "project", "risks", "schedule", "seek",
"should", "target", "will" and similar terms and phrases. There are
a number of factors that could affect the future operations of
Royal Dutch Shell and could cause
those results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements included in this release, including
(without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and
natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c)
currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e)
reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry
competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks
associated with the identification of suitable potential
acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and
completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in
developing countries and countries subject to international
sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments
including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k)
economic and financial market conditions in various countries and
regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation
and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental
entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and
delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in
trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in
this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the
cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section.
Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results
are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2013 (available at http://www.shell.com/investor and
http://www.sec.gov ). These risk factors also expressly qualify all
forward looking statements contained in this release and should be
considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement
speaks only as of the date of this release, January 29, 2015.
Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake
any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement as a result of new information, future events or other
information. In light of these risks, results could differ
materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the
forward-looking statements contained in this release.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this
release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC.
U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure
in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website
http://www.sec.gov . You can also obtain these forms from the SEC
by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
Contacts:
- Investor Relations: International
+31(0)70-377-4540; North America +1-832-337-2034
- Media:International +44(0)207-934-5550; USA +1-713-241-4544
SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc