STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Annual General Meeting of Billerud AB (publ) held on May 6, 2003 (Other OTC:BLRDF) (Other OTC:BLRDY):
Decisions taken by the Meeting
Dividend
The Meeting approved in accordance with the Board's proposal of a dividend of SEK 6.50 per share. The record day will be May 9, 2003 and it is expected that the dividend will be paid out by VPC AB (the Swedish Securities Register Centre) on May 14, 2003.
Election of Board members
The Meeting re-elected Ingvar Petersson, Bjorn Bjornsson, Per Lundberg, Meg Tiveus and Bert Ostlund to the Board of Directors. Gunilla Jonsson and Mats Pousette were new-elected to the Board of Directors.
Election of two Deputy Auditors
The meeting elected authorized public accountants Thomas Nilsson and Hans Akervall as deputy auditors for the period until the Annual General Meeting 2005.
Reduction of the Share Capital
The meeting decided to reduce the company's share capital by SEK 60,387,500 by way of withdrawal, without repayment, of 4,831,000 shares which the company previously has acquired. The purpose with the reduction of the share capital is that the amount with which the share capital is reduced shall be transferred to a fund to be used in accordance with decision by a general meeting.
Authorisation for the Board to make a decision regarding the acquisition of the company's own shares
The meeting agreed to authorise the Board to make, during the period up to the next Annual General Meeting, on one or more occasions, a decision regarding the acquisition of the company's own shares. Acquisition of shares may be made consecutively on Stockholmsborsen only within the registered price range on the exchange in a given period, where the range is between the highest bid price and the lowest asked price. The amount of shares acquired at each time shall not result in the company's holding of its own shares exceeding one tenth of the total number of shares in Billerud AB. The purpose of any acquisition is to enable an adjustment of the company's capital structure and in this way contribute to more effective use of the company's resources.
Authorisation for the Board to make a decision regarding the transfer of the company's own shares
The meeting agreed to authorise the Board to make, during the period up to the next Annual General Meeting, on one or more occasions and in deviation from preferential rights for shareholders, a decision regarding the transfer of acquired Billerud shares up to the number of shares in the company owned at a given time. Transfer may be made to a third party as payment in connection with a company acquisition, and also at a stock-exchange in order to receive liquid resources for payment in connection with company acquisition. Payment for transferred shares may be made paid in cash, and when other transfer is made than at a stock-exchange, through contribution of property or set-off, or otherwise under additional conditions. Transfers at Stockholmsborsen shall be made at the registered rate for the company's shares within the given period. Other transfers shall be made at the lowest market value assessed by the Board. The reason for the Board being able to deviate from preferential rights for shareholders is to provide the capability to carry out acquisitions of all or parts of other companies and activities.
Nomination Committee
At the meeting, the shareholders were informed that, as before, the larger shareholders will establish a nomination committee before the Annual General Meeting 2004 and that the names of the persons to form part of the committee will be announced in connection with the financial report for the third quarter of 2003. The Chairman of the Board of Billerud AB will be the convener and secretary of the nomination committee.
Further information about Billerud AB can be found at www.billerud.com
For further information, please contact:
Ingvar Petersson, Chairman of the Board, +46 70 595 7605, Bert Ostlund, CEO, +46 8 553 335 00 or +46 70 518 2757
This document is a translation of the original, published in Swedish. Incases of discrepancies between the Swedish and English versions, or in any other context, the Swedish original shall have precedence.
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