Finansinspektionen (the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority) made an order
on 12 April 2012 requiring Rottneros to pay a charge of SEK 200,000 for
violating the provisions on publication of changes to share capital. Rottneros
has appealed against this decision to the Stockholm Administrative Court.
The provisions concerned aim to ensure that no shareholder might be put at risk
of breaching the flagging obligation, which can arise in the event of changes
to a company’s share structure without the owner themself having taken any
action by a purchase or sell. This may for instance occur as a result of a
share issue.
Rottneros claims that the formal error that was committed by the company, that
it had not published the number of outstanding shares on the last date of
trading in the month, could not have entailed any problems for the company’s
shareholders, as those who could have been affected by the flagging obligation
were not only very well informed about the changes that were made but they were
in fact also participative in the negotiations that led to the changes to the
share structure. Rottneros has also on a number of occasions and in various
ways informed the market of the changes when they were planned and subsequently
when implemented.
Rottneros is consequently of the opinion that full leniency should be granted
for the special charge for the violation or that it should be reduced to a
minimum.
For additional information, contact:
Tomas Hedström, Chief Financial Officer, +46 8 590 010 00
Rottneros discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities
Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was
submitted for publication on 3 May 2012 at 12.00 CET.
Rottneros is an independent producer of market pulp. The Group comprises the
parent company Rottneros AB, listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, and its
subsidiaries Rottneros Bruk AB and Vallviks Bruk AB with operations involving
the production and sale of market pulp. The Group also includes the wood
procurement company Rottneros Baltic SIA in Latvia. The Group has around
298 employees and had a turnover of approximately SEK 1.5 billion in the 2011
financial year.
