Serono Shareholders Approve Resolutions at Annual General Meeting
April 25 2006 - 10:23AM
PR Newswire (US)
Shareholders Approve Increase in Authorized Share Capital GENEVA,
Switzerland, April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serono (virt-x:SEO
and NYSE:SRA) announced that its Shareholders have approved all
resolutions at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, held
today in Lausanne, Switzerland. As a result, Serono will distribute
the following[1]: - A cash dividend of CHF 146.4 million or $114.4
million - Gross dividend per bearer share of CHF 10 or $7.81 -
Gross dividend per American Depositary Share of CHF 0.25 or $0.20 -
Gross dividend per registered share of CHF 4 or $3.13 The dividend
for bearer shares will be paid as of April 28, 2006, net of the 35%
Swiss withholding tax. The total cash payout in Swiss Francs (CHF)
represents an increase of 11.7% for the financial year 2005
compared with 2004. The dividend payout ratio in relation to
adjusted earnings per share[2] is 20.1% for 2005. The Shareholders
have granted the Board of Directors authorization (until April
2008) to increase the share capital by a maximum of CHF
190,471,500, which allows the Board to issue up to 7,618,860 new
bearer shares of CHF 25 nominal value each, if and when needed. The
Shareholders approved the re-election for one year of: - Mr Ernesto
Bertarelli - Mr Pierre E. Douaze - Mr Patrick Gage - Mr Bernard
Mach - Mr Sergio Marchionne - Mr Georges Muller - Mr Alberto Togni
- Mr Jacques Theurillat The Shareholders approved the re-election
of PricewaterhouseCoopers S.A. in Geneva as auditors of the annual
accounts of Serono S.A. and as auditors of the consolidated
accounts of the Serono group for the financial year 2006. The
Shareholders approved the re-election of Ernst & Young S.A. in
Geneva as special auditors in line with Article 28.5 of the
Articles of Association for a term expiring at the date of the
Ordinary General Meeting in 2007. The annual report, the accounts
of Serono S.A. and the consolidated accounts of the Serono group
for the year 2005 were approved. For Serono Some of the statements
in this press release are forward looking. Such statements are
inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause actual results, performance or
achievements of Serono S.A. and affiliates to be materially
different from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are based on Serono's
current expectations and assumptions, which may be affected by a
number of factors, including those discussed in this press release
and more fully described in Serono's Annual Report on Form 20-F
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February
28, 2006. These factors include any failure or delay in Serono's
ability to develop new products, any failure to receive anticipated
regulatory approvals, any problems in commercializing current
products as a result of competition or other factors, our ability
to obtain reimbursement coverage for our products, the outcome of
government investigations and litigation and government regulations
limiting our ability to sell our products. Serono has no
responsibility to update the forward-looking statements contained
in this press release to reflect events or circumstances occurring
after the date of this press release. About Serono Serono is a
global biotechnology leader. The Company has eight biotechnology
products, Rebif(R), Gonal-f(R), Luveris(R), Ovidrel(R)
/Ovitrelle(R), Serostim(R), Saizen(R), Zorbtive(TM) and Raptiva(R).
In addition to being the world leader in reproductive health,
Serono has strong market positions in neurology, metabolism and
growth and has recently entered the psoriasis area. The Company's
research programs are focused on growing these businesses and on
establishing new therapeutic areas, including oncology and
autoimmune diseases. Currently, there are more than 25 on-going
development projects. In 2005, Serono, whose products are sold in
over 90 countries, achieved worldwide revenues of US$2,586.4
million. Reported net loss in 2005 was US$106.1 million, reflecting
a charge of US$725 million taken relating to the settlement of the
US Attorney's Office investigation of Serostim. Excluding this
charge as well as other non-recurring items, adjusted net income
grew 28.4% to US$565.3 million in 2005. Bearer shares of Serono
S.A., the holding company, are traded on the virt-x (SEO) and its
American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock
Exchange (SRA). Reuters: SEO.VX / SRA.N Bloomberg: SEO VX / SRA US
Background material For free B-roll, video and other content for
Serono and its products, please visit the Serono Media Center
http://www.thenewsmarket.com/Serono. You can download print-quality
images and receive broadcast-standard video digitally or by tape
from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.
References [1] All dollar figures are based on prevailing exchange
rates. Final equivalent US$ amounts may differ depending on
exchange rates on the date of the payment. [2] The calculation of
the dividend payout ratio is based on adjusted earnings per share
for the twelve months ended 2005 as reported for the full year 2005
results on February 6, 2006. DATASOURCE: Serono International S.A.
CONTACT: For more information, please contact: Corporate Media
Relations: Tel: +41-22-739-36-00, Fax: +41-22-739-30-85,
http://www.serono.com/. Corporate Investor Relations: Tel:
+41-22-739-36-01, Fax: +41-22-739-30-22. Reuters: SEO.VX / SRA.N .
Bloomberg: SEO VX / SRA US. Media Relations, USA: Tel:
+1-781-681-2340, Fax: +1-781-681-2935, http://www.seronousa.com/.
Investor Relations, USA: Tel: +1-781-681-2552, Fax: +1-781-681-2912
Copyright