REG - Hammerson PLC - Dividend Currency Conversion Announcement

HammersonAnnouncement

14/08/2024 09:00

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RNS Number : 3266A  Hammerson PLC  14 August 2024

Hammerson plc (the "Company")

 

Dividend Currency Conversion Announcement

 

14 August 2024

 

On 25 July 2024, the Company announced that the Board of Directors had
declared an interim dividend of 0.756 pence per ordinary share ("Share") for
the period ending 31 December 2024 (the "Interim 2024 Dividend").

The Interim 2024 Dividend will be treated as a Property Income Distribution
("PID") and will be subject to a 20% UK withholding tax unless exemptions
apply.

The Company will not be offering a scrip dividend alternative but, for
shareholders who wish to receive their dividend in the form of Shares, the
Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") will be available. The terms and
conditions of the DRIP can be found at www.signalshares.com
(http://www.signalshares.com) . Shareholders registered on the South African
Branch Register should contact their CSDP or Broker for further information.

The Interim 2024 Dividend is payable on Monday, 30 September 2024 to
shareholders registered on the UK principal register ("UK Shareholders") and
the South African branch register ("SA Shareholders") who have elected to
receive the dividend in cash. The Record Date for both UK Shareholders and SA
Shareholders is at the close of business on Friday, 23 August 2024. The DRIP
purchases settlement date (subject to market conditions and the purchase of
shares in the open market) is Wednesday, 2 October 2024 in the UK and Monday,
14 October 2024 in South Africa.

The Interim 2024 Dividend should be regarded as a "foreign dividend" for SA
income and SA dividend tax purposes and the funds will be paid from the United
Kingdom.

Shareholders receiving the Interim 2024 Dividend in cash

The Company confirms that the South African Rand exchange rate for the Interim
2024 Dividend will be ZAR 23.2740 to GBP 1. The Interim 2024 Dividend is
payable in South African Rand to SA Shareholders. Shareholders who do not
elect the DRIP will be paid as follows:

 PID                                               UK Shareholders  SA Shareholders

                                                   (GBP pence)      (ZAR cents)
 Gross amount of PID                               0.756            17.59514
 Less 20% UK withholding tax/20% SA dividends tax  0.151            3.51903
 Net PID dividend payable*                         0.605            14.07612
 Less 5% SA Shareholders excess reclaim            n/a              0.87976
 Net PID dividend payable**                        n/a              13.19636

 

*Net position after SA Shareholders have claimed back 5% from HMRC under the
double tax agreement between the United Kingdom and South Africa.

** Before SA shareholders have claimed back 5% from HMRC under the double tax
agreement between the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Cash PIDs

A 20% UK withholding tax will be deducted from cash PIDs. The Company will
account to HM Revenue & Customs ("HMRC") in sterling for the total UK
withholding tax deducted.

SA dividends tax, at the rate of 20%, will apply to cash PIDs payable by the
Company unless the beneficial owner of the dividend is exempt from SA
dividends tax (e.g. if it is a South African resident company). Under the
double tax agreement between the UK and South Africa, the maximum tax payable
in the UK is 15%.  South African resident shareholders are therefore entitled
to claim the excess of 5% from HMRC. As SA Shareholders are entitled to
reclaim this excess from HMRC, the maximum rebate allowable in respect of the
UK withholding tax against the SA dividends tax is 15%, which means that the
Company will have to withhold a further 5% from the dividend in South Africa
to bring the total dividends tax to 20%.  In summary, therefore, 20% will be
withheld in the UK, a further 5% will be withheld in South Africa (where
appropriate), but South African resident shareholders will be entitled to
claim back 5% from HMRC, which will bring the overall total to 20%.

Shareholders electing the DRIP

Partial elections are not permitted under the DRIP.

SA Shareholders electing the DRIP should note that, in respect of fractional
entitlements that may arise, all allocations of shares will be rounded down to
the nearest whole number, and any residual amounts that are not used to
reinvest in shares (as a result of rounding down) will be paid out to these SA
Shareholders in cash.

It is the Company's understanding that the residual cash paid to SA
Shareholders who have made DRIP elections would already have been taxed prior
to the calculation of the number of shares and any residual cash owing to such
SA Shareholders.  Accordingly, no further tax should be payable on the cash
paid to SA Shareholders as a result of any fractional entitlements.

The above information and the guidelines on the taxation of dividends are
provided as a general guide based on the Company's understanding of the law
and practice currently in place. Any shareholder who is in any doubt as to
their tax position should seek independent professional advice.

 

Proposed Share Consolidation

The Company published a Circular and Notice of Meeting on 8 August 2024
inviting shareholders to approve resolutions to, among other things, authorise
the proposed consolidation, sub-division and re-designation of the Company's
ordinary shares. The Proposed Share Consolidation will not impact the Interim
2024 Dividend.

 Registered Office   UK Registrars          SA Transfer Secretaries
 Marble Arch House   Link Group             Computershare Investor

 66 Seymour Street   Central Square         Services Proprietary Limited

 London              29 Wellington Street   (Registration number

 W1H 5BX             Leeds                  2004/003647/07)

 United Kingdom      LS1 4DL                1st Floor, Rosebank Towers

                                            15 Biermann Avenue,

                                            Rosebank, 2196

                                            South Africa

                                            (Private Bag, X9000, Saxonwold 2132 South Africa)

 

For further information contact:

 

Josh Warren

Director of Strategy, Commercial Finance and Investor Relations

Tel: +44 20 7887 1053

josh.warren@hammerson.com (mailto:josh.warren@hammerson.com)

Richard Crowle

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Tel: +44 20 7887 1000

Richard.crowle@hammerson.com (mailto:Richard.crowle@hammerson.com)

The announcement above has also been released on the SENS system of the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange and on Euronext Dublin.

 

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and
does not constitute or form part of any offer to sell or issue, or the
solicitation of an offer to purchase, subscribe for or otherwise acquire any
securities of the Company, whether pursuant to this announcement or otherwise.

 

 

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