Investment firm Industrivarden pulls dividend proposal
07/04/2020 10:38
STOCKHOLM, April 7 (Reuters) - Swedish investment firm
Industrivarden INDUa.ST on Tuesday said it was withdrawing its
dividend proposal for 2019 due to lingering uncertainty on the
back of the COVID-19 pandemic and its dampening effect on the
business climate.
"Against the background of the prevailing uncertainty caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Directors has decided to
withdraw the dividend proposal," Industrivarden, which owns
stakes in companies such as AB Volvo VOLVb.ST , Essity
ESSITYb.ST , Sandvik SAND.ST and Ericsson ERICb.ST , said.
Still, Industrivarden's board has the ambition to call an
extra shareholder's meeting in the autumn to decide on the
dividend "if the circumstances exist", it said in a statement.
"With the year's first quarter now behind us, we can see
that the world looks considerably different than at the close of
2019," Industrivarden CEO Helena Stjernholm said in the
company's report for the first three months of 2020, also
published on Tuesday.
"However, we and our portfolio companies are well-poised to
deal with challenges as well as take advantage of opportunities
during the coming year."
(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; editing by Johan Ahlander)
((johannes.hellstrom@thomsonreuters.com; +46850242388; Reuters
Messaging: johannes.hellstrom.reuters.com@reuters.net))