Some Good News for Volkswagen Owners' Panicky Shareholders
After Volkswagen announced last week that it would cut dividends by 97 percent due to the financial fallout of the diesel emissions scandal, there’s a ray of light for those who have shares in the company’s owner.
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the investment vehicle of Volkswagen AG’s ultra-wealthy owner family, said it will front the cash to allow shareholders a bigger return, according to Bloomberg.
Porsche’s management and supervisory boards will vote on the move, which would see the company’s proposed dividend rise from 0.21 euro to 1.01 euro per preferred share. The 308 million-euro payout, which is still just half of last year’s, will reportedly be financed from cash reserves.
Last week, Volkswagen announced it would set aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) to fund the automaker’s settlement plan with U.S. consumers and regulators.
The April 21 deal, which would see over half a million vehicles bought back or repaired, came at the same time as earnings figures that showed a 4.1 billion euro operating loss for 2015. In 2014, the company posted a 10.85 billion-euro profit.
Because of the hit, Volkswagen proposed cutting its dividend to 0.17 euros per share, down from 4.86 euros a year earlier.
More by Steph Willems
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Beware of friendly offers from insiders. The details can be killers. Remember when Ford went public? Who still controls the corporation with barely 20% of the stock due to their "special" status?
They're going to fund a dividend from cash reserves - they must be desperate.
Company needs to be dragged into a German equivalent of Ch 11 restructuring, thus ridding it if Porsche-Piëch cultural influence.