Ströer pays out significantly higher dividend of EUR 0.40 after extremely successful 2014 fiscal year

At today’s ordinary General Meeting of Ströer Media SE in Cologne, the predominant resolutions proposed by the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management were adopted with approval rates of well over 80%. More than 39 million shares (or around 80%) of Ströer Media SE’s capital stock were represented at the General Meeting.

An increase in the dividend to EUR 0.40 per dividend-bearing share was resolved at today’s General Meeting, following on from the first ever dividend distribution in the history of the company in the prior year. The actions of the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board were approved for fiscal year 2014. In accordance with the recommendation by the Supervisory Board, the General Meeting appointed Ernst & Young GmbH, Cologne, as the auditor of the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for 2015. The applications for the waiver of the separate disclosure of Management Board remuneration in the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements and for the creation of a new authorization for the issuance of convertible bonds and/or warrant bonds, including the creation of new contingent capital, were not passed due to the lack of a 75% majority.

Ströer continued to pursue its profitable growth strategy and, in the figures for fiscal year 2014, presented the best result in its history. The strategic realignment of the company as an integrated and increasingly digital media company has successfully established Ströer’s position on the market and the company is now among Germany’s leading media marketers. The expansion of business activities with the addition of the Digital segment was a major factor in this development. Thanks to its broad portfolio, Ströer can offer its clients tailor-made communication solutions along the entire value chain. The significant rise in adjusted profit or loss by 55% to EUR 56.3m was a particularly pleasing development. This result underlines the profitable growth trajectory that the company embarked upon two years ago.

The positive development in operating business has also had a positive impact on the financial situation. Ströer reduced its leverage ratio (net debt to operational EBITDA) considerably over the course of the year from 2.8x to 1.9x as of the end of fiscal year 2014. This is the lowest the leverage ratio has been since the company’s IPO.

“2014 was an extremely successful year for Ströer against the backdrop of digitalization,” explained Udo Müller, CEO of Ströer. “All financial ratios experienced significant positive development, while the share price also rose by a considerable margin. We have succeeded in carrying this positive momentum from 2014 into the current fiscal year, meaning that 2015 is looking likely to be a resounding success for Ströer, too.”