Share information

Return on investment

In 2011 the Orkla share gave shareholders a return of -8.0%, including dividend, on their investment. By comparison, the return on the Oslo Stock Exchange Benchmark Index in the same period was -12.5%. Even despite a significant decline in the value of REC (of which Orkla owns 39.7%), the Orkla share has generated the same return (-3%) as the Oslo Stock Exchange in the past five years. Over time, Orkla shareholders have seen a good return on their investment. In the past 15 years, the annual return has averaged 10.1%, while the average return on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSEBX) was 7.4%.

Market capitalisation and turnover

The Orkla share is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker code ORK. All shares have equal rights and are freely transferable. Orkla is one of the largest companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, and accounted for approximately 5.2% of the Oslo Stock Exchange Benchmark Index (OSEBX) at the end of 2011. The Oslo Stock Exchange’s OBX list comprises the 25 most liquid companies on the Oslo Stock Exchange. As of 31 December 2011, Orkla accounted for 5.8% of the OBX list. 

At the end of 2011, the Orkla share was listed at NOK 44.65. Orkla’s market capitalisation was therefore NOK 45.5 billion¹, down NOK 12.4 billion from 31 December 2010. The value of Orkla shares traded at the Oslo Stock Exchange i 2011 amounted to NOK 40 billion. This is equivalent to 2.6% of the Oslo Stock Exchange’s total trading volume. The average daily volume of trades on the Oslo Stock Exchange was 3.2 million shares.

The Orkla share may also be traded through Orkla’s Level-1 ADR programme in the USA. More information on the ADR programme may be found here.

Dividend policy

Over time, Orkla's shareholders shall receive a competitive return on their investment through a combination of dividends and an increase in the share price. As long as Orkla's underlying performance is satisfactory, shareholders will experience a steady, stable increase in the dividend paid out. Throughout the financial crisis, dividends remained stable at NOK 2.25 per share, while the dividend for the 2010 accounting year was increased to NOK 2.50 per share. Extraordinary dividends will be considered in relation to the company’s long-term capital structure. At the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 3 November 2011, a resolution was adopted to pay out an extraordinary dividend of NOK 5.00 per share.

The Board of Directors proposes to pay a dividend of NOK 2.50 per share for the accounting year 2011. The dividend will be paid out on 3 May 2012 to shareholders of record on the date of the Annual General Meeting.

Treasury shares

Through the allocation of shareholder capital, Orkla will be able to undertake share buybacks, in addition to paying out a dividend. At the Annual General Meeting in 2011, the Board of Directors was granted authorisation to buy back up to 100,000,000 Orkla shares (or 10% of the share capital). The authorisation is limited to specific purposes and must be implemented within a limited period of time, at the latest by the Annual General Meeting in 2012. Shares acquired under this authorisation must be cancelled or used in connection with employee incentive programmes, including the Group’s employee share purchase programme. A total of 3,800,000 Orkla shares were bought back in 2011. On average, in the last five years, Orkla has bought back 0.4% of shares outstanding each year. At 31 December 2011, Orkla owned 8,920,791 treasury shares.

Shareholders

At 31 December 2011, Orkla had 46,200 shareholders, compared with 47,135 at 31 December 2010. At year-end, 41% of the shares were owned by foreign investors, compared with 39% at the start of the year. Read more about Orkla’s biggest shareholders here.

Voting rights

Orkla has one class of share, and eachshare carries one vote and has a par value of NOK 1.25. Under Norwegian law, only shares that are registered in the name of the shareholder may be voted. Shares that are registered in a nominee account must be re-registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) within the time limit for giving notice of attendance at the general meeting in order for the shareholder to be able to exercise voting rights. Voting rights for transferred shares may be exercised when the transfer has been recorded by the VPS within the time limit for giving notice of attendance at the general meeting, or if the acquisition has been reported to the VPS and proof of the acquisition is presented at the general meeting. If the shareholder is unable to attend the general meeting and vote in person, he or she may vote by proxy. Further information on the use of proxies at general meetings may be found here.

The next Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 19 April 2012 at 3 p.m. in Oslo Opera House in Oslo. Notice of attendance may be given electronically here, or by completing and sending the attendance form to Orkla’s account manager, DNB ASA. The time limit for notice of attendance is 3 p.m. on Monday, 16 April 2012.

Notice of Orkla’s Annual General Meeting is sent to all shareholders by post to the address on record at the VPS. Documents concerning items of business to be considered at the general meeting, attachments to the notice of the general meeting and the annual report are made available on Orkla’s website. Individual shareholders may request that documents relating to the general meeting be sent to him or her free of charge by post. The aforementioned documents may be ordered here or by sending a letter to Orkla’s Investor Relations Department. Further information regarding procedures in connection with the general meeting may be found here.

Shareholders who wish to have information concerning their own holding of Orkla shares or to give notice of a change of address must contact their own account manager. If you are in doubt as to who your account manager is, please contact Orkla’s account manager.

DNB ASA
Registrar’s Department
NO-0021 Oslo
Tel.: +47 22 48 35 90

Fax.: +47 22 48 11 71
E-mail: vps.kontoforer@dnb.no  

Investor relations

Communication with shareholders, potential investors, analysts and other financial market players is an important, priority task for Orkla. The Investor Relations Department is responsible for coordinating the Group’s communication with the capital market. The objective is to make certain that the capital market has sufficient information about the company to ensure that the share price reflects the company’s underlying values. A general goal of Orkla’s investor relations activities is to create confidence by ensuring that all players have equal access to financial information.

www.orkla.com/investor relations

Orkla’s website is an important channel for information to the capital market. Presentations, quarterly reports, annual reports, stock exchange notifications and press releases are posted on Orkla’s website as and when they are made public. The website also contains information
on Orkla’s strategic direction, the Orkla share price performance, dividends and general meetings, as well as updated lists of shareholders and analysts. The Orkla website is compliant with the Oslo Stock Exchange’s recommendations regarding reporting of IR information.

Contacts

For more information on investing in Orkla, please consult the contact information below: 

Rune Helland
SVP Investor Relations
Tel: +47 22 54 44 11
rune.helland@orkla.no 

Siv Merethe Skorpen Brekke
VP Investor Relations
Tel: +47 22 54 44 55
siv.merethe.brekke@orkla.no

Postal address: P.O. Box 423, Skøyen, NO-0213 Oslo

Visiting address: Karenslyst allé 6, Skøyen, Oslo