HSBC 2008 Annual Report Download - page 451

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Interim dividends for 2009
The Board has adopted a policy of paying quarterly interim dividends on the ordinary shares. Under this policy it is
intended to have a pattern of three equal interim dividends with a variable fourth interim dividend. It is envisaged that
the first interim dividend in respect of 2009 will be US$0.08 per ordinary share. The proposed timetables for the
dividends in respect of 2009 are:
Interim dividends for 2009
First Second Third Fourth
Announcement .......................................................... 5 May 2009 3 August 2009 2 November 2009 1 March 2010
ADSs quoted ex-dividend in New York .................. 20 May 2009 19 August 2009 18 November 2009 17 March 2010
Shares quoted ex-dividend in London,
Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda .......................... 20 May 2009 19 August 2009 18 November 2009 17 March 2010
Record date in Hong Kong ....................................... 22 May 2009 21 August 2009 19 November 2009 18 March 2010
Record date in London, Paris and Bermuda ............. 22 May 2009 21 August 2009 20 November 20091 19 March 20101
Closure of the Overseas Branch Register of
shareholders in Hong Kong for one day .............. 22 May 2009 21 August 2009
Payment date ............................................................. 8 July 2009 7 October 2009 13 January 2010 5 May 2010
1 Removals to and from the Overseas Branch Register of shareholders in Hong Kong will not be permitted on these dates.
Dividends on the ordinary shares of HSBC Holdings
HSBC Holdings has paid dividends on its ordinary shares every year without interruption since it became the HSBC
Group holding company by a scheme of arrangement in 1991. The dividends declared, per ordinary share, for each of
the last five years were:
First
interim
Second
interim
Third
interim
Fourth
interim1 Total2
2008 US$ ....................................... 0.180 0.180 0.180 0.100 0.640
£ ............................................ 0.090 0.100 0.124 0.069 0.383
HK$ ...................................... 1.403 1.398 1.395 0.775 4.971
2007 US$ ....................................... 0.170 0.170 0.170 0.390 0.900
£ ............................................ 0.085 0.084 0.086 0.194 0.449
HK$ ....................................... 1.328 1.322 1.325 3.041 7.016
2006 US$ ....................................... 0.150 0.150 0.150 0.360 0.810
£ ............................................ 0.082 0.079 0.078 0.183 0.422
HK$ ....................................... 1.164 1.167 1.168 2.799 6.298
2005 US$ ....................................... 0.140 0.140 0.140 0.310 0.730
£ ............................................ 0.077 0.079 0.079 0.169 0.404
HK$ ....................................... 1.088 1.086 1.085 2.403 5.662
2004 US$ ....................................... 0.130 0.130 0.130 0.270 0.660
£ ............................................ 0.071 0.072 0.069 0.141 0.353
HK$ ....................................... 1.013 1.014 1.013 2.104 5.144
1 The fourth interim dividend for 2008 of US$0.10 per share has been translated into pounds sterling and Hong Kong dollars at the
closing rate on 31 December 2008. The dividend will be paid on 6 May 2009.
2 The above dividends declared are accounted for as disclosed in Note 12 on the Financial Statements.
Dividends are declared in US dollars and, at the election of the shareholder, paid in cash in one of, or in a
combination of, US dollars, sterling and Hong Kong dollars, or, subject to the Board’s determination that a scrip
dividend is to be offered in respect of that dividend, may be satisfied in whole or in part by the issue of new shares in
lieu of a cash dividend.
Nature of trading market
HSBC Holdings ordinary shares are listed or admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange (‘HKSE’), Euronext Paris, the New York Stock Exchange (‘NYSE’) and the Bermuda Stock
Exchange. HSBC Holdings maintains its principal share register in England and overseas branch share registers in
Hong Kong and Bermuda (collectively, the ‘share register’).
As at 31 December 2008, there were a total of 217,633 holders of record of HSBC Holdings ordinary shares.