Richemont shareholders approve

Johannesburg - At the Annual General Meeting of Swiss based luxury goods group Richemont on Wednesday, shareholders approved the results for the year, including the proposals of the board of directors for the appropriation of retained earnings.

A dividend of CHF 0.30 per Richemont share will be paid on the 'A' bearer shares on September 14.

The remaining available retained earnings of the company at end March 2009 of CHF 1.670 billion, after payment of the dividend, will be carried forward to the next business year, the company said.

All other matters on the agenda were approved by the shareholders and all the serving members of the board of directors were re-elected.

At the meeting, the chairperson indicated that Josua Malherbe, former deputy chair of VenFin and Dr Frederick Mostert, Richemont's Lead Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel would be proposed for election to the Board at the 2010 meeting.

Executive chair Johann Rupert told the AGM that for first five months of this year through to end August Richemont saw overall sales at a level 16% below the comparable period last year, at actual exchange rates.

Rupert said the Americas region was the worst performer, as expected in the circumstances, with a decline of 36%. Sales in the Asia- Pacific region, including China, grew by 5% although sales in Japan were down 7%. European sales were 22% lower, including the Middle East, which is still growing.

The strengthening of the Yen and the dollar has cushioned the decline in underlying sales by around 5%. Underlying sales in constant currencies were down by 21% overall.

- I-Net Bridge