Since October 6, 2005, the Hemtex share has been listed on the Mid Cap list of the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm exchange.
The share is traded under the symbol HEMX and included in the SX25 index for Consumer Discretionary items.
On April 30, 2009, the share capital in Hemtex AB amounted to SEK 73.3 M distributed among 29,337,400 shares, each with a par value of SEK 2.50. Each share entitles the holder to one vote at the Annual General Meeting, and all shares have equal rights to the company’s assets and profits.
Share trend 2008/2009
During Hemtex’s 2008/2009 fiscal year, the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm exchange showed a very weak trend, particularly during the autumn of 2008 in conjunction with the financial crisis and weakening of the global economy. The OMXS index, which reflects the development of the exchange as a whole, declined by 35.8% from May 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. The Hemtex share price declined by 77.5% during the same period from SEK 55.67 to SEK 12.51.
Following a continued weak trend at the beginning of 2009, a strong recovery occurred on the world’s stock markets during March and April. The Hemtex share noted its lowest buy price of SEK 12,04 on March 9, 2009. Thereafter, the share price rose and was at SEK 26.40 at the end of the fiscal year. For the period from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009, the Hemtex share price declined by 59.2%, compared with a decline of 25.3% for the OMXS index. At the end of the fiscal year, Hemtex’s market capitalization was SEK 775 M (1,900).
Hemtex share turnover
During the period, a total of 12.1 million (43.1) Hemtex shares were traded with a value of SEK 346 M (3,250). This corresponded to a turnover of 41% (126) of the number of Hemtex shares. The turnover rate for the Stockholm exchange as a whole during the same period was 128% (142).
Ownership structure
Hemtex had 5,119 (5,197) shareholders on April 30, 2009. Most of the shareholders, 4,527, owned 1,000 or fewer shares. The proportion of institutional ownership amounted to 86% (84), while foreign ownership amounted to 17% (28).
Members of Hemtex’s Group management owned a total of 352,150 shares on April 30, 2009, corresponding to 1.2% of the capital and voting rights. Hemtex Board members owned 39,700 shares, corresponding to 0.1% of the capital and voting rights.
New issue
At an Extraordinary General Meeting on April 21, 2009, the Board of Directors’ earlier decision regarding a new share issue in Hemtex AB was approved. On the record date of April 24, shareholders in Hemtex were entitled to a subscription right for each share held, and five subscription rights entitled the holder to subscribe for two new shares at a price of SEK 14 per share. The subscription period for the new issue was April 29 to May 13, 2009 and was fully covered by subscription pledges and guarantees from Hemtex’s largest shareholders. On May 19, 2009, notification was provided of the outcome, which showed that the new issue was oversubscribed and that the guarantee pledges that had been entered did not need to be used. The new issue provided Hemtex with about
SEK 164 M before issue costs. The new share issue was fully registered with the Swedish Companies Office on June 2, 2009, whereby the total number of shares in the company amounted to 41,072,360.
Mandatory takeover offer from Hakon Invest AB
On April 28, 2009, Hakon Invest AB submitted a cash tender offer to the shareholders of Hemtex AB in compliance with the Swedish rules for mandatory takeover offers. Hakon Invest offered SEK 23 in cash per share together with an add-on premium of SEK 4 per share, which would be payable if Hakon Invest reached a shareholding exceeding 50% of the shares and votes in Hemtex AB. In a statement issued on June 11, 2009, the Board of Directors of Hemtex deemed Hakon Invest’s offer of SEK 23 per share to be inadequate since the offer did not reflect the Board’s perception of the company’s long-term potential. On June 18, 2009, Hakon Invest raised the consideration of the offer to SEK 27 in cash per share, with no possibility to receive any additional premium, and extended the acceptance period from June 22 to July 6. On June 23, 2009, Hakon Invest announced that the company, following a preliminary acceptance count, held 55.8% of the shares in Hemtex.
Incentives program 2007–2010
Within the Group, there is an incentives program for senior managers in the form of subscription warrants and employee options. For further information about this program, see Note 4.
Dividend policy
The Board of Directors’ goal is to propose dividends that over time correspond to approximately 30 to 50% of the Group’s profit for the year after tax. The timing, as well as the magnitude of any future dividends, will depend in part on the company’s profits, expansion and acquisition opportunities and its financial position in other respects.
For the 2008/2009 fiscal year, the Board of Directors of Hemtex AB proposes that no dividend be paid.
Persons with insider status
Trading in shares in a company in which a person has insider status is called insider trading. Such trading must be registered according to law and reported to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Hemtex is obligated to report to the Financial Supervisory Authority which persons are insiders in Hemtex. These persons must register their shareholdings and all changes in their holdings. Certain closely related individuals and legal entities may also be subject to the reporting obligation. Hemtex’s management, Board of Directors, auditors and certain other executives are considered to have insider status in Hemtex. A link to a complete list of the persons with insider status is available here.
Stock market information
Hemtex’s information to the stock market must be characterized by openness, accuracy, relevance and speed. Once again this year, Hemtex has prepared a fully web-based annual report and thereby selected a distribution channel that is directly accessible to all. As a result, the format of the printed annual report has been simplified and its contents limited to the formal components. Hemtex has elected to prioritize the company’s share-related information via the web and its quarterly reports instead of producing an extensive annual report.
For the second year in a row, Hemtex’s interim report was recognized as a winner among Mid Cap companies listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm exchange in a competition arranged by the Swedish Shareholders’ Association and Kanton for the Year’s Exchange-listed Company.
Hemtex’ press releases, interim reports and annual reports are available under Investor Relations. The website also contains additional information about the company, financial trends and the share. In addition, it is possible to subscribe on the website for press releases, interim reports, annual reports and the share’s closing price.
