17. D ividends
On May 24, 2012, the shareholders approved the payment of a gross dividend of €1.76 per share (€1.32 per share after
deduction of the 25% B elgian withholding tax) or a total gross dividend of €179 million (inc luding the dividend on treasury
shares On May 26, 2011 the shareholders approved the payment of a gross dividend of €1.72 per share (€1.29 per share after
deduction of the 25% B elgian withholding tax) or a total gross dividend of €175 million.
With respect to the financial year 2012, the Board of Directors proposes a gross dividend of €1.40 per share to be paid to owners
of ordinary shares against coupon no. 51 on May 31, 2013. This dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the Ordinary
General Meeting of May 23, 2013 and, therefore, has not been included as a liability in Delhaize Group's consolidated financial
statements prepared under IFRS. The financial year 2012 dividend, based on the number of shares issued at March 6, 2013, is
€143 million. The payment of this dividend wi ll not have income tax consequences for the G roup.
As a result of the potential exercise of warrants issued under the Delhaize Group 2002 and 2012 Sto ck Incentive Plans, the
Group may have to issue new ordinary shares, to which payment in 2013 of the 2012 dividend is entitled, between the date of
adoption of the annual accounts by the Board of Directors and the date of their approval by the Ordinary General Meeting of May
23, 2013. The B oard of Directors will communicate at this Ordinary General Meeting the aggregate number of shares entitled to
the 2012 dividend and will submit at this meeting the aggregate final amount of the dividend for approval. The annual statutory
accounts of Delhaize Group SA fo r 2012 will be modified accordingly. The maximum number of shares which could be issued
b e tw een March 6, 2013, and May 23, 2013, assuming that all vested warrants were to be exercised, is 2 786 792. This would
result in an increase in the total amount to be distributed as dividends to a total of €4 million. T otal outstanding non-vested
warrants at March 6, 2013 am ounted to 666 974, representing a maximum additional dividend to be distributed of €1 million.
116 DELHAIZE GROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS'12
