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Group financial review (continued)
Earnings and dividend per share
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Ahold at a glance
Business review
Governance
Basic income from continuing operations per
common share was €1.04, an increase of €0.14
or 15.6% compared to 2014. This increase was
driven by higher income from continuing operations,
which rose by 73%, and a decrease in weighted
average number of common shares (from 879 million
in 2014 to 820 million in 2015) as a result of:
(i) the shares repurchased in 2015 under the
€500 million share buyback program. The total
number of shares repurchased during the year
was 8,795,407 for a total consideration of
€161 million. The program was suspended at
the end of June 2015 in connection with the
intended merger of Ahold and Delhaize.
(ii) the shares repurchased under the €2 billion
share buyback program that was completed
during 2014.
(iii) t he €1 billion capital repayment and reverse
stock split transaction in 2014.
The decrease in the weighted average number
of common shares was marginally offset by shares
that were issued under employee share-based
compensation programs.
Our dividend policy is to target a payout ratio in
the range of 40-50% of adjusted income from
continuing operations. As part of our dividend policy
we adjust income from continuing operations for
significant non-recurring items. Adjusted income from
continuing operations amounted to €880 million
and €777 million in 2015 and 2014, respectively,
and was determined as follows:
bol.com
Ahold
Annual Report 2015
million
2015
(53 weeks)
2014
(52 weeks)
Income from continuing operations
849
791
Income from continuing operations per share attributable
to common shareholders
1.04
0.90
Add-back (after-tax):
Merger related expenses
31
European reorganization
30
Dutch pension plan amendments
(44)
Adjusted income from continuing operations
880
777
Adjusted income from continuing operations per share attributable
to common shareholders
1.07
0.88
Reflecting the confidence we have in our strategy and our ability to generate cash, we propose a common
stock dividend of €0.52 for the financial year 2015, up 8.3% from last year. It represents a payout ratio
of 49%, based on the expected dividend payment on adjusted income from continuing operations, which
is in line with our dividend policy.
Income from continuing operations
per common share (basic)
1.04
1 0.90
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Dividend per common share
(2015 includes proposed dividend)
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
