Continental AG Proposes Record Dividend Payment

Continental AG’s executive board has announced that it will propose a payment of 0.80 euros per share to the Annual Shareholders meeting. The record dividend represents an increase of 53.8 per cent over the previous year’s payment of 0.52 euros per share. According to Continental, “a considerable improvement in cash flow and a marked reduction in corporate debt allow for the proposed dividend.” At the end of the 2004 the company’s net debt dropped to under 700 million euros, including debt assumed from the company’s acquisition of Phoenix.

“Investors are to share in Continental AG’s business success not only in the form of a much higher stock market value for their company but also in the form of a more than 50 per cent increase in the per-share dividend, raising it to the highest level in the history of the company,” said executive board chairman Manfred Wennemer.