Share structure

At the end of the year, Betsson had 39 553 720 shares, distributed as 5,420,000 A shares and 34,133,720 B shares. Each A share is entitled to 10 votes per share, while each B share is entitled to one vote per share. All shares have equal entitlement to Betsson assets and earnings.

Repurchased shares

Company holdings of its own shares on closing day amounted to 310,000 B shares which had been acquired at an average share cost of SEK 58.27 during the course of 2007–2008. The number of shares outstanding, excluding repurchased shares, on closing day amounted to 39,243,720 shares of which 5,420,000 were A and 33,823,720 were B shares.

Redemption programme

The Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2009 took a share split 2:1 decision and an automatic redemption programme of the redeemable shares that had arisen from the share split. The redemption procedure caused SEK 200.1 (196.2) million, the equivalent of SEK 5.10 (5.00) per share, to be transferred out to the company shareholders on 15 June 2009.

Bonus issue etc.

In connection with this redemption procedure, a bonus issue was made to a total of SEK 39.6 million in order to restore the company’s share capital.

Incentive programme

At the extraordinary AGM that was held on November 21, 2008 it was decided to implement two incentive programmes – one aimed at employees in Sweden (subscription warrants) and one at employees abroad (stock options).

On the final date of the Swedish offer, which was 15 December 2008, 260 000 options had been subscribed at a market rate premium of SEK 5.94 per warrant, which has provided an additional SEK 1.5 million to equity. On the final date of the foreign offer which was 15 January 2009, 352 536 options had been subscribed.

Each option entitles the holder to subscribe to one new B share in Betsson AB in late 2010 at a price of SEK 75 per warrant or SEK 88.20 per employee stock option. These stock option programmes and their effects are described in Note 27.

Share price trends

 

Analysts who monitor Betsson

Dawid Myslinski
Redeye

Daniel Ek
HQ Bank

Johan Isaksson
Remium AB

Johan Grabe
Nordea

Martin Arnell
Carnegie Investment Bank

Henrik Fröjd
Swedbank

Stefan Nelson
SEB Enskilda

Anders Hillerborg
ABGSC

Karen Hooi
Goldman Sachs International

James Hollins
Daniel Stewart & Company

Bile Daar
Danske Bank

Mikael Holm
Penser

Rasmus Engberg
Handelsbanken

Ownership structure

As of 30 December 2009, there were 9,905 (5,790) shareholders in Betsson. The proportion of foreign shareholders amounted to 5 (5) per cent. Foreign share ownership amounted to 34 (43) percent of share capital and 30 (34) percent of the votes.

The proportion of individual people owning shares was 89 (90) per cent. The proportion of shares owned by individual people was 24 (25) per cent of share capital and 25 (25) per cent of the votes.

Share liquidity

Totally 49.5 (59.4) million shares changed hands during the year which is the equivalent of 126 (151) per cent of the average number of outstanding B shares. On average 197,000 (236,000) shares changed hands per trading day and the number of trades averaged 439 (266) per trading day.

Share price performance and turnover

Share price during the year increased by 60 (decreased by 18) per cent. The share price (last paid) on the closing day was SEK 109.75 (68.50), which generated a market value of SEK 4.3 (2.7) billion.

Highest price quotation was SEK 121.00 (83.75) on November 10 (2 January) and the lowest quotation was SEK 67.75 (54.25) on 5 January (27 October). The average share price during the year was SEK 95.09 (66.88).

Total turnover of shares during the year was SEK 4,709 (3,970) million, which is equal to an average of SEK 18.8 (15.8) million per trading day and approximately SEK 43,000 (59,000) per average deal.

Dividend policy and proposal

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting takes a decision to transfer SEK 9.00 (5.10) per share of which 5.75 (5.10) SEK concerns transfers for the 2009 financial year and SEK 3.25 (0.00) is extra transfer to the shareholders. This represents a transfer to shareholders amounting to SEK 353.2 (200.1) million.

The company’s dividend policy means that 75 per cent of earnings may be transferred to the shareholders, provided that a suitable capital structure can be maintained. In light of the company’s strong development, the Board proposes that an additional transfer be made.

The Board intends to propose to the AGM that the transfer to shareholders be achieved through a share redemption programme. The Board’s full proposals will be presented well in advance of the Annual General Meeting.