Hammerson PLC Dividend Declaration (6721Y)

TIDMHMSO

RNS Number : 6721Y

Hammerson PLC

07 March 2017

Hammerson plc ("Hammerson" or "the Company")

7 March 2017

Dividend Currency Conversion Announcement

Dividend No. 132

On 20 February 2017, the board of directors of Hammerson proposed a final dividend of GBP 13.90 pence per share ("the Dividend"). The Dividend will be subject to a 20% UK withholding tax unless exemptions apply. GBP 4.90 pence will be paid as a Property Income Distribution ("PID"), net of withholding tax where appropriate, with the balance of GBP 9.00 pence paid as a normal dividend ("Non-PID").

The Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") will be available for those shareholders who wish to receive the Dividend in the form of shares. The Dividend is payable on Thursday, 27 April 2017 to those shareholders registered on the UK principal register ("UK Shareholders"), and Friday, 28 April 2017 to those shareholders registered on the South African branch register ("SA Shareholders"). The Record Date for both UK Shareholders and SA Shareholders is at the close of business on Friday, 17 March 2017.

The Dividend should be regarded as a "foreign dividend" for SA income and SA dividend tax purposes.

Shareholders receiving the Dividend in cash

The Company confirms that the South African Rand exchange rate for the Dividend will be ZAR 15.9120 to GBP 1. The Dividend is payable in South African Rand to SA Shareholders. Accordingly, shareholders who do not elect the DRIP will be paid as follows:

 
 PID                          UK Shareholders    SA Shareholders 
                                  (GBP pence)        (ZAR cents) 
---------------------------  ----------------  ----------------- 
 Gross amount of PID                    4.90p   7,796.8800 cents 
---------------------------  ----------------  ----------------- 
 Less 20% UK withholding                0.98p   1,559.3760 cents 
  tax/20% SA dividends tax* 
---------------------------  ----------------  ----------------- 
 Net PID dividend payable               3.92p   6,237.5040 cents 
---------------------------  ----------------  ----------------- 
 

*Please note that this is the net position after SA Shareholders have claimed back 5% from HMRC under the double tax agreement between the United Kingdom and South Africa.

 
 
 Non-PID*                       UK Shareholders     SA Shareholders 
                                    (GBP pence)         (ZAR cents) 
-----------------------------  ----------------  ------------------ 
 Gross amount of Non-PID                  9.00p   14,320.8000 cents 
-----------------------------  ----------------  ------------------ 
 Less 20% SA dividends tax                    -    2,864.1600 cents 
-----------------------------  ----------------  ------------------ 
 Net Non-PID dividend payable             9.00p   11,456.6400 cents 
-----------------------------  ----------------  ------------------ 
 

*Non-PID - taxed as a normal dividend

Cash PIDs

A 20% UK withholding tax will be deducted from cash PIDs. The Company will account to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs ("HMRC") in sterling for the total UK withholding tax deducted.

SA dividends tax, at the rate of 20% (previously announced as 15%, however the rate has subsequently been increased from 15% to 20% following an announcement by the South African Minister of Finance on 22 February 2017), will apply to cash PIDs payable by the Company unless the beneficial owner of the Dividend is exempt from SA dividends tax (e.g. if it is a South African resident company). Under the double tax agreement between the UK and South Africa ("the DTA"), the maximum tax payable in the UK is 15%. South African resident shareholders are therefore entitled to claim the excess of 5% from HMRC. As SA Shareholders are entitled to reclaim this excess from HMRC, the maximum rebate allowable in respect of the UK withholding tax against the SA dividends tax is 15%, which means that the Company will have to withhold a further 5% from the Dividend in South Africa to bring the total dividends tax to 20%. In summary, therefore, 20% will be withheld in the UK, a further 5% will be withheld in South Africa (where appropriate), but South African resident shareholders will be entitled to claim back 5% from HMRC, which will bring the overall total to 20%.

Cash Non-PIDs

SA dividends tax at the rate of 20% will apply to cash Non-PIDs paid by the Company, unless the beneficial owner of the Dividend is exempt from SA dividends tax (e.g. if the beneficial owner is a South African company or a non-South African resident). Since no withholding tax is suffered in the UK on cash Non-PIDs, no rebate can be claimed. The relevant regulated intermediary (being the SA transfer secretaries or other CSDP, broker or institution, as applicable) will therefore be required to deduct 20% tax on all cash Non-PID's paid to persons who are not exempt from SA dividends tax, and pay this to the South African Revenue Service.

Shareholders electing the DRIP

SA Shareholders electing the DRIP should note that, in respect of fractional entitlements that may arise, all allocations of shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole number, and any residual amounts that are not used to reinvest in shares (as a result of rounding down) will be paid out to these SA Shareholders in cash.

It is the Company's understanding that the residual cash paid to SA Shareholders who have made DRIP elections would already have been taxed prior to the calculation of the number of shares and any residual cash owing to such SA Shareholders. Accordingly, no further tax should be payable on the cash paid to SA Shareholders as a result of any fractional entitlements.

The above information and the guidelines on the taxation of dividends are provided as a general guide based on the Company's understanding of the law and practice currently in place. Any shareholder who is in any doubt as to their tax position should seek independent professional advice.

 
 Registered Office   UK Registrars           SA Transfer Secretaries 
 Kings Place         Capita Asset Services   Computershare Investor 
  90 York Way         The Registry            Services Proprietary 
  London              34 Beckenham Road       Limited 
  N1 9GE              Beckenham               (Registration number 
  United Kingdom      Kent                    2004/003647/07) 
                      BR3 4TU                 1st Floor, Rosebank 
                      United Kingdom          Towers, 
                                              15 Biermann Avenue, 
                                              Rosebank, 2196 
                                              South Africa 
                                              (PO Box 61051, Marshalltown, 
                                              2107, South Africa) 
 

Sarah Booth

General Counsel and Company Secretary

The announcement above has been released on the SENS system of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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March 07, 2017 04:00 ET (09:00 GMT)