Volkswagen shareholders to vote on special dividend from Porsche listing By Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen (ETR:) shareholders gathered in Berlin on Friday to vote at an extraordinary general meeting on the payout of a special dividend of 19.06 euros ($20.28) per share from the proceeds of the listing of Porsche AG.

A total of 9.6 billion euros, or 49% of the total proceeds of the listing, will be paid out in early 2023.

Shareholders were widely expected to vote in favour of the measure, with the payout scheduled for early January.

In a speech published ahead of the meeting, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said the rise in the valuation of Porsche AG on the stock market since the listing proved the luxury carmaker’s worth but that Volkswagen’s potential must also now be proven to markets.

“Making the real value of Porsche visible was important. But through this it has also become clear that the current valuation of Volkswagen is imbalanced. We want to change that and are working consequently to make the valuation of the whole Volkswagen Group more visible.”

Volkswagen shareholder DWS, which holds around 2% of the carmaker’s stock, according to Eikon data, pointed to the governance issues they and other investors highlighted ahead of the listing, including Oliver Blume’s dual role as chief executive of Porsche AG and Volkswagen, as factors dragging down the carmaker’s valuation.

Porsche shares have risen 18.5% to 97.74 euros per share since opening at 82.50 on September 29, while Volkswagen shares have risen 3.9% to 133.56 euros in the same period.

($1 = 0.9398 euros)