E-Malt.com News article: 4402

Mexico: Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A. de C.V. (FEMSA), the leader in Latin Beverages, announced on March 10 that its stockholders approved the payment of a dividend in the amount of 660 million pesos. FEMSA held its Annual General Ordinary Stockholders Meeting on March 10, at which shareholders approved the annual report for 2004 presented by the Board of Directors, the consolidated financial statements for 2004, the declaration of the dividend corresponding to fiscal year 2004, and the composition of the Board of Directors for 2005.

The dividend will be paid on May 10, 2005, upon submittal of Coupon Number 3, as follows: 0.111163 pesos for each Series B share and 0.138954 pesos for each Series D share. This corresponds to actual dividend payments of 0.666981 pesos for each BD Unit and 0.555817 pesos for each B Unit. Therefore, each ADR will receive a dividend payment of 6.67 pesos. In addition, stockholders approved 3,000 million pesos as the maximum amount that could potentially be used in stock repurchases, as per Mexican legislation.

José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, Chairman and CEO of FEMSA, commented, “Through constant focus and discipline in all of our operations, we have delivered 10 years of consistent profitable growth. Over this period of time, our total revenues and income from operations have grown in dollar terms at a compounded annual growth rate of 16.3% and 19.5%, respectively. These results underscore our ability to grow successfully in complex market environments.”

Mr. Fernández added, “In 2004, our team successfully surpassed the goals we set. At Coca-Cola FEMSA, we improved the level of profitability in Venezuela and Brazil, achieved record levels of profitability in Argentina, increased consumption per capita in Central America, and sequentially improved growth in income from operations in Colombia and Mexico. At FEMSA Cerveza, we profitably increased our domestic market share and achieved solid results in exports to the US. The repurchase of 30% of FEMSA Cerveza´s capital and the commercial alliance with Heineken USA and Coors Brewing Co. brings us the needed flexibility to continue growing our volumes profitably and further advance our revenue management strategies and the development of our portfolio of brands. Finally at FEMSA Comercio, Oxxo continues to be the fastest growing and largest convenience store chain in Latin America, achieving total revenue growth of over 24% during the year. All of these achievements were possible thanks to the talent, creativity, discipline, and commitment of the more than 88 thousand employees across FEMSA.”

FEMSA is the leading beverage company in Latin America. It controls an integrated beverage platform that comprises the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the region, Coca-Cola FEMSA; the second largest brewer in Mexico and important beer exporter to the United States, FEMSA Cerveza; and Oxxo, the largest and fastest growing convenience store chain in Mexico with over 3,460 stores.


12 March, 2005