Inditex’s Amancio Ortega to receive 813 million euros in dividends

Inditex’s founder and owner Amancio Ortega will receive this Thursday 813.1 million euros in dividends in what will be the first of two payments allocated to shareholders this year. The payout is just half of what he will get in dividends from the Spanish company by the end of the year.

In total, the businessman will pay himself 1.626 million euros in dividends from his ownership stake this year, compared with a payout of 1.386 million in 2018.

The 1.626 million euro sum that Ortega will award himself this year include, in addition to an ordinary dividend, extraordinary dividends of one euro per share to be paid out over three years  that the clothing firm will propose at the annual shareholders meeting.

Taking place in July, the AGM will see shareholders vote on a new dividend policy proposed by the board of directors. This involves increasing the ordinary dividend payout to 60% of earnings from 50%, and a further bonus dividend of 1 euro per share to be paid in relation to  FY2018, FY2019 and FY2020.

The new policy represents a 17% increase in dividends on the current year, with dividends of 0.88 euros per share including 0.66 euros per share in ordinary dividends and 0.22 euros per share in extraordinary dividends. The first dividend payment of 0.44 euros will be made on 2 May and a second payment of the same amount will take place on 4 November.

With a 59.29% stake in the fashion giant,  Amancio Ortega is its majority owner. His share is equivalent to 1.84 million shares.
Meanwhile, his daughter Sandra Ortega, who owns 5.05% of the Spanish business, will receive more than 138 million euros in dividends this year, compared with 118.1 million last year.

In total, the company will pay out more than 2.742 million euros to shareholders this year, compared with dividends of 2.33 million euros in 2018.