Universal Registration Document 2021

14.3 Dividends

At the General Shareholders’ Meeting of 6 May 2021 it was decided to distribute an ordinary dividend of €0.21 per share in respect of 2020, offering shareholders the choice of payment in cash or shares (scrip option).

In application of Article 24 of the Company’s articles of association, shareholders who have held their shares continuously for at least 2 years at the year-end and still hold them at the dividend distribution date benefit from a 10% bonus on their dividends. The number of shares carrying an entitlement to the bonus dividend cannot exceed 0.5% of the Company’s capital per shareholder. The bonus dividend amounts to €0.231 per share.

The French government opted for the scrip dividend for 2020. The amount of the cash dividend paid to shareholders who did not opt for the scrip dividend for 2020 amounts to €36 million.

On 4 November 2021, EDF’s Board of Directors decided to distribute an interim dividend of €0.30 per share in respect of 2021, payable in new shares (scrip option) or cash on 2 December 2021. The total amount of the interim dividend was €947 million.

The French government opted for the scrip dividend for this 2021 interim dividend.

The amount of the cash dividend paid to shareholders who did not take the scrip option for this 2021 interim dividend amounts to €48 million.

14.4 Perpetual subordinated bonds

Accounting principles and methods

Perpetual subordinated bonds (“hybrid” bond issue)

The perpetual subordinated bonds issued by the Group incorporate options for redemption at the initiative of EDF. These options may be exercised after a minimum period that depends on the specific terms of each issue, and subsequently at each coupon date or in the event of highly specific circumstances. The annual yield is fixed and reviewable based on contractual clauses that vary according to the specific terms of the issuance. 

There is no obligation for EDF to make any payment, due to the existence of contractual clauses entitling it to defer payment indefinitely.

However, those clauses stipulate that any deferred payments must be made in the event of a dividend distribution. All these features give EDF an unconditional right to avoid paying out cash or another financial asset for the principal or interest. Consequently, in compliance with IAS 32, these bonds are recorded as equity instruments and any payment made is treated in the same way as dividends.

14.4.1 Outstanding perpetual subordinated bonds at 31 December 2021

At 31 December 2021, perpetual subordinated bonds carried in equity amounted to €12,264 million (less net-of-tax transaction costs) (€11,290 million at 31 December 2020).

Issues and redemptions of perpetual subordinated bonds were recorded in equity at 31 December 2021 at the total net value of €972 million (see note 14.4.2).

On 22 January 2022 EDF exercised its option to redeem all the perpetual subordinated bonds issued in January 2014, totalling €267 million. Consequently EDF reclassified these equity instruments as financial liabilities at 31 December 2021 at the amount of €267 million, considering the redemption as certain (see note 18.3.2.1).

Interest paid by EDF to the bearers of perpetual subordinated bonds issued totalled €547 million in 2021 and €501 million in 2020. The resulting cash payout is reflected in a corresponding reduction in Group equity.

In January 2022, EDF paid interest of around €275 million to the bearers of perpetual subordinated bonds.

Perpetual subordinated bonds in the accounts of EDF