Philosophy and Policies

Finances

Aim:
To strive for cash flow which allows for

- reasonable depreciation
- an above-average return on capital
- an attractive dividend

a) The Group:

• finances its fixed assets by long term dept and/or equity;
• secures the possibility of additional funding of short and medium-term debt capital on every operational level;
• has an organisational structure which allows Sika AG to own Subsidiary Companies directly and entirely.

b) Sika AG:

• provides its Subsidiary Companies in due time with the funds necessary to finance the investments in accordance with strategic goals;
• enables its Subsidiary Companies to finance their fixed assets up to 100 % through equity and offers interest-bearing corporate loans in Swiss Francs if required;
• adjusts its share capital according to the needs of the Group, while generally avoiding any dilution on earnings per share;
• sources debt financing primarily on the capital market as required by operational needs;
• manages the liquid means of the Group (normally 7.5 %, but not less than 5 % of the Group's turnover planned for the following year);
• distributes a dividend of not less than one third of the Group's net profit.

c) The Subsidiary Companies:

• finance their fixed assets up to 100 % by way of equity and their current assets by way of local bank loans, supplemented by interest-bearing Group loans;
• transfer dividends according to their equity to Sika AG, which finances the dividends to be distributed;
• pay license and management fees as well as interest to Sika AG according to their turnover to reimburse Sika AG for expenses associated with management, research and development.