’s-Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands), 24 March 2020 – Business & Cloud Integrator Ctac N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: CTAC) announces in response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak that its services to clients are running relatively well and that it has taken measures to safeguard business continuity.
Immediately after it became clear that the virus would also have an impact in the Benelux region, Ctac put together a Business Continuity Team led by CFO Pieter-Paul Saasen. The safety of our employees and our clients is our main concern, and to minimise the risk of infection almost all our employees are currently working from home. Absenteeism due to illness is currently low. Our own IT infrastructure is fully geared to this way of working. To enable us to also safeguard services to our clients in these extreme circumstances, the measures we have taken include setting up a redundant communications structure as a back–up for our IT services and for our clients. We are communicating with employees and clients on a regular basis regarding the current status, specific details and updates on the package of measures and the solutions we can offer our clients.
Postponement of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM)
In response to the additional measures aimed at combatting the COVID-19 virus that the Dutch government announced yesterday, Ctac has decided to postpone the AGM planned for 13 May of this year until a new date in June. Ctac will inform shareholders of the new date this coming Friday.
Adjusted dividend proposal
Ctac’s financial position is solid and the company had a solvency rate of 42.9% at year-end 2019. To bolster our financial leeway even further, Ctac has decided to adjust its previously announced dividend proposal for the 2019 financial year. Rather than paying out a cash dividend of EUR 0.08 per share, Ctac now proposes to pay out a stock dividend of EUR 0.08 per share to its shareholders. This means the pay-out ratio remains 33% of the normalised net profit (2018: EUR 0.08 optional dividend per share).
Temporary suspension of due diligence process Oliver IT
Ctac’s top priority for the short term is the management of its cash flows and working capital. For this reason, we have decided to temporarily suspend the due diligence process for the planned acquisition of Oliver IT. In addition to this, we have identified cost-saving measures we can already take or will be able to take, depending on the duration of the current situation. In that context, Ctac is also exploring the possibility of making use of the support measures announced by the government.
