Amsterdam, 02 November 2004
The EADS Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) 2004 has been a major success for the company. The subscription rate was 104% for the two million employee shares offered. Nearly 11,000 EADS employees participated in ESOP 2004 worldwide during the last two weeks.
Jussi Itavuori, Head of the EADS Human Resources, commented: “I’m very satisfied with the results of ESOP 2004. We want our employees to participate in the success story of EADS. The clear over-subscription shows the enormous trust the employees place in the future of our business. EADS employees have shown great confidence in our company's financial strength, prudent management and long-term shareholder creation. The employees know first-hand how far we have come in integration and building our company. The strong demand for the shares proves that the members of EADS identify themselves with our company. ”
The success of ESOP 2004 also shows the level of internationalisation inside EADS. For the first time more than 115,000 employees in 13 EADS countries were entitled to participate in the programme. The employees were able to order via call centre, Intranet or Internet, the on-line methods being preferred for nearly 80 percent of the orders.
The ESOP 2004 offer consisted of a total of 2,018,00 newly issued shares corresponding to some 0.25 percent of the total issued share capital of EADS. EADS employees were able to purchase shares from 11th to 22th October at a discounted price calculated on the last trading day preceding the offer. The maximum individual subscription was 500 shares. After completion of the capital increase, about 3.5 percent of EADS shares are in the hands of the EADS employees. ESOP 2004 was authorized by the EADS Board of Directors and the Annual General Meeting.
For further details, including the different operating procedures duly validated by the relevant capital markets, see www.eads.net.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of € 30.1 billion and employed a workforce of about 109,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the second largest missile producer in the global market. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
Contacts:
| Eduardo Galicia |
Tel.: +34 91 585 71 14 |
| Gaelle Pellerin |
Tel.: +33 1 4224 22 54 |
| Wolfgang Reinert |
Tel.: +49 89 607 27905 |
