LyondellBasell Announces Increase to Quarterly Dividend and Shareholder Approval of New Share Repurchase Program

News provided by

May 24, 2017, 06:45 ET

HOUSTON and LONDON, May 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) today announced that its Supervisory Board has authorized the company's Management Board to declare a dividend of $0.90 per share, representing a 5.9 percent increase over the company's first quarter 2017 dividend. The interim dividend will be paid June 12, 2017 to shareholders of record June 5, 2017, with an ex-dividend date of June 1, 2017.

"This dividend increase represents the eighth increase since we began paying dividends in 2011," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell CEO. "The increase announced today reflects our commitment to provide strong returns to our shareholders and the confidence we have in our ability to consistently generate strong cash flows through market cycles."

The company also announced that at its Annual General Meeting on May 24, 2017, shareholders approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to 10 percent of the company's shares over the next 18 months. The repurchases will be executed from time to time through open market or privately negotiated transactions.

The amount and timing of future share repurchases and dividends will depend on, and be subject to, market conditions, general economic conditions, applicable legal requirements and other corporate considerations. The share repurchase program and dividend policy may be suspended or discontinued at any time. This share repurchase program does not obligate LyondellBasell to acquire any particular amount of shares. LyondellBasell had approximately 401 million shares outstanding as of May 22, 2017.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, availability, cost and price volatility of raw materials and utilities; supply/demand balances; industry production capacities and operating rates; uncertainties associated with worldwide economies; legal, tax and environmental proceedings; cyclical nature of the chemical and refining industries; operating interruptions; current and potential governmental regulatory actions; terrorist acts; international political unrest; competitive products and pricing; technological developments; the ability to comply with the terms of our credit facilities and other financing arrangements; the ability to implement business strategies; and other factors affecting our business generally as set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which can be found at www.lyb.com on the Investor Relations page and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

About LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) is one of the world's largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500 Index. LyondellBasell (www.lyb.com) products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world, including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.

SOURCE LyondellBasell