The share capital stood at € 396,058,633.50 at December 31 2010, unchanged from December 31 2009 and consisted of 792,117,267 shares each with a nominal value of € 0.50.
At December 31 2010 the Company owned 43,074,000 of its own shares (5.44% of capital) for a total value of € 98,657 thousand, unchanged from December 31 2009.
In application of IAS 32, as from January 1 2005 the treasury stock held by the Parent Company is being deducted from shareholders’ equity.
The share capital is fully subscribed and paid up. No shares carry any rights, privileges or restrictions on the distribution of dividends, except for the own shares held a treasury stock.
It should be noted that Board of Directors was given the power for a period of five years starting from April 30 2009 to increase the share capital either in one or several tranches up to a maximum of € 500 million (nominal value) and for a further maximum of € 20 million (nominal value) in favour of employees of the Company and its subsidiaries and parent companies.
Regarding stock option plans, at December 31 2010 there were 43,660,300 options in circulation, corresponding to the same number of shares.
The total notional cost of the stock options assigned to employees, which was posted to a special equity reserve, totalled € 4,336 thousand at December 31 2010.