Anul trecut Apple a inceput sa ofere dividende actionarilor sai si sa rascumpere o parte dintre actiunile vandute pe bursa americana in ultimii ani. Dividendele oferite nu au fost la pretul actual al actiunilor, ci la unul modic, iar David Einhorn, managerul fondului de investitii Greenlight Capital, a actionat compania in judecata cerand oferirea unei sume mai mare drept dividende. Fondurile de investitii de acest gen achizitioneaza actiuni ale Apple in speranta ca valoarea lor va creste si prin revanzare vor obtine profit, sau ca dividendele vor aduce in timp venituri substantiale, insa Apple este o companie care nu a pus mare pret pe oferirea de dividende.
Einhorn, a well-known short seller, is long on Apple shares. In a television interview on Thursday, he said that while he admires the company, it has a “cash problem” that it needs to fix by giving away perpetual preferred stock with a 4 percent yield. “We understand that many of our fellow shareholders share our frustration with Apple’s capital allocation policies,” Greenlight said in an open letter to other investors. “Apple has $145 per share of cash on its balance sheet. As a shareholder, this is your money.”
Avand peste 130 de miliarde de dolari in banci, Apple este vulnerabila in fata unor atacuri de acest gen, insa este putin probabil ca o instanta de judecata sa o oblige sa ofere mai multi bani catre actionari daca ea poate dovedi ca acei bani sunt utilizati pentru investitii in companii sau tehnologii noi. Deocamdata procesul se anunta a fi unul important si desi acum o infrangere pare putin probabila, in instantele din SUA se poate intampla aproape orice.
UPDATE: Intr-un comunicat de presa publicat acum, compania Apple raspunde acuzatiilor celor de la Greenlight si isi reafirma pozitia stabilita la inceputul acestui program.
CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–By early last year, Apple’s cash balance had built to a point beyond what we needed to run our business and maintain flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities, so we announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years. As of next week we will have executed $10 billion of that plan.
We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.
Apple’s management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. As part of our review, we will thoroughly evaluate Greenlight Capital’s current proposal to issue some form of preferred stock. We welcome Greenlight’s views and the views of all of our shareholders.
As a part of our efforts to further enhance corporate governance and serve our shareholders’ best interests, Proposal #2 in our proxy includes some recommended changes to our articles of incorporation. These changes were recommended independently of Greenlight’s proposal and would not preclude Apple from adopting their concept. Contrary to Greenlight’s statements, adoption of Proposal #2 would not prevent the issuance of preferred stock. Currently, Apple’s articles of incorporation provide for the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock by the Board of Directors without shareholder approval. If Proposal #2 is adopted, our shareholders would have the right to approve the issuance of preferred stock. As such, Proposal #2 has the support of many of our shareholders.
We remain committed to having an ongoing dialogue with our shareholders to get perspectives around return of capital and driving shareholder value.
