Shareholders of Auckland International Airport, the nation's busiest gateway, have overwhelmingly voted in favour of plans by the nation's busiest gateway to return $454 million in capital via a share cancellation, with 60 per cent of the payment treated as a taxable dividend.
Results from the special meeting in Auckland today show 99.3 per cent of eligible votes cast were in favour of the plan. The airport company will now seek High Court approval for the capital return, it said.
Under the proposed scheme of arrangement, the company will cancel one in 10 shares at $3.43 apiece. The airport said 40 per cent of the payment will be a capital return for tax purposes and the balance treated as a dividend, fully imputed at 28 per cent tax rate.
Shares of Auckland Airport fell 0.6 per cent to $3.64, and have climbed 28 per cent in the past 12 months.
