Authorised capital

The Extraordinary General Meeting of 24 April 2007 renewed the authorisation granted to the Board of Directors to:

• increase the company’s capital, in one or more operations, to the amount of EUR 125 million (enabling the issue of maximum 30,881,431 shares based on the capital on 6 March 2007);
• decide the issue of convertible bonds, subscription rights or other transferable securities, which may entitle their holders to shares in the company via one or more operations, to an amount such that the amount of capital increases that may result from exercise of the conversion or subscription rights attached to such bonds, rights and securities does not exceed the maximum of the capital still authorised within the above limits.

In both cases, and in the general interest, the Board of Directors is entitled to limit or to suppress the preferential subscription right designed for the shareholders with respect to the law.

This authorisation is valid for a period of 5 years beginning the day of the publication of the minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 24 April 2007 in the Annexes of the Moniteur Belge, i.e. on 24 May 2007.

Moreover, this Extraordinary General Meeting decided to reserve, from the amount of the authorised capital of EUR 125 million, a tranche of EUR 1,009,567.02 corresponding to the amount of the capital increase as a result of the possible exercise of 49,883 stock options issued on 15 June 1999 and not exercised on 6 March 2007.

The General Meeting did not renew the authorisation of the Board of Directors to increase the company’s capital in the event of a public takeover bid, which expires on 27 April 2007.