Registration Document 2005 - Total.com

6
Dividends
Dividend policy
TOTAL and its shareholders
Dividends
In accordance with the distribution policy announced to the General
Meeting of Shareholders on May 14, 2004, an interim dividend
will be paid in the fourth quarter of each year, except under
extraordinary circumstances.
The Board of Directors met on November 3, 2005 and, after
approving the accounts as of September 30, 2005, approved an
interim 2005 dividend in the amount of 3 euros per share paid on
November 24, 2005.
For the fiscal year 2005, as in the past, TOTAL continued its
dynamic dividend policy proposing a dividend of 6.48 euros per
share to the General Meeting of Shareholders (or 1.62 euro per
share after the four-for-one stock split), resulting in a final dividend
of 3.48 euros per share (or 0.87 euros per share after the four-forone
stock split) payable on May 18, 2006. This dividend of
6.48 euros represents an increase of 20% compared to the
previous year. Over the past five years, this increase amounts to
an average of 14% per year.
(1) Based on the adjusted earnings per share.
128 TOTAL - Registration Document 2005
In 2005, TOTAL’s pay-out ratio was 32% (1) .
3.80
4.10
Dividend payment
4.70
5.40
2001 2002 2003 2004
Before the 4:1 stock split
6.48
2005
Final
dividend
Interim
dividend
The dividend payment, which is entrusted to BNP Paribas
Securities Services, is made through financial account holder
intermediaries using the EUROCLEAR France direct payment
system.
BANK OF NEW YORK (101 Barclay Street, New York, NY 10286,
USA) arranges for the payment of dividends to holders of American
Depositary Shares (ADS).