Investor Relations

60INVESTOR RELATIONS Changes to the shareholder base, notably involving significantchanges to the holdings of one or more important shareholders; Decisions affecting the company’s capital structure such ascapital increases or decreases, mergers, demergers, partial asset transfers,and public offers on equity markets; Decisions relating to the allocation of earnings, particularlydecisions to pay special dividends; Decisions relating to stock splits or reverse stock splits; The signature of shareholder agreements if notified to thecompany; Earnings that are unusual compared with historic trends, companyguidance, or the most recent consensus (based on informationmost recently disclosed by the issuer); Updates of forward-looking statements previously providedby the issuer, including any substantial modification of previouslyannounced targets; Losses that correspond to a significant share of the company’sequity; Disputes that could have a significant impact on earnings orthe company’s financial situation or business, including labor disputesor disagreements between the company and one of its main clients orsuppliers. Organizational issues. Examples include major changes to theissuer’s internal organizational structure or management team, for instance,the death or resignation of an executive or disputes or major disagreementsat the level of governance. Commercial issues. In this case, price-sensitive informationwill relate to the gain or loss of major contracts or developments involvingimportant clients or suppliers. Technological issues. The development and launch of new productscan have a significant impact on an issuer’s business. This is notablytrue in the pharmaceutical sector, where share prices are highly sensitive tomarketing authorizations for new products or, conversely, the withdrawal ofdrugs from the market. Strategic issues. This can be any event outside the issuer’s control,susceptible of substantially changing its positioning. One examplewould be the nationalization of businesses outside the domestic marketwhen a new government assumes power. Along the same lines, any moveresulting in a significant change to the company’s strategy, for instance,a decision to refocus on one business and withdraw from others followingmajor acquisitions or disposals, would be considered price-sensitiveinformation.