GDR information

In November 1998, TP took the opportunity to raise capital in the international market via the Global Depositary Receipt programme offered by the Bank of New York.

A Depositary Receipt sponsored programme is the simplest way for an issuing company to make its shares attractive to international investors, for the following reasons:

• As negotiable securities GDRs are usually quoted in U.S. dollars and pay dividends in U.S. dollars.
• GDRs overcome obstacles that mutual funds, pension funds and other institutions may have in purchasing and holding securities outside their local market.
• Global custodian safekeeping charges are eliminated.
• GDRs are as liquid as the underlying securities because the two are interchangeable.
• Dividends and other cash distributions are converted into U.S. dollars at competitive foreign exchange rates.

Through the GDR programme, TP has been able to access capital in the US market without the need to register shares with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company's shares are also traded publicly on the London Stock Exchange, where one share is equal to one GDR.

To find out more about TP's GDR programme, read the FAQs or contact us.