KPN Cancels Dividend in Advance of 3 Billion-Euro Share Sale

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Royal KPN NV, the Dutch phone operator partly owned by Carlos Slim’s America Movil SAB, canceled its dividend for 2013 and 2014 as the company prepares for a share sale.

The decision stems from plans to sell stock to existing investors and “it would be weird to firstly raise capital from our shareholders, and after that return a part of that money to them,” Chief Executive Officer Eelco Blok said on a conference call. KPN will save as much as 45 million euros ($58.4 million) annually this year and next by dropping the payout, Chief Financial Officer Eric Hageman said.