CHAPTER VI – FISCAL YEAR, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND THE ALLOCATION OF PROFITS

36. The fiscal year shall begin on January 1st and end on December 31st of each year, when the balance sheet and the other financial statements shall be prepared.

Paragraph 1 – By decision of the Board of Directors, the Company may (i) prepare semiannual or quarterly balance sheets, or balance sheets for shorter periods, and declare dividends or interest on net equity with respect to the profits verified in such balance sheets; or (ii) declare interim dividends or interest on net equity, based on accumulated profits or earnings reserves recorded in the last annual or semi-annual balance sheet.

Paragraph 2 – The interim or intercalated dividends and/or interest on the net equity distributed may be accredited to the mandatory dividend stipulated in Article 38, paragraph 3 of these Bylaws.

Paragraph 3 – The Company and Managers must, at least once a year, hold a public meeting with analysts and any other interested parties, to disclose information about the economic and financial standing, projects and prospects of the Company.

37. The accrued losses, if any, and provision for the payment of income tax and social contribution on net income, shall be deducted from the fiscal year results.

Paragraph 1 – From the remaining funds, the shareholders’ meeting may assign to the Managers a share in the profits corresponding to up to one tenth of the fiscal year profits. The payment of this share is conditional on the shareholders receiving the mandatory dividend stipulated in paragraph 3 of this Article.

Paragraph 2 – The fiscal year net profit shall have the following allocation:

a) 5% (five per cent) shall be allocated, prior to any other allocation, to the formation of the legal reserve, which shall not exceed 20% (twenty percent) of the capital stock. In the fiscal year when the legal reserve added to the total of the capital reserves, as defined in article 182, paragraph 1, of the Corporation Law, exceeds 30% (thirty per cent) of the capital stock, it shall not be mandatory to allocate part of the net profit of the fiscal year to the legal reserve;

b) by proposal of the management bodies, a portion may be allocated to: (i) the formation of a reserve for contingencies; and/or (ii) a distribution to the shareholders through the reversion of the same reserves for contingencies accumulated in previous fiscal years, under the terms of article 195 of the Corporation Law;

c) a portion shall be allocated to the payment of the minimum mandatory annual dividend to the shareholders, in accordance with the provision of paragraph 3 of this Article;

d) in the fiscal year when the sum of the mandatory dividend, calculated under the terms of paragraph 3 of this Article, surpasses the portion of the profit realized in the fiscal year, the shareholders’ meeting may, by proposal of the management bodies, allocate the surplus to the formation of the realizable profit reserve in accordance with the provision of article 197 of the Corporation Law;

e) by proposal of the management bodies, a portion may be retained based on the previously approved capital budget, under the terms of article 196 of the Corporation Law;

f) the Company shall maintain the profit reserve provided for in these Bylaws known as the “Investment Reserve”, which shall be employed to finance the expansion of the activities of the Company and/or of companies controlled by it or its affiliates, including by means of subscription of capital increases or the creation of new ventures, which shall be formed with 35% (thirty five percent) to 75% (seventy-five percent) of the net profit remaining after the legal and bylaw deductions and whose balance may not exceed the sum equivalent to 80% (eighty percent) of the subscribed capital stock of the Company, provided, furthermore, that the balance of this profit reserve added to the balances of the other profit reserves, with the exception of the realizable profit reserve and the contingency reserve, does not exceed 100% (one hundred percent) of the Company’s subscribed capital; and

g) the balance shall be allocated as determined by the shareholders’ meetings, in accordance with the legal precepts. Paragraph 3 – The shareholders are guaranteed the right to receive a dividend of no less than 0.001% (zero point zero zero one per cent) of the net profit of the fiscal year, the following sums having been deducted or added; (i) the sum allocated to the formation of the legal reserve; and (ii) the sum allocated to the formation of the reserve for contingencies and the reversion of the same reserves formed in previous fiscal years.

Paragraph 4 – The payment of the mandatory dividend may be limited to the sum of the net profit realized, in accordance with the terms of the law.

38. The shareholders’ meeting may decide on the capitalization of the profit or capital reserves, including those recorded in interim balance sheets, in accordance with the applicable legislation.

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