All proposal approved - dividend of CHF 9.00 confirmed
At today’s General Meeting in Lucerne, the shareholders of Emmi AG approved all the proposals put forward by the Board of Directors. The meeting was attended by 1,458 shareholders, representing 4,351,102 of the registered shares or 81.33 % of the share capital.
Konrad Graber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Emmi AG, chaired the General Meeting at which all proposals of the Board of Directors were approved. The Annual Report, the Consolidated Financial Statements and the 2018 Financial Statements of Emmi AG were approved, and discharge was granted to the members of the Board of Directors for their services during financial year 2018 (agenda items 1 and 2).
Dividend distribution
The shareholders approved the distribution of a dividend of CHF 9.00 per registered share (previous year: regular dividend of CHF 7.00 plus special dividend of CHF 3.00), made up of CHF 8.00 from retained earnings and CHF 1.00 from the recognised capital contribution reserves (agenda item 3). The dividend will be distributed on 17 April 2019.
Approval of the total amount of remuneration
The total amount of remuneration was also approved (agenda item 4). The shareholders thus approved the maximum fixed remuneration of the Board of Directors (CHF 970,000) and the Agricultural Council (CHF 40,000) for financial year 2019, the maximum fixed remuneration of Group Management for financial year 2020 (CHF 5,420,000) and the definitive variable remuneration of Group Management for financial year 2018 (CHF 1,040,000).
For detailed information please see the Invitation to the General Meeting 2019 and the Compensation Report 2018.
Elections
The shareholders approved the proposals of the Board of Directors regarding all items concerning election to the Board of Directors (agenda item 5). All members of the Board of Directors were individually re-elected. The General Meeting also confirmed Konrad Graber as Chairman of the Board of Directors and the composition of the Personnel and Compensation Committee. The statutory auditor for financial year 2019 (as previously: KPMG AG, Lucerne) and the independent proxy (as previously: Pascal Engelberger, lawyer, Burger & Müller, Lucerne) were appointed under agenda items 6 and 7 respectively – also in accordance with the proposal of the Board of Directors.
Confirmation of outlook for 2019
Konrad Graber, Chairman of the Board of Directors, confirmed the outlook for 2019 first published in March: “Emmi is in a strong position. We are now able to count on a broadly diversified portfolio of companies and products. As such, it is by no means presumptuous to be optimistic about 2019.”
The company also confirmed the forecasts for organic sales growth and earnings in financial year 2019 first published in March:
Group: 2 % to 3 %
Business division Switzerland: 0 % to 0,5 %
Business division Americas: 4 % to 6 %
Business division Europe: 1 % to 3 %
EBIT: CHF 215 million to CHF 220 million
Net profit margin: 4,7 % to 5,2 %
About Emmi
Emmi is a major Swiss milk processor. The company dates back to 1907, when it was founded by 62 dairy farming cooperatives around Lucerne. Over the past 20 years, Emmi has grown into an international, listed group. It has for many years pursued a successful strategy based on three pillars: strengthening its Swiss domestic market, growth abroad and cost management. Throughout its corporate history, Emmi’s keen awareness of its responsibility to society, animal welfare and the environment has been fundamental to its mission.
Leading exports include Emmi Caffè Latte and Kaltbach. In other countries, its products – mainly speciality products – are manufactured locally. Alongside cow’s milk, it also processes goat’s and sheep’s milk.
In Switzerland, the Emmi Group has 25 production sites. Abroad, Emmi and its subsidiaries have a presence in 14 countries, seven of which have production facilities. Emmi exports products from Switzerland to around 60 countries. Its business activities focus on the Swiss domestic market as well as western Europe and the American continent. Half of its CHF 3.5 billion in sales – over 10 % of which stems from organic products – is generated in Switzerland, the other half abroad. It has over 6,000 employees who are also spread equally between Switzerland and other countries.
Contact
Emmi Group Communications & IR: T +41 58 227 50 66 | media@emmi.com