At the virtual Annual General Meeting of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA on June 17, 2020, the shareholders approved all items on the agenda. In particular, they approved the proposed dividend resolution and the proposals for new elections to the corporate bodies. In total, about 90 percent of the voting capital stock was represented. Due to the spread of the Coronavirus in Germany and the governmental requirements for mass events, Henkel had decided to conduct this year's Annual General Meeting as an entirely virtual meeting that was broadcast on the internet.
Dividend on prior-year level resolved
As proposed by the corporate bodies, the Annual General Meeting approved a dividend at the previous year's level for both share classes. A dividend of 1.85 euros per preferred share and 1.83 euros per ordinary share will be paid. Henkel’s total dividend payout amounts to 805 million euros.
The dividend payout ratio increased by 3.3 percentage points to 34.2 percent of net income after non-controlling interests and adjusted for exceptional items. It is within the target range of between 30 and 40 percent.
New members elected to the Supervisory Board and Shareholders’ Committee
Simone Menne and Lutz Bunnenberg were elected as new members of the Supervisory Board. They succeed Prof. Dr. Theo Siegert and Dr. Kaspar von Braun, who resigned from the Supervisory Board. Alexander Birken and Dr. Christoph Kneip were elected as members of the Shareholders' Committee. Stefan Hamelmann and Werner Wenning resigned from the Shareholders' Committee.
“With the new appointments, we are rejuvenating our committees, increasing diversity and expanding important areas of expertise. I am pleased that we can welcome excellent new members to our corporate bodies,” said Dr. Simone Bagel-Trah, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board and the Shareholders' Committee.
She also explicitly expressed her thanks to all departing members of the corporate bodies for their great commitment to the interests of the company and their membership, some of which was longstanding.
All other members of both the Supervisory Board and the Shareholders’ Committee were re-elected.
Creation of Authorized Capital as an anticipatory resolution
The proposal for new authorized capital as an ‘anticipatory resolution’ was also accepted. This puts the company in a position to cover any future financial requirements quickly and flexibly. At the same time, additional flexibility and reserves for liquidity management are created. The previous authorized capital approved by the Annual General Meeting in 2015 expired in April 2020.
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