VEVEY, Switzerland – As much as 2853 shareholders attended the Nestlé S.A. Annual General Meeting today in Lausanne. They represented 53.39 percent of the capital and 75.17 percent of the shares entitled to vote.
The annual review and the accounts were approved and the shareholders agreed to the discharge of the Board of Directors and the Management. The shareholders further approved the proposed dividend of CHF 2.25 per share.
All proposals of the Board of Directors were approved with strong majorities.
The shareholders elected all members of the Board of Directors individually, for a term of office until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. Daniel Borel was not standing for re-election. The Board thanked him for his highly appreciated services provided to Nestlé.
The shareholders elected Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as Chairman of the Board of Directors and elected each member of the Compensation Committee individually.
The shareholders approved prospectively the total compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board in binding votes. They also accepted the Nestlé Compensation Report 2015 in a separate advisory vote.
Furthermore the shareholders approved the cancellation of 76,240,000 shares repurchased under the share buy-back programme, and the reduction of the share capital to CHF 311,216,000.
In his address to the meeting Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe reminded the audience that “by being a Nestlé shareholder, as well as investing in a company capable of guaranteeing you a first-rate financial return, you are also putting your faith in a company that is having a positive impact on society and in its future.”
Mr Brabeck said 2015 will probably be regarded as a landmark year in matters of sustainable development, with the publication of the United Nations ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ for 2030.
These have the potential “to make a real impact in the coming years. This is something we at Nestlé are pleased with and commit to actively contribute to”, the Chairman explained.
After reviewing the Group’s 2015 results, Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke underlined: “We delivered this performance in 2015 while at the same time continuing to invest substantially in the future, in research and development, in our brands and our new health and nutrition platforms as well as in our organisation and our employees.
In this way, we ensure that we have the right initiatives, skills and expertise to grasp the numerous opportunities around us to continue to deliver profitable growth. It is this balance between delivering today and building for the future that characterises Nestlé.”
He concluded: “We are aware of the many challenges ahead, but also of the numerous opportunities and we are organising ourselves to grasp these. All of us, the men and women who make Nestlé, we commit each day, all over the world, to continue to make Nestlé the world leader in nutrition, health and wellness.”
For the year to come, the Board and its different Committees will be composed as follows:
Board of Directors
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Paul Bulcke, Andreas Koopmann, Beat W. Hess, Renato Fassbind, Steven G. Hoch, Naïna Lal Kidwai, Jean-Pierre Roth, Ann M. Veneman, Henri de Castries, Eva Cheng, Ruth K. Oniang’o, Patrick Aebischer
Chairman’s and Corporate Governance Committee
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Paul Bulcke, Andreas Koopmann, Beat W. Hess, Renato Fassbind
Compensation Committee
Beat W. Hess, Andreas Koopmann, Jean-Pierre Roth, Patrick Aebischer
Nomination and Sustainability Committee
Andreas Koopmann, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Steven Hoch, Ann M. Veneman
Audit Committee
Renato Fassbind, Naïna Lal Kidwai, Henri de Castries, Eva Cheng
The Chairman’s and the CEO’s addresses to the AGM can be found on the Nestlé corporate website (http://www.nestle.com/media/mediaeventscalendar/allevents/agm-2016).
