15/06/2022 | 18:40 CEST | Group Announcements
Stäfa (Switzerland), June 15, 2022 – At the 37th Annual General Meeting of Sonova Holding AG in Stäfa, all of the proposals submitted by the Board of Directors were approved.
The shareholders approved the Annual Report, the Annual Consolidated Financial Statements of the Group and the Annual Financial Statements of Sonova Holding AG for the 2021/22 financial year and authorized the proposed appropriation of retained earnings and a gross dividend of CHF 4.40 per registered share. This represents an increase of 37.5% and an adjusted payout ratio of 41%. Payment of the dividend is expected to take place as of June 21, 2022.
The shareholders formally approved the actions of the members of the Board of Directors for their activities during the 2021/22 financial year. All members of the Board of Directors stood for re-election and were confirmed individually for a further term of office. The current Chair of the Board of Directors Robert F. Spoerry was also confirmed in office. As part of medium-term succession planning, Julie Tay was newly elected to the Board of Directors. She has a successful track record of driving sustainable and profitable growth in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in China and Japan, and her election represents a further step in advancing the Board’s diversity. Stacy Enxing Seng, Lukas Braunschweiler and Roland Diggelmann were re-elected to the Nomination & Compensation Committee. The amendment to the Articles of Association regarding the board composition was accepted.
The compensation report for the 2021/22 financial year was accepted by the shareholders in a non-binding advisory vote. In two separate binding votes, the shareholders also approved the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Board of Directors covering the time period from the AGM 2022 to the AGM 2023 and the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Management Board for the 2023/24 financial year. Furthermore, the capital reduction through cancellation of shares as well as the extension of the authorized share capital was accepted by the shareholders.
Ernst & Young AG, Zurich, was re-elected as Auditor for a period of one year and the Law Office Keller Partnership, Zurich, was re-elected as the Independent Proxy.
The next AGM will be convened on June 12, 2023.
The minutes of the AGM 2022 (in German), which also include the detailed voting results, will soon be available on our website under the following link: https://www.sonova.com/en/AGM
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