Christian Hartel, CEO of Munich-based chemical company WACKER, outlined the extremely successful business performance of the past year in his speech to around 500 shareholders at Munich’s International Congress Center. “2022 was, by far, the best year in WACKER’s history despite war and crises, despite all the uncertain-ties and imponderables,” he emphasized. Overall, in 2022, WACKER had increased Group sales by 32 percent year over year to €8.21 billion and posted net income of €1.28 billion – an increase of 55 percent.
WACKER’s payout for the past year is therefore the highest in its history. The Annual Shareholders’ Meeting approved the dividend of €12.00 per share, as proposed by the Executive and Supervisory Boards. Based on the number of shares entitled to dividends as of December 31, 2022, the cash dividend corresponds to a payout of €596 million. As set out in the Munich-based chemical group’s dividend policy, this amounts to around 50 percent of the net income for the year. Calculated in relation to WACKER’s average share price in 2022, the dividend yield is 8.6 percent.
The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ other proposals were also adopted by large majorities.
WACKER remains optimistic for the current year, despite the con-siderable economic headwinds. “For 2023 as a whole, we expect sales in the range of €7 billion to €7.5 billion,” Hartel said, reaffirming the forecast published in March. According to the CEO, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are likely to come in between €1.1. and €1.4 billion.
Patrick Cramer is a new member of the Supervisory Board. He succeeds Franz-Josef Kortüm, a long-standing member of the Supervisory Board who stepped down at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting for reasons of age. Cramer has a doctorate in biochemistry and is a former professor and dean at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He currently works as director of the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. Cramer will take up his new assignment as president of the Max Planck Society in Munich at the end of June.
Resolutions and Voting Results
At today’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, 42,310,215 voting shares were represented – 81.13 percent of all eligible shares (number of shares outstanding: 49,677,983). The voting results were as follows for agenda items 2 through 10:
Agenda Item 2: Resolution on the Appropriation of Net Retained Profit
The Executive and Supervisory Boards proposed that the retained profit for 2022 of €2.03 billion be appropriated as follows: €596 million to be distributed to shareholders and €1.43 billion to be carried forward to new account. The proposal was adopted with the following result:
- 42,309,622 Yes votes (99.99 percent)
- 564 No votes
Agenda Item 3: Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
The proposal of the Executive and Supervisory Boards to ratify the actions of the members of Wacker Chemie AG’s Executive Board during fiscal 2022 was adopted. The result was:
- 42,066,147 Yes votes (99.54 percent)
- 193,223 No votes
Agenda Item 4: Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ proposal to ratify the actions of the members of Wacker Chemie AG’s Supervisory Board during fiscal 2022 was adopted. The result was:
- 40,812,870 Yes votes (96.56 percent)
- 1,453,971 No votes
Agenda Item 5: Election of an Auditor for the 2023 Financial Year
The Supervisory Board’s proposal that KPMG AG be appointed as the auditor of both the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements for fiscal 2023, as well as for any reviews of interim financial reports for 2023, was adopted. The result was:
- 41,724,961 Yes votes (98.62 percent)
- 585,087 No votes
Agenda Item 6: Election of an Auditor for the 2024 Financial Year
The Supervisory Board’s proposal that PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH be appointed as the auditor of both the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements for fiscal 2024, as well as for any reviews of interim financial reports for fiscal 2024, was adopted. The result was:
- 42,303,597 Yes votes (99.98 percent)
- 6,411 No votes
Agenda Item 7: Supervisory Board Elections
The Supervisory Board’s proposal to elect Prof. Andreas H. Biagosch, Dr. Gregor Biebl, Matthias Biebl, Prof. Patrick Cramer, Ann-Sophie Wacker, Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker, Prof. Anna Weber and Dr. Susanne Weiss to the Supervisory Board until the 2028 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting was adopted. The voting results for the individual candidates have been published at www.wacker.com.
Agenda Item 8: Resolution on Amendments to the Articles of Association Regarding the Shareholders’ Meeting
The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ proposal to authorize the Executive Board for a period of five years to decide on the holding of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting as a face-to-face event or as a virtual event, to enable Supervisory Board members to participate in virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meetings by means of audiovisual transmission, and to create the option of likewise holding Annual Shareholders’ Meetings in the vicinity of the Company's registered office or the registered office of a German stock exchange, was adopted. The voting results for the individual amendments to the Articles of Association have been published at www.wacker.com.
Agenda Item 9: Resolution on the Approval of the Compensation System for Executive Board Members
The Supervisory Board’s proposal that the amended Compensation System for Executive Board members be approved was adopted. The result was:
- 36,265,987 Yes votes (85.87 percent)
- 5,966,986 No votes
Agenda Item 10: Resolution on the Approval of the Compensation Report
The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ proposal that the Compensation Report for fiscal 2022 be approved was adopted. The result was:
- 36,312,487 Yes votes (85.98 percent)
- 5,919,747 No votes
