Brenntag, a chemicals and ingredients distributor, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 15, 2023. The Chairs of Supervisory Board and Management Board presented an overview of the general developments and highlights of the previous financial year.
Brenntag SE delivered a very strong performance in financial year 2022 despite the challenging environment due to the Ukraine war, disruptions in the supply chain, and operating in an inflationary environment.
At the AGM, the management provided information on the progress of “Strategy to Win”, the company’s growth strategy that represents the second phase of Brenntag’s transformation journey.
As in the previous years, the AGM was held virtually and had an overall attendance rate of 82.86%. The AGM approved all motions proposed by the Brenntag Management Board and Supervisory Board. In the Supervisory Board election the Brenntag candidates prevailed: Richard Ridinger was re-elected as a member of the Supervisory Board with 62.71% of the votes cast. Sujatha Chandrasekaran was newly elected to the Supervisory Board with 61.79% of the votes cast. At its constituent meeting following the AGM, the Supervisory Board elected Richard Ridinger as Chairman.
With 99.99% the AGM voted for the dividend payout of 2.00 EUR per share, which represents the twelfth consecutive increase in a row since the company’s IPO in 2010. This means a plus of 38% compared to the previous year and a payout ratio of around 35% on the basis of the consolidated profit after tax attributable to shareholders.
Richard Ridinger, newly elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board: “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, we thank the Annual General Meeting for their trust and backing of the company's management. We will continue to monitor and accompany Brenntag’s decisive strategic transformation and execution of its growth strategy with its incrementally more independent global divisions to achieve long-term value creation for all our stakeholders. We will remain committed to an open and constructive dialogue with all our investors.”
The Management Board and Supervisory Board expressed their appreciation for former Chairwoman Doreen Nowotne who did not stand for re-election. Andreas Rittstieg, in his role as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said during the AGM: “On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Doreen Nowotne sincerely for 13 years of highly committed and successful service to Brenntag. During her tenure as Chairwoman, a new Management Board was introduced, and the fundamental transformation of the company was initiated. I think Brenntag’s economic success in the past three years speaks for itself and the successful setting of directions by Doreen Nowotne.”
Christian Kohlpaintner, Chief Executive Officer Brenntag SE, commented: “The Management Board is fully aligned with the Supervisory Board and determined to continue the decisive transformation of Brenntag according to our long-term strategic plan. We focus on executing our business strategy, closing the performance gap at Brenntag Specialties and vigorously driving forward the operational structure in both divisions towards greater independence. We will provide an update on the concrete decisions for the operating model of both divisions already pre-summer, while our strategic conclusions on the further path forward will be communicated at the Capital Markets Day in Autumn 2023.”
As recommended by Brenntag SE, Deloitte GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Düsseldorf, was appointed as auditor for the financial statements as of financial year 2023, replacing PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft. The countermotions were not put to the vote.
The detailed voting results on all the motions and countermotions can be found at https://corporate.brenntag.com/en/investor-relations/annual-general-meeting/.
