Clariant's shareholders approve all agenda items
Muttenz, March 20, 2017 – At today's Annual General Meeting in Basel, the shareholders of Clariant AG, a world leader in specialty chemicals, approved all agenda items and resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors. The meeting was attended by 482 shareholders and shareholder representatives accounting for 178 055 160 shares or around 53.64 % of the share capital of Clariant.
Rudolf Wehrli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: "In 2016, Clariant delivered an excellent result: the EBITDA margin before exceptional items increased from 14.7% to 15.2%, the operating cash flow increased by 29% to 646 million Swiss francs and the net profit rose by 16% to 263 million Swiss Francs". Hariolf Kottmann, CEO, reconfirmed the mid-term target of reaching a leading position in the specialty chemicals industry. "For 2017, despite an uncertain environment characterized by a high volatility in commodity prices, currencies as well as political uncertainties, Clariant is confident to be able to achieve growth in local currency, as well as progression in operating cash flow and profitability."
At the Annual General Meeting, the Integrated Report (formerly Annual Report) as well as the Group's Consolidated Financial Statements for the 2016 fiscal year were approved with 99.97 % of the votes. The Compensation Report 2016 was also approved on a consultative basis with 82.33 % of the votes. The members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee were discharged with 99.67 % of the votes. In addition, the Annual General Meeting approved the appropriation of the accumulated profit for 2016 with 99.97 % of the votes, as well as a distribution of the confirmed reserves from capital contributions of CHF 0.45 per share with 99.96 % of the votes.
All members of the Board of Directors were reelected for one year by a large majority, as was the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rudolf Wehrli. PricewaterhouseCoopers AG was confirmed as the statutory auditor for 2017.
The proposal for overall compensation of the Board of Directors for the term from the 2017 to the 2018 Annual General Meeting was approved with 96.82 % of the votes, as was the overall compensation of the Executive Committee for the 2018 fiscal year, with 83.50 % of the votes. NB:The speeches (German only) of Rudolf Wehrli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO Hariolf Kottmann, and guest speaker Richard Haldimann along with pictures are available on http://www.clariant.com/en/Investors/Events/Annual-General-Meetings.
