After three years of being held purely virtually, shareholders could attend the event in person again. Around 300 participants were in the SNP dome in Heidelberg to learn about the company’s business performance and quiz the executive management team.
CEO Dr Dominik von Achten expressed satisfaction with the past financial year: ”We closed 2022 with a good result and are making great progress in decarbonising our products. With a further increase in our dividend, our shareholders also benefit from this success.”
For the 2022 financial year, shareholders will receive €2.60 per share (previous year: €2.40). The company is thus continuing its progressive dividend policy. Total distribution amounts to around €484 million. The dividend will be paid on 16 May 2023. With a dividend yield of 4.9%, Heidelberg Materials is part of the DivDAX and, thus, one of the 15 stock-listed companies with the highest dividend yields in the DAX 40. The payout ratio is 27% and relates to the adjusted profit for the financial year attributable to HeidelbergCement AG shareholders.
The shareholders have approved the name change of HeidelbergCement AG to Heidelberg Materials AG with an overwhelming majority. The company will now apply the change of name to the commercial register. At a Group level, the company has already been operating under the global brand Heidelberg Materials since September 2022.
In his presentation, von Achten outlined how the Group is leading the decarbonisation of the building materials industry. The main levers are the optimisation and further development of the portfolio of sustainable products, innovative carbon capture, utilisation, and storage technologies, and investments in the circular economy.
After the chairman of the supervisory board, Dr Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board, von Achten, and the chief financial officer, René Aldach, had answered almost 100 questions, the AGM expressed its confidence in the members of the supervisory board and managing board for the financial year 2022 with a clear majority and discharged them.
At the time of the voting, 78.22% of the company’s subscribed share capital was represented.
You can find the detailed voting results on the Heidelberg Materials' website: https://www.heidelbergmaterials.com/en/annual-general-meeting-2023
