Annual General Meeting Bossard Holding AG

Shareholders approve adjustment of capital structure and endorse all Board proposals

The annual general meeting of Bossard Holding AG approved an adjustment of the capital structure. Accordingly, the shares will be split in a 1:2 ratio. At the same time, the listed bearer shares will be converted to registered shares. Chaired by Dr. Thomas Schmuckli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, the shareholders’ meeting also accepted by a large majority all the other proposals.

More than twenty items were on the agenda at this year's annual general meeting (AGM) at the Theater-Casino in Zug. This can be attributed mainly to requirements deriving from the adoption of the popular initiative sponsored by Thomas Minder, a member of the Council of States. After obtaining the approval of its shareholders, Bossard Holding AG will be able to implement all of these requirements in the current year.

With regard to the adjustment of the capital structure, the shareholders’ meeting endorsed the proposal of the Board with an approval rate of 99.83 percent. Accordingly, the shares will be split in a 1:2 ratio, and bearer shares will be converted to registered shares. As a result, the former bearer shares with a par value of CHF 10.00 will be split into two category A registered shares of CHF 5.00 each. The former registered shares with a par value of CHF 2.00 will be split into two category B registered shares of CHF 1.00 each. The stock split is intended to facilitate trading in shares of Bossard. The conversion of the listed bearer shares to registered shares will also raise the profile of the shareholder base of Bossard. On this basis, the Group's management wants to intensify its contact with shareholders. The share split as well as the conversion from bearer shares to registered shares will take place on April 14, 2014.

In addition, the AGM approved the dividend proposed by the Board of Directors: The record net income in 2013 of CHF 56.0 million (previous year: CHF 43.5 million) will thus pay a gross dividend of CHF 6.00 (previous year: CHF 5.75) per bearer share. The dividend proposal is based on the previous dividend payout policy: Accordingly, 40 percent of the Group net income will be passed on to shareholders. Bossard bearer shares will be traded ex-dividend from April 9, 2014. The dividend payment will be made on April 14, 2014.

Furthermore, the AGM approved all the members of the Board of Directors until the next shareholder’s meeting. Dr. Thomas Schmuckli will remain Chairman of the Board. In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Zurich, was re-elected as auditor for the 2014 financial year.

A total of 585 shareholders attended the annual meeting: They represented 4 618 014 of votes.

Press Release inclusive voting details as PDF