Following a successful 2015, Dürr's total dividend payout stands at a record high of € 64 million. At 38% of consolidated net profit, the payout ratio is at the top end of Dürr's usual range of 30 to 40%.
Ralf W. Dieter, CEO of Dürr AG, told more than 700 shareholders and guests: "We want our shareholders to benefit from the record year of 2015 by paying an attractive dividend." Dieter sees current opportunities mainly in the growing modernization and service business as well as in the broad regional distribution of demand in North America, China and Europe. In view of the record investments of € 102 million made in 2015, the CEO said: "While we are sustainably investing in Dürr's further development, we always put our customers' needs first." This also goes for the topic of Industry 4.0: "A lot of the technologies that constitute Industry 4.0 have already been implemented at Dürr", says Dieter. As part of the "digital@Dürr" strategy, Dürr offers smart products and smart services, which create added value for the customer through intelligent use of data. A central element of Industry 4.0 at Dürr includes iTAC Software AG, which was acquired at the end of 2015. Ralf W. Dieter stated: "Thanks to iTAC, Dürr is at the forefront of digitization, networking and control of factories." With regard to the positive development of the HOMAG Group, world market leader in woodworking machinery acquired in 2014, Dieter said: "HOMAG will become one of our most important earnings generators in the near future."
Women's quota on the Supervisory Board achieved
Gerhard Federer, former chairman of the board of management at Schunk GmbH, and Dr. Anja Schuler, member of the HOMAG founding family Schuler, were elected to the Supervisory Board for the first time at the annual general meeting. Previous members Prof. Dr. Alexandra Dürr, Klaus Eberhardt, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka and Karl-Heinz Streibich were re-elected as shareholder representatives. After the annual general meeting, Klaus Eberhardt was confirmed as chairman by the Supervisory Board.
The employee and trade union delegates on the Supervisory Board had already been elected during delegate elections at the German Group sites at the beginning of April. New members include Carmen Hettich-Günther, chair of the works council of HOMAG Holzbearbeitungssysteme GmbH, and Dr. Astrid Ziegler, trade union secretary of the IG Metall board of management. Existing members Mirko Becker, Thomas Hohmann, Hayo Raich and Dr. Martin Schwarz-Kocher were re-elected.
Following these elections, the proportion of female Supervisory Board members stands at 33.3%. This is in line with the Act on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Executive Positions, which stipulates a women's quota of at least 30%.
With 67% of the share capital present at the annual general meeting, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board were discharged from liability with more than 99% of the votes each. The shareholders also approved all other motions put to the vote by a large majority. The voting results are available at www.durr-group.com.
