Shareholders at Aurubis AG Annual General Meeting pass resolution to raise dividend again

The shareholders at the Aurubis AG Annual General Meeting passed a resolution on a dividend of € 1.55 per share today, following the recommendation of the Supervisory Board and Executive Board. Compared to the previous fiscal year (€ 1.45 per share), the dividend rose by 7 %. The payout ratio is 26 % (previous year: 28 %) of the operating consolidated result, while the dividend yield is 2.6 % (previous year: 2.1 %) based on the Xetra closing price of Aurubis shares on September 28, 2018. The shareholders therefore profit from one of the best results in Aurubis AG’s history (operating EBT: € 329 million).

2017/18 was a very good fiscal year

In the Executive Board’s report, Aurubis AG CEO Jürgen Schachler, who is leaving the company in mid-2019, assessed the past fiscal year as very successful. In addition to the good performance at the Hamburg and Pirdop sites – which led to the highest concentrate throughput in the company’s history – he mentioned positive effects from the efficiency improvement program in particular as a key factor for the good result: “Following € 30 million in the previous year, we generated an additional € 30 million in project success in 2017/18 as well.” The impact of the program continues to unfold, according to Schachler: “We are even well ahead of schedule at the moment. Evidently, we were faster, better, and more efficient than we had planned.” Schachler continued,

We accomplished this by tackling the right things in the right way. These internal achievements make us more independent from market developments that we can’t influence.

At the end of his speech, Jürgen Schachler thanked the Aurubis employees. He said that, in the process initiated to transform Aurubis into a multi-metal company, they “frequently reached their personal limits, and sometimes went beyond them.” He closed with the words, “Aurubis is on the right path. The team has to show what it can do under new leadership – then I’ll be convinced that the company can successfully hold its ground in the future as well.”

Setting the course for the future with new personnel

His successor, Roland Harings, who was appointed Aurubis AG CEO by the Supervisory Board effective July 2019, introduced himself to the shareholders. “The willingness and ability to change are an integral part of Aurubis. And that’s a good thing, because the changes in our business environment are extremely dynamic,” the 55-year-old stated in reference to his new responsibility. “I see considerable challenges in this respect, but also huge opportunities for Aurubis at the same time.” Roland Harings has been CEO of MKM Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing GmbH since 2014 and brings many years of experience from the raw materials industry. He has initially been appointed for the customary period of three years.

Furthermore, the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting elected Andrea Bauer, who most recently served as a member of the management at VDM Metals, to the Supervisory Board as a shareholder representative. On June 22, 2018, the District Court of Hamburg appointed Andrea Bauer to the Supervisory Board shortly after Edna Schöne stepped down from office.

The shareholders at the Annual General Meeting passed all of the other resolutions that were up for a vote, including the formal approval of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, with the necessary majority. A total of 62.48 % of the share capital with voting rights was present.