Results of the Annual General Meeting of Baloise Holding Ltd
Results of the Annual General Meeting of Baloise Holding Ltd
At the Annual General Meeting of Baloise Holding Ltd, two of the three shareholder proposals reached the required qualified majority. The provisions in the Articles of Association concerning the restriction of registration and voting rights were rescinded and the qualified majority for important decisions of the Annual General Meeting was lowered from three quarters to two thirds of the votes represented at the AGM. However, the shareholder proposal to amend the nominee clause was rejected, as recommended by the Board of Directors.
The Annual General Meeting voted in favour of all proposals by the Board of Directors. The shareholders approved the Company’s 2023 management report, annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements, and granted discharge to the members of the Board of Directors and management team. The AGM also approved the dividend proposed by the Board of Directors, meaning that a gross dividend of CHF 7.70 per share will be paid for the 2023 financial year.
After eight successful years on the Board of Directors of Baloise Holding Ltd, Hugo Lasat did not stand for re-election.
The shareholders elected Dr Guido Fürer as a new member of the Board of Directors. Dr Fürer was Group Chief Investment Officer and a member of the Corporate Executive Committee at Swiss Re from 2012 to 2023. Between 2019 and 2022, he held the position of Country President for Swiss Re in Switzerland, and was also the chair of the Group Strategic Council.
Dr Thomas von Planta was confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the remaining members of the Board of Directors were each re-elected for a term of one year.
“Our shareholders have approved our proposal to increase the dividend by 30 centimes to CHF 7.70 (gross). Three shareholder proposals had been submitted. The restrictions on registration and voting rights were originally introduced by our shareholders, and today a qualified majority of shareholders have opted to remove these provisions from the Articles of Association rather than amending them at the next AGM. We also welcome Dr Guido Fürer to the Board of Directors, and we express our gratitude to Hugo Lasat for his invaluable work over the last eight years,” said Dr Thomas von Planta, Chairman of the Board of Directors, with regard to today’s AGM.
The full speech in German by Dr Thomas von Planta can be downloaded from www.baloise.com/annual-general-meeting and can be watched as a video stream from 27 April 2024 at www.youtube.com/BaloiseGroup.
- Tuesday, 30 April 2024: Ex-dividend date
- Friday, 3 May 2024: Dividend payment date
- Thursday, 12 September 2024: Investor update and 2024 half-year financial results
- Wednesday, 20 November 2024: Q3 2024 interim statement