- Christian Baier, Co-Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of METRO AG: “We have set the course for a new phase of growth after the pandemic – with a focused and innovative wholesale profile.”
- Dividend of €0.70 per share decided
- Jürgen Steinemann re-elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board
- Shareholders elect Roman Šilha and Stefan Tieben to the Supervisory Board as proposed
At the first virtual Annual General Meeting of METRO AG, Christian Baier, Co-Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, has drawn an overall positive conclusion for financial year 2019/20 despite significant COVID-19 impacts: “2020 was a special year. With the start of the pandemic, we very quickly focused all our activities on standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our HoReCa and Trader customers during this challenging time and helping them,” said Christian Baier. “This enabled us to gain market share, recover rapidly from the impact of the 1st lockdown wave and take our customer relationships to a new level. We expect our restaurant customers to recover soon and substantially after the 2nd lockdown. We have already set the course for a new phase of growth and take a positive view of the future – with a focused and innovative wholesale profile,” added Co-Chairman and COO Rafael Gasset, who together with Christian Baier answered shareholders‘ questions to the Management Board during the Annual General Meeting.
The Annual General Meeting approved the proposed dividend of €0.70 per share. About 80.29% of the total voting capital was present. The Annual General Meeting approved the actions of the Supervisory Board and Management Board.
Roman Šilha and Stefan Tieben were elected as new members of the Supervisory Board. The mandates of the previous members of the Supervisory Board Herbert Bolliger and Peter Kuepfer ended at the end 2 – 2 of the Annual General Meeting. Roman Šilha is Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at EP Global Commerce a.s. and VESA Equity Investment S.à r.l. Stefan Tieben is a member of the management board of the Meridian Stiftung and of the foundation board of trustees of the nonprofit Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, which is funded by the Meridian Stiftung.
Following the Annual General Meeting, the Supervisory Board re-elected Jürgen Steinemann as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. From 2015 until the demerger of the former METRO GROUP in July 2017, he was a member of the Supervisory Board of the former METRO AG (now trading under CECONOMY AG) and its Chairman of the Supervisory Board since February 2016. Jürgen Steinemann has been a member and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the current METRO AG since 2017.
METRO is a leading international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specialises in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent traders. Around the world, METRO has some 16 million customers who can choose whether to shop in one of the large-format stores, order online and collect their purchases at the store or have them delivered. METRO also supports the competitiveness of entrepreneurs and independent businesses with digital solutions and thereby contributes to cultural diversity in retail and hospitality. Sustainability is a key pillar of METRO’s business. METRO has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 7 consecutive years. The company operates in 34 countries and employs more than 97,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2019/20, METRO generated sales of €25.6 billion. For more information, please visit www.metroag.de. Additionally, have a look in our online magazine www.MPULSE.de, where we report on what moves our customers, employees, partners and suppliers – and what we move for them.
METRO AG
Metro-Straße 1
40235 Düsseldorf
Telefon: +49 211 6886-0
http://www.metrogroup.de
Telefon: +49 (211) 688642-52
Fax: +49 (211) 688620-01
E-Mail: presse@metro.de
