From the Sector

The Lenzing Group, a leading provider of regenerated cellulose fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, announces personnel changes in the company’s Managing Board. The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG and Dr. Walter Bickel, Chief Transformation Officer of Lenzing AG, have mutually agreed to end the temporary mandate of Mr. Bickel and that Mr. Bickel will step down from his operational activities at the end of March 2025.

Mr. Bickel was appointed to the Managing Board of Lenzing AG as of April 15, 2024 to strengthen the Lenzing Managing Board and to be responsible for the further development and implementation of the performance program. Under his leadership, a significant overachievement of the planned contributions from the performance program could be realized. The basis for future significant improvement steps is established, and the program has been structured in a way that it can now be continued by Lenzing AG seamlessly.

The Lenzing Group’s holistic performance program pursues the overarching goal of significantly increasing long-term resilience to crises and greater agility in order to respond to market changes. The program initiatives are primarily aimed at improving EBITDA and generating free cash flow through increased profitability and sustainable cost excellence. Numerous activities are being undertaken to strengthen sales, such as acquiring new customers for the most important fiber types and expanding into new markets, which are already having a positive impact on sales. In addition, the Managing Board expects significant cost savings, of which more than EUR 130 m could already be realized in 2024.

In addition to the positive effects in the 2024 financial year on revenue development (+5.7 % increase in revenue compared to 2023) and earnings development (+30.4 % increase in EBITDA compared to 2023), the performance program also improved free cash flow to EUR 167.0 mn (compared to minus EUR 122.8 mn in 2023). Lenzing AG will continue to consistently implement the ongoing performance program with the aim of achieving annualized cost savings of over EUR 180 mn from the 2025 financial year onwards.

Ahead of the Annual Geneal Meeting of listed company Lenzing AG to be held on April 17, 2025, the Nomination Committee has revised the future composition of the Supervisory Board. Cord Prinzhorn, the current Supervisory Board Chairman is stepping down from the Supervisory Board with the end of his mandate, to focus on his existing and new engagements within B&C Group going forward.

Patrick Lackenbucher, Managing Director of B&C Group, has been nominated for election as a new member of the Supervisory Board, and is designated to take over the role of Chairman of the Supervisory Board on an interim basis. Mr. Lackenbucher has supported the company throughout various key strategic and financial projects over the past 15 years.

Designated Supervisory Board Chairman Patrick Lackenbucher sees the company well positioned for the future: “Both long-term core shareholders, B&C and Suzano, have a strong commitment to the enhancement of Lenzing’s competitiveness as a global market leader in sustainable cellulosic fibers. The company is addressing the continued competitive market environment with a holistic set of measures, that are already yielding positive results and will be pursued further consequently. Profitability is vital for Lenzing to sustain in the face of global competition over the long-term and to further invest in new products and markets. I am looking forward to working together collaboratively with the entire Lenzing Managing Board and Supervisory Board.”

Rohit Aggarwal, CEO of Lenzing AG comments: “Cord Prinzhorn has accompanied Lenzing with great confidence through the difficult environment over the past years and has played a key role in initiating revenue and cost initiatives, which have shown first positive effects in recent quarters leading to revenue, margin and cash flow enhancement for the company. On behalf of the entire Managing Board, I would like to thank him for the excellent collaboration, and I look forward to our future collaboration with the designated Chairman Patrick Lackenbucher, who brings many years of experience and extensive knowledge with Lenzing to the table.”

Besides Patrick Lackenbucher, Leonardo Grimaldi is proposed to be newly elected to the Supervisory Board. Mr. Grimaldi is Executive Vice President and Management Board member of Lenzing’s core shareholder Suzano S/A and will assume the Supervisory Bord mandate from Marcelo Bacci, who has left Suzano. He is an expert in the global pulp market and, among others, also acts as Supervisory Board Chairman at Brazilian port operator Portocel as well as a Supervisory Board member at Veracel Celulose S/A.

Cord Prinzhorn comments: “After four years on the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG, my current mandate is coming to an end, and I will now concentrate on other existing and new engagements going forward. During my time as Supervisory Board Chairman we have managed to successfully complete important strategic investment projects in Brazil, Thailand and China, to reduce costs as well as financial debt, and at the same time to expand Lenzing’s position in this challenging market environment. I would like to thank not only the members of the Supervisory Board and the Managing Board but also, and above all, the employees of Lenzing, who have made a significant contribution to the success of these strategic projects.”

Cord Prinzhorn will remain Supervisory Board Chairman until the conclusion of the 81st Annual General Meeting on April 17, 2025. The election of Patrick Lackenbucher as Supervisory Board Chairman is planned for the constituting Supervisory Board meeting on the same day directly after the Annual General Meeting.

On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the 80th Annual General Meeting of Lenzing AG discharged the members of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2023 financial year and set the remuneration of the members of the Supervisory Board for the 2024 financial year in advance.

Dr. Markus Fürst retired from the Supervisory Board at his own request with effect from the end of the General Meeting. Dr. Markus Fürst has been a member of the Supervisory Board and various committees of Lenzing AG since 2021.

The General Meeting elected Dr. Cornelius Baur as a new member of the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG until the end of the General Meeting that decides on the discharge for the 2028 financial year. In addition, Melody Harris-Jensbach’s mandate was extended until the Annual General Meeting that decides on the 2028 financial year.

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG continues to consist of ten members elected by the Annual General Meeting: Dr. Cornelius Baur, Mag. Helmut Bernkopf, Dr. Christian Bruch, Dr. Stefan Fida, Dr. Franz Gasselsberger, Melody Harris-Jensbach, Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, Mag. Gerhard Schwartz, Dr. Astrid Skala-Kuhmann and Nicole van der Elst Desai. DI Stefan Ertl, Stephan Gruber, Bonita Haag, Helmut Kirchmair and Johann Schernberger were delegated to the Supervisory Board by the works council.

In the constitutive meeting of the Supervisory Board following the Annual General Meeting, Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, was elected Chairman and Dr. Stefan Fida was re-elected as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- u. Steuerberatungsgesellschaft was appointed as the auditor for the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for the 2024 financial year.

The Managing Board of Lenzing AG decided today to suspend the existing dividend policy of at least EUR 4.50 per share for an unlimited period of time.

Lenzing AG continues to expect higher EBITDA for the 2024 financial year compared to the previous year.

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG, a world-leading provider of sustainably produced specialty fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, has appointed Nico Reiner as its new Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Reiner will join Lenzing’s Managing Board led by Chief Executive Officer Stephan Sielaff on January 1, 2023. He will succeed Chief Financial Officer Thomas Obendrauf, who is leaving the company of his own volition after seven years.

Nico Reiner has held several positions in his professional career to date, including CFO at globally operating companies such as Schüco Group, AL-KO Group and Pfleiderer Group, as well as management consultant roles. His most recent appointment was as CFO of Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG, a global player with headquarters in Hanau that specializes in the development, production and marketing of magnetic materials.

• Dividend of EUR 4.35 per share approved
• Lenzing Supervisory Board reduced from ten to nine elected members
• Dipl.-Bw. Peter Edelmann steps down from the Supervisory Board at his request
• Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board

The 78th Annual General Meeting of Lenzing AG on April 26, 2022, passed a resolution to pay a dividend of EUR 4.35 per share in accordance with the Managing Board’s profit distribution proposal, which had been approved by the Supervisory Board. As a consequence, the payment of the dividend amounts to a total of EUR 115,492,500. The payment will be made on May 03, 2022.

The Annual General Meeting formally discharged the members of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board from liability for the 2021 financial year, and set in advance the remuneration for the members of the Supervisory Board for the 2022 financial year. In addition, a vote was hold concerning the principles for the remuneration of the members of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board (remuneration policy). The remuneration policy of Lenzing AG for the performance-based remuneration of the Managing Board is linked not only to financial performance criteria but also to non-financial sustainability criteria (ESG), which further promote the sustainable business strategy.

Elections to the Supervisory Board
Dipl.-Bw. Peter Edelmann stepped down from the Supervisory Board upon his own request, at the end of the Annual General Meeting. Mr. Edelmann has served as a member of the Supervisory Board since 2018 and as its Chairman since 2019, as well as on all committees of Lenzing AG.

The Annual General Meeting passed a resolution to extend the Supervisory Board mandates of Mag. Patrick Prügger (until the AGM that passes related resolutions concerning the 2022 financial year) and of Dr. Astrid Skala-Kuhmann (until the AGM that passes related resolutions concerning the 2025 financial year).

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG now consists of nine members elected by the AGM: Mag. Helmut Bernkopf, Dr. Christian Bruch, Dr. Stefan Fida, Dr. Markus Fürst, Dr. Franz Gasselsberger, Melody Harris-Jensbach, Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, Mag. Patrick Prügger and Dr. Astrid Skala-Kuhmann. Herbert Brauneis, Ing. Daniela Födinger, Helmut Kirchmair, Georg Liftinger und Johann Schernberger were appointed to the Supervisory Board by the Works Council.

At the constitutive Supervisory Board meeting following the AGM, Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, who had returned to the Supervisory Board after serving as CEO on an interim basis, was elected Chairman, and Dr. Stefan Fida was elected Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

• Stephan Sielaff replaces interim CEO Cord Prinzhorn

• CFO Thomas Obendrauf will not extend his contract

• Chairman of the Supervisory Board Peter Edelmann will no longer be available as Chairman at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting

• Cord Prinzhorn returns to Supervisory Board and will take over as Chairman

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG has appointed Stephan Sielaff, the former CTO/COO of Lenzing AG, as the new CEO effective April 01, 2022. He succeeds Cord Prinzhorn, who took over as interim CEO in the fourth quarter of 2021. Cord Prinzhorn will return to the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG. The Managing Board will thus be reduced again from five to four members.

Stephan Sielaff holds a degree in chemical engineering and held various management positions at Unilever and Symrise from 1993 to 2014. Between 2014 and 2020, he was responsible for the strategic development of the company as a Member of the Board of Directors (COO) at the Swiss specialty chemicals company Archroma – an important supplier of the textile and paper industry. He was appointed Chief Technology Officer and COO of Lenzing AG as of March 01, 2020.

CFO Thomas Obendrauf has informed the Supervisory Board that he will not be available for a further extension of his contract, which expires in June 2022. The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG is already working on a timely replacement. Mr. Obendrauf will be available to the company in an advisory capacity until a successor is appointed.

Peter Edelmann will leave the Supervisory Board upon his own request, effective April 26, 2022. Cord Prinzhorn will return to the Supervisory Board and will take over as Chairman.

The Managing Board of Lenzing AG, a leading manufacturer of specialty fibers made from the renewable raw material wood, has resolved to propose to the Annual General Meeting a dividend of EUR 4.35 for the 2021 financial year. This dividend proposal reflects the suspended dividends from 2019 and 2020.

The total dividend payout to shareholders will amount to about EUR 115,492,500, subject to the acceptance of the proposal by the Supervisory Board at its meeting scheduled for March 09, 2022 for the purpose of approving the consolidated financial statements as well as the approval granted by Lenzing AG shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on April 26, 2022.

The Annual Report of the Lenzing AG for the 2021 financial year will be published on March 10, 2022.

• New air purification and sulfur recovery plant up and running at the Lenzing facility
• Another step closer to meeting sustainability and climate targets
• Self-sufficiency in raw materials further enhanced

Lenzing Group is continuing to make great strides toward achieving carbon neutrality across the Group. The successful completion and commissioning of an air purification and sulfur recovery plant at the Lenzing facility marks another milestone in the Group’s ambitious strategy. Lenzing has invested some EUR 40 mn in this project since construction began in 2019.

Using state-of-the-art technology, the plant will enable carbon emissions to be reduced by 15,000 metric tons at the Lenzing facility. This will also make the group more self-sufficient in securing vital raw materials for processing, which will bolster the site’s competitive standing in terms of sustainability.

“As a result of this investment, Lenzing has made further progress towards implementing its climate targets, while achieving much greater autonomy with regard to one of its core raw materials”, says Christian Skilich, Member of the Managing Board at Lenzing Group.

In 2019, Lenzing set the strategic target of halving its group-wide greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product by 2030. Its goal for 2050 is to achieve climate neutrality.

At the 77th Annual General Meeting of Lenzing AG, which was once again held virtually on April 14, 2021 via livestream due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the members of the Managing Board and Supervisory Board were formally discharged from liability for the business year 2020. KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- u. Steuerberatungsgesellschaft was appointed to serve as the auditor of the annual financial statements and consolidated annual financial statements for the business year 2021.

Furthermore, the Annual General Meeting adopted the resolution on the compensation to be paid to Supervisory Board members as well as the principles underlying the remuneration of the members of the Managing Board. In addition to financial performance criteria, the remuneration policy of Lenzing AG regulating the multi-year, performance-oriented remuneration paid to the Managing Board members will also be linked in the future to non-financial sustainability criteria (ESG) designed to further promote the sustainable business strategy of Lenzing AG.

Fully on track strategically
The Managing Board of Lenzing AG presented the business development of the year 2020, a strategic outlook and sustainability strategy including the relevant roadmap to achieve climate targets to the participating shareholders. In 2019, Lenzing made a strategic commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product by 50 percent by the year 2030. The goal is to operate in a climate-neutral manner by 2050.

The substantial investments made in Thailand and Brazil not only support Lenzing in its transformation to a supplier of environmentally compatible specialty fibers but also comprise an important milestone on this journey which sustainably increases the company’s enterprise value.

The implementation of these two key projects is proceeding ahead as planned in spite of the direct impacts of the coronavirus crisis. The pulp plant in Brazil is scheduled to be put into operation in the first half of 2022 and will significantly increase Lenzing’s own in-house supply of dissolving pulp. Production in Thailand is expected to commence towards the end of 2021, further raising the share of eco-friendly specialty fibers in the Lenzing product portfolio.

New appointments to the Supervisory Board
Dr. Veit Sorger retired from the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG on his request effective at the end of the Annual General Meeting. Veit Sorger had been a Member of the Supervisory Board since 2004 (also serving as Deputy Chairman since 2011) and served on various Supervisory Board committees.

The Annual General Meeting elected Dr. Markus Fürst, Managing Director of B&C Industrieholding GmbH, and Thomas Cord Prinzhorn, MBA, CEO of Prinzhorn Holding GmbH, to serve on the Supervisory Board until the end of the Annual General Meeting resolving upon the discharge of the Supervisory Board members for the business year 2024.