From the Sector

On April 17, 2025, the 81st Annual General Meeting of Lenzing AG adopted the resolution to discharge the members of the Managing and Supervisory Boards acting in the 2024 financial year and set the remuneration of the Supervisory Board members for the 2025 financial year.

In addition, a revised remuneration policy was approved. In order to align the remuneration policy for the Managing Board even more closely with the interests of shareholders, the link to share price performance in performance-based remuneration, in particular, was further strengthened. The new remuneration policy of Lenzing AG is also linked to non-financial sustainability criteria (ESG) in addition to financial performance criteria.

KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- u. Steuerberatungsgesellschaft was appointed as the auditor for both the separate and the consolidated financial statements and also as the auditor of the sustainability reporting for the 2025 financial year.

Elections to the Supervisory Board
The Annual General Meeting also elected Patrick Lackenbucher and Leonardo Grimaldi as new members of the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG until the end of the Annual General Meeting that adopts the resolution that discharges the Supervisory Board members acting in the 2029 financial year. The mandate of Stefan Fida was also extended until the end of the Annual General Meeting that adopts the resolution that discharges the Supervisory Board members acting in the 2029 financial year.

The elections to the Supervisory Board were due to the expiry of the terms of office of Stefan Fida and of Cord Prinzhorn, who is thereby stepping down from the Supervisory Board in order to concentrate in the future on both existing as well as new tasks within the B&C Group. Marcelo Feriozzi Bacci had already stepped down from the Supervisory Board at his own request on December 6, 2024.

As a consequence, the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG continues to consist of ten members elected by the Annual General Meeting: Carlos Aníbal de Almeida Junior, Cornelius Baur, Helmut Bernkopf, Stefan Fida, Markus Fürst, Franz Gasselsberger, Leonardo Grimaldi, Patrick Lackenbucher, Gerhard Schwartz and Astrid Skala-Kuhmann. Stefan Ertl, Stephan Gruber, Bonita Haag, Helmut Kirchmair and Johann Schernberger were delegated to the Supervisory Board by the Works Council.

At the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board following the Annual General Meeting, Patrick Lackenbucher was elected Chairman, Carlos de Almeida was elected First Deputy Chairman and Stefan Fida was elected Second Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

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.

Solvay held its Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting in Brussels, and shareholders voted in favor of all the proposed resolutions.

Solvay shareholders showed support to all resolutions and more specifically:

• The payment of a gross dividend of €2.43 per share for the year 2023. After deducting the interim dividend of €1.62 gross per share, paid on 17 January 2024, the balance amounts to €0.81 gross per share, payable from 5 June 2024.
• The re-election of Ms. Aude Thibaut de Maisières as a board member for a four-year term.
• The remuneration report.
• The appointment of EY for the assurance of sustainability information related to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

On April 17, 2024, 312 shareholders, who represent 68.7% of the share capital, attended the 133rd Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd.

Shareholders Adopt All Motions Proposed by the Board of Directors:

• Distribution of a dividend of CHF 3.00 per share approved
• Remuneration Report 2023 and future remuneration of Board of Directors and Group Executive Committee formally accepted
• All members of the Board of Directors who stood for re-election were elected
• Thomas Oetterli newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors
• Jennifer Maag newly appointed to the Board of Directors
• Amendments to the Articles of Association approved

• Solvay’s FY 2023 financial statements reflect the Partial Demerger completed on December 9, 2023, with the Specialty businesses transferred to Syensqo classified as discontinued operations for 2023.
• New Solvay leadership team committed to drive the transformation of the company.
• Net sales for the full year 2023 at €4,880 million were down -12.6% organically versus 2022, driven primarily by volume declines. In Q4, net sales decreased organically by -18.9% from both lower volumes and prices.
• Underlying EBITDA of €1,246 million for the full year 2023 was stable (+0.2%) on an organic basis compared to a record 2022, with positive Net Pricing and lower fixed costs offsetting the drop in volumes. EBITDA in the fourth quarter was down -24.5% organically vs Q4 2022, fully driven by lower volumes, with variable costs reduction offsetting price erosion, while fixed costs decreased slightly.
• Underlying net profit from continuing operations was €588 million in 2023 compared to €740 million in 2022.
• Free Cash Flow of €561 million in 2023 (+17.3% vs. €479 million in 2022) resulting in a record FCF conversion ratio of 45.4%, thanks to the strong EBITDA performance and to the positive impact from working capital variation.
• ROCE was 20.4% in 2023, -2.5pp compared to 2022 as a result of lower profit.
• Solid balance sheet at the end of December 2023, in line with the target capital structure announced in November 2023, with an underlying net debt of €1.5 billion, which translates into a leverage ratio of 1.2x.
• Total proposed gross dividend of €2.43 per share, subject to shareholders’ approval during the next Ordinary General Meeting of May 28, 2024.
• Solvay continues to reduce its GHG emissions (-19% vs 2021, scope 1 and 2).
• 2024 Outlook: Organic growth of the underlying EBITDA of -10% to -20% compared to restated 2023; Free cash flow of minimum €260 million

2024 outlook
Across its product portfolio, Solvay expects current demand levels to continue over the next few months and, as such, expects H1 2024 volumes to be broadly in line with H2 2023. At this point, there is little visibility on the second half of the year, however there are signs that the trend in the second half could improve. Solvay expects Soda Ash prices over FY 2024 to be lower than FY 2023, consistent with the current market environment, which will affect the business margin in 2024. Pricing trends across Solvay’s other businesses are forecasted to be more resilient year on year.

Lower energy and raw materials prices should offset some of the negative pressure on the topline. More importantly, Solvay has started to implement cost savings initiatives that will start to deliver results in 2024.

For full year 2024, Solvay expects an organic growth of the underlying EBITDA by -10% to -20% versus a high comparison base in 2023, especially in H1. This translates into a range of €925 million to €1,040 million at a 1.10 EUR/USD exchange rate.

The organic growth of the underlying EBITDA is calculated from a 2023 restated figure of €1,154 million (vs a reported figure of €1,246 million).

Free cash flow to Solvay shareholders from continuing operations is expected to be greater than €260 million, in line with the cash usage prioritization presented during the Capital Market Day in November 2023. It is supported by Solvay’s ability to manage its capex and working capital to ensure the financing of its businesses and the payment of dividends while keeping the strength of its balance sheet intact.

Solvay remains committed to implement its strategic roadmap and reconfirms its 2028 targets as communicated at the Capital Markets Day of November 2023.

Jolanda Poots-Bijl has announced that she will step down as a member of AkzoNobel's Supervisory Board as of January 31. The decision follows her appointment as CFO of Ahold Delhaize, which limits availability for her current Supervisory Board role.

The Supervisory Board will announce a successor – to be nominated for appointment at the next Annual General Meeting – in due course. Until then, her activities will be covered by the current Supervisory Board members.

The shareholders of SGL Carbon SE approved all agenda items at the Annual General Meeting on May 9, 2023. The Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually, was attended by up to 114 electronically connected shareholders who, together with the postal votes submitted, represented 64.64% of the share capital.

CEO Dr. Torsten Derr began his speech with a review of SGL Carbon's two-year transformation phase. "In two years, we have been able to increase our sales by 23.5% and adjusted EBITDA by as much as 86.2%. In parallel, we reduced our debt by 40.4%," Dr. Derr elaborated. He also reported on the past financial year and the expectations for the future economic development of the company. In doing so, he also addressed SGL Carbon's growth markets in detail. "Over the past two years, we have made SGL fit for the future. With our products, we serve industries that significantly reflect the trends for the future: climate-friendly mobility, renewable energies and digitalization," he explained.

After 14 years on the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon, this was Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten's last Annual General Meeting as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. She had already informed the Company on February 14, 2023, that she would be leaving the Board at the end of this Annual General Meeting. As the largest shareholder, Dr. h.c. Klatten will remain associated with SGL Carbon through SKion GmbH.

As proposed, the Annual General Meeting elected Prof. Dr. Frank Richter as a shareholder representative on the Supervisory Board to succeed Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten. Following the Annual General Meeting, the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board elected Prof. Dr. Richter as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prof. Dr. Richter is Managing Director of SKion GmbH, Bad Homburg, which holds a stake of approximately 28.55% in SGL Carbon SE. Furthermore, Ingeborg Neumann, Managing Partner of Peppermint Holding GmbH, Berlin, was elected to the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon SE for a further term of office.

Shareholders Adopt All Motions Proposed by the Board of Directors

• Distribution of a dividend of CHF 1.50 per share approved
• Remuneration Report 2022 and future remuneration of Board of Directors and Group Executive Committee formally accepted
• All members of the Board of Directors who stood for re-election were elected
• Thomas Oetterli newly appointed to the Board of Directors
• KPMG newly elected as statutory auditors
• Amendments to the Articles of Association approved

On April 20, 2023, 325 shareholders, who represent 66.2% of the share capital, attended the 132nd Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd.

Dividend
The shareholders approved the proposal of the Board of Directors to distribute a dividend of CHF 1.50 per share. The dividend for the 2022 financial year will be paid on April 24, 2023.

Annual Report, Financial Statements, Consolidated Financial Statements and Remuneration Report
The shareholders also adopted all other motions proposed by the Board of Directors, namely approval of the annual report, financial and consolidated financial statements for 2022. Moreover, they formally approved the actions of the members of the Board of Directors and those of the Group Executive Committee in the year under review.

By way of a consultative vote, the shareholders also approved the Remuneration Report 2022.

Remuneration of the Members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee
In two separate binding votes, the proposed maximum total remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee for the 2024 financial year was approved.

Re-Election of the Members of the Board of Directors
The Chairman of the Board, Bernhard Jucker, and the Directors, Hans-Peter Schwald, Peter Spuhler, Roger Baillod, Carl Illi, Sarah Kreienbühl and Daniel Grieder were confirmed for a further one-year term of office. In addition, Thomas Oetterli was newly elected to the Board of Directors for a term of office.

The members of the Remuneration Committee who were standing for election –
Hans-Peter Schwald, Bernhard Jucker and Sarah Kreienbühl – were likewise re-elected for a one-year term of office.

Election of KPMG as Statutory Auditors
The shareholders also adopted the proposal of the Board of Directors to elect KPMG AG, Zurich, as new statutory auditors for the financial year beginning January 1, 2023.

Amendments to the Articles of Association
The shareholders further approved the proposals of the Board of Directors to amend the Articles of Association of Rieter Holding Ltd., in order to implement the requirements of the reform of the Swiss company law, which came into force on January 1, 2023.

echnology Group ANDRITZ achieved in 2022 the best figures in its history for order intake, revenue, and operating result ( EBITA). ANDRITZ started the new business year with a record order backlog of around ten billion EUR. Together with strict cost and project management and the successful turnaround in the Metals business area with the German Schuler Group, that order backlog will form the basis for further growth and profitability increases in 2023. Subject to the approval by the Annual General Meeting, shareholders will benefit from the excellent business development with a significant dividend increase to 2.10 EUR (previous year: 1.65 EUR) per share.

The results of the business year 2022 in detail:

• The order intake of 9,263.4 MEUR reached a record level and was thus significantly higher than the figure for the previous year (+17.6% compared to 2021: 7,879.7 MEUR). All four business areas contributed to the increase.
• The order backlog as of the end of 2022 amounted to 9,976.5 MEUR and was thus significantly higher than the value for the previous year (+22.2% compared to 2021: 8,165.8 MEUR).
• The revenue saw very favorable development during the 2022 business year and reached a new record level of 7,542.9 MEUR (+16.7% compared to 2021: 6,463.0 MEUR). All four business areas contributed to the increase in revenue.
• The operating result (EBITA) increased slightly more than revenue and reached 648.5 MEUR, also a record level (+18.7% compared to 2021: 546.5 MEUR). All four business areas contributed to the increase in earnings. Profitability (EBITA margin) increased to 8.6% (2021: 8.5%).
• The net income (including non-controlling interests) increased significantly compared to the previous year, amounting to 402.6 MEUR (+25.1% compared to 2021: 321.7 MEUR)

ANDRITZ expects to continue its profitable course of growth in the business year 2023 and anticipates an increase in both revenue and earnings compared to 2022.

Nils Andersen will step down as Chair and member of the Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel to accept a new board position outside of the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Byron Grote, Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board, said: “We congratulate Nils Andersen on his new opportunity and at the same time we deeply regret to see him go. Nils stepped into the role of Chair of the Supervisory Board during a very turbulent time. His extensive international experience in different industries and his broad business insight have helped guide AkzoNobel’s transformation into a frontrunner in the paints and coatings industry. The company’s relationship with its shareholders and other stakeholders significantly improved under his leadership.”

Nils Andersen will step down at the Annual General meeting to be held in April 2023. The Supervisory Board will announce a successor, to be nominated for appointment at the next AGM, in due course.