April 16, 2012
Annual General Meeting 2012
Henkel reconfirms 2012 targets
Düsseldorf, Germany - At today’s Annual General Meeting, Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted outlined the main success drivers for the company’s business performance in 2011. “Henkel recorded the best year in its company history. We fully metall our financial targets and even overdelivered on a number of them. The strong focus on our vision and values and on our strategic priorities, as well as the global footprint of our company significantly contributed to this achievement.”
Henkel shareholders will also benefit from this strong performance. “We are proposing to the Annual General Meeting to increase the dividend per preferred share from 0.72 to 0.80 euros and the dividend per ordinary share from 0.70to 0.78euros,” Rorsted announced. “Since 2008 our dividend has thus increased by more than 50 percent.”
Simone Bagel-Trah, Chairwoman of the Shareholders’ Committee and of the Supervisory Board, thanked the Management Board and all employees for the excellent results achieved and theirdedication and commitment in 2011.
“Good start to fiscal 2012”
Commenting on the company’s performance at the beginning of fiscal 2012, Rorsted said:“We had a good start to 2012.”For further details he referred to the publication of the first quarter results on May 9.
For the full year 2012 Rorsted confirmed the targets as previously announced at the company’s annual results press conference in March. “We expect organic sales growth for the full fiscal year to be between 3 and 5 percent. We also expect to increase our adjusted EBIT margin to 14 percent and to improve adjusted earnings per preferred share by at least 10 percent.”
Referring to the current economic environment, Rorsted reiterated the need to constantly adapt existing structures and workflows: “We have to accept higher volatility in our markets as the ‘new normal’. As a consequence, we have to permanently adapt our processes and structures to be able to respond more quickly and more flexibly than our peers.” As other key success factors for the future, Rorsted emphasized the further strengthening of Henkel’s top brands, a continuous flow of innovations and the expansion of the company’s position in the emerging markets.
Rorsted also highlighted the strategic importance of sustainability for the company:“We are committed to further expanding our leading position in sustainability.” Summarizing Henkel’s new long-term strategy in this field, Rorsted said: “We want to achieve more with less.” Therefore Henkel has set itself the ambitious goal of tripling its efficiency by the year 2030.“To achieve this ambitious long-term goal, we either have to triple the value we create while leaving the footprint at the same level. Or we reduce our footprint to one third of today’s level by delivering the same value.”
Further information on the Annual General Meeting is available at:
-Live stream webcast of the AGM proceedings (from 10:00 am CET)
-Kasper Rorsted's complete statement (from 10.00 am CET)
-Press photos of the AGM proceedings (from 12:00 noon CET)
Henkel operates worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business areas: Laundry & Home Care, Cosmetics/Toiletries and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, Henkel holds globally leading market positions both in the consumer and industrial businesses with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel employs more than 47,000 people and reported sales of 15,605 million euros and adjusted operating profit of 2,029 million euros in fiscal 2011. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX and the company ranks among the Fortune Global 500.
This document contains forward-looking statements which are based on the current estimates and assumptions made by the corporate management of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. Forward-looking statements are characterized by the use of words such as expect, intend, plan, predict, assume, believe, estimate, anticipate and similar formulations. Such statements are not to be understood as in any way guaranteeing that those expectations will turn out to be accurate. Future performance and the results actually achieved by Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and its affiliated companies depend on a number of risks and uncertainties and may therefore differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are outside Henkel’s control and cannot be accurately estimated in advance, such as the future economic environment and the actions of competitors and others involved in the marketplace. Henkel neither plans nor undertakes to update forward-looking statements.
Contact
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Tel.+49 211 797- 2606Tel.+49 211 797-1875
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