Shareholders have formally approved the actions of the management and supervisory boards and adopted a resolution on the dividend for fiscal year 2016, Volkswagen AG said in a statement issued after the annual general meeting in Hanover on Wednesday (10 May).
The dividend payment for 2016 will be much higher than in 2015 and shareholders also approved a new remuneration system for board members. approved
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VW AG shareholders will be paid a dividend of EUR2.00 (vs EUR0.11 for 2015) per ordinary share and EUR2.06 (EUR0.17) per preferred share for fiscal year 2016. Shareholders represented at the AGM voted by a majority of 99.99% to approve the recommendation. Approximately EUR1bn will be appropriated from group net profit, the statement said.
The resolution on the formal approval of the actions of the members of the board of management and the supervisory board for fiscal year 2016 was passed by 92.53% of the ordinary shareholders at the AGM.
Shareholders approved the new remuneration system for the board of management and also passed the resolution on the reorganisation of the system for remuneration for the Volkswagen supervisory board.
Ahead of the AGM, investment advisory firm Hermes EOS had urged Volkswagen shareholders not to clear the carmaker's management and supervisory boards from responsibility for actions taken in 2016, citing VW's failure to resolve long-standing corporate governance and transparency issues, according to Reuters.
Hermes called on VW to publish key findings of its investigation into the emissions scandal, criticised the carmaker's efforts to improve corporate culture and demanded an independent review of its supervisory board.
"We think that Volkswagen has failed to systematically address those problems to date," Hermes, which represents large institutional investors, told Reuters on Tuesday.
