The Annual General Meeting of Norsk Hydro ASA has today adopted the board of directors' proposal to distribute a dividend of NOK 9.50 per share. The dividend will be paid on Monday, 21 May 2001 to shareholders who are listed in the company's register as of 2 May, as indicated in the notice of the meeting. Shares will be registered ex-dividend from 3 May inclusive, while American Depositary Receipts have been registered ex-dividend since 30 April.
The AGM adopted the income statement and balance sheet for Norsk Hydro ASA for 2000, and the consolidated results and balance sheet for the group as proposed by the board of directors.
The following new members of the Corporate Assembly were elected: Jørgen Lindegård, President and CEO of SAS from 8 May, Siri Teigum, partner in the firm of Thommessen, Krefting, Greve, Lund Advokatfirma AS, and Kjell Aamot, President of Schibsted ASA. The new members replace Ingvild Myhre, who has been elected to the company's board of directors, as well as Idar Ulstein and Åge Korsvold, who have both stepped down. The new members have been elected for the rest of the electoral period, i.e. until next year's AGM.
The board's proposal for amendments to the Articles of Association was adopted, including a new article 5a which relates to the setting up of an electoral committee in Norsk Hydro ASA consisting of four members, of which two are drawn from the shareholders' representatives of the Corporate Assembly and two are elected by the AGM. The following were elected to the electoral committee: Reier Søberg, Director General in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Westye Høegh, chairman of the association of private Norwegian shareholders in Hydro. In addition, the electoral committee will consist of the chairman of the Corporate Assembly (Sven Ullring) who, in accordance with the new articles, chairs the committee, while the fourth member will be elected at the next meeting of the Corporate Assembly.
As announced earlier, Egil Myklebust takes over today as board chairman from Einar Kloster and Eivind Reiten as President and CEO from Egil Myklebust.