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Vevey, April 11, 2019
Nestlé S.A. Annual General Meeting
- All Board of Directors’ proposals approved with strong majorities
- Dick Boer and Dinesh Paliwal elected as new members of the Board
1830 shareholders attended the Nestlé S.A. Annual General Meeting today in Lausanne. They represented 56,7% of the capital and 79,6% of the shares entitled to vote. The annual review and the accounts were approved. The shareholders further approved the proposed dividend of CHF 2.45 per share and the proposed capital reduction.
All proposals of the Board of Directors were approved with strong majorities.
The shareholders elected Dick Boer, former President and CEO of Ahold Delhaize N.V., and Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of Harman International Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., as new members of the Board. Two directors, Jean-Pierre Roth and Ruth Oniang’o, did not stand for re-election as they have reached the age limit set out in the Board Regulations. The Board warmly thanked them for their highly appreciated services and important contributions as directors.
The shareholders elected the Chairman and all other members of the Board of Directors individually for a term of office until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.
The shareholders approved prospectively the total compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. They also accepted the Nestlé Compensation Report 2018 in an advisory vote.
In his address to the meeting, Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke said: "In today’s context, Nestlé’s Nutrition, Health and Wellness strategy is more relevant than ever. It clearly meets the needs and tastes of our consumers and society. It can also help address one of the major challenges we will be facing by 2050: to feed a global population of 10 billion people in a healthy and sustainable manner." He added: "This strategy is inspired by the purpose that has driven Nestlé for over 150 years: enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. We are a company that operates on the basic principle that we do business to create shared value. Value for you, our shareholders, and value for society."
Commenting on the past year, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said: "Our continuous efforts over the past years are bearing fruit. Organic growth and profitability improved significantly. We also took important decisions which led to a sharpening of our strategy focused on food, beverages and nutritional health products.” Speaking about the various sustainability initiatives launched last year, he highlighted Nestlé’s commitment to tackle plastic waste: "We have a strong commitment to the environment. Tackling plastic pollution is an urgent priority for us. It requires a broad set of well-coordinated actions and sustained effort. There is no simple solution to this complex problem."
For the year to come, the Board and its different Committees will be composed as follows:
Board of Directors
Paul Bulcke, U. Mark Schneider, Henri de Castries, Beat W. Hess, Renato Fassbind, Ann M. Veneman, Eva Cheng, Patrick Aebischer, Ursula M. Burns, Kasper B. Rorsted, Pablo Isla, Kimberly A. Ross, Dick Boer, Dinesh Paliwal
Chairman's and Corporate Governance Committee
Paul Bulcke, U. Mark Schneider, Henri de Castries, Beat W. Hess, Renato Fassbind
Compensation Committee
Beat W. Hess, Patrick Aebischer, Ursula M. Burns, Pablo Isla
Nomination and Sustainability Committee
Henri de Castries, Paul Bulcke, Ann M. Veneman, Eva Cheng
Audit Committee
Renato Fassbind, Henri de Castries, Eva Cheng, Kimberly A. Ross
The addresses to the Annual General Meeting of the Chairman and the CEO can be found on the Nestlé corporate website.
For more information about Nestlé in society, see our new Creating Shared Value report.
Contacts:
Media: Christoph Meier Tel.: +41 21 924 22 00
Investors: Luca Borlini Tel.: +41 21 924 35 09