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Strong support for Board proposals at Nestlé Annual General Meeting

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Vevey, Switzerland

2 640 shareholders attended the Nestlé S.A. Annual General Meeting today in Lausanne. They represented 34.836 percent of the total capital and 56.762 percent of the shares entitled to vote. The annual report and the accounts were approved and the shareholders agreed to the release of the Board of Directors and the Management. The Nestlé Compensation Report was accepted in a separate advisory vote, in line with the Swiss Code of Best Practice for Corporate Governance. The shareholders further approved the proposed dividend increase to CHF 1.60 per share, an increase of 14.3 percent over last year, and agreed to the capital reduction. All proposals of the Board of Directors were approved with strong majorities.

Shareholders re-elected Messrs. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Steven G. Hoch and André Kudelski for further terms of three years. Mr Jean-René Fourtou, due to the age limit set out in the Board Regulations, was re-elected for a two-year term. The Annual General Meeting further elected Ms Titia de Lange and Mr Jean-Pierre Roth as new members of the Board, each for a three-year term.

At the meeting, Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said: “Nestlé is important for Switzerland, but let me also state clearly that Switzerland is important for Nestlé. This country has a distinct advantage as a domicile because of its well balanced and flexible legal system. It allows companies to find an organisational structure that is best suited to create added value over the long term for them and their shareholders.” He added that “it is vital to preserve the reliability of the legal system” and expressed his confidence that the Swiss parliament and the Swiss people will find a reasonable solution to the reforms currently under discussion. On the recent controversy involving Greenpeace, Mr Brabeck-Letmathe emphasized that the company supports a moratorium on the destruction of rainforests “which is one of the most serious environmental issues facing us today on a global level”. Furthermore, he pointed out that Nestlé is working in different forums towards constructive solutions to end deforestation of rainforests.

Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke said: “Our motto is ‘Good Food, Good Life’. These words reflect the very essence of Nestlé and our commitment to providing everyone – every day and everywhere – with delicious, nutritious and high-quality products. (...) It is our obligation to fulfil the promise associated with this motto in each and every one of our actions, and in doing so to drive our company towards new successes, year after year.”

For the year to come, the Board and its different Committees will be composed as follows:

Board of Directors 
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Paul Bulcke, Andreas Koopmann, Rolf Hänggi, Daniel Borel, Jean-Pierre Meyers, André Kudelski, Carolina Müller-Möhl, Jean-René Fourtou, Steven G. Hoch, Naina Lal Kidwai, Beat Hess, Titia de Lange, Jean-Pierre Roth

Chairman's and Corporate Governance Committee
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Paul Bulcke, Andreas Koopmann, Rolf Hänggi, Jean-René Fourtou

Compensation Committee
Daniel Borel, Andreas Koopmann, Jean-Pierre Meyers, Jean-René Fourtou

Nomination Committee
Andreas Koopmann, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Carolina Müller-Möhl, Steven G. Hoch

Audit Committee
Rolf Hänggi, André Kudelski, Naina Lal Kidwai, Beat Hes

The Chairman's and the CEO’s addresses to the AGM can be found on our Events page.

Contacts:
Media: Robin Tickle Tel.: +41 21 924 22 00
Investors: Roddy Child-Villiers Tel.: +41 21 924 36 22