Company announcement no 2017-04 27 March 2017 Annual general meeting
Today, William Demant Holding A/S held its annual general meeting at the Company's premises, Kongebakken 9, 2765 Smørum, Denmark. All proposals put forward by the Board were adopted by the general meeting, implying among others the following decisions:
- The Company's Annual Report 2016 was approved, and the year's profit, DKK 1,115 million, will be transferred to the Company's reserves.
- The Board's remuneration for the 2017 financial year was approved.
- Peter Foss, Niels B. Christiansen, Benedikte Leroy and Lars Rasmussen were re-elected members of the Board of Directors, and Niels Jacobsen was elected new member of the Board of Directors.
- The Company's auditors, Deloitte Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab, were re-elected.
- The Company's share capital will be reduced by nominally DKK 1,423,110, corresponding to the Company's holding of treasury shares at 27 February 2017. The Company's holding of treasury shares was acquired as part of the Company's share buy-back programme in 2016 and 2017. As a result of the capital reduction, article 4.1 of the articles of association will be amended no later than four weeks after expiry of the deadline for the filing of claims by creditors, which means that upon expiry of this deadline, it will appear from article 4.1 that the Company's share capital is DKK 51,793,255.
- Until the next ordinary general meeting, the Board was authorised to let the Company buy back shares with a nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital.
- The Company's articles of association were amended to the effect that voting papers will not necessarily be handed out together with admission cards.
In his address, the Chairman of the Board, Lars Nørby Johansen, gave an account of the Group's development in 2016. He said among other things:
" 2016 was a particularly good year, and it is with both pleasure and satisfaction that the Board looks back on the past year.
Our core business - the development, manufacture and wholesale of hearing aids - finished the year on a high note in terms of organic revenue growth. This is mainly due to the launch of Oticon's hearing aid Opn in June 2016. Opn has now been on the market for more than half a year, and surveys confirm that what we have is a truly ground-breaking product that provides the user with a far better hearing experience. We expect that Opn will also in the future help us win market shares.
The basis of and premise for being in the hearing healthcare business are in place. We offer a broad spectrum of products, and we have considerable market shares in most of the areas where we are active. We therefore have a rather unique position compared to our competitors in the hearing healthcare industry. By virtue of not only our investments, but also our DNA, William Demant is a high-tech, innovative company that is close to its customers and the end-users in all parts of the business. This foundation is pivotal for creating growth, but creating growth also requires us to develop and improve across our Group. We do this by focusing our attention on creating synergies and by launching a range of strategic initiatives."
After the general meeting, the Board of Directors elected Niels B. Christiansen Chairman and Niels Jacobsen Deputy Chairman of the Board.
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| Further information: Niels Jacobsen, President & CEO Phone +45 3917 7300 www.demant.com | Other contacts: René Schneider, CFO Søren B. Andersson, VP IR Mathias Holten Møller, IR Officer |
