Resolutions of the Annual General Meeting of Biohit Oyj
Biohit Oyj Stock exchange release 11.4.2012 6.30 pm
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Biohit Oyj held on Wednesday 11 April 2012 approved the financial statements of the parent company and the consolidated financial statements, and discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO from liability for the financial year 2011.
Distribution of dividends
In accordance with the proposal by the Board of Directors, the AGM decided that the profit for the financial period ended on 31 December 2011 will be recorded in the profit and loss account.
In accordance with the proposal by the Board of Directors, the AGM decided that on the basis of the financial statements to be adopted for the financial period ended on 31 December 2011, a dividend of EUR 0.1973 per each A share and EUR 0.2007 for each B share be paid. Dividend will be paid to shareholders recorded in the company's shareholder register on the matching day, 16 April 2012. The Board of Directors proposes that the dividend will be paid out on 23 April 2012.
In accordance with the proposal of the Board of Directors, the AGM decided that on the basis of the financial statements to be adopted for the financial period ended on 31 December 2011, funds from the invested non-restricted equity fund be distributed to shareholders as a capital repayment, with the capital repaid amounting to EUR 0.80 for each A and B share. Capital will be repaid to shareholders recorded in the company's shareholder register on the repayment day, 16 April 2012. The Board of Directors proposes that the capital repayment will be made on 23 April 2012.
Members of the Board of Directors
The AGM decided that the number of members of the Board of Directors would be seven (7). Furthermore, that the following Board members re-elected until the end of the next AGM: Kalle Kettunen, M.Sc.Eng., Osmo Suovaniemi, professor, Mikko Salaspuro, professor, Eero Lehti, M.Sc (Sos.Sc), Member of Parliament, Petteri Kilpinen, CEO, Seppo Luode, M.Sc.Eng., and Saila Miettinen-Lähde, CFO
Additionally, the AGM decided that the chairman of the Board of Directors would be paid a monthly fee of EUR 1,600 and the ordinary members would be paid a monthly fee of EUR 1,500.
Auditors
The AGM elected authorised public accountants Ernst & Young Oy as the company’s auditors, with APA Erkka Talvinko as the head auditor, until the end of the next AGM.
All decisions of the AGM were made unanimously. The minutes of the AGM will be available for review by shareholders by 16 April 2012 on the company’s website (www.biohithealthcare.com/investors) and at the corporate headquarters of Biohit, located at Laippatie 1, 00880 Helsinki.
Further information:
Semi Korpela, M.Sc. (Econ.)
CEO, Biohit Group
Tel.: +358 9 773 861
Mobile: +358 40 573 7701
semi.korpela@biohit.fi
BIOHIT HealthCare
Innovating for Health
Cancer Prevention
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OMX Helsinki Oyj
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About Biohit
Biohit Oyj is a globally operating Finnish biotechnology company established in 1988. Biohit's mission crystallizes in its motto “Innovating for Health”. The company assumes social responsibility by producing innovations, new technologies and analysis systems for use in medicine, research institutions and industry. These products help to promote research and diagnostics, while improving quality of life by preventing disease, human suffering and financial loss. Biohit also seeks to innovate and develop the marketing and availability of its products and services.
Biohit works with scientific communities to produce new technologies, products and services based on research results and innovations. These can be used to develop safe and cost-effective diagnostic tests for the early detection and prevention of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. (www.biohithealthcare.com / International / State of the art GastroPanel and Acetium innovations for the unmet need).
In January 2012, sixteen world-leading gastroenterology specialists from eleven countries proposed in their SJG publication the use of the biomarkers of the modern GastroPanel test for safe and cost-efficient primary diagnosis and screening of Helicobacter infection and atrophic gastritis in patients with stomach discomfort and in asymptomatic patients, as it is neither safe nor cost-efficient to use the 13C urea breath test for this purpose. In addition, the authors of the publication state that acetaldehyde generated in an achlorhydric stomach (a consequence of atrophic gastritis) is a significant reason for an increased gastric and oesophageal cancer risk. Acetium capsules can reduce the amount of cancer-causing acetaldehyde generated in the stomach – and thus, very likely, they also reduce the cancer risk (SJG: “GastroPanel biomarkers: Rationale in diagnosis and screening of atrophic gastritis with stomach-specific plasma biomarkers”, Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 2012; 47: 136–147).
Biohit's products include analysis systems for the prevention and early diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases, such as the blood-sample based GastroPanel examinations for the diagnosis of stomach illnesses and associated risks, quick tests for the diagnosis of lactose intolerance and H. pylori infection in connection with gastroscopy, and the ColonView examination for the early detection of intestinal bleeding that indicates a risk