Notice to Exel Composites Plc Annual General Meeting
EXEL COMPOSITES PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 18.2.2015 at 9.00 a.m.
Notice to Exel Composites Plc Annual General Meeting
Notice is given to the shareholders of Exel Composites Plc to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on Thursday 26 March 2015 at 10.30 a.m. at Scandic Marina Congress Center, at the address of Katajanokanlaituri 7, Helsinki, Finland. The reception of persons who have registered for the meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will commence at 9.30 a.m.
A. Matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting and their course of procedure
1. Opening of the meeting
2. Calling the meeting to order
3. Election of persons to scrutinize the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes
4. Recording the legality of the meeting
5. Recording the attendance at the meeting and adoption of the list of votes
6. Presentation of the financial statements, the consolidated financial statements, the review of the Board of Directors and the auditor’s report for the year 2014
Review by the Company’s CEO
7. Adoption of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements
8. Resolution on the dispose of the profit shown on the balance sheet and the payment of dividend
The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.20 per share be paid based on the adopted financial statements for the financial year ended on 31 December 2014. The dividend will be paid to shareholders registered in the Company’s shareholders’ register maintained by Euroclear Finland Ltd. on the record date for dividend 30 March 2015. The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the dividend be paid on 8 April 2015.
9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO from liability
10. Resolution on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors
The Nomination Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting of 26 March 2015 that the annual remuneration for the Board members shall be as follows: Yearly remuneration of EUR 36,000 (previous year 34,000) for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and additionally EUR 1,500 for attendance at Board and committee meetings and other similar Board assignments and the other Board members be paid a yearly remuneration of EUR 18,000 (16,000) and additionally EUR 1,000 for attendance at Board and committee meetings and other similar Board assignments.
Out of the yearly remuneration 60 per cent would be paid in cash and 40 per cent in Exel Composites Plc shares, which would be acquired directly for and on behalf of the members of the Board of Directors during 31 March – 10 April 2015 from the stock exchange in amounts corresponding to EUR 14,400 for the Chairman and EUR 7,200 for each of the other members. The annual remuneration shall encompass the full term of office of the Board of Directors. If the required amount of shares cannot be acquired during the specified period in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, the part of yearly remuneration to be paid in shares which could not be acquired can be paid in cash. Should the term of any member of the Board of Directors come to an end for whatever reason before the next Annual General Meeting, such member of the Board of Directors will have to return to the Company the remuneration or equivalent amount in cash already received but not yet earned at that point in time.
The Nomination Board also proposes that travel expenses and other out-of-pocket expenses arising from the Board work be compensated in accordance with the Company’s established practice and travel rules.
11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors
The Nomination Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that five (5) members be elected to the Board of Directors.
12. Election of members of the Board of Directors
The Nomination Board elected by the Annual General Meeting of Exel Composites Plc proposes to the Annual General Meeting to be held on 26 March 2015 that the current members of the Board of Directors, Heikki Hiltunen, Peter Hofvenstam, Kerstin Lindell and Reima Kerttula be re-elected as members of the Board for the term ending at the closure of the Annual General Meeting of 2016. The Nomination Board also proposes that Matti Hyytiäinen be elected as new member of the Board of Directors.
Matti Hyytiäinen (54) is currently the President and CEO of PKC Group, a global group with a turnover of some MEUR 880, designing, manufacturing and integrating electrical distribution systems, electronics and related architecture components for the commercial vehicle industry and other selected segments. Previously Matti Hyytiäinen has served KONE Plc in various senior management positions. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics.
Göran Jönsson (Board member since 2008) has informed that he is no longer available for re-election.
The Nomination Board further proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to re-elect Peter Hofvenstam as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the term ending at the closure of the Annual General Meeting of 2016.
All nominees have given their consent for the election. The presentation of persons proposed for Exel Composites Plc's Board of Directors can be found on the Company’s website at www.exelcomposites.com.
13. Resolution on the remuneration of the auditor
The Board of Directors proposes that the auditor’s compensation be paid against an invoice as approved by the Company.
14. Election of auditor
The Board of Directors proposes that the Company’s present auditor, Ernst & Young Oy, certified by the Central Chamber of Commerce, be re-elected as an auditor of the Company for the term that will continue until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. The proposed auditor has given its consent for the election. Ernst & Young has announced Mr. Juha Hilmola, APA, to be the Auditor with principal responsibility.
15. Authorising the Board of Directors to decide on the repurchase of the Company’s own shares
The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting would resolve on authorising the Board of Directors to decide on the repurchase of the Company’s own shares on the following terms:
By virtue of the authorisation the Board of Directors is entitled to decide on the repurchase of a maximum of 600,000 Company’s own shares. The authorisation shall also contain an entitlement for the Company to accept its own shares as pledge.
The number of shares that can be acquired or held as pledges by the Company on the basis of this authorisation shall not exceed one tenth (1/10) of all outstanding shares of the Company.
Own shares may be repurchased in deviation from the proportion to the holdings of the shareholders with unrestricted equity through trading of the securities on regulated market organized by NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd at the market price of the time of the repurchase provided that the Company has a weighty financial reason thereto.
The shares shall be acquired and paid in accordance with the Rules of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd and Euroclear Finland Ltd.
Shares may be repurchased to be used as consideration in possible acquisitions or in other arrangements that are part of the Company’s business, to finance investments, as part of the Company’s incentive program or to be retained, otherwise conveyed or cancelled by the Company.
The Board of Directors shall decide on other terms of the share repurchase.
The share repurchase authorisation shall be valid until 30 June 2016 and it shall revoke the repurchase authorisation given by the Annual General Meeting on 27 March 2014.
16. Appointment of a Nomination Board
The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting to be held on 26 March 2015 that the Annual General Meeting shall resolve to appoint a Nomination Board to prepare proposals concerning Board members and their remunerations for the following Annual General Meeting. The Nomination Board would consist of the representatives of the four largest shareholders and of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, acting as an expert member. The Company’s largest shareholders entitled to appoint members to the Nomination Board shall be determined on the basis of the registered holdings in the Company’s shareholder register held by Euroclear Finland Oy as of the 1st working day in October preceding the next Annual General Meeting. In addition, shareholders who under the Finnish Securities Markets Act have an obligation to disclose changes in ownership (shareholder subject to disclosure notification by flagging) will be taken into account when forming the Nomination Board provided that they notify their shareholdings to the Board of Directors in writing by 30 September 2015. Should a shareholder not wish to use its right to nominate, this right would be passed on to the next largest shareholder.
The Nomination Board would be convened by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the Board would choose a chairman from among its own members.
The Nomination Board should give its proposal to the Board of Directors of the Company at the latest by 31 January 2016.
17. Closing of the Annual General Meeting
B. Documents of the Annual General Meeting
The proposals for the decisions on the matters on the agenda as well as this notice are available on Exel Composites Plc’s website at www.exelcomposites.com. The annual report of Exel Composites Plc, including the Company’s financial statements, consolidated financial statements, the review of the Board of Directors and the auditor’s report, is available on the above-mentioned website no later than 5 March 2015. The proposals for the decisions as well as the annual report are also available at the Annual General Meeting. The minutes of the Meeting will be available on the above-mentioned website as from 9 April 2015.
C. Instructions for the participants in the Annual General Meeting
1. Shareholders registered in the shareholders’ register
Each shareholder, who is registered on Monday 16 March 2015 in the shareholders’ register of the Company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd., has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder, whose shares are registered on his/her personal Finnish book-entry account, is registered in the shareholders’ register of the Company.
A shareholder, who is registered in the shareholders’ register of the Company and who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting, shall register for the meeting no later than Thursday 19 March 2015 at 4 p.m. by giving a prior notice of participation to the Company, which shall be received by the Company no later than on the above-mentioned date and time. Such notice can be given either:
a) on the Company’s website www.exelcomposites.com/agm; or
b) by email to investor@exelcomposites.com; or
c) by telephone at +358 20 7541 221 from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.; or
d) by telefax at +358 20 7541 201; or
e) by regular mail to the address Exel Composites Plc, Annual General Meeting, Mäkituvantie 5, 01510 Vantaa, Finland.
In connection with the registration, a shareholder shall notify his/her name, personal identification number, address, telephone number and the name and personal identification number of a possible assistant or proxy representative. The personal data given to Exel Composites Plc is used only in connection with the Annual General Meeting and with processing of related registrations.
2. Holders of nominee registered shares
A holder of nominee registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which he/she on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. on 16 March 2015, would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders’ register of the Company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. The right to participate in the Annual General Meeting requires, in addition, that the shareholder on the basis of such shares has been temporarily registered into the shareholders’ register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. at the latest by Monday 23 March 2015 at 10.00 a.m. As regards nominee registered shares, this constitutes due registration for the Annual General Meeting.
A holder of nominee registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders’ register of the Company, the issuing of proxy documents and registration for the Annual General Meeting from his/her custodian bank. The account manager of the custodian bank has to register a holder of nominee registered shares, who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting, temporarily into the shareholders’ register of the Company at the latest by the time stated above.
3. Proxy representative and powers of attorney
A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the meeting by way of proxy representation.
A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting. When a shareholder participates in the Annual General Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares at different securities accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Annual General Meeting.
Possible proxy documents should be delivered in originals to the address Exel Composites Plc, Annual General Meeting, Mäkituvantie 5, 01510 Vantaa, Finland, on Thursday 19 March 2015 at the latest.
4. Other information
Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act, a shareholder who is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the meeting.
On the date of this notice to the Annual General Meeting, the total number of shares and votes in Exel Composites Plc is 11,896,843.
Vantaa, 18 February 2015
EXEL COMPOSITES PLC
Board of Directors
Further information:
Riku Kytömäki, President and CEO, Exel Composites Plc, tel. +358 50 511 8288, or email riku.kytomaki@exelcomposites.com
Ilkka Silvanto, CFO, Exel Composites Plc, tel. +358 50 598 9553, or email ilkka.silvanto@exelcomposites.com
Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
Main news media
www.exelcomposites.com