Decisions taken by KONE Corporation's Annual General Meeting
KONE Corporation, stock exchange release, February 29, 2024 at 1.30 p.m. EET
Decisions taken by KONE Corporation's Annual General Meeting
Matters relating to the Annual General Meeting
KONE Corporation's Annual General Meeting was held in Helsinki on February 29, 2024. The meeting approved the financial statements, considered the Remuneration Report and Remuneration Policy for governing bodies and discharged the responsible parties from liability for the financial period January 1-December 31, 2023.
The General Meeting approved dividends in line with the Board of Director's proposal of EUR 1.7475 for each of the class A shares and EUR 1.75 for each of the outstanding class B shares. The date of record for dividend distribution is March 4, 2024 and dividend is paid on March 11, 2024.
The number of Members of the Board of Directors was confirmed as nine. Re-elected as Members of the Board were Matti Alahuhta, Susan Duinhoven, Marika Fredriksson, Antti Herlin, Iiris Herlin, Jussi Herlin, Ravi Kant and Krishna Mikkilineni. Timo Ihamuotila was elected as a new Member to the Board of Directors.
The General Meeting confirmed an annual compensation of EUR 220,000 for the Chairman of the Board, EUR 125,000 for the Vice Chairman and EUR 110,000 for Board Members. Of the annual compensation 40 percent will be paid in class B shares of KONE Corporation and the rest in cash. In addition, the General Meeting confirmed a separate annual compensation to the members of the board committees: Chairman of the Audit Committee: EUR 20,000 and members of the Audit Committee: EUR 10,000, and Chairman of the Nomination and Compensation Committee: EUR 20,000 and members of the Nomination and Compensation Committee: EUR 10,000. The annual compensation of the members of the board committees is paid in cash. In addition, it was resolved that annual compensation is not paid to a Board Member who is employed by the company. Possible travel expenses are reimbursed according to the travel policy of the company.
Audit firm Ernst & Young Oy was nominated as the auditor for the term 2024 and it will also carry out the assurance of the company’s sustainability reporting for the financial year 2024.
Other decisions by the General Meeting
The General Meeting approved the authorization for the Board of Directors to repurchase KONE's own shares. Altogether no more than 52,930,000 shares may be repurchased, of which no more than 7,620,000 may be class A shares and 45,310,000 class B shares. The authorization will be valid until the conclusion of the following annual general meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2025.
Furthermore, the General Meeting authorized the Board of Directors to decide on the issuance of shares as well as the issuance of options and other special rights entitling to shares referred to in Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Limited Liability Companies Act. The number of shares to be issued based on this authorization shall not exceed 7,620,000 class A shares and 45,310,000 class B shares. The Board of Directors decides on all the conditions of the issuance of shares and of special rights entitling to shares. The authorization concerns both the issuance of new shares as well as the transfer of treasury shares. The issuance of shares and of special rights entitling to shares may be carried out in deviation from the shareholders' pre-emptive rights (directed issue). The authorization will be valid until the conclusion of the following annual general meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2025.
More information:
Sanna Kaje, Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. +358 204 75 0031
Sender:
KONE Corporation
Johannes Frände
General Counsel, Secretary to the Board
Ilkka Hara
CFO
About KONE
At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle. Through more effective People Flow®, we make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. In 2023, KONE had annual sales of EUR 11.0 billion, and at the end of the year over 60,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.
www.kone.com