Decisions taken by Wärtsilä's Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors
Wärtsilä Corporation, stock exchange release, 4 March 2021 at 5.45 PM E. Europe Standard Time
Decisions taken by Wärtsilä's Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors
Wärtsilä’s Annual General Meeting was held on 4 March 2021 at the Company’s headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The Meeting approved the financial statements, reviewed the Remuneration Policy and Remuneration Report 2020 for Governing Bodies, and discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the company’s President & CEO from liability for the financial year 2020.
The use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and the payment of dividend
The Meeting approved the Board of Directors’ proposal to pay a dividend of EUR 0.20 per share. The dividend shall be paid in two instalments. The first instalment of EUR 0.10 per share shall be paid to the shareholders who are registered in the list of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the dividend record day of 8 March 2021. The payment day proposed by the Board for this instalment is 15 March 2021. The second instalment of EUR 0.10 per share shall be paid to shareholders who are registered in the list of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the dividend record day, which, together with the payment day, shall be decided by the Board of Directors in its meeting scheduled for 9 September 2021. The dividend record day for the second instalment as per the current rules of the Finnish book-entry system would be 13 September 2021 and the dividend payment day 20 September 2021.
Remuneration of the Board of Directors
The fees to the members of the Board of Directors were approved as follows:
- to the Chair EUR 140,000/year
- to the Deputy Chair EUR 105,000/year
- to the ordinary members EUR 70,000/year
Approximately 40% of the annual Board remuneration will be paid in Wärtsilä shares, and the rest in cash. The Company will compensate the transaction costs and costs in relation to the applicable asset transfer tax arising from the share purchases.
In addition, each member will be paid EUR 750 per Board meeting attended, the Chair’s meeting fee being double this amount. Furthermore, the Chair of the Audit Committee will receive a fixed fee of EUR 20,000 and each member of the Committee a fixed fee of EUR 10,000 for the term, while the Chair of the People Committee will receive a fixed fee of EUR 10,000 and each member of the Committee a fixed fee of EUR 5,000 for the term.
Board of Directors and Auditor
The Annual General Meeting decided that the Board of Directors shall have eight members. The following were elected to the Board: Maarit Aarni-Sirviö, Karen Bomba, Karin Falk, Johan Forssell, Tom Johnstone, Risto Murto, Mats Rahmström, and Tiina Tuomela.
It was decided that the auditor is reimbursed according to the auditor’s invoice approved by the Company.
The audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy was elected as the auditor of the Company for the year 2021.
Authorisation to repurchase the Company’s own shares
The Board of Directors was authorised to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 57,000,000 shares in the Company. Shares may be repurchased also otherwise than in proportion to the shareholders’ holding in the Company. The authorisation to repurchase the Company’s own shares shall be valid until the close of the next Annual General Meeting, however no longer than for 18 months from the decision by the Annual General Meeting.
Authorisation to issue shares
The Board of Directors was authorised to resolve to issue a maximum of 57,000,000 shares in the Company. The shares can be issued for consideration or without consideration. They can also be issued in deviation from the shareholders’ pre-emptive rights by way of a directed issue, if there is a weighty financial reason for the Company to do so. A directed issue may be decided upon to develop the capital structure of the Company or to finance or carry out acquisitions or other arrangements. Additionally, the authorisation can also be used as part of the Company’s incentive schemes for up to 10,000,000 shares, which represents 1.69% of all the shares in the Company. The authorisation for the Board of Directors to issue shares shall be valid for 18 months from the decision by the Annual General Meeting. However, the authorisation regarding incentive schemes shall be valid for five years from the decision. This authorisation revokes the authorisation given by the Annual General Meeting on 5 March 2020 to issue shares.
Advance voting was held on matters 7-18 on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting. The detailed results of the advance voting are recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The minutes of the meeting will be available on the Company’s website at www.wartsila.com/agm as of 18 March 2021 at the latest.
Decisions of the Board of Directors
Convening after the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors elected Tom Johnstone as its Chair and Risto Murto as the Deputy Chair. The Board decided to establish an Audit Committee and a People Committee. The Board appointed from among its members the following members to the committees:
Audit Committee: Chair Tiina Tuomela, Maarit Aarni-Sirviö, Risto Murto
People Committee: Chair Maarit Aarni-Sirviö, Johan Forssell, Tom Johnstone
Wärtsilä Corporation
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2020, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com