Shareholders approved all Board proposals and unchanged dividend of CHF 6.25 per share

The shareholders of VAT Group AG approved all motions proposed by the Board of Directors at today’s ordinary Annual General Meeting (AGM), including the payout of an unchanged dividend of CHF 6.25 per share.

351 shareholders representing 67.82% percent of the company’s share capital were present at the meeting held in St.Gallen.

The shareholders re-elected Dr. Martin Komischke as Chairman of the Board of Directors. In addition, Urs Leinhäuser, Karl Schlegel, Hermann Gerlinger, Libo Zhang, Daniel Lippuner and Petra Denk were confirmed as members of the Board of Directors. Thomas A. Piliszczuk was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors, replacing Maria Heriz who did not stand for re-election.

Urs Leinhäuser, Hermann Gerlinger and Libo Zhang were re-elected to the Nomination and Compensation Committee (NCC).

The shareholders approved a dividend from accumulated gains of CHF 6.25 per registered share of VAT. The last trading day with entitlement to receive a dividend is Wednesday, May 15, 2024, and VAT shares will be traded ex-dividend as of Thursday, May 16, 2024. The payment will take place on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

The shareholders approved in a consultative vote the report on non-financial matters (Sustainability Report 2023). In addition, the compensation report 2023 was also endorsed by a vast majority of shareholders in a consultative vote. Shareholders also approved in separate binding votes the short-term incentive (STI) compensation of the Group Executive Committee (GEC) for the financial year 2023, the total maximum amount of fixed compensation of the GEC for the financial year 2025, the maximum amount of the long-term incentive (LTI) compensation of the GEC for the financial year 2025 and the total maximum amount of compensation for the eight members of the Board covering the next term until the AGM 2025.

Financial calendar 2024

ABOUT VAT
We change the world with vacuum solutions – that is our purpose as the world’s leading developer, manufacturer, and supplier of high-end vacuum valves. VAT vacuum valves are mission-critical components for advanced production processes of innovative everyday products such as portable devices, flat screen monitors or solar panels. VAT reports in two different segments: Valves and Global Service. Under the latter, we provide our customers with original spare parts, maintenance, technical support, and training for various vacuum valve applications. With some 2,700 employees worldwide, representatives in 29 countries, net sales of CHF 885 million (2023) and manufacturing sites in Switzerland, Malaysia, Romania, and Taiwan, we are sustainably shaping our highly specialized market.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
Forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified in their entirety as there are certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates” and similar expressions) should be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the company’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behavior of other market participants, the performance, security and reliability of the company’s information technology systems, political, economic, and regulatory changes in the countries in which the company operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. As a result, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Except as otherwise required by law, VAT disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this report.

End of Media Release

1903043  14.05.2024 CET/CEST