April 29, 2022. BOCHUM
Vonovia holds AGM online, Renewed offer of a scrip dividend, Jürgen Fenk and Matthias Hünlein elected to the Supervisory Board.
"To master the challenges that lie ahead, we need plenty of strength and courage in finding the right solutions. Vonovia is making its contribution and accepting responsibility."Jürgen Fitschen
At today’s Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of Vonovia SE (“Vonovia”) approved all the proposed resolutions submitted by the Supervisory Board and the Management Board with the required majority. They also discharged both bodies for the 2021 financial year with a large majority (Supervisory Board: 98.03% of votes, Management Board: 99.87%).
The dividend proposed by the Supervisory Board and the Management Board was accepted at the AGM by a large majority. Vonovia will be paying out a €1.66 dividend for the 2021 financial year, a dividend that is effectively €0.08 higher than last year due to the larger number of shares resulting from the capital increase. As before, shareholders can opt for receiving a scrip dividend instead of a classic cash dividend.
Macroeconomics and transition to sustainable energies
“After two years of pandemic, we were hoping our lives would gradually return to normal. However, at the end of February, we were suddenly struck by the horrors of war in Ukraine. Millions of people are fleeing to save their lives. The whole of Europe is helping and moving closer together than anyone thought possible,” said Jürgen Fitschen, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. “To master the challenges that lie ahead, we need plenty of strength and courage in finding the right solutions. Vonovia is making its contribution and accepting responsibility, as we provide homes that are both affordable and age-appropriate, while also creating additional housing that is so urgently needed.”
Rolf Buch, Vonovia’s Chief Executive Officer, also expressed his sadness about the war: “We are profoundly concerned about people in Ukraine and the children, women and men who have had to give up their homes. We are doing our best to support them in finding new and safe homes with us.”
Buch continued to say: “During times of change, it’s important to be flexible, and our business model puts us in a good position to respond to changing circumstances. Our financing structure enables us to operate as a business, and we’ve got a unique online management platform.”
In the current financial year, Vonovia will continue to make progress on social and ecological issues. The company will be offering solutions to the three megatrends of urbanisation, climate protection and demographic change, with the focus on neighbourhoods and their comprehensive development.
“When there’s a housing shortage, we create housing. We are also advancing the transition to sustainable energies in our neighbourhoods. The carbon regulations have been translated into our climate roadmap, and we are continually testing hydrogen and heat pumps in our operations. Furthermore, we’ve been modernising flats to make them barrier-free for the elderly,” said Buch.
Changes on the Supervisory Board and contract renewals on the Management Board
Following the proposal of the Supervisory Board, Vonovia SE’s shareholders elected Jürgen Fenk and Matthias Hünlein as new members. This change on the Supervisory Board represents another component of the Business Combination Agreement that was concluded between Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen when they merged in May 2021. As announced, the Supervisory Board members Burkhard Ulrich Drescher and Prof. Klaus Rauscher both resigned from their mandates.
In the first quarter of 2022, CEO Rolf Buch’s contract was renewed early until 2028. Likewise, the contract of Arnd Fittkau, CRO for the operational business at Vonovia, was extended up to and including May 2027.
"Our business model puts us in a good position to respond to changing circumstances." Rolf Buch
Online AGM to ensure protection from Covid
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic Vonovia held its AGM online, the third time in a row. Jürgen Fitschen and Rolf Buch spoke to the shareholders from the studio at the company’s headquarters in Bochum. All other Supervisory Board members joined online for part of the time. Key stakeholders expressed their views in video messages. The entire AGM was translated by sign language interpreters.
As previously, the shareholders followed the Annual General Meeting in a live stream. Shareholders were welcome to submit their questions before the meeting, by 27 April – for the first time also in the form of pre-recorded video messages. They were able to exercise their voting rights both in advance and during the AGM, either voting by letter or authorizing the company’s proxies. This corresponded to 72.48% of the share capital.
The Supervisory Board of Vonovia SE has the following members: Jürgen Fitschen (Chairman), Prof. Dr. Edgar Ernst (Deputy Chairman), Vitus Eckert, Jürgen Fenk, Dr. Florian Funck, Dr. Ute Geipel-Faber, Matthias Hünlein, Daniel Just, Hildegard Müller, Dr. Ariane Reinhart, Clara-Christina Streit and Christian Ulbrich.
The Management Board of Vonovia SE has the following members: Rolf Buch (CEO), Arnd Fittkau (CRO), Philip Grosse (CFO), Mag. Daniel Riedl (Development and Austria) and Helene von Roeder (CTO).
The detailed voting results of the Annual General Meeting will be published at https://investors.vonovia.de/agm.