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Drägerwerk AG annual stockholders' meeting 2005:
Increased dividends / Generation change in Group management from July 1, 2005 / Approval of the new, and thanks to the outgoing Board Chairman / Further changes in Executive and Supervisory Boards
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| Lübeck, June 10, 2005 – At today's annual stockholders' meeting in Lübeck, Drägerwerk AG's stockholders approved the proposal of the Supervisory and Executive Boards for an increased dividend of €0.45 (up from €0.40) per preferred share and €0.39 (up from €0.34) per common share to be distributed to stockholders. |
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| The 1,800 or so stockholders who attended the meeting appeared highly satisfied with the extremely positive development of the Dräger Group and gave a big round of applause to the outgoing Executive Board Chairman Theo Dräger (67) and to Dr. Christian Dräger (70), who of his own volition is resigning from his position on the Supervisory Board as of June 30, 2005, to thank them for their successful work over past years. Theo Dräger was appointed to the Supervisory Board by the annual stockholders' meeting. His successor to the position of Executive Board Chairman is Stefan Dräger (42), the eldest son of Dr. Christian Dräger, who has already worked for the company for 13 years and has co-influenced the company's strategy over the past few years in his capacity as member of the Executive Board. This management handover to the fifth generation of the Dräger family, which had been well prepared in advance, met with the approval of the stockholders. |
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| Two other personnel changes were also announced: Ingo Gensch, the Executive Board member responsible for human resources at Drägerwerk AG, is retiring after 23 successful years in human resources. There was also a change on the employee side in the Supervisory Board: the long-serving Chairman of the Dräger Group's Works Council, Werner Gustäbel (63), will for reasons of age be leaving the company on June 30, 2005, and, therefore, retiring from his position on the Supervisory Board. |
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| The company had brought fiscal 2004 to a successful conclusion, recording growth in sales of 6.9 percent to over €1.5 billion, and an EBIT increased by around 24 percent to €117.2 million. The Group's net profit rose to €47 million. |
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| In his report on the first quarter of 2005, Stefan Dräger emphasized the strong start to the new year: order entry went up by 11.7 percent, while sales saw growth of 9.1 percent. EBIT before one-time expenses climbed slightly to €18 million. "For the year as a whole, we expect growth in the order of 5 to 7 percent, and an increase in our operating result and net profit of between 5 to 10 percent,“ predicted Stefan Dräger. As far as the medium-term development of the company is concerned, he is confident that a return on sales (EBIT/sales) of 10 percent and, assuming the company structure remains unchanged, a return on capital employed (ROCE) of 20 percent will be achieved for the Dräger Group over the next two to three years. He went on to say that the Group's strategic orientation and market position provide a strong and reliable basis for the future. |
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| In his report on the first quarter of 2005, Stefan Dräger emphasized the strong start to the new year: order entry went up by 11.7 percent, while sales saw growth of 9.1 percent. EBIT before one-time expenses climbed slightly to €18 million. "For the year as a whole, we expect growth in the order of 5 to 7 percent, and an increase in our operating result and net profit of between 5 to 10 percent,“ predicted Stefan Dräger. As far as the medium-term development of the company is concerned, he is confident that a return on sales (EBIT/sales) of 10 percent and, assuming the company structure remains unchanged, a return on capital employed (ROCE) of 20 percent will be achieved for the Dräger Group over the next two to three years. He went on to say that the Group's strategic orientation and market position provide a strong and reliable basis for the future. |
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This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the development of the Dräger Group. No assurance can be given as to the content of these statements as they are based on assumptions and estimates that comprise certain risks and uncertainties. |
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(c) Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, 2007 |
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