SolarWorld AG / AGM/EGM
21.05.2008
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Supervisory Board Reelected Profit and Loss Transfer Agreements Approved
At todays 9th ordinary Annual General Meeting of SolarWorld
Aktiengesellschaft, at which some 1,000 shareholders as well as shareholder
representatives were present, the proposed resolutions of the
administration were accepted with a large majority. For fiscal year 2007
the distribution of a dividend was approved in the eigth year. Thus the
dividend increases to 0.14 (previous year: 0.10) EUR per share going up for
the fourth year in succession. The payout will be made on 23 May 2008.
Chairman and CEO Dipl.-Ing. Frank H. Asbeck made it clear to the AGM that
SolarWorld AG wanted to continue to pursue this consistent dividend policy
in the future.
The reelection of the Supervisory Board has also been approved with a large
majority. Dr. Claus Recktenwald (Chairman), Dr. Georg Gansen (Deputy
Chairman) and Dr. Alexander von Bossel who have been on the Supervisory
Board since the inception of the company were reappointed for another five
years.
Furthermore, the resolution to agree to profit and loss transfer agreements
between SolarWorld AG and the Freiberg subsidiaries backdated to 1 January
2008 was passed with a large majority of the votes cast. The reason is to
strengthen the financing structure of SolarWorld AG. As a result the
profits and losses of the subsidiaries go directly to SolarWorld AG which,
as the holding company, is responsible for the entire financing of the
Group. This responsibility also includes raising loans for corporate
expansion. The resulting interest payments on these loans can only be set
off against tax as of this year if and when the holding company has a
sufficiently high level of profits which would not be guaranteed without
the profit and loss transfer agreements. The new agreements with the
subsidiaries thus make for an additional stabilization of the Groups sound
financing also guaranteeing the possibility of future dividend payments
from the profit of the stock corporation.
SolarWorld AG supports rain forest exhibition
Bio-diversity is the topic discussed by the 9th Conference of the Parties
to the Convention on Biological Diversity that takes place in Bonn at the
same time as the Annual General Meeting. With the support of the Rain
Forest Exhibition Project by the 'Museum Koenig' in Bonn which was
introduced to shareholders on the occasion of the AGM public awareness and
understanding is to be created for the uniqueness and the irreplaceable
character of the rain forest as well as its value in fighting climate
change. As the main sponsor SolarWorld supports the museum in the
realization of this international exhibition in cooperation with the
Alexander Koenig Gesellschaft. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Alexander Koenig Gesellschaft is Dipl.-Ing. Frank Asbeck. 'The exhibition
is designed to inform about the fact that the rain forest is indispensable
to the equilibrium of the global climate and at the same time forms the
cradle of an enormous bio-diversity that will be irreplaceably lost with
the destruction of this habitat' he says. 'For us it is a central concern
to support the interests of the climate and of creation. Under the umbrella
of Solar2World we are pooling our Group-wide no-for-profit activities'.
Amendment of the law on renewable energies (EEE)
Frank Asbeck commented on the discussions about the amendment of the law on
renewable energies (EEG): 'Only a moderate reduction of the feed-in
compensation within the framework of what the Minister of the Environment
has proposed will guarantee the continued existence of the innovative
German solar industry', he says. 'If reasonably reduced compensation rates
are maintained we will succeed by way of production expansion and leaps
in efficiency in making sure that clean power from the roof will no
longer be more expensive than conventionally generated fossil or nuclear
power from the wall socket.'
About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld AG group of companies (ISIN:
DE0005108401) is a world leader in high quality solar power technology. The
company is involved at all levels of the solar value chain and combines all
activities of the industry from silicon as the raw material to turn-key
solar power system. SolarWorld AG is represented in all international solar
growth markets. The group is exclusively dedicated to its core business of
photovoltaic power generation, operating production facilities in Germany
and the USA. They in turn supply the SolarWorld AG sales offices in
Germany, Spain, USA, South Africa and Singapore. In South Korea SolarWorld
AG is currently building up a solar module production facility in order to
be able to serve the growing demand in Asia on the spot in the future. A
central element of the business in addition to the sale of turn-key solar
systems and solar modules to retailers is the distribution of solar silicon
wafers to the international solar cell industry. Apart from grid-coupled
(on-grid) products the SolarWorld Group also sells off-grid solar power
solutions that make an important contribution to the sustainable economic
development of threshold and developing countries. Under the roof
Solar2World the group has pooled its ethical commitment to solar power
especially in developing countries.
SolarWorld AG employs about 2,000 people worldwide. At the stock market the
company is listed among others in the technology index TecDAX, in the
ÖkoDAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI index as well
as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
Contact:
SolarWorld AG Investor Relations / Marketing Communications,
Tel.-No.: +49 228 55920 -470; Fax-No.: +49 228 55920-9470,
E-mail: placement@solarworld.de
Internet: www.solarworld.de
DGAP 21.05.2008
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Language: English
Issuer: SolarWorld AG
Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 12-14
53113 Bonn
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)228 - 559 20 470
Fax: +49 (0)228 - 559 20 99
E-mail: placement@solarworld.de
Internet: www.solarworld.de
ISIN: DE0005108401
WKN: 510840
Indices: TecDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Düsseldorf;
Freiverkehr in Berlin, München, Hamburg, Stuttgart;
Terminbörse EUREX
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-News: Annual General Meeting of SolarWorld AG Approves Dividend Increase to 0.14 EUR
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