Marel’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held at the company’s headquarters in Gardabaer, Iceland, on 4 March 2015. All proposals presented by the Board were unanimously approved by the meeting.
Chairman’s address
Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir, Chairman of Marel´s Board of Directors discussed Marel´s powerful growth drivers during her presentation. Population growth, urbanization, sustainability and environment are all trends that will drive global economic development in the future and benefit Marel´s business directly. She then summarized Marel’s performance and main achievements during 2014 and provided some insights into Marel´s corporate structure. The chairman talked about the proposal to pay out dividend, corresponding to 30% of net profits for the operational year 2014. “The Board of Directors is pleased to propose to the Annual General Meeting today that a dividend of € 3.5 million is paid to shareholders. This is fully in line with our dividend policy and reflects our strong belief in the refocusing steps, which have been taken and our value creating potential in the future.” During her address she also looked ahead and said that Marel has a strong foundation for future growth and value creation. “Marel’s leading market position is based on our continuous focus on innovation, even during challenging times. This has resulted in a steady flow of innovative products, which has transformed the way food is processed around the world. The key to success is through partnership with our customers,” she said.
CEO’s address
“2014 was a year of progress and transformation for Marel. The year started off slowly, but in the spring we changed the game and we have managed to be at the customer, for the customer while refocusing our operations. With good tailwind in the market and a focused market approach, Marel delivered record order intake and sales in the second half of the year; the operational results also improved over the course of the year,” said Arni Oddur Thordarson CEO of Marel in his address to the company’s AGM. Arni then talked about the progress that has been achieved on the refocusing program “Simpler, Smarter Faster” that has been launched with the aim to simplify Marel´s organizational structure and increase service to customers.
“We have managed to be at the customer for the customer while refocusing our business. In addition to streamlining, we are also investing in future growth through innovation and we are advancing our business with investments in business tools and IT systems. We enter 2015 with optimism, with much stronger order book than one year ago and tailwind in our market.”
Confirmation of annual accounts
The Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and the Report of the Board of Directors and CEO were approved unanimously by the meeting. All proposals presented were unanimously approved by the meeting.
All seven directors on the Board of Marel were re-elected unanimously. The board consists of: Astvaldur Johannsson, Olafur Gudmundsson, Arnar Thor Masson, Ann Elizabeth Savage, Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir, Helgi Magnusson and Margret Jonsdottir
The new Board of Directors has convened and assigned roles and responsibilities. Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir continues as Chairman of the Board and Arnar Thor Masson, as the Vice-Chairman of the Board.
More information about the Annual General meeting is available on Marel.com and on information page for the AGM at http://www.marel.com/agm. Videos from the meeting will be made available soon.
