Compagnie Financière Richemont SA (the "Company") held its 2022 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") in Geneva today.
The General Assembly voted in favour of the re-appointment of all Board members who stood for re-election this year for a further one-year term. All directors have been elected by a large majority of Class ‘A’ votes represented in addition to the Class 'B' votes.
In addition, 'A' shareholders were asked to formally designate one person to serve as representative of all 'A' shareholders on the Board. Following the vote of 'A' shareholders only, Ms Wendy Luhabe was designated as representative of the 'A' shareholders with a compelling majority.
The proposals to amend the Company's Articles of Incorporation put forward by Bluebell Capital Partners Ltd. did not achieve majority approval and were rejected by A and B shareholders.
All other matters on the agenda were approved by the shareholders, with most of them by an overwhelming majority.
Specifically, the results for the year, including the proposals of the Board of Directors for the appropriation of retained earnings at 31 March 2022, were approved.
An ordinary dividend of CHF 2.25 per 'A' share was approved and will be paid on the listed 'A' registered shares while a dividend of CHF 0.225 per share will be paid on the 'B' registered shares in the Company. A special dividend of CHF 1.00 per 'A' share and CHF 0.10 per 'B' share was also approved. The dividends will be payable on Friday 23 September 2022 in Swiss francs. The dividends in respect of Richemont South African Depository Receipts will be payable on Thursday 29 September 2022 in rand to residents of the South African Common Monetary Area ('CMA') but may, dependent upon residence status, be payable in Swiss francs to non-CMA residents. They will be subject to Swiss withholding tax at the rate of 35%. The remaining available retained earnings of the Company, after payment of the dividend, are to be carried forward to the next business year.
Johann Rupert, Chairman of Richemont commented:
"I am deeply grateful to all our shareholders and wish to thank them for their vote of confidence in the leadership and governance of the company. The Board can now continue to work in a collegial manner, in the interest of all our shareholders. We remain focused on building value for shareholders by supporting our Maisons as they adapt to clients' evolving purchasing patterns, while staying true to their heritage. The recently announced partnership with Farfetch and Alabbar is an important step in delivering on this strategy.
The Board believes the current governance structure has underpinned Richemont's performance, allowing the Group to take a long-term view on sustainable value creation, unencumbered by short-term considerations. We recognise, however, that there are reservations about aspects of our governance which we will continue to address."
All information on the AGM, including the Chairman's address and detailed voting results will be available for download in due course from the Richemont website at AGM/EGM | Investors (richemont.com).
About Richemont
At Richemont, we craft the future. Our unique portfolio includes prestigious Maisons distinguished by their craftsmanship and creativity, alongside Online Distributors that cultivate expert curation and technological innovation to deliver the highest standards of service. Richemont's ambition is to nurture its Maisons and businesses and enable them to grow and prosper in a responsible, sustainable manner over the long term.
Richemont operates in four business areas: Jewellery Maisons with Buccellati, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels; Specialist Watchmakers with A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin; Online Distributors with Watchfinder & Co., NET-A-PORTER, MR PORTER, THE OUTNET, YOOX and the OFS division; and Other, primarily Fashion & Accessories Maisons with Alaïa, AZ Factory, Chloé, Delvaux, dunhill, Montblanc, Peter Millar including G/FORE, Purdey and Serapian. Find out more at www.richemont.com.
Richemont 'A' shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, Richemont's primary listing, and are included in the Swiss Market Index ('SMI') of leading stocks. Richemont South African Depository Receipts are listed in Johannesburg, Richemont's secondary listing.
