- Acts of Managing and Supervisory Boards ratified by large majority
- Dividend proposal of €3.00 per share endorsed
- Osram spinoff approved
Voting at the company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting, the shareholders of Siemens AG have ratified the acts of the Managing and Supervisory Boards for fiscal 2012. As recommended by the Managing and Supervisory Boards, the shareholders also approved by large majorities a dividend payout of €3.00 per share and the planned spinoff of Osram.
- Gerhard Cromme reelected Supervisory Board Chairman
- Ten new shareholder representatives elected to Supervisory Board
At the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Siemens AG on Wednesday, ten shareholder representatives were elected to the company's Supervisory Board. Their election had been proposed in the previously published agenda. At the Supervisory Board meeting held immediately following the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, Gerhard Cromme was reelected Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Siemens AG is commissioning an independent academic study of the company's development from 1981 to 2011. The project is to be undertaken by the economic and company historian Hartmut Berghoff and the contemporary historian Cornelia Rauh. Both are being given unrestricted access to the company archives and they will be interviewing contemporary witnesses as well as researching documents. The results are expected to be published in 2014.
The number of patent applications filed by Siemens continues to rise: in fiscal 2012, the company filed some 4,600 patent applications – seven percent more than a year earlier. Siemens' patent portfolio now comprises 57,300 patents worldwide. The number of invention disclosures submitted also reached a new high of 8,900. Twelve particularly successful researchers and developers whom Siemens honored as Inventors of the Year 2012 in Munich on December 13 played a leading role here. These individuals alone account for 613 invention disclosures and 734 individual patents. "Your brilliant ideas are the basis for highly innovative products that are already driving energy efficiency and productivity in many industries," said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher at the awards ceremony. "With every invention and every patent, our researchers and developers are paving the way for Siemens' continued growth."
In fiscal 2012, revenue from Siemens' Environmental Portfolio climbed ten percent to €33 billion. The company's ecofriendly products and solutions are now generating faster revenue growth than its other businesses. Green technologies, which have been consistent growth drivers at Siemens since 2008, now account for 42 percent of the company's total business. In fiscal 2012, offerings from Siemens' Environmental Portfolio enabled customers to cut CO2 emissions worldwide by 332 megatons – an amount equal to 40 percent of Germany's total annual CO2 emissions.
Siemens has entered into an agreement to acquire Invensys Rail, the rail automation business of Invensys for approximately €2.2 billion (£1.742 billion). At the same time, the company plans to divest its baggage handling, postal and parcel sorting activities. Both planned transactions are part of the recently launched "Siemens 2014" company program, which amongst others, is aimed at strengthening the company's core activities.
Siemens AG reached a settlement with its former board member Dr. Thomas Ganswindt. The settlement is subject to the approval of the annual shareholders' meeting of Siemens AG on January 23, 2013. The settlement will terminate the pending litigation proceeding between Siemens AG and Dr. Thomas Ganswindt filed with the District Court of Munich. The details on the content of the settlement will be announced with the Notice of Annual Shareholders' Meeting in December 2012.
Siemens has entered into an agreement to acquire Invensys Rail, the rail automation business of Invensys for approximately €2.2 billion (£1.742 billion). At the same time, the company plans to divest its baggage handling, postal and parcel sorting activities. Both planned transactions are part of the recently launched "Siemens 2014" company program, which amongst others, is aimed at strengthening the company's core activities. With revenues of approximately £800 million, Invensys Rail is a leading software based rail signaling and control company. The acquisition will expand Siemens' presence in the growing global rail automation market. "Today's moves are important measures to focus our core activities. We are exiting a non-core business with limited synergy potential while strengthening a resilient and high return business by combining two organizations with similar cultures and attractive synergy potential. The combined business will ensure profitable growth opportunities worldwide for the Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector," said Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens Infrastructure & Cities. The transaction is subject to Invensys shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.
Building on the major successes already achieved, Siemens is continuing to focus on its global, systematic supply chain management. In 2008, for the first time in the company's history, a Supply Chain Management (SCM) function with company-wide responsibility was established at Managing Board level. Barbara Kux was appointed to head the SCM organization. Under her leadership, SCM has since made a major contribution to the positive development of Siemens' profitability. Today, 55 percent of the company's total procurement volume is bundled. In 2008, the figure was slightly less than 30 percent. Emerging countries now account for 26 percent of Siemens' procurement volume, compared to 20 percent in 2008. Between 2009 and 2012, the accumulated contributions to profit attributable to SCM were in the upper single-digit-billion euro range. In 2012, the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Index confirmed Siemens' pioneering role by awarding the company the top ranking for supply chain management.