DGAP-News: INDUS Holding AG: Annual Meeting of INDUS Shareholders raises dividend to EUR 1.05 per share

Annual Meeting of INDUS Shareholders raises dividend to EUR 1.05 per share

• All agenda items adopted by a clear majority
• Barbara Schick elected as new Supervisory Board member
• Forecast for 2022 confirmed

Bergisch Gladbach, 31 May 2022 At todays virtual Annual Shareholders Meeting of INDUS Holding AG, the shareholders followed the proposal of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board and approved a dividend of EUR 1.05 per share, after EUR 0.80 in the previous year. In 2021, the INDUS Group recovered well from the coronavirus slump, generating sales of EUR 1.74 billion and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 115.4 million. The distributable profit of INDUS Holding AG as of 31 December 2021 amounted to EUR 54.7 million, with the approved dividend payout totaling EUR 28.2 million. This corresponds to a payout ratio of 51.9% and a dividend yield of 3.2% based on the year-end closing price of the INDUS share.

In his speech, the Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Johannes Schmidt, talked about the current macroeconomic challenges, but at the same time emphasized the strength of German SMEs and the INDUS Group in particular: German SMEs are very robust. They are able to handle challenges and react flexibly, said Schmidt. Our managers in the INDUS companies are taking a pragmatic approach. They are concentrating on whats important: material supply, fully functioning production and supply chains, and financial stability. With all of this, they are also securing their employees jobs in uncertain times. Schmidt sees decentralization and broad diversification as outstanding strengths of the Group. Changes are always opportunities, too. And our entrepreneurs on site will make the most of these opportunities.

Further development of the PARKOUR strategy

Schmidt added: The coronavirus and the new global situation are turning points. That is why we will be working intensely on taking our strategy further this year. In March 2022, the fourth strategic initiative Striving for Sustainability was integrated into the strategy program. Responsibilities within the Board of Management are now being reassigned: each member of the Board of Management will in future be responsible for the portfolio companies of one segment. This reassignment will allow us to pool specialist areas and strengthen our industry expertise as well as offer our portfolio companies even better support.

Good start to the year overall

In his outlook, Schmidt confirmed the forecast for the current financial year, which was made in March 2022 without assessing the effects of the war. The uncertainties arising from the Russia-Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic remain high. Nevertheless, due to the good performance in the first quarter overall, we still anticipate that sales will come in between EUR 1.8 billion and EUR 1.95 billion. EBIT should amount to between EUR 115 million and EUR 130 million, said Schmidt. Our target EBIT margin remains '10 percent plus x'. The Automotive Technology segment continues to pose a challenge. In total, we have already hit this target in four out of five segments.

Further growth through acquisitions

In the current financial year, INDUS already completed the acquisition of HEIBER + SCHRÖDER, a specialist for packaging machinery. The acquisition of the HELD Group, a manufacturer of laser systems, followed in May 2022. INDUS is continuously strengthening its portfolio by acquiring profitable hidden champions in defined growth industries. In 2021, the Group also grew through the acquisition of JST and WIRUS at portfolio level as well as FLACO at the second level.

All draft resolutions adopted with large majority

About 55% of the share capital was represented at the virtual 2022 Ordinary Annual Shareholders Meeting of INDUS. In voting on the agenda, a large majority of the Shareholders Meeting approved the proposals made by the management. The actions of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board were approved. As proposed by the Supervisory Board, the Annual Shareholders Meeting appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, as auditors of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2022. The compensation report for the financial year 2021 was approved.

Barbara Schick succeeds Isabella Pfaller as a member of the Supervisory Board

Barbara Schick was elected to the Supervisory Board as successor to Isabella Pfaller, who resigned from the Supervisory Board with effect from the end of the 2022 Annual Shareholders Meeting. Barbara Schick is Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Management of Versicherungskammer, the largest shareholder of INDUS Holding AG. Jürgen Abromeit, Chairman of the INDUS Supervisory Board, thanked Isabella Pfaller for her successful work on the Supervisory Board in the past four years and congratulated Barbara Schick on her election.

Further information on the Annual Shareholders Meeting, the speech by the Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Johannes Schmidt, and the voting results can be found here.
 

About INDUS Holding AG:

Established in 1989 and headquartered in Bergisch Gladbach, INDUS Holding AG is a leading specialist for sustainable corporate investment and development in the German-speaking SME sector. The industry focus is on construction and infrastructure, automotive technology, mechanical and plant engineering, medical engineering and life sciences as well as metals technology. As a growth-oriented financial investor with a long-term focus, INDUS currently supports 48 portfolio companies in their corporate development. Since 1995, INDUS Holding AG has been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DE0006200108); in 2021, the Group generated sales of around 1.74 billion euros. For more information on INDUS, visit www.indus.de.