Fifth Annual General Meeting of GfK SE

At today’s fifth Annual General Meeting of GfK SE, a minimum of 99.6 percent of the shareholders of GfK SE voted in favor of the resolutions proposed by the Supervisory Board and the Management Board. More than 200 shareholders and proxies, representing 81.4 percent of all shares, attended the Annual General Meeting.

This year’s Annual General Meeting of GfK SE, held at the Stadthalle in Fürth, discussed and voted on a total of six items. These included the election of a Supervisory Board member as a replacement for Stefan Pfander who is stepping down with effect from today. Stefan Pfander, a business consultant, was appointed to the Supervisory Board in May 2005 and has been Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of GfK SE since September 2008. Hans Van Bylen, Management Board member of Henkel Management AG, has been elected as a new member of the Supervisory Board.

Prof. Dr. Raimund Wildner, Vice President and Managing Director of the GfK Verein, was elected as substitute member for Hans Van Bylen. He would take Hans Van Bylen’s place on the Supervisory Board in the event of his premature departure.

Shareholders agreed to the proposed dividend of €0.65 per no-par share for the 2012 financial year. The absolute value is unchanged from the pre-vious year. The dividend pay-out ratio based on consolidated income is 36.9 percent, compared with 26.9 percent in the previous year. The objec-tive continues to be a steady dividend development to maintain a pay-out ratio within the range of 25 percent to 35 percent. The total amount distrib-uted for the 2012 financial year was €23.7 million.

In another item on the agenda, the Supervisory Board approved the annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements prepared by the Management Board for the 2012 financial year.

In addition, discharge was granted to members of the Management and Supervisory Boards of GfK SE.

As in the previous years, KPMG AG, Nuremberg, Germany, were appointed to audit the financial statements and consolidated financial statements for the 2012 financial year.
Defining it as a year of transformation, Matthias Hartmann, CEO of GfK SE, provided an overview of the financial year ended and the annual financial statements for 2012 as well as the first quarter of 2013. GfK can look back on a pleasing result for 2012. In comparison with the previous year, GfK increased sales by 10.2 percent while adjusted operating income remained at the high level of €187.8 million. At €64.4 million, the consolidated total income is around €23.7 million lower than in the previous year. This resulted from a one-off provision of €21 million in connection with irregularities and potential back-payments of taxes and social contributions in respect of the Turkish subsidiary.

Developments in the first quarter of financial year 2013 were rather less pleasing for GfK. Although it closed the quarter recording sales growth, income was down year-on-year. Despite the subdued start in the first three months of 2013, GfK confirmed its targets for the year as a whole, which were originally published in March. GfK is still positioned excellently for the future. “In a changing industry and market conditions that continue to be dominated by volatility, we have set ourselves clear, long-term targets. The multitude of changes already initiated has put us on the right track for the long journey ahead. Our end destination is to be among the winners of the transformation and digitization currently taking place in the market research sector,” comments Matthias Hartmann.