- Dividend of EUR 2.48 approved.
- Capital framework creates financial leeway until 2027.
- New lithium-ion round cells already being produced on pilot line. Planned implementation in large-scale production.
- Presentation of new VARTA.wall storage device.
- VARTA benefits from “local-for-local” trend in Household Batteries segment.
- Approval of all agenda items, Executive Board and Supervisory Board discharged by large majority.
The Annual General Meeting of VARTA AG has agreed to pay a dividend of around € 100m. This corresponds to EUR 2.48 per share. VARTA has recorded average annual sales growth of 39% since the IPO, enabling it to achieve disproportionately high EBITDA growth of just under 65% on average in the previous year and on a sustained basis in the years prior to that. The resolutions proposed by the company to create new authorised capitals were approved. This will provide VARTA with the necessary financial flexibility to strengthen its equity capital in order to finance its growth initiatives and any further investments. These are provisional resolutions which the Company may implement in the next five years with the approval of the Supervisory Board. At present, the focus is still on external financing to fund the planned projects.
The secret to VARTA’s success lies in its innovative strength. With CoinPower, the company successfully entered the future market of lithium-ion technology, enabling new product designs for TWS customers. This expertise was then transferred to larger lithium-ion round cells, with applications ranging from power tools, drones and robots to construction machinery and energy storage systems, as well as high-performance automotive applications. The company is attracting significant interest from the market for these cells, which in the future will be produced in a highly automated way in a new factory that is to start with a capacity of one gigawatt hour. However, the next expansion stages are already being planned.
In the area of energy storage systems, VARTA has presented the next generation of devices. VARTA.wall is a modular, expandable, flexible storage system developed with innovative technology. The energy storage system is set to be delivered at the beginning of next year. The battery specialist has set itself the goal of taking a leading role in the home storage sector.
In the Household Batteries segment, the company is offering products with higher energy density and completely plastic-free, recyclable packaging as part of its repositioning drive.
The Annual General Meeting expressed its confidence in the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2021 fiscal year by a large majority and approved all other agenda items by at least 96 percent. As was the case last year, the event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and shareholders were able to follow the event online. Around 24,4 million shares were represented in the vote, corresponding to 60,5 % of the capital stock.
The detailed voting results for the individual AGM agenda items are published at https://www.varta-ag.com/hauptversammlung/