Zug, 29 April 2021 - At today's Annual General Meeting, the first held by V-ZUG Holding AG as a listed company, shareholders approved all motions proposed by the Board of Directors. In particular, the Annual General Meeting endorsed the proposal not to distribute a dividend and thus gave its backing to using the available funds to drive sustained growth in the V-ZUG Group's value. 

V-ZUG has published its sustainability report for financial year 2020 and is spotlighting its sustainable working practices.

The first Annual General Meeting held by V-ZUG Holding AG as a listed company took place on 29 April 2021 without the shareholders physically in attendance due to the current epidemiological situation around Covid-19. Shareholders were able to exercise their rights through the independent voting representative, however. This option was taken up by 1,484 shareholders, representing 85.5% of the voting shares. The Annual General Meeting approved all motions proposed by the Board of Directors by a large majority.

Besides approving the annual report, the annual financial statements of V-ZUG Holding AG and the consolidated financial statements of the V-ZUG Group for financial year 2020, the Annual General Meeting also consented to the Board of Directors' proposal for the appropriation of retained earnings for 2020 and thus to its proposal not to distribute a dividend for financial year 2020. By doing so, the Annual General Meeting endorsed the Board of Directors' motion to invest the available liquidity in the V-ZUG Group's ongoing transformation and thus strive for sustained growth in its value.

All members of the Board of Directors were re-elected to serve another one-year term of office. Mr Oliver Riemenschneider was confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Ms Prisca Hafner and Mr Jürg Werner as members of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

The Annual General Meeting received and approved the 2020 compensation report in a consultative vote and approved the variable compensation awarded to the Executive Committee for the past financial year 2020 (retrospectively) as well as the fee awarded to the Board of Directors for the coming term of office through to the next Annual General Meeting and the fixed compensation awarded to the Executive Committee for 2022 (both prospectively).

As it was not possible to hold an in-person Annual General Meeting this year, V-ZUG Holding AG will be briefing interested shareholders on financial year 2020 and the 2020 sustainability report at a separate online event on 12 May 2021. For more information and to register for this virtual event, please go to: www.vzug.com/ch/en/annual-general-meeting.

The next Annual General Meeting of V-ZUG Holding AG is expected to take place in Zug on Thursday, 28 April 2022.

2020 sustainability report

The V-ZUG Group has been publishing a sustainability report on a regular basis since 2012 and does so voluntarily, i.e. outside the reporting requirements under stock exchange regulations. Its intention here is to communicate the progress, developments, challenges and targets in relation to sustainability in an open, clear, comparable and self-critical manner.

Sustainability is an integral part of the V-ZUG brand as well as a key element of its strategy and for decades has been entrenched in the V-ZUG Group's corporate culture. The approach to sustainability is a holistic one, as the following examples show:

Production of Swiss-made appliances is CO₂ neutral

In 2020, the V-ZUG Group achieved CO₂ neutrality at its production sites for the first time (Scope 1 and 2, and air travel). However, the V-ZUG Group's business activities continue to produce greenhouse gas emissions that need to be prevented, reduced and offset. More specifically, this is being achieved through an internal CO₂ levy per tonne of CO₂ emitted._{The V-ZUG Group is thus providing additional incentives for sustainable business decisions, financing investments in CO2 reduction and supporting offsetting measures such as the reforestation project in Scotland through its own forest, the «V-Forest».}

More women in top management

The proportion of women at the most senior levels of management (Board of Directors, Executive Committee, level 1 management) has risen continuously in recent years and at the end of financial year 2020 stood at 20.8%. Of the total headcount, women made up between 20.5% and 22.0% over the last three years. The proportion of women in management has therefore been brought into line with the percentage of women in the workforce as a whole.

Introduction of a mobility scheme at the Zug site

Mobility is one of the biggest causes of environmentally harmful emissions. A flexible mobility scheme is intended to raise awareness of the issue among V-ZUG employees. Financial incentives and a range of additional green offerings encourage employees to rethink their mobility behaviour, the aim being to reduce motorized commuting to under 40% by 2022 at the latest.

More information on sustainability and further interesting facts can be found in the full 2020 sustainability report available at: www.vzug.com/ch/en/nachhaltigkeit_overview.

About the V-ZUG Group

V-ZUG is Switzerland's leading brand in household appliances and also markets its products in selected premium markets abroad. V-ZUG has been developing and producing kitchen and laundry appliances in Switzerland for over 100 years and offers a comprehensive service in all markets. The V-ZUG Group currently employs around 2,000 people.

V-ZUG Holding AG is listed in the Swiss Reporting Standard of SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich and is represented in the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) (securities number 54 248 374, ISIN CH0542483745, ticker symbol VZUG).

Key dates

Further information

Adrian Ineichen
CFO
Phone: + 41 58 767 60 03

Patrik Leisi
Head Legal & Compliance / Investor Relations
Phone: + 41 58 767 60 03

Legal notes

The expectations expressed in this meda release are based on assumptions. Actual results may vary from those anticipated. This media release is published in German and English. The German version is binding. V-ZUG Holding AG processes personal data in accordance with its privacy statement available at: www.vzug.com/ch/en/privacystatement.

Media release (pdf)