Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Annual General Meeting of GAM Holding AG
At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 17 April 2013, the shareholders of GAM Holding AG approved a dividend distribution of CHF 0.50 per share for 2012, to be paid from capital contribution reserves. Shareholders also elected Tanja Weiher as a new member of the Board of Directors. Johannes A. de Gier was re-elected for a three-year term, while Dieter A. Enkelmann and Hugh Scott-Barrett were confirmed to serve for another two years.
The annual report, as well as the parent company’s and the consolidated financial statements for 2012, were approved at the AGM and shareholders discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board for 2012.
Dividend of CHF 0.50 to be paid from capital contribution reserves
Shareholders approved the proposed dividend of CHF 0.50 per share for 2012 and agreed to it being distributed from previous capital contributions (which totalled CHF 1,736.0 million as at 31 December 2012) rather than from retained earnings. The dividend is unchanged from the previous two years and will be exempt from Swiss federal withholding tax for all shareholders and exempt from income tax for shareholders resident in Switzerland who hold the shares as part of their private assets. In total, the dividend distribution will amount to around CHF 82 million, corresponding to approximately half of the underlying net profit achieved by the Group in 2012.
Share capital reduction (2011–2014 share buy-back programme)
At the AGM, shareholders approved the cancellation of the shares bought back under the current buy-back programme during 2012 (10,125,340 shares, repurchased at an average price of CHF 11.59 per share) and the corresponding reduction in share capital.
Elections to the Board of Directors
Shareholders re-elected Johannes A. de Gier to the Board of Directors for a term of three years and Dieter A. Enkelmann and Hugh Scott-Barrett for a term of two years. Tanja Weiher who was proposed as an additional new member, was also elected for a two-year term, increasing the number of directors from five to six, with an appropriate staggering of their terms of office.
Following the AGM, Johannes A. de Gier will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors, and, as previously announced, stand down from his role as Chief Executive Officer of GAM Holding AG. Given the company’s move to a more integrated and functional group structure, effective 18 April 2013, David M. Solo will assume the newly created role of Group Chief Executive Officer.
Further information relating to the AGM of GAM Holding AG can be found at www.gamholding.com.
Forthcoming events:
19 Apr 2013 Ex-dividend date
23 Apr 2013 Dividend record date
24 Apr 2013 Dividend payment date
13 Aug 2013 Publication of half-year results 2013
For further information please contact:
Media Relations:
Larissa Alghisi Rubner, GAM Holding AG
T: +41 (0) 58 426 62 15
Investor Relations:
Thomas Schneckenburger, Bluechip Financial Communications
T: +41 (0) 44 256 88 33
Notes to Editors
About GAM Holding AG
GAM Holding AG is an independent, pure-play and well-diversified asset management group. With global distribution networks and investment teams based in Europe, the US and Asia, its operating businesses - GAM and Swiss & Global Asset Management - serve institutions, intermediaries and third-party asset managers as well as private clients around the world.
Headquartered in Zurich, GAM Holding AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is a component of the Swiss Market Index Mid (SMIM) with the symbol "GAM". The Group has assets under management of CHF 119.0 billion (as at 31 March 2013) and employs over 1,000 staff with offices in ten countries.
Disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements
This press release by GAM Holding AG (‘the Company’) includes forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations and projections about the Company’s future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, strategies, opportunities and the industry in which it operates. Forward-looking statements involve all matters that are not historical facts. The Company has tried to identify those forward-looking statements by using words such as ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘should’, ‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘estimate’, ‘anticipate’, ‘project’, ‘believe’, ‘seek’, ‘plan’, ‘predict’, ‘continue’ and similar expressions. Such statements are made on the basis of assumptions and expectations which, although the Company believes them to be reasonable at this time, may prove to be erroneous.
These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects or opportunities, as well as those of the markets it serves or intends to serve, to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause those differences include, but are not limited to: changing business or other market conditions, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments, general economic conditions, and the Company’s ability to respond to trends in the financial services industry. Additional factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update of or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release and any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based, except as required by applicable law or regulation.