All proposals of the Board of Directors to the meeting were approved. The proposals and other relevant materials are available on the AGM website as well as information on votes cast at the meeting.
Annual General Meeting 2023
Arnar Thor Masson, Chairman of the Board of Directors, addressed the meeting on behalf of the Board. Arni Oddur Thordarson, Chief Executive Officer, reported the Company’s 2022 consolidated financial statements and gave an overview of the Company’s business activities.
From Chairman Arnar Thor Masson’s statement:
“Since listing in 1992, Marel has transitioned from a startup with 45 employees and 6 million euros in revenues to a leading global provider of food processing solutions, software and services with around 8,000 employees and 1.7 billion euros in revenues.
With a history of consistent growth averaging 21% annually since 1992, Marel is proud of its achievements and excited for what is to come.”
From CEO Árni Oddur Thórdarson’s report:
“Sustainability is at the center of our business strategy. Our vision is of a world where quality food is processed affordably and sustainably. In an inflationary and volatile economy, where global trade is shifting to regional trade, Marel is well positioned. Our local sales and service teams around the globe, provide pioneering solutions as the basis to keep the food value chain running and deliver 40% recurring service revenues for Marel. Favorable secular trends, focused on automation, robotics technology and digital solutions that support sustainable food processing, will continue to support organic growth outlook in the long term. In the short term, the current macroeconomic backdrop and increased cost of capital for our customers is resulting in elevated uncertainty.
In the year 2023, our focus is on customer centricity, and how we leverage our infrastructure investments for more speed and scale to drive continued improvement in our operational performance to reach 14-16% EBIT level by year-end 2023, although operational results may vary from quarter to quarter. We will also continue to transform Marel to maintain momentum on our long-term growth ambitions and reach 50% recurring revenues from service and software in 2026.”
Elections to the Board of Directors
The following candidates were re-elected to serve on the Board of Directors until the Company’s next Annual General Meeting:
- Ann Elisabeth Savage
- Arnar Thor Masson
- Astvaldur Johannsson
- Lillie Li Valeur
- Olafur Gudmundsson
- Svafa Gronfeldt
- Ton van der Laan
The Board of Directors has convened and assigned roles and responsibilities. Arnar Thor Masson will continue to lead the Board as Chairman, and Olafur Gudmundsson as the Vice-Chairman of the Board.
Other proposals
- The general meeting agreed to a dividend of 1.56 euro cents per share to be paid for the operational year 2022. The estimated total dividend payment will be around EUR 11.7 million corresponding to approximately 20% of profits for the year and is in line with Marel’s dividend policy.
- The proposal on the Company’s remuneration policy with certain changes for 2023 was approved.
- The proposal on a Share-based Incentive Scheme was approved.
- Shareholders also approved the proposal on remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors for the year 2023 and to the Company’s auditors for the preceding year of operation.
- Proposals to add new Article 4.3 and amend Articles 4.5, 4.20 and 4.22 of the Company’s Articles of Association relating to Shareholder Meetings were approved. The amendments are connected to recent changes that were made to Icelandic Act no. 2/1995 on public limited liability companies.
- Proposal to renew authorization in Article 15.2 of the Company’s Articles of Association was approved. The article authorizes the Board of Directors to increase share capital by up to the amount of ISK 75,000,000 nominal value by issuing new shares, i.a. to use in relation to acquisition of new businesses or strategic investments. The validity period of the authorization is 18 months from the date of its renewal.
- KPMG ehf. was elected as the Company’s auditing firm until the next Annual General Meeting.
- Proposal to renew authorization to the Board of Directors to purchase treasury shares of the Company was approved. The authorization is effective for the next 18 months from approval and earlier authorization shall be withdrawn.
All relevant material, including video recordings of the reports by the Chairman of the Board and the CEO will be archived and made available on marel.com/agm.
2022 Annual Report
Marel has published its 2022 Annual Report. The theme of Marel’s 2022 annual report is Connect. Innovate. Transform. These three powerful words resonate across our company and reflect in everything we do. Marel continuously invests 6% of revenues in innovation to improve the food value chain, connectivity to empower to our customers to reach their full potential, while seeking opportunities to transform challenges into opportunities to improve and grow sustainably.
The annual report is digital, complete with interactive content, videos and customer stories showcasing our milestones in 2022, and also available as a PDF file.
Read online report