INDUS : increases dividend

• Annual Shareholders' Meeting decides to raise dividend to EUR 1.35 per share
• Professor Dr. Nadine Kammerlander elected to Supervisory Board
• Forecast for 2017 confirmed

At the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of INDUS Holding AG, the shareholders decided to increase the dividend to EUR 1.35 per share (previous year: EUR 1.20). The decision is based on the good result for 2016, which was the fourth record year in a row for the INDUS Group, with sales revenues and EBIT coming in at EUR 1.44 billion and EUR 144.9 million, respectively. As of 31 December 2016, INDUS Holding AG posted an accumulated profit of EUR 77.2 million, of which EUR 33.0 million will be distributed to the shareholders.

In his speech, Jürgen Abromeit, CEO of the INDUS Group emphasised that only those companies that lead the way in innovation will be successful in our rapidly changing world. 'Innovations decide whether our portfolio companies remain leaders in their lines of industry or fall back behind the rest.' The holding company assists its portfolio companies on their way towards increased competitiveness and supports their individual innovation projects. The INDUS development bank scheme was launched in 2016 and currently supports seven projects of the Group's portfolio companies.

Strategy programme more successful than planned

The Compass 2020 strategy programme is showing the way forward for the INDUS Group for the fifth year. Since 2012, a total of 28 companies have been integrated into the Group at the first and second level. The portfolio companies have production and distribution locations in 30 countries on 5 continents. Since the launch of the programme, the Group's revenues have increased by over 30 percent, with operating profit climbing by more than 36 percent. The market capitalisation rose from approx. EUR 470 million to approx. EUR 1.5 billion.

Going forward, the Group's industry focus for new acquisitions will be placed on automation, measurement and control technology, energy and environmental technology, infrastructure/logistics technology, medical engineering and healthcare as well as construction and security technology. The Board of Management of INDUS expects disproportionate growth in these sectors.

Forecast for 2017 confirmed

'I am optimistic that we will essentially achieve our objectives again in 2017, notwithstanding the complex environment and the tasks to be addressed in the Metals Technology and Automotive Technology segments,' said Jürgen Abromeit. The INDUS Group projects sales revenues in excess of EUR 1.5 billion and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of between EUR 145 million and EUR 150 million for the full year. These figures do not include any acquisitions. 'All projections are based on the assumption that no major global catastrophes occur. The situation remains fragile and there is huge potential for setbacks,' Jürgen Abromeit said in his speech.

All items on the agenda approved by a great majority

The proposals made by the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board were approved by a vast majority of the shareholders. The meeting also ratified the actions of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board and endorsed the dividend proposal. Approx. 50 % of the voting share capital was represented at the ordinary Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2017 of INDUS. Three of the six former Supervisory Board members that stood up for re-election were again elected by the shareholders. Hans-Joachim Selzer will resign from the Supervisory Board due to the age limit. Prof. Dr. Nadine Kammerlander was elected as his successor. She holds the Chair of Family Business at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management. Her research interests are innovation, governance and succession in family businesses.

Click here for more information about the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, the speech of Jürgen Abromeit as well as the voting results.