Just over 38 percent of shareholders voted against giving discharge to the board of directors and management at the annual general meeting in Zurich.

"This is not a result we can boast of," said chairman Beat Hess. "There were mistakes made in the past, mistakes that are not compatible with a company of our values.

"I understand the displeasure expressed in this result," he said.

(Reporticng by John Revill; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Joshua Franklin)