Basel, 16 March 2021 – Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that its shareholders approved all proposals of the Board of Directors at its ordinary Annual General Meeting (AGM). Owing to the pandemic restrictions, the AGM was held with only those persons required by the Articles of Incorporation in attendance and with no shareholders physically present. Roche shareholders were able to exercise their rights via written or electronically submitted instructions to the independent proxy, Testaris AG. The independent proxy represented 84.58% of the total of 160,000,000 shares. The Management Report, the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements for 2020 were approved.
Christoph Franz was confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors with 99.73% of the votes. In an address to the shareholders, which was published on the Internet today, he said:
“Considering the extraordinary situation due to the coronavirus crisis, our annual result is very solid. It enables us to raise the dividend for the 34th consecutive time to 9.10 Swiss francs per share. We are proud of the contributions that our Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals Divisions have made to combating the pandemic. We were able to make 16 diagnostic solutions available in record time and are working closely together with partners on developing and producing treatment options for COVID-19. Despite the difficult conditions resulting from the pandemic, we were also able to achieve gratifying progress in our product pipeline. 19 new active ingredients are in the late stage of development – an impressive success contributing to our endeavour to rejuvenate our portfolio.”
Shareholders approved the total amount of the bonuses for the Corporate Executive Committee for 2020 by 99.73% of the votes and the total amount of the bonus of the Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2020 by 99.45%. Furthermore, shareholders authorised the ratification of the Board of Directors’ actions.
Shareholders approved the proposed appropriation of available earnings with 100% of the votes. They also approved an increase in the dividend for the past financial year from 9.00 to 9.10 Swiss francs (gross) per share and non-voting equity security. This is the 34th consecutive dividend increase.
In addition to Christoph Franz, all other Board members were re-elected for a term of one year:
The following Board members were re-elected to the Remuneration Committee for a term of one year:
Shareholders also approved the maximum total amount of future remuneration of the Board of Directors, which was confirmed by 99.51% of the votes, and the maximum total amount of future remuneration for the Corporate Executive Committee until the 2022 ordinary Annual General Meeting by 99.41% of the votes.
The Meeting elected Testaris AG as independent proxy until the conclusion of the 2022 ordinary Annual General Meeting and KPMG AG as external auditor for the financial year 2021.
As a precautionary and prudent measure, the Annual General Meeting of Roche Holding Ltd was conducted without the physical presence of shareholders, in accordance with Art. 8 of the Federal Act on the Statutory Principles for Federal Council Ordinances on Combating the COVID-19 Epidemic (COVID-19 Act) and Art. 27 of the Ordinance 3 on Measures to Combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) (COVID-19 Ordinance 3). The Board of Directors regrets this decision, yet in view of the current situation there was no possibility of conducting the Annual General Meeting in its usual form. Roche had already communicated on 18 January 2021 that shareholders would only be able to vote via the independent proxy.
The address to shareholders by Chairman of the Board Dr Christoph Franz will be available under a go.roche.com/agm21_CFaddress_ENscript.
About Roche
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.
Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.
Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. More than thirty medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Moreover, for the twelfth consecutive year, Roche has been recognised as one of the most sustainable companies in the Pharmaceuticals Industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2020 employed more than 100,000 people worldwide. In 2020, Roche invested CHF 12.2 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 58.3 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.
Roche Group Media Relations
Phone: +41 61 688 8888 / e-mail: media.relations@roche.com
| Dr. Nicolas Dunant Phone: +41 61 687 05 17 |
Patrick Barth Phone: +41 61 688 44 86 |
| Dr. Daniel Grotzky Phone: +41 61 688 31 10 |
Karsten Kleine Phone: +41 61 682 28 31 |
| Nina Mählitz Phone: +41 79 327 54 74 |
Nathalie Meetz Phone: +41 61 687 43 05 |
| Dr. Barbara von Schnurbein Phone: +41 61 687 89 67 |
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