44.63 percent of Deutsche Börse AG’s share capital was represented and around 800 shareholders and guests were at the Annual General Meeting. More than 300 shareholders used the internet service to appoint the Deutsche Börse AG representative to cast their votes, a service offered this year for the first time.
The Annual General Meeting elected the shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board fort he next three year period. The majority of shareholders passed the resolutions proposed by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board. For instance, they approved the distribution of a dividend of €0.44 per share. This dividend for the business year 2002 is thus 22 percent higher than the previous year. Of the distributable profit totalling €70 million in the financial year 2002, €49.2 million will be distributed, roughly 33 percent more than for the year 2001. The remaining €20.8 million from the distributable profit will be allocated to the retained earnings.
The shareholders of Deutsche Börse also approved an increase to the authorized share capital. The general meeting approved an authorized share capital of €14.8 million.
In addition, the General Meeting authorized the Executive Board to issue warrants and/or convertible bonds with a maximum volume of €1 billion, with approval from the Supervisory Board, and up to 3 million subscription rights for a program for staff participation. Finally, the Annual General Meeting authorized Deutsche Börse to purchase its own shares until 30 September 2004 amounting to a maximum of 10 percent of the share capital.
