The AGM of centrotherm photovoltaics AG held on August 18 at the Donauhalle in Ulm was exceptionally well received: more than 300 shareholders were present, marking a 50 percent increase over the previous year’s event, which was also well attended. The shareholders of centrotherm photovoltaics AG approved with a clear vote the management’s corporate strategy at the Shareholders’ General Meeting. The Management and Supervisory boards of the globally leading technology and equipment provider to the photovoltaic sector were discharged for the 2010 financial year with a high majority.
Shareholders approved very highly of the Management and Supervisory boards’ proposal to pay the first dividend in the company’s history in view of the good earnings trends in the 2010 financial year. Consequently, the Shareholders’ General Meeting passed a resolution to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.50 and a one-off bonus dividend of EUR 0.20 per ordinary share. “We are enabling our shareholders to participate in the company’s success, and we are aiming for a long-term dividend policy. This means that we are also planning to distribute a dividend for the coming financial years depending on our corporate development,” was how Robert M. Hartung, CEO and Management Board Spokesman of centrotherm photovoltaics AG, commented to shareholders at their general meeting held in Ulm.
The CFO of centrotherm photovoltaics AG, Dr. Thomas Riegler, presented a summary of an extremely successful year with significant revenue growth of more than 20 percent, a doubling of EBIT operating earnings, and an outright order boom entailing a new order inflow of more than EUR 1 billion. As a technology leader, centrotherm photovoltaics spent a total of EUR 42.4 million on research and development in 2010 – almost 50 percent more than in the previous year.
