Sandoz shareholders approve all resolutions at Annual General Meeting

Sandoz (SDZNY) announced that its shareholders approved all proposals of the Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting, including the Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements as well as the report on non-financial matters for the 2024 financial year. The 1,072 shareholders in attendance, together with the votes represented by the independent proxy, represented 75.73% of shares registered with voting rights. Gilbert Ghostine was confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Shareholders approved the proposed appropriation of available earnings and the dividend of 0.60 Swiss francs per registered dividend-paying share, representing 24% of core net income. The dividend will be paid, subject to deduction of Swiss withholding tax, as of April 23, 2025. The last trading day with entitlement to receive the dividend is April 16, 2025. The AGM endorsed the change of the registered seat of Sandoz Group AG from Risch to Basel. Sandoz shareholders also approved other amendments to the Articles of Incorporation: the renewal and expansion of the capital band of up to 10% of the share capital as well as the introduction of a new authorization to create conditional share capital. Both measures support the optimization of Sandoz capital structure. In two separate votes, shareholders approved the maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the Board of Directors for the period until the next Annual General Meeting, and the maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the members of Executive Committee for the 2026 financial year. Shareholders also endorsed the 2024 Compensation Report in an advisory vote. In addition to the re-election of Gilbert Ghostine as Chairman, shareholders also re-elected all other members of the Board of Directors for a one-year term. The following Board members were re-elected to the Human Capital and ESG Committee for a term of one year: Urs Riedener; Michael Rechsteiner; Aarti Shah, Ph.D.; Ioannis Skoufalos; Maria Varsellona The Board of Directors intends to re-designate Urs Riedener as chair of the Human Capital and ESG Committee. The Annual General Meeting also re-elected KPMG AG as statutory auditors for the 2025 financial year and confirmed Advoro Zurich AG as independent proxy until the conclusion of the 2026 Annual General Meeting.