Around 700 shareholders attended the Annual General Meeting of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) for the 2023/2024 financial year at the Rosengarten Congress Centre in Mannheim. Almost 27,5 percent of HEIDELBERG's share capital was represented at the event. The Executive Board explained to the shareholders the company's strategic direction, the balance sheet figures for the previous financial year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024) and the future outlook.
At the company's first Annual General Meeting, the CEO Jürgen Otto He stressed: “I am convinced that we can and will create a good and successful future for HEIDELBERG.” One of the reasons for this is the stable financial position that HEIDELBERG has achieved at the end of the 2023/2024 financial year. The company has generated net profits for the third year in a row. In addition, it achieved the best order intake in recent years at Drupa at the start of the new 2024/2025 financial year. Jürgen Otto also highlighted the experience within the company, which should remain a strong point.
Focus on a growth strategy
The company is working hard on a growth strategy to further counteract rising costs in the future. “HEIDELBERG must return to growth in the future, especially in terms of turnover,” says Jürgen Otto. “We must also maintain a high level of cost discipline, especially with regard to personnel costs.”
- HEIDELBERG sees its strong international position, with a presence in 170 countries around the world and the largest sales and service network in the printing industry, as a lever for further sales growth. This internationalisation will be exploited and expanded further, particularly in growth markets such as Asia, the USA and emerging countries. However, possible collaborations are currently being studied, through which the global sales and service network could be used to open up new sectors.
- The second objective of the growth strategy is to expand the value chain with a focus on digital and packaging printing. The collaboration with Canon for the growing segment of industrial inkjet printing, presented at drupa, and the development of the Boardmaster system for the flexible paper packaging segment underline this approach.
- The third objective is to open up new markets for HEIDELBERG's industrial business. To this end, the company is studying which competencies, know-how and resources can also be used outside the printing industry, particularly in high-precision mechanical engineering, the automotive industry or the energy sector.
The Annual General Meeting elects three shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board
At the Annual General Meeting, the company's shareholders had to vote on nine of the ten agenda items, including the election of three of the six shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board. Li Li (member of the Supervisory Board since 2019) and, for the first time, Karin Dohm and Jeppe Frandsen stood for election. In the resolution on the appointment of the members of the Supervisory Board, the vast majority of those entitled to vote agreed with the candidates proposed by management. All candidates will actively support the company on its path to a successful future with their skills and experience.
The terms of office of Supervisory Board members Dr. Fritz Oesterle and Li Li expired at the end of the Annual General Meeting on July 25, 2024. In addition, Ferdinand Rüesch resigned from the Supervisory Board with effect from the end of the Annual General Meeting on July 25, 2024.
Photo: Dr. David Schmedding, CSO, Jürgen Otto, CEO, Tania von der Goltz, CFO, and Dr. Martin Sonnenschein, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, at the annual general meeting for the financial year 2023/2024 in Mannheim.
