Press release: Annual General Meeting approves record dividend; Growth course affirmed
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Annual General Meeting approves record dividend; Growth course affirmed
- Investments of € 1.1 billion affirm the multimetal company’s growth course
- Annual General Meeting participants approve highest dividend since IPO of € 1.80 per share
- CEO Roland Harings at the Annual General Meeting: “Innovative battery recycling technology resounding success in test series”
- Supervisory Board: Six representatives elected; Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt reappointed Supervisory Board Chairman
Hamburg, February 16, 2023 – In keeping with the “Metals for progress. Driving sustainable growth” strategy, Aurubis is committed to securing and strengthening its core business, investing in growth opportunities, especially in recycling, and expanding its leadership role in sustainability. In the next three to four years, the company will invest around € 1.1 billion in executing its strategic agenda. At the company’s in-person Annual General Meeting in Hamburg today, CEO Roland Harings emphasized: “We are on very solid financial ground. We will continue to invest in Aurubis’ sustainable growth from this position of strength.”
Starting in fiscal year 2026/27, the growth projects approved thus far are expected to contribute around € 260 million to the Group’s operating earnings (EBITDA). With a total investment of € 640 million, the new US site, Aurubis Richmond in the state of Georgia, is at the heart of future growth. The company will benefit from the ongoing recycling boom, a market growing at over 5 %, and the rapidly increasing availability of complex recycling materials
Along with the potential of the US market, Europe remains a core market for Aurubis. To this end, the company is investing around € 120 million in expanding tankhouse capacity at its Bulgarian site in Pirdop by 50 %. An additional around € 190 million will be invested in the "CRH – Complex Recycling Hamburg" project that will process roughly 30,000 tons of additional recycling material, along with complex metallurgical intermediate products on a larger scale, starting in 2025.
Sustainability is an important criterion for all investment decisions. To achieve climate-neutral production well before 2050, Aurubis continually optimizes its processes and invests in projects that contribute to the further decarbonization of production. The company is investing around € 20 million in expanding its solar park at the Pirdop site by an additional 17 MW to this end. “In executing our growth strategy, our focus is always on reinforcing our leadership role in sustainability and, as such, our position as the most efficient and sustainable smelter network in the world,” Roland Harings noted at the Annual General Meeting.
Innovative battery recycling technology resounding success in test series
“Our technology puts Aurubis in a position to enter the rapidly growing field of battery recycling,” Roland Harings affirmed in his speech. The multimetal supplier presented the first results from its pilot plant, which successfully completed over 60 test series at the Hamburg site over the past year. “We succeeded in extracting more than 95 % of the valuable metals contained in old batteries – including lithium. This outstanding number is proof of our excellent metallurgical expertise in recycling complex, high-value material. We have achieved the highest recovery values though our innovative processes, and can thus reliably close important material cycles," the Aurubis CEO explained.
Developing recycling solutions for lithium-ion batteries is an attractive possible new business area for Aurubis. The company is focusing on what is known as black mass, a powder generated when batteries are shredded for recycling. It contains valuable metals like lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese along with graphite – all important raw materials for meeting the steadily growing demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Record € 1.80 dividend approved
At the Annual General Meeting, shareholders approved the Executive Board and Supervisory Board’s proposal of a € 1.80 per share dividend payout for the 2021/22 fiscal year. This is 20 cents higher than the year before, the highest dividend in the company’s history, and amounts to a 3.3 % dividend yield for the past year.
Roland Harings commented: “The results from the past fiscal year confirm our successful growth course – we achieved a record level for the second time in a row. With the highest dividend since the IPO, our shareholders are fairly participating the company’s success.”
New representatives elected to the Supervisory Board;
Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt approved as Supervisory Board Chairman
Participants at the Annual General Meeting elected the following shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board of Aurubis AG: Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, Kathrin Dahnke, Gunnar Groebler, Prof. Dr. Markus Kramer, Dr. Stephan Krümmer and Dr. Sandra Reich.
Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt was reappointed chairman by the Supervisory Board.
In total, 66.17 % of the share capital with voting rights participated in the Annual General Meeting.
The full manuscript of the CEO’s speech and additional information about the Annual General Meeting are available on the Aurubis website at aurubis.com/en/investor-relations/annual-general-meetings
Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Aurubis AG Corporate Communications / Konzernkommunikation
Christoph Tesch Head of Corporate Communications / Leiter Konzernkommunikation Spokesperson / Pressesprecher Phone:+49 40 7883 2178 Mobile: +49 172 4382 388
Meino Hauschildt Manager Corporate Communication / Manager Konzernkommunikation Spokesperson / Pressesprecher Phone:+49 40 7883 3037 Mobile: +49 172 3290 621
