ABB Ltd ($ABBN)

[Presentation] [Interpreted] Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our Annual General Meeting. I'm pleased to see that you have found the way to Oerlikon. Like in earlier years, this venue means a lot to us. Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon, one of ABB's predecessor companies used to manufacture locomotives and generators in this very hall. And as you may have read, we are investing CHF 80 million in the new corporate headquarters in our historic building right next door by 2031. As you can see, even though we are constantly reviewing our portfolio and adjusting it where necessary, ABB is committed to Switzerland. Welcome, everybody now in Swiss dialect as well. We're very much looking forward to this meeting. May I also extend a welcome to those of you who are following our meeting via the Internet. Likewise, I'm pleased to welcome my colleagues from the Board of Directors. Further, I would like to welcome [ Sebastien Tam ] here at the front. He is the representative of ABB's biggest shareholder investor. We also have a school class with us today, namely students of the fourth grade of the [indiscernible] school, and their focus subject is economics and law. They are accompanied by their teacher, [indiscernible]. You can see them. A warm welcome to all of you from our side. I'm particularly pleased to see you here because I grew up in Baden, [indiscernible] and I know the school that you go to every day very well. So it's fantastic to have you here today. I'm pleased to see that you are interested in the most important form of Swiss company law, the corporation limited by shares. In addition to the theory you're starting at school, you will experience an important day in the life of such a company in practice with us today. Soon, you will have your final exams. And I wish you every success. And finally, I would like to welcome the members of our Executive Committee. I address already now my thanks to the entire Executive Committee for their commitment and congratulate them on the success they have achieved for ABB in 2025. It has again become a record year. Allow me to say a few words about safety. In the event of an alarm, please follow precisely the instructions of the personnel identified with either yellow or orange vests. The emergency exits are indicated and located on the right side of the hall and in the entrance area behind you. Shareholders, guests, I shall now open our Annual General Meeting with some formal statements. In accordance with Article 14 of our Articles of Incorporation, I, as Chairman of the Board of Directors, shall take the chair of the AGM. With me on the podium is Morten Wierod, our Chief Executive Officer. For the first time, I welcome Christian Nilsson, he has been our new Chief Financial Officer since the 1st of February this year. Also with us on the podium is Mathias Gaertner, our General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors. Mr. Gaertner will also keep the minutes of today's meeting. Further, I would like to welcome the law firm, Zehnder Bolliger & Partner as the independent proxy. They are represented here at this meeting through Dr. Hans Zehnder. May I ask all shareholders who wish to speak during the meeting to now come forward and report to the registration desk at the front, to your right. Please give your surname, first name and place of residence, and have yourself entered into the list of speakers on a particular agenda item. I'd like to ask you to speak only about the agenda item you have chosen to speak about and to limit your speech to be fair to everyone else. Shareholders, we shall conduct all ballots and elections at today's AGM in electronic fashion. This is in accordance with Article 17 of our Articles of Incorporation. Voting procedures will be supervised by Daniel Burkhard, who is a member of the Group Legal Department of ABB and whom I hereby appoint as vote counter. KPMG, our auditors, are represented by Achim Wolper and Mohamad Midani. They are here upfront to the left from my perspective. The invitation to the Annual General Meeting was published on the 19th of February in 2026 in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce and on our website, complying with the statutory notice period of 20 days. Shareholders entered in the share register were also separately notified of the Annual General Meeting on the 19th of February 2026. I declare that no shareholders requests in accordance with Article 13 of our Articles of Incorporation have been submitted for items to be included on the agenda nor have any deviating motions being submitted relating to the items on today's agenda. The complete ABB annual reporting suite has been available on our website since February 19, 2026. This includes our integrated report 2025 with the management report, financial statements, consolidated financial statements, proposal by the Board of Directors relating to the appropriation of available earnings and related reports of the auditors. Attendance recording will be carried out electronically by means of a QR code on the admission card. If you choose to leave the hall during the meeting, I'd like to ask you to take your admission card and your voting keypad with you. The attendance announcement and information about the voting modalities will be made at a later point in this meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, I now declare that this Annual General Meeting has been convened and constituted in accordance with the statutory and legal requirements as to form. Other than that, I would like to point out that for the purposes of keeping the minutes, all statements and the meeting are recorded. In addition, today's meeting is being webcast live on the Internet in German and English via ABB's website. After the meeting, the recording as well as the minutes will be available on our website. This brings me to the reporting for the financial year 2025. I'll start us off by making a few remarks from the Board of Directors' point of view. After my comments, Morten Wierod, our Chief Executive Officer, will report on the business development of ABB Group. Ladies and gentlemen, the events of the past weeks have once again reminded us that we are living in challenging and often unpredictable times. I'm pleased to report that our employees in the Middle East remain safe, and that ABB is doing everything in its power to ensure their security. Indeed, the world today faces many challenges. War, whether in Ukraine or the Middle East, geopolitical tensions across many regions. And of course, technological upheaval driven by innovations such as artificial intelligence. These are profound transformations that are understandable and give rise to serious concerns for many people. This is precisely why it is so important to build trust and remain reliable, two things that apply equally to ABB and Switzerland. For decades, our country has been regarded as innovative and forward-looking as well as stable and open to the world, and that must remain the case. Implementing proposals to cap the resident population at 10 million would cause significant harm to our country. Isolating our country won't help us. In fact, the opposite is true. Were located at the very heart of Europe and we have close ties with our neighbors. This is why we also need what is known as the Bilateral Agreements III, and wherever possible, free trade agreements even if achieving them hasn't become any easier in today's world. The goal is to ensure that we remain competitive and continue to have access to the world's best talent. Switzerland has one great strength in this regard. This country has always managed to seamlessly combine tradition and openness to the world. This is also reflected in ABB's investments, not least in the construction of our new headquarters here in Oerlikon, where we will fully renovate the landmark ABB historic building and construct a new modern office building alongside it. There is no question in my mind, ladies and gentlemen. In times like these, your company's flexibility, agility and focus truly pay off. Our well-known local for local strategy means proximity to our customers, short supply chains and the ability to make quick decisions. That proximity to our customers is more than an advantage just in terms of efficiency, it is also an advantage in terms of resilience. And precisely because the world is becoming more predictable, it is essential for your company to remain predictable in its purpose, in its values and in its strategy. ABB remains firmly on course. Obviously, we're making tactical adjustments. And of course, we're remaining flexible. But from a strategic perspective, we're focused on consistency and long-term objectives. This naturally also includes the forward-looking management of ABB's portfolio. With the announced divestment of our Robotics business last year, we took an important decision, one that not only creates value for ABB but one that will also allow the business itself to benefit under its new owner, SoftBank. Our approach is working. Morten will provide you with a more detailed overview shortly. But ABB's performance over the past year clearly shows that we are on the right path. For that, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank all our employees, our CEO, Morten, and the entire Executive Committee. During our Capital Markets Day last November, we were able to raise several of our ambitions. This was possible because your ABB is well positioned and because we provide critical solutions for the major economic and technological trends shaping the world today. The first of these trends is energy security. This has become one of the most important political issues worldwide. No matter what region, there is an urgent need to upgrade and expand energy systems to meet the growing demand for electricity. At the same time, a rapidly diversifying range of energy sources must be integrated into infrastructure in a safe and reliable way. The slogan, electrification of everything, which means the electrification of all systems as the foundation for productivity, resilience and decarbonization, this slogan remains as relevant as ever. The second major trend is automation, another pillar of ABB's business. Our automation solutions help ABB's customers improve efficiency, enhance quality, strengthen safety and use resources more productively. And here at ABB, our strength lies precisely in our ability to effectively combine electrification and automation. The reason for this is clear. Electrification without automation is often too expensive. The other way around, automation without electrification is often unsustainable. But together, they are our sweet spot. Our 3 business areas: Automation, Electrification and Motion are closely interconnected. Our customers know that this combination makes us the right partner to help operate the facilities and systems more reliably, more energy efficiently and more productive. Ultimately, our performance reflects the solutions we deliver to our customers every day across a myriad of industries from distribution grids and infrastructure to industry and mobility to ports and buildings. And our shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, you benefit from these achievements as well because we want you to continue sharing in our success. As you might have read, we are proposing an increase in the dividend to CHF 0.94 per share, in line with our long-term policy of paying a rising sustainable dividend per share over time. As usual, you will have the opportunity to vote on this later in the meeting. This year, we'll also intend to continue our share buyback program and plan to spend up to USD 2 billion on it. Our strong order backlog is also clear evidence that innovation remains at the center of what we do with our customers and for our customers. Since 2022, we have increased our spending on research and development by around 30%. Today, 7,800 employees in our research centers are working to ensure that our technologies remain at the forefront of our industry. Digital systems and services and especially new ways of applying artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly important role in our product portfolio. These capabilities help us address pressing challenges for our customers whether that means improving maintenance, optimizing energy flows or taking out complexity. And we take a very pragmatic approach to this work. After all, AI is nothing new for ABB. For more than a decade, we've been working with analytical AI and now increasingly with generative AI. Reliability, security and robustness always come first. For us, there is no such thing as move fast and break things. We're not racing ahead at top speed while knowingly accepting mistakes along the way, no. AI is not a magic wand anyway, but it is a very useful power, a very powerful lever. And when the lever is applied, responsibility must always remain with people. Things are no different when it comes to innovation, which brings me to another point. A misconception that innovation no longer takes place in Europe. Yes, the EU is sometimes too bureaucratic and not agile enough. I give you that. There's clearly a need for greater momentum. Neither I nor anyone else here at ABB has ever hesitated to voice an opinion on this subject. But there is also no doubt that this continent remains one of the world's major drivers of innovation, be it in Switzerland, Sweden or across the European Union as a whole. And it's up to us to ensure that this remains the case in the future as well. Let me add a few thoughts on one of the most important issues for everyone here at ABB, sustainability. This has been one of the most highly discussed topics over the past years, and that's understandable, especially in times of major disruption like this. But there's one thing I want to make crystal clear. ABB remains fully committed to sustainability. For us, sustainability isn't simply nice to have. And it's not an ideological stance either. Sustainability creates real value, both for ABB and our customers by strengthening productiveness, improving efficiency and enhancing competitiveness. We have continued to build on this progress towards our sustainability targets in most areas. And by combining electrification and automation, we help our customers reduce both emissions and costs. In a nutshell for us, sustainability isn't a project. It is an integral part of our business model. None of this would be possible without the right team. And we have that team at every level of the organization, from our apprentices to our leaders and our Board of Directors. We invest in development, lifelong learning and personal responsibility to address the shortage of skilled talent and the impact of demographic change. Many of our new leaders have emerged from within the company, including our new Chief Financial Officer, Head of Finance, in other words, Christian Nilsson. I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks to his predecessor, Timo Ihamuotila, for his outstanding work as CFO. And incidentally, this strong talent pipeline is also an intentional result of the ABB Way, when employees are giving responsibility, they learn and grow quickly. And soon, they're ready to take on the next challenge. This is not just one more of ABB's strength. Strategies can be copied, but culture and a strong talent pool cannot. I'd also like to briefly recognize the excellent work of our Board of Directors, the colleagues that are here with us today. We have a diverse, broadly positioned Board of Directors that brings together the expertise and industry experience your company needs to face challenges that may arise. I'd like to say it once again, ABB is poised for success today and in the future. In conclusion, I'd also like to express my gratitude to you, the owners of ABB. Thank you for your trust in us and your support. ABB remains firmly on course, and we look forward to continuing this journey together. Thank you very much. Following these remarks from the point of view of the Board of Directors, I call upon our CEO, Morten Wierod to speak and to dig into the nitty gritty of ABB's business. Over to you.

Thanks, Peter. Dear shareholders, this is the second time I have the honor of speaking to you as the CEO of your company. And I can report ABB is doing well. I'm sure many of you will agree that 2025 sometimes felt like a rollercoaster ride with geopolitical uncertainties, tariffs and trade nationalism. Still, the trading environment proved robust, and we continue to see strong and rising demand for our electrification, automation and digital solutions. I'm pleased to report that 2025 was ABB's best year yet. Our team of about 110,000 employees pulled together to deliver an all-time high financial performance. Orders were strong, and the order backlog now amounts to $25 billion. Our free cash flow is strong, too, at $4.6 billion. And the operational EBITA margin stands at 19%. It was not only our financial performance that stood out. We also made progress on sustainability, having already almost reached our 2030 reduction target in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions. As our integrated report for 2025 shows, we continue to receive top sustainability ratings across the board from climate and water to governance. That's because we put both financial and sustainability targets at the core of ABB's planning and strategy. We know that automation and electrification hold the key to a more competitive and sustainable industrial future. And we remain committed to reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions and are now forecasting a reduction of 86% by the end of this decade compared to our 2019 baseline and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. For ABB Scope 3 value chain emissions, we continue to work with our suppliers to reduce emissions, and we continue to make progress against these and our other sustainability commitments. Across the world, ABB is going strong and is well prepared for the future. Our local-for-local strategy where we design and produce our technologies close to our customers continues to be a key to ABB's resilience. In the United States, around 80% of our revenues are now generated from locally made products, solutions and services. In China, it's about 85%. And here in Europe, more than 95%. But we must not stand still. We keep evolving the business, both to stay ahead of the competition and because there are many opportunities to improve, grow and outperform, not least by continuing to embed AI into our solutions and processes. One lever is pushing our decentralized ABB Way operating model even deeper into the organization to increase accountability, transparency and speed across all our business areas, divisions and business lines. You just heard Peter speak about innovation, and I would like to briefly share one example of how we are investing to create value for our customers, very much in the spirit of the ABB Way where research and development happens close to our customers. The growing use of artificial intelligence is driving sharply the power demand for data centers. These power needs, expected to be 4x higher in 2030 than they were just 2 years ago, are driving a shift to medium voltage solutions in the electrical infrastructure. You may not be aware of all this, but ABB is the market leader in medium voltage technology, and a standout product in our portfolio is our HiPerGuard Uninterruptible Power Supply, which ensures continuous 24/7 power availability for these critical facilities. HiPerGuard was the first of its kind in the market, and it demonstrates our innovation strength. And we continue to see strong demand for this technology and innovation within our medium voltage portfolio remain one of our highest priority because data centers are our fastest-growing segment. But we do much more for this segment. ABB provides electrification and automation solutions to build, run data centers that are more reliable, more efficient and more scalable. And we help data centers provide a digital infrastructure for everything from education and health care to AI and digital commerce. Data centers are essential to how the world works, and ABB is essential to data centers so they can outrun. Let's have a little look at a video describing this. [Presentation]

So let's change gears. Let me speak about how we continue to manage our portfolio actively in 2025. Later this year, we expect to complete the sale of our Robotics division to SoftBank. The sale will combine the leading technology and industry expertise of ABB Robotics with SoftBank's excellence in AI and next-generation computing. For you, our shareholders, the transaction will create immediate value. We will use the proceeds of the sale in line with our well-established capital allocation principles. When it comes to additions to our business, our future focus will continue to be on bolt-on acquisitions to fill gaps in technology and geography, build economies of scales and move into adjacent segments and markets. As always, we remain laser focused on strategic fit and the potential for value creation. While overall, the deal size is still small, our teams are fully focused on capturing opportunities and embedding MI integration into our performance culture. ABB, we now have 3 business areas: Electrification, Motion and Automation. And they have all sales and technology synergies between them. We call this the power of ABB because our value proposition to customers is grounded in a combined electrification and automation offering supported by embedded software and AI. Let's have a look at how these 3 business areas performed in the past year. Our Electrification business is a global technology leader that enables the efficient and reliable distribution of electricity from source to socket. In 2025, comparable orders increased 13%, supported by a positive development across all customer segments. Demand was particularly strong in data centers, but also in the areas of utilities, land-based infrastructure and also in commercial buildings. Comparable revenues also grew double digits, while the operational EBITA margin increased to 23.5% with a profit increase of 16%. Our Motion business is the leading supplier of drives and electric motors globally, and position at the core of accelerating a more productive and sustainable future. Comparable orders increased 6% and reflected growth in most divisions. Revenues from Motion advanced by 4% on a comparable basis, and the operational EBITA margin remained stable at 19.4% with a profit increase of 5%. And finally, our Automation business enables the operation of large and complex industrial infrastructure that delivers essential resources from energy and materials to water and manufactured goods. In 2025, the Automation business recorded a 30% increase in comparable orders, thanks in part to several large orders. But even excluding the impact of these large orders, the underlying market activity remained robust. Comparable revenues were 3% higher than in 2024 and the operational EBITA margin remained stable at 14% with a profit increase of 5%. Speaking of Automation, I would like to give you one example from our marine and ports division that shows both our potential for growth and how our solutions come together to deliver the power of ABB. In 2025, marine was one of our most dynamic customer segments with more and more ships being equipped with our unique Azipod propulsion system. Azipod propulsion featured an electric drive motor housed in a pod outside the ship's hull. Not only does it make ships more efficient and reduce noise and vibrations, it also cuts fuel consumption by up to 20% compared with conventional systems. Azipod is a solution that is both powerful and efficient, and combined with the complete onboard power setup, brings together various technologies from Automation, Motion and Electrification businesses. Because vessels equipped with the Azipod systems are built to operate for decades, it also brings in valuable service business, supporting our long-term customer relationships and delivering stable revenue streams for ABB. And at ABB, we have plenty of success stories like this. And that's why we are -- we were able to update our targets during our Capital Markets Day in November last year. We have raised the target range for our operational EBITA margin to 18% to 22%, and now also have specific targets for each of our business areas. We continue to aim for 5% to 7% revenue growth through the cycle, complemented by 1% to 2% acquired growth that I spoke about before. We also upgraded our target for return on capital employed to a best-in-class or more than 20%. And we are set to achieve all of this while returning cash to you, our shareholders, by delivering a rising sustainable dividend and share buybacks. Looking at 2026, we expect our 3 business areas to continue to benefit from their leading positions in strong electrification and automation markets. We expect a positive book-to-bill and comparable revenue growth in the range of 6% to 9%. And the operational EBITA margin should slightly improve year-on-year even when excluding the announced real estate gain in the first quarter of 2026. So let me summarize. Today, I'm more confident than ever about the prospects of ABB. I'm convinced the best is yet to come. [Interpreted] Dear shareholders, on behalf of the entire ABB team, I would like to thank you very much for the trust you've placed in us.

[Interpreted] Many thanks, Morten. Ladies and gentlemen, we now have the attendance announcement. We have 728 shareholders present at today's Annual General Meeting. Adding in the represented shareholders, we have the following attendance. Altogether, 1,173,177,070 registered share with a nominal value of CHF 0.12 each, and with a total nominal value of [ CHF 140,740,781,248.40 ] that's equivalent to 85.82% of the share capital. Shareholders wanting to have themselves represented at today's Annual General Meeting were able before the meeting to appoint a third party or the independent proxy, Zehnder Bolliger & Partner as their proxy. Mr. Zehnder is representing 1,171,370,851 registered shares with a total par value of CHF 150,564,502.12. In accordance with applicable laws, the independent proxy informed ABB on Monday, 16th of March 2026, about the yes, no and abstain votes per agenda items handed in by the shareholders represented by them. The data was shared in aggregated format only so that no conclusions about the voting behavior of the individual shareholders where possible. In light of the above, I declare that this Annual General Meeting has a quorum with regard to all items included on the agenda. The AGM decides on the motions before us today in accordance with the law and our Articles of Incorporation with the majority of the represented share votes. Further, the results of all ballots and elections will be recorded in writing by our Secretary. I would like to ask you to retain your admission card for the duration of the meeting. This is in case the electronic voting system breaks down and a card ballot or election needs to be held. I would also like to point out that for all today's ballots and elections, anybody who would like to have their no votes or abstentions recorded can give their surnames, first names, place of residence and the number of no votes or abstentions to the vote counter, from your perspective, at the front on the left to be available for the minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to Item 1 on our agenda. Item 1 is the approval of the management report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for 2025. The consolidated annual financial statements of the ABB Group, that is to say the group accounts as well as the annual financial statements of ABB Ltd. can be found in the annual report. KPMG has audited both financial statements and their report likewise forms part of the annual report. KPMG, our auditors, informed me prior to the Annual General Meeting that they have no further comments on either of the consolidated financial statements or the annual financial statements for 2025. I hereby open the discussion. The subject for discussion is the management report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for 2025. I'd like to ask the speakers to come forward to the microphone and give you surnames, first names and place of residence. And I repeat my request that you confine your comments only to the items under discussion. Who can I call upon to speak? Okay, we have the first speaker. You have the floor, please.

[Interpreted] Yes. My name is [indiscernible] from Baden. At such an Annual General Meeting, I think this is a very dry matter, so I thought I'll add some spice to it. I'll start with a song because this is all about the dividend, and the interpreters will leave you to the beauty of the original. I'll skip the second part. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm welcoming you all. You all come here to the honey pot, CHF 0.94 dividend per share and then the buyback program, all shareholders will be happy with that because at the end of the day, money is taken out of the company. Yes, we're celebrating our success, but outside, the foundations are crumbling. We've got 10,000 engineers out of work at the moment. The trend is going up. There's an increase of over 25%. It's great, isn't it? What happens with the money? It is invested into real estate. But this is not the engine that drives that country forward, rather the opposite happens. Well-paid jobs disappear and people have to have 2 to 3 jobs to being able to pay their g****** rent. So our country, despite the beautiful new headquarters, our new country goes down the drain. A young family, how do they want to finance their future without great engineering job? Is this the kind of society want -- do we want to be a country that lives on renting out flats to each other apartments and delivering pizza? I don't think so. We need the engineering knowledge. We need the people. We have to give them an opportunity. And I think this would be much more worthwhile to invest the profit in. We're paying out CHF 3.8 billion, ladies and gentlemen. With this money, we could employ and retrain every single unemployed engineer in Switzerland for years. These engineers, statistically speaking, would generate 2 to 3 new jobs, each one of them. But what do we do? We decide to go for the short-term return, a short-term benefit. We have unlearned to think in the long term because more and more money is taken out of ABB. They claim they think in long-term perspectives. But is it really the kind of long-term thinking we want? Is this the kind of society we want? People who really have knowledge, who really have expertise, who drive the country forward, they are sent into unemployment and get paid by the unemployment office. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. It's great to have you back, Mr. [indiscernible]. Thank you very much for coming here. Let me try and comment on what you pointed out. You particularly highlighted the profession of the engineer. And I will also give the floor to Morten for a moment because he is an engineer himself, so he knows what he's talking about. Right, I agree with you that every country has an ecosystem. The ecosystem in Switzerland and Europe is marked by innovation. Innovation can only happen if we have enough clever people, enough talent to drive this innovation forward. What about ABB itself? ABB also has its social responsibility. And this applies to the community and the environment we work in as well. But let me tell you, ABB is a company that has committed also to its shareholders, and we're committed to delivering long-term profit and to pay out a good dividend in the long term. Let me remind you of this. Morten made a point earlier, and I did as well. We clearly have 4 capital streams, 4 ways for -- to use our capital that we generate every year. The first one is organic growth. This is what happens within ABB itself, the kind of growth we can achieve with our people, 110,000 people. Many, many engineers. Our sales organization works together closely with clients, our research and development activities and places where we employ more than 8,000 staff and develop innovation on a daily basis. This is organic growth that we, ourselves, generate. Number two, we pay out a dividend. We pay out a dividend, which has been going up over the years. I think 2 years ago, we had a similar discussion here. What is the appropriate level of a dividend. Both the management and the Board of Directors believe that we want to pay out a constantly increasing dividend and not a dividend that fluctuates with high points and low points. This is what we need organic growth for. Number three, company acquisitions, that's inorganic growth. Morten also referred to this in his presentation. It's important for us that 1% to 2% of our growth, it comes from acquired companies. What does this mean? It means we invest the money we have from inorganic growth into inorganic acquisitions, and we can then also continue paying out an increasing dividend. The fourth aspect is share buybacks. If we still have money available, which is the case, and Morten pointed out why that is the case from the point of view of profitability, then we also invest in share buybacks. The [ 3.8 billion ] you're referring to is [ 3.2 ] in share buybacks and [ 1.8 ] in dividend, just to make it clear for everyone else. Now let me talk about organic growth. How do we achieve that with our engineers? About 60% of the people that we hire every year, our engineers, that's a global figure. 2025, it was roughly 9,265 in Switzerland. So for us, engineers are absolutely indispensable for our business because we are a technology company. Switzerland as an industrial location is extremely important. We have a big research and development center in [indiscernible] outside [ Baden. ] But we also have global locations in traction systems, for example, our division for trains, that's in [indiscernible] Turgi. So for Switzerland, we need engineers to drive the innovation and the development, and we employ them, we hire them to take ABB further. The same applies to the situation worldwide. Perhaps Morten can go into more detail there. So what I'm trying to say is that I think we found an excellent mix between organic growth on the one hand, inorganic growth on the other hand, payout to shareholders on the one hand. But at the end of the day, also to shareholders, to give shareholders a little bit more of the big pie because we also repurchased shares. Now you talked about increasing rents. And here, I'm giving you my personal side of things. This is a social problem in Switzerland that needs to be tackled. I personally don't think that all the dividend -- the dividends will end up in real estate properties. I think we have many industrial investors, small-scale investors, large-scale investors. And I don't think that we are making a contribution to exacerbating the situation in the real estate sector. In other words, we don't add to the scarcity of residential space. I wouldn't really agree with you there. But I agree with you that it is a problem. No doubt about that. Morten, around your profession.

Well, thanks, Peter, and I can fully agree to the statement that kind of -- or that engineers are the unsung heroes, being one myself. So I think I often say in speeches or in discussion around the world, I think -- I do think the world needs more engineers and probably less influencers. So especially for the students here on the front row, I hope that you take that advice. And that's why we also had ABB, when we're working at the local level in every country or every market where we operate, we try to invite kind of -- or not only customers in, but we also invite friends and family to come to the site so they can see what ABB and engineering is all about to create -- so the family days is something which is very common if you are here in Switzerland, if you are in Europe, in Americas or in Asia. And this is an important thing, I believe, also to attract more talent into the areas of technology because the world does need more engineers, and it does need more technology to solve some of these big challenges we have in front of us as a global society. And the only thing that can solve these problems is technology. And therefore, I really believe in engineering, in technology where kind of when this comes together with these challenges we face, there is still hope for the future. So I can only echo the need for getting more engineer in every country, in Switzerland, but also in every country we operate. And at ABB, we do hire them, and we give them very interesting tasks and challenge to deal with early on in their career, and then you can also come up through the ranks. And I think many here on the road show and myself, one of the examples that engineering is also a way of making a career, but it importantly is that it's the way to solve some of our world's biggest challenges today. So I fully agree with you about that the world needs more engineers, and I hope our students here on the front row take the challenge. Thanks.

[Interpreted] Maybe just 2 things [indiscernible] to conclude. There are some studies that show how many millions of engineers we will be losing over the next 10 years in Europe because we have this demographic issue. So from my perspective, as Morten already said as well, we're going to have this issue in Europe as well. We are not going to have enough engineers in the next few years. This is one of the points. And the second point is, I've seen that you've brought your guitar. So I was thinking that you're going to sing your song playing the guitar as well. So let me express my wish for next year. Maybe you can bring it again and then sing your entire song. Thank you very much for your speech. Are there any more speeches? Anyone else who would like to take the floor on agenda Item 1?

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, chief members of the Board of Directors, members of the EC. I would like to thank you for your foresight, foresight of the Board of Directors, of the EC when it comes to social commitment, you keep jobs, you create jobs. This is to all of our benefits, us as shareholders -- I'm very sorry, I will be speaking standard German now. So it's to the benefit of us as shareholders. It's a dividend policy with foresight, dividends are being paid out and they are adjusted to the profit that was made. And I would like to thank the leaders of this company and the Executive Committee for doing this. The dividend policy as such that the shareholders who purchased their shares in time are being compensated for the capital they invested and they can count on a company that will persist. And engineers, as you said, are sought after. I do know some companies who are looking for good engineers, and becoming an engineer means that you will have a future. And after all, Alfred Escher founded ETH in Zurich, because at the time we lacked engineers here in this country. So I'm very grateful that ABB is working in a [ farsighted ] manner. And I do hope that we, as shareholders, support the company so that jobs can be kept, maintained within the company. So thank you very much for your excellent work and have a lovely day, ladies and gentlemen.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much indeed, and thank you for your support to the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. With regards to ETH, I would like to say something. We work together with that university closely. We have acquired startups from ETH. And in EC, we have at least one member who has obtained their degree from ETH. So we're very grateful to the university. We have 10 technical universities in total in Switzerland, and the talents that are being educated there are to our benefit absolutely. Is there anyone else who would like to take the floor? This does not seem to be the case, which is why it suggests that we are going to vote on agenda Item 1. Ladies and gentlemen, when you cast your vote, please press on your voting keypad, either the green yes button to vote in favor of the resolution, the yellow abstain button to abstain, or the red no button to vote against the resolution. If by mistake you pressed the wrong button, you can correct your vote directly by pressing the button of your choice. Shareholders, are there any questions about the voting procedure? This does not seem to be the case. Let us proceed with the ballot. Should you have any questions at any point in time, please contact our help desk, which is at the back of the hall. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes to approve the management report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for 2025. I would like to ask you to show your approval, abstention or rejection regarding the motion of the Board of Directors by pressing the appropriate button on your keypad. Ladies and gentlemen, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, we are now closing the ballots in 3 seconds time. And we now close the ballots. Let us wait, the result will be available shortly. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have approved the management report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for 2025, with 98.09% yes votes. Thank you very much on behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Ladies and gentlemen, we now move on to Item 2 on the agenda, which is a consultative vote on the compensation report 2025. As in previous Annual General Meetings, we hold a separate consultative vote on the company's compensation report. The compensation report contains the principles governing the compensation page to the Board of Directors and the EC. It is also a piece of information about the components of such compensation and the amounts which were paid to the members of the Board of Directors and the EC for 2025. Compensation of the members of the Board of Directors and EC was determined by the Board of Directors, taking into account the recommendations of the Compensation Committee. In this context, I would like to highlight that our compensation programs are closely linked to our sustainability strategy. There was a sustainability KPI for all EC members, which is assessed with 20% for their long-term incentive plan. Likewise, 2 sustainability targets were defined for all EC members as part of their individual incentive plan component, so an individual component of their annual incentive plan. If you would like further explanation about any points covered in the compensation report, I will now take your questions and hereby open the discussion on the compensation report before we proceed to vote. Please remember that we will take comments and questions on the maximum aggregate compensation of the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, respectively, under agenda Item 6.1 and 6.2. I would like to ask speakers to come forward to the microphone and to give their surname, first name and place of residence. Does anyone wish to speak on the compensation report? It does not seem to be the case. Nobody wishes to take the floor, which means that we will now move on to the consultative vote. Now the Board of Directors proposes to accept the compensation report 2025. And according to what we did before, I would now ask you to cast your vote. [Voting]

[Interpreted] Another 3 seconds to cast your vote. And I now close the ballot. Let's just wait for the result. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have accepted the compensation report 2025, with 95.28% of yes votes. I would like to thank you for accepting the compensation report and for the confidence that you have thereby expressed in us. We therefore now move on to Item 3 on the agenda, the consultative vote on the sustainability statement 2025. Ladies and gentlemen, by means of our sustainability statement, our report on sustainability, we inform shareholders about nonfinancial matters. We, however, do not limit ourselves to the information required by law, rather our sustainability statement comprehensively informs about ABB's sustainability agenda, its targets and the progress achieved. We present this report to you for a consultative vote and are looking forward to your feedback. If you would like further explanation about our sustainability statement, I will now take your questions and hereby open the discussion. Does anyone wish to take the floor on this topic? It does not seem to be the case. So nobody wishes to take the floor on this topic, which means that we can move on to the consultative vote. The Board of Directors proposes to accept the sustainability statement 2025. Shareholders, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to close the ballots in 3 seconds. Let's just wait for the results. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have accepted the sustainability statement 2025, with 95.18% yes votes. We would like to thank you for accepting the sustainability statement, and express our a gratitude for your support in this important matter. As I already said before, it's a fundamental part of our strategy and agenda, and I would very much recommend to read the comprehensive report to see what work we have been doing at ABB over the past year. The Board of Directors proposes that its members as well as officers entrusted with managing the business will be discharged from their responsibilities for the financial year 2025. For the sake of completeness, I would like to mention that the discharge resolution shall also cover Board members and persons entrusted with management who left or were appointed during 2025. So again, the question, does anyone wish to comment on the proposed discharge? This does not seem to be the case, so that we can move on to the vote. I'd like to point out at this stage that members of the Board of Directors and anyone who has participated in any way in managing the business are excluded from voting either with their own shares or with shares represented by them. The votes of the persons concerned will not be taken into account during this ballot. The number of represented votes is correspondingly reduced. Ladies and gentlemen, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I intend to close the ballot shortly. I hereby close the ballot, and we'll now wait for the result. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have granted discharge for the financial year 2025 to the Board of Directors and the officers entrusted with managing the business with 97.37% yes votes. Shareholders, on behalf of all the members of the Board of Directors as well as the officers entrusted with business management, I would like to thank you for granting discharge to them for their responsibilities. We now move on to Item 5 on the agenda, appropriation of available earnings. Ladies and gentlemen, earnings are available to the Annual General Meeting 2026, amounting to CHF 4,974,599,295. Our Board of Directors proposes to pay a dividend of CHF 0.94 out of available earnings for the financial year 2025. This means an increase of CHF 0.04 compared to the previous year. The proposal is in line with the company's dividend policy to pay a rising sustainable dividend over time. Payment in Switzerland is scheduled for the 25th of March, and the distribution will be subject to Swiss withholding tax in the amount of 35%. The Board of Directors finally proposes to carry forward the remaining amount of available earnings 2025 to new account. For the sake of completeness, allow me to mention that ABB Ltd. will not pay dividends on own shares held by the company and its subsidiaries and on shares that participate in the Dividend Access Facility as per the Article 8 of the Articles of Incorporation. Shareholders who are resident in Sweden who participate in the Dividend Access Facility will receive from our subsidiary, ABB Northern Holding AB for each registered share amount, an amount in Swedish krona that corresponds to the resolved dividend. This amount, however, is subject to taxation according to Swedish law. The auditors confirm in the report that the Board's proposal relating to the appropriation of available earnings is in accordance with the law and our articles. Does anyone wish to comment on this proposal relating to the appropriation of available earnings in 2025? We already talked about this and we discussed about the business in total. Any other questions, comments? This doesn't seem to be the case. We proceed to the vote. Ladies and gentlemen, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I intend to close the ballot. Now I close the ballot, and we'll now wait for the result. I declare that you have approved the proposal of the Board of Directors relating to the appropriation of the 2025 total available earnings with 98.20% yes votes. Thank you very much indeed, and thank you also for believing that we are following the right sustainability strategy and sustainable balance sheet appropriation strategy. This brings us to Item 6, approval of the compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Ladies and gentlemen, pursuant to applicable laws and our Articles of Incorporation, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders shall approve the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. The principles of compensation are specified in Article 33 of the Articles of Incorporation. Details on the proposed compensation are described in the annex to the invitation as well as the compensation report. We now come to Item 6.1, approval of the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Board of Directors for the next term of office, that is to say from the Annual General Meeting 2026 to the Annual General Meeting 2027. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes that the shareholders approve the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Board of Directors covering the period from the AGM 2026 to the AGM 2027 in the amount of CHF 5.1 million. Does anyone wish to take the floor on this agenda item? This does not seem to be the case. So let's proceed to the vote. Ladies and gentlemen, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] 3 more seconds, and then I'll close the ballot. Thank you very much for casting your votes. I'll close the ballot. We now wait for the result. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have approved the proposed total compensation for the Board of Directors covering the period from the Annual General Meeting 2026 to the Annual General Meeting 2027 in the amount of CHF 5.1 million with 96.94% yes votes. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for your trust. Now this brings us to Item 6.2 on our agenda, 6.2 is about the approval of the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Executive Committee for the following financial year. That is to say for 2027. This is different from the Board of Directors. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes that shareholders approve the maximum aggregate amount of compensation of the Executive Committee for the 2027 financial year in the amount of CHF 40 million. Hence, the proposed amount is CHF 4.5 million lower than the amount approved last year for 2026. Does anybody wish to take the floor on this agenda item? This doesn't seem to be the case. So we proceed to the vote right away. Dear shareholders, please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I intend to close the ballot. I hereby close the ballot, and we'll now wait for the results. I note that you have approved the proposed maximum aggregate compensation for the Executive Committee for the financial year 2027 in the amount of CHF 40 million with 93.33% yes votes. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, I would like to thank you for your trust. This brings us to Item 7 on the agenda, the elections to the Board of Directors and the election of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ladies and gentlemen, the term of office of all members of the Board of Directors ends with today's Annual General Meeting. As you could see from the invitation, all previous members of the Board of Directors are standing for reelection, and no additional members will be proposed. The candidates standing for election to the Board of Directors thus are David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Johan Forssell, Denise Johnson, Jennifer Li, Geraldine Matchett, David Meline, Claudia Nemat, Mats Rahmström, and myself, Peter Voser. The election will be effective for a term of office until conclusion of the Annual General Meeting 2027. Considering the number of election matters, may I ask you to bring up your comments on the individual candidates now before we move on to the vote. Does anybody wish to take the floor? This does not seem to be the case. Nobody wishes to take the floor on this agenda item, which is why we move on to the ballot. Ladies and gentlemen, we will conduct the elections of all members as well as of the Chairman of the Board of Directors individually, but in one go. For that purpose, you will see all candidates individually on your screen. However, since it is not possible to display more than 3 candidates at a time, please scroll through the list of candidates by using the arrows at the bottom of your screen. And again, here, you can change your selection until the expiry of the voting time. The election results for agenda Item 7 will be announced together on the slide in the background. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes that David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Johan Forssell, Denise Johnson, Jennifer Li, Geraldine Matchett, David Meline, Claudia Nemat, Mats Rahmström; and myself, Peter Voser, as members of the Board of Directors, as well as to elect me, Peter Voser, as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ladies and gentlemen, please cast your votes now. You have 30 seconds of your time then for the other votes. I'm going to tell you before I close the ballot. Please go ahead and vote. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I am now going to close the ballot in 5 seconds time. And now I close the ballot. Let's wait for the results to be available for all of the candidates. We will be displaying 2 slides, so 2 tables with all the candidates. There is a lot to be counted. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare that you have elected David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Johan Forssell, Denise Johnson, Jennifer Li as well as Geraldine Matchett, David Meline, Claudia Nemat, Mats Rahmström, and myself, Peter Voser, and each case with a large majority as members of the Board of Directors as well as myself, Peter Voser, for the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Esteemed shareholders, on behalf of the members of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for the trust you've placed in us, and in particular, on behalf as the Chair of the Board of Directors, thank you for your trust. We're going to make sure to continue our positive path in next year for ABB. Let us move on to Item 8, which is election to the Compensation Committee. Ladies and gentlemen, our Board of Directors proposes to elect the following Board members to the Compensation Committee: David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Jennifer Li and Mats Rahmström. The election yet again will be effective for a term of office until conclusion of the Annual General Meeting 2027. We will again conduct the elections of all members individually, but in one go. Again, you have the option of scrolling back and forth between the pages on your voting devices using the arrows. We will present the election results in one go all together. If you wish to make any comments on the present agenda item, I would invite you to come to stage right now. Is there anyone who wishes to take the floor? This does not seem to be the case. Nobody wishes to take the floor, which means that we can move on to the vote. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes to elect David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Jennifer Li and Mats Rahmström as members of the Compensation Committee. Please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I'm now closing the ballots. Let us wait for the results to be available. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have elected David Constable, Frederico Fleury Curado, Jennifer Li and Mats Rahmström as members of the Compensation Committee with a large majority each. Thank you very much for your trust. We're now moving on to Item 9 on the agenda, election of the independent proxy. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes to elect Zehnder Bolliger & Partner, attorneys-at-law and notary office in Baden as the independent proxy. They are represented here at our meeting by Dr. Hans Zehnder, and they have confirmed that they are prepared to accept the mandate again. Thank you very much, Mr. Zehnder. The election will be effective for another term of office until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting 2027. If you wish to make any comments on the present agenda item, I would invite you to join me on stage. Since there doesn't seem to be anyone who wishes to take the floor, we're going to move on to the ballot now. Please cast your vote now. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I'm closing the ballot. Let us wait for the results together. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have elected Zehnder Bolliger & Partner with 99.93% yes vote as independent proxy. Thank you very much. And I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Zehnder for this result as well. This now brings us to Item 10 on the agenda, the election of the auditors. Ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Directors proposes to elect KPMG Ltd. as auditors for the financial year 2026. KPMG Ltd. has announced that it will accept the mandate again for the financial year 2026. Thank you very much to the two gentlemen in the front row who represent KPMG. Would anyone like to take the floor on the mandate of KPMG Ltd. as auditors? This does not seem to be the case, which means that we can move on to the ballot. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, please cast your vote. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I am now closing the ballot, and the result will be displayed in a moment. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that you have elected KPMG with 99.56% yes votes to be the auditors yet again for the financial year 2026. Thank you very much. We're looking forward to cooperating with KPMG again. Now, ladies and gentlemen. This now brings us to the end of our meeting. I would like to thank the executive committee on behalf of the Board of Directors as well as all employees of the whole ABB Group, most sincerely for their great commitment, as well as you, dear shareholders, for expressing your confidence in us. The next Annual General Meeting will take place on the 25th of March 2027. I would be very pleased to welcome you again in this historic building. Please leave all electronic devices on your chairs. They will be collected later on. Your personal data will be deleted and can no longer be accessed by anybody. And now I change to my dialect as I usually do at the end of the Annual General Meeting. Thank you very much for turning out in such great numbers, for placing your trust in us. And as ever, I'm always very much looking forward to having this meeting. It's one of the most important days for us as the Board of Directors and also for the EC. And we're always very much looking forward to discussions with our shareholders. Let me ask you to be careful on your way home, make sure you're safe. And I'm very much looking forward to see you again next year. Thank you very much, and I close the meeting. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]