Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft (BEI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the Ordinary Annual General Meeting of Beiersdorf AG. Next to me on the stage are the Executive Board, the Chairman of the Executive Board, Mr. Warnery, next to him, Mr. Liu, Ms. Loebsack. And then next to Warnery, Mr. Rasquinet, Mr. Barckhahn, Mr. Mirt and Mr. Emberger and Mr. Ingelfinger. And along with that, our notary, Dr. Beil. Unfortunately, Ms. Hermann is in quarantine, but she is cut in. We wish her all the best. All the best to you, Ms. Hermann. And the members of the Supervisory Board are also cut in. The names of whom you see behind me. After careful consideration for everyone's safety, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board have decided to once again hold the Annual General Meeting in virtual form. We think this is a good idea in the times given. We are here in the auditorium of the Beiersdorf Skin Research Center in Hamburg-Eimsbuttel, 50 meters next to the construction site of the new main building on the side. On the Beiersdorf campus on Troplowitzstrasse, which will soon be renamed into Beiersdorf Strasse. As in the previous 2 Annual General Meetings and more than ever, we are doing all we can to ensure that you can exercise your rights in the best possible way within the scope of what is permitted by law and what is technically feasible. The shareholders' statutory rights have been extended to include the opportunity to ask questions during the Annual General Meeting that relate to the agenda, which means that all registered shareholders could submit questions before the Annual General Meeting, and they can also do so during the Annual General Meeting via the AGM system regardless of whether they ask questions earlier on. The AGM system will be open for this, beginning with Mr. Warnery's report. It is expected to close shortly before the Executive Board has answered the questions submitted in advance. We will also endeavor to answer all questions submitting during the Annual General Meeting. In the interest of an efficient meeting, I reserve the right to reasonably restrict the amount of time for answering questions to limit the number of questions to be answered or to combine the questions. Comments and video statements, which otherwise would have been placed on the website have not been received prior to the Annual General Meeting. The speech manuscript from Mr. Warnery was available on the website beginning April 8, 2022. And a recording of the speech is also available after the Annual General Meeting. The entire Annual General Meeting can be followed by the public on the Internet via livestream. The Annual General Meeting was convened in the Bundesanzeiger Federal Gazette on the 1st of March 2022 proposed resolutions necessary documents have since been available on the company's website. The disclosure duties under Section 125 of the German Stock Corporation Act have duly been observed. I note for the record that the Annual General statement was convened in accordance with the statutory requirements and the requirements of the company's articles. No supplementary motions have been received. 2 countermotions were immediately published on the company's website. Mr. Mueller requests that approval of the actions of the members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board be denied. I will come back to this later on. After the reports of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, we will answer the questions you submitted in advance of the Annual General Meeting. After Mr. Warnery's report, you will be able to submit additional questions via the AGM system. This option is expected to end when the questions you asked previously have been answered. After answering the questions submitted in the advance General Meeting, we will vote on the items, but you are not allowed to make any video and audio recordings of the Annual General Meeting. You could cast your vote by absentee voting or digitally using the annual general system or to go under proxy and issue instructions to the voting representative appointed by the company. You have this digital option until the end of today's voting. If necessary, you can still change or revoke your absentee votings or proxy with instructions until the end of the respective voting. So please cast your respective voting and castings as early as possible via the AGM system. You can amend that or revoke that later on. We will work by additional procedure, which means we add on account all yes and no votes. So you will also have to cast an active vote, if you wish to vote in favor. Shareholders who have exercised their right to vote can also use the AGM system to object to a resolution of the annual meeting. The voting procedure and count of the votes will be supervised by the notary, he has previously inspected the technical arrangements for this. We'll now open the agenda. The opportunity to submit questions to the AGM using the AGM system is now open to you. Agenda item presenting of the adopted annual financial statements of Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft and the approved consolidated financial statements, together with the combined management report of Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft and the group for the fiscal year 2021, the report of the Supervisory Board and the explanatory board of the Executive Board on the information provided in accordance with sections 289a, 315a of the German Commercial Code. Mr. Warnery will now give an overview of the company's development in 2021 and report on the corporate strategy combined with an outlook for the very challenge year 2022.

Dear shareholders, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and also from my side and on behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome you to our AGM 2022. Before starting with my presentation, I would like to say a few words about the situation, the shocking situation in Ukraine. Every day, we get to see horrible images and reports from this arena of war about people who have to flee their home country, which is very hard to bear. And of course, in these dramatic times, we help as much as we can because this is part of our company culture. So among other things, in the beginning of March, we set up an ad hoc aid program to the tune of EUR 2 million. Recipients of this donation were the German Red Cross and CARE Germany. On top of that, we also donated hundreds of thousands of products to aid organizations in Germany. And of course, we do everything in our power in order to support our employees and their families in Ukraine. We are in close contact with them and help wherever it's possible because they are threatened. Their life is threatened. And on top of that, of course, we also have many members of Beiersdorf who show direct commitment, especially in Poland and Germany. They accept people into their homes, they support them and show their solidarity. This is very touching to me and at the same time, I am very proud that Beiersdorf has these kinds of employees who, in difficult times, stand together closely, and we would like to thank all of you most cordially for this. At the beginning of March, we significantly reduced our commitment in Russia and ended all marketing activities. For the time being, Russian consumers will only be able to buy basic skin care and personal care products like showering gel, deo -- deodorant or shampoo, and we will closely monitor the situation in the future as well. Ladies and gentlemen, let us now take a look back at the year that has passed. Now this segue is, of course, not easy for me to make. But still, I would like to take a look back on the past year and try and make a forecast with a view to the current fiscal year. And in summary, we can say that 2021 was a very successful year for Beiersdorf. We were able to increase the profitability of the group and achieve important milestones of our strategy C.A.R.E.+. Now an overview of the highlights. Our turnover at the group level in 2021 organically grew by 9.7%. And in spite the COVID-19 pandemic, this means that we are 3.2% above the level of 2019, that is before the crisis and what is also very positive is that we managed to gain more market shares at the global scale. And the operative result without special effects increased to EUR 993 million of the -- EBIT return on sales without special effects was at 13%. Our gross margins are more or less stable. That is a huge success because raw materials and logistics costs were significantly increased in 2021. In the company area consumer, our turnover organically grew by 8.8%. The e-commerce business represents a significant contribution in this respect. It grew by 32%. And now accounts for more than 10% of the overall turnover. And this growth is especially important and also very pleasing to us in the area of face care. Here, over the past 2 years, we grew 10x as quickly and is paying off. And you can see that now in a brief video. [Presentation]

Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, in the implementation of our strategy, C.A.R.E.+, we managed to achieve important milestones. And in the following, I would like to introduce the most important ones to you. Let's start with our strategic focal point Win with Skin Care. It is our approach to really offer important innovations with a real added value into the markets across all regions and brands. Let's take a first look at our brand icon, NIVEA today is one of the brands that is growing fastest in the mass market for face care. The revenue within NIVEA in 2021 grew by 5.5%. New products significantly contributed to this growth. This is especially true for our innovation NIVEA LUMINOUS630. It contains the in-house development, the highly effective skin care active ingredient W630, which reduces pigmentation and all age discolorations. And last year, we rolled out this C.A.R.E. series and complemented it with other categories. It's become one of the global success stories in the recent time. And the past business year was also very successful for our luxury skin care brand, La Prairie. After a difficult year 2020, the turnover last year grew by more than 20%. And there are many reasons for this outstanding success. First of all, we consistently pursued our luxury strategy and did away with pricing promotions in China. We focused on distribution through boutiques, and that is why the turnover at the Chinese Mainland grew disproportionately. Another reason is that the travel retail business last year showed signs of recuperation. In China, the turnover in our travel retail business grew by 73% compared to 2019, and it doubled compared to 2020. This growth was -- or rather is to be found, especially in the Chinese province Henan. For our dermocosmetic brands, Eucerin and Aquaphor, it was also a very good business year. The turnover in the area of derma organically grew by 19.5%. This is due especially to the core markets, Germany and the United States as well as the new markets in Latin America and China. The area derma, by the way, is also the area that has the largest share and the largest growth in the field of e-commerce. The turnover with our brands, Hansaplast and Elastoplast, also grew by 13.7%, which is strong growth. And 2 effects contributed to this. On the one hand of the successful new issue of our plaster strips at the beginning of this year, and on the other hand, there is the recuperation effect in the category sports. So in summary, we can say that we managed to secure outstanding market positions for our company, and we are in a very good position for the future. Ladies and gentlemen, we want to tap into further growth potentials. Here, we are focusing on markets and business areas where we are not yet present or where we want to further expand our presence, so-called white spots. For that, we expanded our research and development network in 2021. In New Jersey, U.S.A., we set up a state-of-the-art innovation center. It is our first global center of competency for sun care and sunscreen products outside of Hamburg. The United States are the largest market in the world for sunscreen products. And that is why we are convinced that this new innovation center will significantly contribute to the growth of our business in this region. Now the potentials of the market in the United States becomes apparent. If you look at the outstanding results in Coppertone, the brand that we acquired 2 years ago. In 2021, we managed to finalize the integration of the brand and to introduce new products into the market. And the result is a strong double-digit organic turnover growth. Coppertone for the first time since 2012 could actually gain market shares again. Now this year, we want to build upon this success. We have reoriented the portfolio. We've got innovative products in the categories family and support that we develop. We have revamped the packages, and we also expanded our digital consumer communication. On top of that, we also want to use our R&D skills for other brands as well. One example for this is Eucerin SUN that we have now introduced in the U.S. American market. And here, we benefit from the know-how of our Coppertone business. An important part of our global R&D network is our innovation center in Shanghai that was opened in 2020. In China, we see the largest growth potential in face and in face care because China is the largest face care market in the world with the premium segment with La Prairie and derma area with Eucerin, we are already represented and that rather successfully. We are currently working on getting our patented skin care active ingredient against hyperpigmentation registered in China as well because right now, our user in NIVEA products with the active ingredient W630 can only be ordered through a specific e-commerce channel. But we are receiving feedback that is so positive from our consumers that we want to expand our distribution as soon as we got the registration, we expect dynamic growth. The digitization in our company and in our business plays an important role when it comes to opening up new growth potentials. Our e-commerce business is growing from year-to-year. With our digital strategy, we're pursuing the objective to have an increasingly targeted communication with our consumers. And that means we want to be where our consumers are in the digital world. And that is why we are making major investments in digital media, and we try to personalize our approach through the use of so-called precision marketing tools. And that allows us to fulfill individual wishes and desires of our consumers and at the same time increasing the effectiveness of our marketing activities. An example here is the specific dynamic messaging that we developed in 2021 for NIVEA SUN. Based on weather data and the personal use behavior, we inform our consumers not just about the right sunscreen product, but we also combine this information with the right product offer. With more than 200 dynamic precision marketing ads over the last summer, for example, we managed to reach out to 16 million consumers in great Britain and in Germany. In the United States, we are making increasing use of the social media for our communication. And we managed to also make some very good experiences in our cooperation with influencers, for example, on TikTok. And in the future, social platforms will be the subject of our monitoring activities, and we will go on investing in them. Now growth and innovation are not possible without investments. That is why it is important to work in a highly efficient manner. One of the most important pillars of our strategy C.A.R.E.+ is that the growth through increased productivity. A very good example for this is our new production plant in Leipzig. We're investing EUR 220 million in order to set up a sustainable, highly efficient infrastructure in Leipzig that is also viable in the future. And there every year, up to 450 million SKUs are supposed to be manufactured, especially deodorants, hairsprays and shaving foams. What is important to us is that the capacities can be expanded flexibly, if the market and the business developments change. In September 2021, we laid the foundation stone for this new plant. And production is supposed to be taken up towards the end of this year. Right next to this new plant, we want to set up a state-of-the-art logistics center. And for this, we're investing another EUR 170 million. With this, we are creating the preconditions for the best possible service for our trade partners and the pharmacy wholesale. And on top of that, we are investing at the global level into the expansion of our production plants, especially in, for example, in Poland and in Mexico. New production lines and modern technology are the very foundation for our future growth. Ladies and gentlemen, we care beyond skin. This conviction was very much on the focus of our activities in this past business year as well. Caviar Skin is supposed to express what Beiersdorf actually stands for. Our care and our concern goes beyond our core skill set that is skin care. We want to make a real contribution for people, for society and for our planet. In 2021, we were still experiencing the pandemic, which characterized everything. And in this context, we also significantly expanded our offers in the area of healthcare management. Part of this was also the setting up of a corona vaccination center. This was an offer that was gladly used by many employees, their family members and people from the neighborhood, but also by schools. On top of that, we carried on with our corona aid program that we started in 2020. And the objective is to support people in regions and countries that were especially hard hit by the pandemic and its effects. Apart from ad hoc aid, we also are committed to our partnerships with NGOs that support people locally as part of our 10 projects in Africa and Latin America. Last year, we also managed to make major progress in the area of sustainability. Our sustainability report has just been published and offers comprehensive information on this topic, which is why I will only mention a few highlights here. We were able to reduce our CO2 emissions by 12.7% in absolute terms and compared to 2018 in spite of our growth. And that is why we can say that we are on the right track to achieve our ambitious climate goals until 2025. All of our NIVEA products have been produced without microplastics since the end of 2021, which is another major success. Last year, we also introduced our first climate neutralized NIVEA products into the market. On top of that, we are one of the first companies in our industry to use recycled aluminum for our aerosol products as well, which also is an important contribution to lowering our CO2 footprint. Our plant in Berlin has been producing at an almost climate-neutral level since January '22 and is also the first plant that we're operating using biogas. And until 2030, we want to operate all of our plants in a climate-neutral fashion. And we -- in 2020, we started to also supply palm oil-based derivatives from sustainable sources to 100%. And we've got more information about the sustainability efforts in this clip. [Presentation]

Ladies and gentlemen, it was not just a successful year for our consumer business, tesa also showed a positive development and was at levels that are higher than before the crisis. This growth was driven especially by the consumer electronics business in Asia and the global recuperation of the automotive industries. The segment direct industries achieved an additional growth of 16.6%. Now this part is strongly geared towards project business with key account customers. In order to remain competitive in this area, we will try to remain as innovative as before. And -- when it comes to the gluing of smartphone covers, we are actually in a top position, and that is a position that we want to defend over the next year as well. The business area of trade markets of tesa's had an overall growth of 9.1% at the end of the year. And the business area of general industrial markets also showed a positive development over the course of the year. And the area of consumer and craftsman and its e-commerce business also made a positive contribution. After 2 years of growth, consecutive years of growth in the consumer business, we want to strengthen our portfolio and the business with our consumers for the business with our end customers we set up a new management unit and Andreas Mack has become a new member of the Executive Board here at tesa's. We want to also expand our online presence on the platforms of third-party providers as well as in our own D2C shop, which picked up operation last year in Germany. Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take a brief look at the ongoing business here. We've got many plans, but I would like to limit my explanations to 2 very important strategic plans. First of all, let's talk about our new brand, Chantecaille. You might have read in the media that at the beginning of this year, we acquired the company, Chantecaille Beaute. Chantecaille was founded in 1997, has its headquarters in New York and is represented all over the world with a very strong presence in North America and Asia. This company offers more than 100 innovative skin care cosmetics and perfumed products that are based on plant ingredients. This company is placing great importance on sustainability and philanthropy. For us, the acquisition of Chantecaille is another important milestone when it comes to implementing our strategy C.A.R.E.+ because Chantecaille is complementing our selective skin care offer in an ideal fashion. With Chantecaille, we want to go on growing, especially in the markets in North America, Asia and in particular, in China and South Korea because La Prairie is positioned as a luxury brand, but Chantecaille offers products to consumers in the prestige cosmetics area. So that means that Chantecaille is directed to a broader-based consumer group. Chantecaille will be a complementary selective brand in our company area consumer. On top of that, we want to establish NIVEA or rather lead NIVEA as one of the globally leading skin care brands into an even more successful future. NIVEA is going to be more global, more digital and even more sustainable. And in order to achieve this objective, we will pursue the same approach that we have used for Eucerin, Hansaplast, and La Prairie successfully in the past. Over these past years, we managed to implement a new operating model that helps to strengthen the global presence of these brands. And that means that the development and the marketing of successful product innovations like Thiamidol could be -- could make major progress. On top of that, our brands have been better positioned, both online and offline. And the result is a double-digit growth, significantly increased the turnover by an organic 10.3%, and that means that we were above the most recent expectations of the capital market, as you can also read in the report issued last week. In the company area consumer, the turnover in the first quarter increased organically by 11.6%. The area tesa could achieve a turnover growth of an organic 5.1%. Because of the volatile market environment, the turnover forecast for consumer against the backdrop of the overall year 2022 remains unchanged. Beiersdorf would expect turnover growth in the middle single-digit area for consumer. Right now, there are uncertainties because of the war in Ukraine, the lockdowns in China and the inflationary pressure on raw materials and logistics costs, but we've already started to take measures in order to buffer this cost pressure. Ladies and gentlemen, these are undoubtedly moving times, but we are in a very good position. In all the product categories and all the markets, we have numerous opportunities for growth. Our strategy C.A.R.E.+ helped us to set the right tracks, and our investments are now paying off. And our financial stability offers us enough leeway for flexibility. An engine of the success is to be found in our excellent and highly motivated team, the commitment of every single one of our employees is exceptional and deserves our utmost respect, which is why I would like to expressly thank our more than 20,000 employees. And of course, I would also like to thank you, shareholders, for your support, for your trust and for your loyalty. Stay safe and healthy.

Thank you, Mr. Warnery. Let us now proceed to the report of the Supervisory Board, which is set out on Pages 32 to 34 of the annual report. In 2021, the Supervisory Board performed its duty in accordance with the law of the Articles of Association, the corporate governance code and its bylaws. The full Supervisory Board met 10 times, the Presiding Committee 5 times, the Audit Committee 8 times, the Finance Committee 4 times and the Personnel Committee 3 times. There were no meetings of the Nominating Committee and Mediation Committee in 2021 again. The committee has prepared the resolutions for the meetings of the Supervisory Board and made decisions in individual cases on its behalf. The chairs of the committees reported regularly and in detail to the Supervisory Board on the work performed in the committees. The regular items of the agenda for the meetings of the Supervisory Board included the company's strategic orientation, its business performance, interim financial statements, compliance, Executive Board matters and important individual business transactions. Proposals for Supervisory Board resolutions were carefully examined and discussed. As a rule, all the members of the Executive Board attended the meetings of the Supervisory Board. However, a part of each meeting was held early with the members of the Supervisory Board. At the beginning of the year, the Supervisory Board primarily dealt with the 2020 annual financial statements towards the middle of the year, primarily dealt with the composition of the Executive Board and the company's strategic orientation and at the end of the year with the planning for 2022. An important topic throughout the fiscal year was the global COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the company, its employees and its clients. Now the war in Ukraine has become a major focus, especially because of our employees and customers and their families in Ukraine, Russia and neighboring countries. Mr. Warnery reported on this. The Supervisory Board has had several detailed discussions regarding the humanitarian and business measures of Beiersdorf from a fundamental perspective in the Supervisory Board and with the executive and employees and others. The Supervisory Board and I believe the shareholders fully support those measures. Beiersdorf has an incisive experience for more than 100 years and regarding wars, which had direct repercussions until at least the mid-1990s and indirect effects lasting until today. Caring for skin and for people, that is what Beiersdorf has always stood for together with its companies and families in Ukraine and elsewhere for almost 150 years even before Caviar Skin and now more than ever, care for skin and beyond. Let us proceed to the remuneration report by the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, which can be found in the annex to agenda item 6 in the 2021 annual report. So the Annual General Meeting is required to vote annually on the remuneration report, the 2021 Annual General Meeting approved the remuneration system for the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. The remuneration report explains the structure and amount of remuneration paid to members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of the AGM. In the fiscal year, the [ Code was ] SRD II. It also provides further information in particular on the remuneration granted and owed in 2021 and the remuneration earned by the Executive Board for 2021. For comparison, you have tables, which follow the old version of the German Corporate Governance Code. The auditor has examined the detail with the information given was provided in accordance with Article 162 paragraph 1 and 2 of the Stock Corporation Act and confirm this without qualification, the auditor's report is attached to the remuneration report in the agenda for the AGM. Now on the changes in the composition of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. Mr. Vincent Warnery, to our delight, took over as Chairman of the Executive Board from Mr. Stefan De Loecker as of May 1, 2021. Mr. De Loecker left the Executive Board by amicable agreement effective June 30, 2021. Beiersdorf thanks both gentlemen for an outstanding quick transition in the chairmanship without any frictions. Beiersdorf thanks Mr. De Loecker for his outstanding contribution to the strategic move towards a more sustainable and digital skin care around the world, a result of greater development and diversity of people at Beiersdorf. Beiersdorf is indebted to Mr. De Loecker for the development of the emerging markets business area and team. This has given Beiersdorf 2 geographically-strong legs to stand on today. Thank you, Mr. De Loecker for establishing this foundation, and thank you, Mr. Mirt for the steady and strong expansion. Mr. De Loecker and Mr. Warnery developed the C.A.R.E.+ strategy together with the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. Vincent Warnery exemplified the strategy years earlier amid difficult beginnings and he is highly successful Executive Board division beyond stem of La Prairie plaster La Prairie, and he continues to exemplify C.A.R.E.+ today as Chairman of the Executive Board. Continuation requires consistency and change. Thus, together with many colleagues, Mr. Warnery has set derma on its current path to success. Beiersdorf owes the preservation of Eucerin [indiscernible] to Karin Hannig, who joined Beiersdorf from the outside. So in this way, one builds on the work of another, together with others by changing it to reflect the times it has. Now Ms. Grita Loebsack returned to Germany from abroad. And in January 2022, she assumed the global responsibility for our iconic brand and its continuing growth into the future. Ms. Loebsack was born in Berlin. She grew up very internationally, mostly abroad, with Bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA of INSEAD. Her broad and deep management experience is rooted in her core expertise in skin care, combined with global brand management. She began at Unilever in 2012 and started in L'Oreal in 1996 and was most recently a market leader -- at market leader, Essilor. Ms. Loebsack?

[Foreign Language]

Ms. Loebsack in spite of your duty, you have proven that you can do skin care. And now the lifelong work of modern Beiersdorf legends such as [indiscernible] and others is now in your hands. Continue to build on it, also in a digital manner now. All the best to you, your team, so that you can do this and change things and move ahead and best wishes to your family in Hamburg and Paris.

Thank you so much.

As of July 1, 2021, Mr. Patrick Rasquinet became and took over pharmacy and selective, that's dermo plaster and La Prairie at newly acquired buyer with him Chantecaille. Beiersdorf owes a great deal to Mr. Rasquinet first for many years with NIVEA, especially in Korea, Brazil, Russia. And then for a decade at the helm of La Prairie, and this is at the head of skincare expertise and growth of business earnings, especially in China and overseas. Mr. Rasquinet perfectly represents the Beiersdorf person. Now behind the C.A.R.E.+ strategy, demonstrating diversity, deep internal roots and a live lift out there in the world. Mr. Rasquinet?

Thank you very much, Mr. Pöllath for your kind words of introduction. Dear shareholders, I'm very pleased to participate in this AGM of Beiersdorf, which is the first for me. Mr. Pöllath just mentioned that I've been a true member of the Beiersdorf family for 30 years, holding different positions all across the globe. I worked for our wonderful brands. And that fills me with pride and it is also an exceptional honor for me to be part of this team. In my last position, I was responsible for the La Prairie business as a CEO for more than 11 years. Now a few words about my personal life. I am married, and I am the father of 2 grown-up children. My wife and I are both very happy to be able to live and have our new home in the city of Hamburg. I would like to thank all of you for your attention.

Thank you very much, Mr. Rasquinet. Now you -- to the good fortune of Beiersdorf, you have proven that blue blood can help other brands thrive from their own nodes as is the case in La Prairie, Swiss American roads there and different groups and others, German Swiss, for example, in [indiscernible]. As a Belgian Beiersdorfer, I know that you exemplify this respect for powerful diversity also in your new area of responsibility. And thank you for your continuing effort to take up new challenges. All the best to you, your family and your team. Now Mr. Oswald Barckhahn started at Beiersdorf on October 15, 2021, initially taking over North American business from Mr. Warnery. And on January 1, 2022, he assumed the Executive Board responsibility for Europe from Mr. Ingelfinger. Mr. Barckhahn also is returning to Germany from abroad. Born in Santiago de Chile, he studied Business Administration in Regensburg and Zurich. And beginning in 1994, he led key marketing in Europe and Latin America at Procter & Gamble. And beginning in 2003, he was at PepsiCo in Mexico for Latin America and Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland for Central Europe and in the United States. And starting in 2016, he held the position of President, Europe, Head of Global Sales and Global E-commerce with Jacobs Douwe Egberts in Amsterdam. Mr. Barckhahn, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. Pöllath. Dear shareholders, it is a true pleasure for me to be here as the third of the new colleagues here on the Executive Board. I am particularly pleased to be part of the Beiersdorf family. And I have to admit that it's a comeback for me because in 1991, I used to work here as an intern in the tesa business unit, and it really is a very, very pleasing experience to be again become part of the Beiersdorf family. There is so much that I value about this company, the people that I met, the incredible brand portfolio as well as the culture and the values that we represent as a company. Of course, it's going to be a true pleasure for me to also work together with my colleagues on the Board and to help guide this company into the future, which is going to motivate me a lot. I've been working in the consumer goods business for 28 years. And as you mentioned, I've worked with Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and both in Europe and North America and in Latin America. And I am married, I don't have children, but 2 very charming cats. And I also love spending time with my friends and family and I am a sports enthusiast. I'm looking forward to the cooperation with you over the next years, and thank you for your attention.

Thank you very much, Mr. Barckhahn. You're taking over our core business in Europe with the best prerequisites to expand our market leadership and the task in North America, which continues to be the most important consumer market of all. Thank you, and all the best to you, your wife and your family. All the best to your teams and in Northern America. Your predecessor is head of you, Mr. Thomas Ingelfinger will retire on the 30th of June 2022 after decades and decades of service in Beiersdorf. He lived his entire professional life, 36 years for the success of Beiersdorf, especially of that of NIVEA from marketing to sales. As a young Beiersdorfer, he took over the British business when Mr. [indiscernible] acquired it for Beiersdorf from Smith & Nephew, along with the NIVEA rights with the Commonwealth, one of the last major re-acquisitions of NIVEA after the expropriations of the last century. Mr. Ingelfinger represented NIVEA in Italy, Germany, in culture and in business. When you took over the Europe portfolio, you knew people and business from his own leadership work in every management unit in Birmingham, Paris, Rome, everywhere, of course, including Hamburg. Fortunately, for Beiersdorf, we're not losing him to retirement completely as he will continue to support Beiersdorf and tesa and important growth initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Ingelfinger. All the best to you, your wife and your father and family on your future journey together. All the best to you and thank you. And finally, this is the last Annual General Assembly for Mr. Liu. He will continue to be with us until the end of the year. He will have been with us for a good decade. He is great as a person to trust with. And he has seen all of the changes until today's strategy and the composition of the Executive Board with a continuous and very independent attention towards bamboo and stainless steel, and he has always been in very high esteem. Mr. Liu, your track record was unimaginable when you came in 1992 when you arrived here in Germany, not speaking German and being penniless. The 15 years in China were concluded by you. This is one part of the merits that you provided to Beiersdorf and for the new start for our future in China and everywhere. Thank you very much, Mr. Liu, to you and your teams in Germany and China and globally. Please express our regards to your wonderful family, to your parents in Shanghai. May you and all people in Shanghai have a safe time and get through this pandemic safely. There have been no changes to the composition of the Supervisory Board since the last Annual General Meeting. On behalf of everyone, the Supervisory Board would like to thank all employees and business partners. You coped well with the repercussions of the global crisis in the year 2020 and 2021 and laid the foundations for success amid the challenging -- challenges facing us in 2022. In this difficult environment, we can see just how right and important the C.A.R.E.+ strategy is in helping the company to use resources responsibly, in digital reality, and in the responsible way of dealing with our resources to the benefit of all. The Supervisory Board would like to thank all investors and consumers for their trust, support and constructive criticism. Together, we make Beiersdorf even better and more successful. So much for the reports. Let us now look at the attendance. Of the 252 million company shares issued total, 190,547,962 shares that corresponds to 57.61% of the share capital. In addition, [ 439,000 ] are represented in absentee votes corresponding to 0.26%. 75.86% of the share capital are represented at the Annual General Meeting. Please bear in mind, that the equity shares held by the company, the treasury shares, approximately 9.99% of the share capital, have no participation and voting rights and are therefore, not represented at this AGM. I will announce the current status again at the time of voting. Ladies and gentlemen, let's now turn to the discussion of all items on today's agenda. First of all, we will answer the direct questions that have been posed to us before the AGM, and then I will answer on behalf of the Supervisory Board. You have the opportunity to ask additional questions, which will probably be given after the first set of questions has been answered. 5 shareholders and representatives post questions, Mr. Warnery will try to answer these questions in German. We know he can do this. But we trust that you will understand, if he answers individual questions in English, which is the corporate language. Also, Mr. Mirt and Mr. Rasquinet will also answer in English, simultaneous interpreters will translate the answers for you. Ms. Hermann will answer the questions by video, because she's in quarantine, and we've recorded this in advance due to the fact that she is in quarantine. Ms. [indiscernible] is at the speaking election here and will read out the questions you have submitted before the Annual General Meeting, each in blocks and arranged by topics.

Thank you very much, Mr. Pöllath. As you mentioned, I will begin with those questions that were posed to the Executive Board, and start with Ukraine. Markus Neumann from SDK would like to know, in the opinion of the Executive Board as things stand today, which impact the current conflict in Ukraine is likely to have on the revenue on the one hand, and on procurement prices and production on the other? And a similar question is asked by Dr. [ Stefan Klaus ] from the DSW. Will the war in Ukraine affect Beiersdorf business? If so, how? Do you purchase raw materials from Ukraine or Russia? Will you have to adjust your business forecasts.

Let me say that our thoughts are with the people in the crisis and our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our employees in the region. The direct financial impact, we expect to only be minor Russia and Ukraine, taken together, have a share of sales of less than 3% in consumer and less than 1% for tesa. The direct EBIT impact is considered to be not significant to our overall results. And on top of that, we don't have our own production facilities in those countries. But still, we expect an unfavorable effect on input costs, which will be triggered by this war. So that is energy costs, crude oil and other commodity prices will go up, because of the tightening of supply stockpiling or speculations. But we are working to offset the rising input costs, but a further escalation of the situation will also lead to stronger negative effects on our business. The war between Russia and Ukraine will have an influence on our business and impact our business. But as we already mentioned, the sales in these 2 countries made up less than 3% of consumer sales and less than 1% of tesa sales. The EBIT impact at group level is to be considered not significant. Indirect cost pressure from a further increase of input costs, will be the main challenge for us. Our sourcing of raw materials from Ukraine and Russia is very limited, and we have no own factories in these countries, no production facilities. So at this point in time, we don't see a reason to change our guidance due to the war.

The next question is focused more on the business in Russia, and the question going to be answered by Mr. Warnery and Mr. Mirt. And Dr. [ Krause ] from the German Association for Private Investors would like to know, will the Russian business be terminated? What special write-downs may result and [ Matthias Giebler ] would like to know how high was the share of sales and earnings from Russia in the reporting year? Another question by Matthias Giebler is why do you not completely stop production and sales in Russia out of solidarity? Of that, Beiersdorf products are not essential for survival such as, for example, pharmaceuticals? And another question by Mr. Giebler on the Russian business is, what role does the Russian market play in your medium and long-term planning?

Question on the Russian business, we have actually discontinued the business with the premium goods and are only selling today in Russia, only basic products for everyday needs. We have stopped all investment in marketing and promotions, and since the beginning of the war, we also have to stopped the business for La Prairie and for tesa. We have also significantly reduced the NIVEA and Eucerin portfolio by around 70%. And at the present, we see no reason for special write-downs in connection with this issue. In terms of the size of the business, the Russian business accounts around 2% of our group sales and less than 0.4% of our EBIT.

Our business activities in Russia were significantly reduced. Russia does not have any kind of significant influence on our rentability, or profitability, and we are staying in Russia for 3 main reasons. First of all, we care for our employees, our local employees. Secondly, we want to also support essential consumer needs. And we want to serve people of all ages and nationalities with key products in skin and personal care. And here, we are talking about basic supplies for the average Russian household. Thirdly, we want to minimize the risk to lose our brand rights, which is something that Beiersdorf has had to experience over a long and painful history. We will go on monitoring this situation very closely, and evaluate all options on an ongoing basis. Beiersdorf is focusing on the employees in the region and their safety is of the highest priority. Russia remains the biggest country in Europe, with a population of 150 million consumers, which have a long history and a clear preference for international brands. Currently, it is impossible to predict if and how Russia will recover after its invasion of the Ukraine. But nevertheless, the Russian market showed a strong resilience also in former times of crisis and to rebound. These economic aspects are also very important and are being taken into account. But the most important priority of ours is and remains the well-being of the people.

The next segment of questions is about market shares and competitors. And here, Markus Neumann from SDK would like to know, a central concern of Beiersdorf is to gain market shares for all consumer brands on all continents, among others. Unfortunately, the Annual Report lets quantitative data on the level of market shares and their development in the year under review. So how did the market shares of Eucerin, Aquaphor, atrix, NIVEA, Coppertone, Labello, Hansaplast, Elastoplast, CURITAS, 8x4, Hidrofugal, Maestro, Florena and La Prairie brands actually develop compared with the previous year? And what specific market shares were achieved in which regional submarkets at the end of the reporting year? Please do not limit your answer to qualitative statements, but provide us with the corresponding values for the individual relevant submarkets? And another question in this complex of questions is, how did the Beiersdorf Group's direct competitors, for example, Avon, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Unilever perform in the 2 business segments in the year under review? And to what extent, if any, does the Executive Board believe that, that business development differs from that of the Beiersdorf Group and why? Mr. Vincent Warnery is going to answer these questions.

For competitive reasons, we cannot provide details on all the brands mentioned, but let's look at the most important development of our brands. First, NIVEA; especially the market share in the categories face care, sun, men and deo. Here, we managed to gain market shares. Markets -- with strong market share gains, were emerging markets like Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia and Chile and in Europe, we could gain market shares in half of the countries. Secondly, derma; market share has gained in almost all categories face, especially anti-age and even skin, body, sun and restoring. Markets with strong market share gains were North America, Europe, that is Germany, Austria, Belgium and Mexico. In emerging markets, the market share performance was negative in Malaysia, South Africa and Chile. Thirdly, Hansaplast, strong market share gains in 2021, further strengthening the top position. Markets with strong market share gains were Germany, U.K., France and Southern Europe. And please understand that we are not commenting on competitors' performances and their activities. But generally, you will also find differences in results caused by different portfolio mixes from a regional, but also from a product portfolio perspective. Let me clearly say that we're very happy with our results in the year 2021. Tesa was able to achieve a significant year in 2021. And our consumer business in that area, we also continued to grow strongly. At the same time, we were able to keep our investments into the C.A.R.E.+ strategy on a very high level. We are pleased to say that we achieved strong progress in our main strategy pillars. We were able to grow significantly in the face care business as well as in our online sales. Moreover, we have -- thanks to a successful acquisition of Chantecaille, closed a major white spot.

Now let's stay with questions from Markus Neumann from the Retail Investors Protector Association. Now this is about the brand O.W.N. or growth market. Mr. Markus Neumann would like to know in which regional markets, the direct-to-consumer brand O.W.N. was newly introduced? And what is the status of product supply to customers and how many customers were acquired in the year under review? And what is the customer feedback to date, on this form of personalized skin care? Another question by Mr. Neumann, is which white spots that is emerging markets, new business areas, were newly developed by the group in both business segments during the reporting year?

O.W.N. was launched in 4 countries: Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden. The overall volume so far has been low. Until today, we are still below our expectations. The launch of a personalized skin care products is rather complex, especially the combination with an unknown new brand, brings more disadvantages than expected. Despite the lower volumes, the consumers, we could reach, gave us a feedback that they seem to like our new products and the formulations. With the turnaround of Coppertone in the United States, we successfully managed to close a white spot. Based on this success, we also pushed ahead with the next white spot development, which is the expansion of the Eucerin range, to include some products in the U.S.A. Another white spot is the Chinese market. With specialized innovation teams for the Chinese market and our innovation center in Shanghai, we are positioning ourselves for the strategically important premium skin care sector in China. We're already very successful there with La Prairie. The Eucerin online-only launch in 2019 continues to show strong progress. And then the final step, we also want to establish NIVEA in the premium face care segment as well. In the Derma business, apart from China, Brazil is an important white spot. Here, we achieved strong sales growth and also gained significant market shares. And last but not least, we were able to close a large white spot through our Chantecaille acquisition. Between the Eucerin and La Prairie price ranges, we previously had no products in our portfolio. But now we can close this gap and are pleased that Chantecaille also covers the white spots of USA, China and online.

The next question by [ Markus Norman ] now looks at research and development. In the research and development section of the annual report, you purport on the streamlining of the global patent portfolio, which at the end of the year under review had 1,760 active patents instead of 2,663. What are the details of this streamlining? This question will also be answered by Mr. Warnery.

Now last year, we conducted a comprehensive strategic analysis of our patent portfolio and focused our patents to primarily protect our innovations in key regions like Europe, the United States and China. And non-U.S. patents were discontinued. As an example, patents on shavers were either discontinued or transferred to corporation partners.

The next set of questions relates to OSCAR & PAUL. Markus Norman wants to know relating to the OSCAR & PAUL Venture Capital Fund. What amounts of the original EUR 50 million have been invested in which companies to date? Have the investments made developed up to the date of today's Annual General Meeting? And Dr. [indiscernible] of DSV wants to know how did the OSCAR & PAUL Venture Capital Fund develop in 2021? Which activities were developed? What investments were made? Astrid Hermann will answer this question.

The OSCAR & PAUL Venture Capital Fund currently holds direct stakes in 5 start-ups, S-Biomedic, Salvalco, Routinely, LYCL, and dermanostic. In addition, we are invested in 3 venture capital funds. Overall, the investments have developed well. Our venture capital investments always are accompanied with close strategic operation, which is a significant value driver. For example, in 2021, as part of Beiersdorf sustainability strategy, the NIVEA Eco Deo was launched based on a technology from a venture capital investment Salvalco. And in the area of digitization, we cooperated successfully with Eucerin and dermanostic, which is a digital dermatology practice. The second question also related to the OSCAR & PAUL Venture Capital Fund. I had already explained that it has developed well and has really helped us to gain an early access to do technologies and business models in important areas of innovation such as sustainability or digital health.

Thank you. The next set of questions relates to tesa and Markus Norman would like to know relating to tesa-direct industries, what share of sales in millions of euros that the Group generated with respect to subareas, consumer electronics, automotive and electrical systems, printing and paper, building industry and pharmaceuticals in the year? What were the reasons for the sale of tesa scribos to the KURZ Group?

The next question is on tesa. We are happy to mention the business units in direct industries, consumer electronics is the biggest area, then we have automotive, and then in descending order, print and paper, electrical systems, building industry and pharma. And the question about scribos, tesa scribos went on the market 20 years ago with an innovative anti-counterfeiting adhesive films and it has now become a market-leading digital platform for brand protection. But we do not view the business plan of scribos as part of the future tesa strategy. In order to enable the successful start of it and its employees to take the next development step, tesa SA has sold scribos to the KURZ Group with effect from the 1st September 2021. The KURZ Group is one of the world's leading companies in the area of bank notes and documents. The solutions scribos ideally complement as, of course, as the leading provider of security solutions.

The next question relates to financial positions. So according to the annual report, special items are nonrecurring, nonoperating business transactions. Does this mean that these effects may not account to consecutive financial years. If not, what is the nonrecurring nature? These restructuring expenses, supply chain, EUR 37 million, which occur regularly in those companies still belong to the category of special or onetime items? Or are they not rather expenses of normal business operations? Why are expenses from the Care Beyond Skin program like donations amounting to EUR 6 million special expenses in this sense. And another question of Mr. Norman on that. We have -- in the reporting, the financial results were significantly more negative than in the previous year at minus EUR 26 million as a result of impairment losses on financial assets. What were the reasons for the losses? And then a question on securities amounting to EUR 4.553 billion. What is the Group's investment strategy for securities at the end of the fiscal year? What proportion of the securities portfolio was invested in government sovereign bonds, commercial papers, bond funds, equity funds and direct equity investments? Were there any interest-bearing securities in the securities portfolio at the end of the fiscal year that did not have an investment-grade rating? And if so, to what extent? And why was this the case? What income was generated from the securities assets in the reporting year after deduction of expenses amounting to what level? What was the debt investment income from securities investments in the reporting year including hidden reserves and securities portfolio. How does the Executive Board assess the investment performance achieved?

Now when it comes to special effects, the uniqueness does not relate to the calendar year. For the COVID program, which amounts to 3 to 4 years, and otherwise, when we have donations, normally, they are part of EBIT. Same thing for the restructurings, and supply chain adjustments that are very big and onetime or special items, smaller and recurring adjustments I registered in the event. When it comes to the impairment of financial assets, yes, there were impairments on financial assets from write-down related to more yield-oriented portfolio elements and from foreign currency effects. The underlying financial investments were largely liquidated in the course of 2021. Further questions on securities. Our securities portfolio contains 99% corporate bonds and 1% sovereign bonds. All securities are investment grade, shares are not part or equities are not part of this low risk and very liquid portfolio. The main objective of a securities investment is to be able to provide short-term cash for operational investments and acquisitions. In 2021, interest income from securities was generated amounting to EUR 19 million. And on top of that, we had a net income amounting to EUR 1.6 million from small disposals before maturities. These amounts were offset by the reported impairment losses on financial investments. The net result for 2021 from financial investments stays behind our expectations, but we are confident that in the year 2021, we will again be able to generate adequate income from securities investments in line with the development of the financial markets.

The next aspect is energy. What was the electricity consumption in kilo or terawatt hours and on average, the cost per kilowatt hours, A, for one of the company and of the German subsidiaries in the past fiscal year. And by how much have your electricity costs increased from the 1st of January 2022? Or to what extent and for how long have you hedged energy prices? What additional financial burden will this reside in for you for the company and for the German subsidiaries in the current fiscal year, if electricity consumption remains unchanged and how will you compensate with this? And a similar question, to what extent was it possible to generate the energy required by the Group itself in the reporting year? To what extent and at what cost was energy purchased from third parties? Which energy sources purchased from third parties accounted for which expenses and how did these develop compared to the previous year? And why? And another question, how many square meters of roof space does the company have in Germany alone that would be suitable for the installation of a photovoltaic system? What are your plans for the current fiscal year? What is your most important goal in terms of sustainability? Mr. Liu will answer these questions.

First of all, the question by Mr. [indiscernible], in 2021, Beiersdorf again had a total electricity demand of 12.5 gigawatt hours, while our German production sites, which are our own affiliates had an electricity demand of 31.5 gigawatt hours. On average, the electricity costs of the German affiliates of the Consumer segment including taxes and levies amounted to approximately EUR 0.17 per kilowatt hour for Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft and the German affiliates of the Consumer segment. We already covered the electricity requirements for 2022 in full in autumn 2021. Prices have increased by approximately EUR 0.03 or EUR 0.03 per kilowatt hours. So if energy consumption remained the same, this would result in an additional cost of approximately EUR 1.3 million, tesa SA and its German locations consumed 90.3, meaning 61.4 gigawatt hours of which 20 gigawatt hours were bought externally. The average price per kilowatt hour including levies and taxes in the business here tesa SA was at EUR 0.0175 and this will increase by EUR 0.003 in the future. This would result in additional burden of approximately 130 kilo and tesa abort the price before the increase, and this was done by the mid of 2021. Looking forward, both divisions will compensate by energy efficiency measures on the one hand and via general savings on the other hand. And combined, we want to achieve energy saving and buy it in a more coordinated manner. On the question of Mr. [ Norman ], in 2021, we were able to generate 1.5 of the required energy ourselves. This corresponds to 4.1 gigawatt hours. Of this, about 2/3 was produced by photovoltaic energy. In 2022, 133 gigawatt hours were bought from a local supplier at the price of EUR 10.9 million. Electricity was the largest expense in the field of energy followed by gas. In 2021, approximately EUR 4 million were spent on gas to the tune of almost EUR 4 million. In 2020, this was only EUR 3 million. It was about 52 gigawatt hours for other sources of energy. In order to achieve our target of 100% renewable energy use, we purchased IRECs, International Renewable Energy certificates for our electricity consumption for all offices with more than 50 employees and for all production facilities that cannot receive green energy directly. Tesa, in 2021, had a total energy consumption of 344 gigawatt hours. 21 gigawatt hours accounted to electricity by combined power heating. Apart from that, 0.5 kilowatt hours for solar energy, photovoltaic. Gas added to 302 kilowatt hours, 14 from them came from biogas. The last question by Mr. [ Gabler ]. Regarding the roof space and the use of photovoltaic. Mr. Pöllath mentioned at the beginning that we are currently building our new corporate headquarters here in the neighborhood. And as soon this becomes operational, most of the existing buildings at our current headquarters will be dismantled. And as a part of this construction measure, we are also planning the maximum possible expansion of photovoltaics. And this means in detail, we already operate a photovoltaic system with 10 kilowatt peak in our own kindergarten. In 2022, we plan to put a photovoltaic system of 38 kilowatt peak into operation on the existing and future buildings on [indiscernible]. Up until the year 2024, we will commission 2 more systems on the new buildings on top of each plaza with a total of 343 kilowatt peak. In 2024, we will thus have reached maximum utilization and will be operating systems with a total of 391 kilowatt peak at Beiersdorf AG alone. In addition, a study is currently underway at the headquarters of our affiliate tesa SA to make corresponding plans. In addition, we are currently building a new plant at our affiliate Beiersdorf Manufacturing [indiscernible], which will also be equipped with photovoltaics.

The next questions relate to the virtual AGM. Astrid Hermann will answer these questions. Here, Dr. [ Stefan Klaus ] for DSV wants to know, how does Beiersdorf AG plan to conduct the Annual General Meeting in the future, if in-person meeting or the virtual meeting, please give reasons for this? A similar question is asked by [ Matthias Giebler ]. He would like to know why did you again invite shareholders to a virtual shareholders' meeting after Deutsche Telekom, a much larger company, had already invited shareholders to an in-person-based shareholders' meeting. Did you even consider holding a shareholders' meeting in person? Another question of Mr. [ Giebler ] on this topic. To what extent have the Executive Board and Supervisory Board already dealt with the draft bill on the future virtual Annual General Meeting? As things stand at present, would you make any use of it? Doesn't it make more sense to revert to the presence-based Annual General Meeting in 2023, supplemented by virtual elements already made possible by today's stock operation, that is virtual participation with all the associated shareholders' rights in addition to presence-based participation?

Well, the first question on holding the AGM. On the basis of the current legal regulation, a general meeting of shareholders next year is planned to be in present. If the legislator creates a basis for virtual general meetings in the future, we will examine very carefully, taking into account all the relevant interests and then make a decision. Safeguarding shareholders' rights is very important to us. And in the virtual AGMs 2021 and '22, we have on a voluntary basis, provided extensive rights to our shareholders, including the right to ask unlimited questions even during the AGM. Here, we are far beyond the benchmark of other large, listed companies. When it comes to today -- the question on today's AGM, we have examined the idea of having an in-person-based AGM this year in detail. At the time of planning and convening the AGM, it was not foreseeable given the ongoing pandemic situation, whether an AGM could be held in person. To hold a general meeting in person today would only be possible imposing considerable restrictions and would entail risks that can't be deemed insignificant. This is why the Executive Board in agreement with the Supervisory Board has decided to hold a virtual general meeting in the interest for the safety of all. Incidentally, this corresponds to the practice of almost all large, listed companies in Germany. And the last question on the virtual AGM. We are following the legislative activities with great interest. The Virtual General Meeting format has proven its worth during the COVID pandemic and has made it possible to pass the necessary general meeting resolutions in the interest of the shareholders and the company despite the restrictions resulting from the pandemic. In principle, we consider the introduction of virtual general meetings to be sensible on the basis of the experience gained in recent years as long as it shows the comprehensive exercise of shareholders' rights. And if at the same time, such a virtual AGM is practicable for the companies. As explained and demonstrated again today, we take the protection of shareholders' rights very seriously, and we will consider and decide after weighing on interest, whether we will make use of such a provision in the future.

Thank you. The next questions are on DAX negative interest rates. [ Stefan Klaus ] wants to know, do you think that Beiersdorf will soon leave the DAX and you have liquid funds of considerable amount. How are they invested? What gains have you had from it? Have you had to pay negative interest rates? If so, how much were the losses from capital investments? If so, how much? And the question of [ Matthias Giebler ]. What was the amounted euros of negative interest paid in the year under review in Germany and throughout Europe?

Now on the DAX membership, as you know, this has already happened, but we would obviously be very happy about returning in the future. Your questions on the securities portfolio. Our securities portfolio contains 99% corporate bonds and 1% sovereign bonds. The average yield of capital investments in 2021 is slightly above 0.45%. External custody costs for the investments are slightly below EUR 300,000 per year. We have no negative interest on financial investments made. Custody fees are largely avoided by negotiated allowances and active balance management, but have been incurred to a manageable level in 2021 globally below EUR 400,000. And as already explained, we had an impairment on financial assets from a write-down related to more yield-oriented portfolio elements. And this impact is reflected in other financial results. And then the question on negative interest. As I have just said out, we have not paid negative interest on financial investments made. And for the custody fees, we could largely cover this through negotiated allowances and active balance management, still we have had to incur a manageable extent with German banks, it was below EUR 250,000 in 2021. And then the rest of Europe, below EUR 75,000.

The next question of [ Matthias Giebler ] refer to Chantecaille. He wants to know what is the current status of the acquisition of the Skin Care business of Chantecaille? And will Chantecaille operate independently? Will the company be integrated into Beiersdorf? Mr. Rasquinet is going to answer this question.

And on Chantecaille, so the work on the final financial closing accounts as per 31st January of 2022 has progressed extremely well. We are also making very good progress in the post-merger integration work streams, and we are very confident that we will have achieved significant progress towards the Beiersdorf standards by the end of this year. So, so far, we have not encountered any major surprises beyond what we have learned during the due diligence process. Based on what we understand today about the business and the market outlook, we believe and we are very confident to deliver 2022 results in line with the business plan that was done during the acquisition. So the second question about the operating model of Chantecaille, so Chantecaille will operate in global stand-alone business model under the Beyond umbrella, so the Selective and Pharmacy division of Beiersdorf, mirroring, in fact, the successful model of La Prairie. Having said that, of course, we have the clear intention to generate synergies, especially in the back office together with the La Prairie business where it makes sense.

We continue with questions on Chantecaille answered by Astrid. [ Stefan Klaus ] of DSW comments that he is very pleased to hear that there has been another acquisition. And he would like to know, asks, please outline the key data of the acquisition and explain the calculations for the purchase price determination? Did you acquire 100% of the shares? Are there any earn-outs? And [ Matthias Giebler ], adding to this wants to know have the conditions of execution fully materialized in the first quarter of 2022 foreseen for this purpose? What are Chantecaille's after-tax results for the last 2 years? And how would you see corresponding goodwill in the acquisition?

So the question on the acquisition. Thank you very much. We're also very excited about the latest acquisition. This transaction serves important white spots in the Prestige skin care segment and in the regions, North America and Asia. We have acquired 100% of Chantecaille at an enterprise value of $590 million plus an earn-out component of up to $100 million, depending on the performance of the business in the coming years. Now for the execution conditions, all conditions were matched. The transaction could be completed on schedule as of the 1st of February 2022. On the after-tax results, we could let you know that the net income percentage of Chantecaille in 2020 and 2021 were well above the Beiersdorf Group average. And then on the goodwill, the values for the allocation of the purchase price are preliminary. The purchase price was EUR 529 million. Net assets were between EUR 45 million and EUR 72 million, so that the intangible assets, including the goodwill, were of EUR 457 million to EUR 484 million. The purchase price allocation will be finalized in the 2022 financial year.

The next question of Dr. [ Stefan Klaus ] is about the digitization. He would like to know what specific measures have you implemented in 2021 with regard to the topic of digitization, what plans are there for the future? This question will be answered by Mr. Vincent Warnery.

Let me first say something about the consumer-oriented digitization. There are 3 key pillars. The one is personalization. So we are using digitization in order to personalize skin care. In 2021, we started our strategic partnership with Salesforce.com to generate a more personal consumer experience. For example, by individualized ads, personalized website content or real-time responsiveness via chatbots. We rolled out the Skin Guide app in more than 15 countries. And since its start, we've achieved more than 1.4 million face scans. The next focal area is precision marketing. In 2021, we conducted a holistic precision marketing program in the region emerging markets in order to steer our strongly growing digital media investments with more efficiency and more effectiveness. In 2022, we are expecting or rather extending this to a global approach. E-commerce is the third pillar. We had a good e-commerce development on top of COVID that accelerated the year 2020. In Beiersdorf, we had EUR 357 million. That is -- or rather EUR 654 million, that is a plus of 32% versus the previous year, with a view to the maturity assessment and based on the results of our global e-commerce maturity assessment, we currently update our e-com roadmaps, then the digitization of the company, the digitization of the company processes follow 3 main objectives of the upskilling of our employees, then the setting up of one holistic data platform and strategy and the automation of processes. Some examples of our current running initiatives within the company digitization program are the following: We have the project for converting our ERP systems. And with that, we are modernizing our technological basis for as a precondition for the future improvement of efficiencies, our performance and the speed. And the global adoption is planned for January 2024. Thank you very much.

The next questions relate to legal dispute, cyber and the new building of the headquarters and Stefan Klaus wants to know whether accusations Beiersdorf may have copied the concept of a small competitor -- a smaller competitor, Better by Less. This relates, in particular, to the use of the claim, refill, reuse, reduce. Are there any legal disputes in this regard, what is the state of affairs? And another question by [ Stefan Klaus ], have there been any cyberattacks on Beiersdorf in 2021? If so, how many? What damage was caused? And another question is what is the status of the antitrust proceedings? And another question, what is the status of the new corporate headquarters building? Astrid Hermann will answer these questions.

On repurchase attacks from competitors, we would like to clearly distance ourselves from any accusations, plagiarism against our NIVEA Eco refill handset. As an innovative skin care company, we closely monitor the market development. We observe trends and react independently to developments in the market. Our client refill, reuse, reduce builds on the widely -- the concept widely used by various companies and platforms of the 3 Rs, refill, reuse, reduce. This is a very common industry standard approach to express sustainability in a condensed form. There are no legal disputes in this regard. Cyberattacks, our own cybersecurity team constantly observes and monitors the relevant systems and fends off attacks. We see a number of attempts every day, for which our systems nevertheless were prepared and protected against. In 2021, there was no relevant attack that caused any damage. The security situation is regularly assessed and necessary measures are implemented. On the antitrust proceedings, the action of Schlecker's insolvency administrator was dismissed by judgments in the first and second instance. The appeal against the second instance ruling of the Frankfurt High Regional Court was allowed by the Federal Supreme Court upon the plaintiff's appeal against another leave to appeal. The date of the hearing was set by the Supreme Court for the 5th of July 2022. Beiersdorf denies Schlecker's claims and defends itself fully against it. And on the status of the headquarters, the corporate headquarters will be largely completed by the end of 2022 in terms of the construction. Then the commissioning of the building will start as well as user installations and furnishing so that around the middle of 2023, we will be able to move in.

The next question is by [ Stefan Gil ]. He looks at next to cosmetics. The market for natural cosmetics is growing. Why doesn't Beiersdorf produce its own product line for natural cosmetics, hand, face, hand care? Question is given by Grita Loebsack.

Well, we're very much interested in natural cosmetics. With the NIVEA Magic Bifacial cleansing range launched in 2021 and the Labello Naturally Vegan lip care, we now have certified natural cosmetics in our range. Both product lines meet all strict criteria of the Ecocert COSMOS Natural Environmental certificate. The strictest requirement concerns the exclusive use of ingredients of natural origin throughout the entire supply chain. In addition, a large part of our portfolio is free of animal raw materials and contains ingredients of natural origins. Examples include Q10 and many other natural oils and vitamin E, organic hemp seed oil, organic [indiscernible] soy and pomegranate. But sustainability is also a focus for us. We strive to use as many renewable sustainably sourced ingredients in our products as possible. So we focus more on effective sustainability than on naturalness per se. Our approach in our current portfolio is to balance natural and synthetic materials to create the most effective, safe and sustainable products possible. We are currently looking at how we can further leverage these growth opportunities and increase demand and provide more targeted product ranges.

Next 2 questions are from [ Matthias Giebler ] about the AGM. He wants to know what amount do the cost of a virtual AGM amount? And how are they broken out by largest items? And how many questions have been received by the company regarding the virtual Annual General Meeting from how many shareholders?

On the cost of the AGM, the total cost of the 2022 AGM will be of approximately EUR 500,000. The biggest drivers in descending order are technology, invitation and costs related to the dividend distribution, the premises and the stage. And on the question relating to the questions received. We have received 87 questions before the AGM of 5 shareholders or representatives of shareholders associations.

The next questions have to do with the workforce. And Mr. [ Giebler ] would like to know what was the employee attrition rate in the group in the reporting year, in the previous year in Germany and in the 2 largest geographical markets, followed by the question, how did the attrition in Germany develop broken down by voluntary age-related attrition, entry into retirement and redundancies on the part of the company in 2020 and 2021? And the third question for Mr. [ Giebler ], how many employees are over the age of 50 and 55 and are employed by the company and the Group, respectively? What is the average length of company service? And another question, how many fathers took parental leave at the company and at our domestic subsidiaries in the reporting year? For how long on average and how old was the oldest employee who took parental leave? What proportion of fathers taking parental leave were managers?

Well, Beiersdorf AG 2021, 4.2%. In the previous year, 3.6%. USA, in the reporting year 2021, 13.4%; in the previous year, 17%. China, in the reporting year 2021, structurally [ graphite ] 21%; and in the previous year, 18.6%. A further breakdown for your other questions in 3 categories, employees who leave the company for voluntary reason, 21 versus 92 and the previous year 20 versus 72. 31 employees for redundancies, at the previous year 27 and redundancy on the part of the company 16 in 2021 and the previous year, 23 employees. Now the question on the different age clusters, 50 years of age and 55 years of age. In the Beiersdorf AG, a total of 290 employees are over the age of 50 with an average length of time with the company of 19.2 years. And also in the Beiersdorf AG, people who are older than 55 are 449 employees with an average length of time with the company of 28 years. In the Group overall, we have 1,260 employees above the age of 50 and 1,547 above the age of 55. Our global database does not go back far enough to validly determine the length of time with the company at a global level. In order to answer your question about the fathers taking parental leave, for the year 2021, in the Beiersdorf IT, a 38 men with an average duration of 1.5 months. The oldest one of them was 49 years of age and among them, 6 managers. For the domestic affiliated companies, excluding Beiersdorf AG, it's another 43 men taking parental leave with an average duration of 1.4 months. The oldest employee was 45 years, and the number of managers was 2.

And we still have another question about the workforce, how many employees in the Germany other than the Board of Management have an annual gross income of more than EUR 120,000, more than EUR 250,000, more than EUR 500,000 and how has this figure developed compared with the previous year? Please indicate in the answer if the numbers stated are A, does not include the persons from B and C, if you consider the question to be a range EUR 120,000 and EUR 250,000, respectively. And are there any domestic group employees, excluding trainees and interns who are employed on a full-time basis belong up to a minimum wage of EUR 12 per hour still intended for 2022. What is the gross hourly wage of the lowest paid domestic full-time employee? And how many of them are there? How many domestic full-time employees with a gross monthly wage of less than EUR 3,000 are there? And another question by Mr. [ Giebler ] is, for activities in the BDF Group, a collective agreement have an average more than EUR 85,000 and have less than the minimum of the Supervisory Board. This was the question by Mr. [ Giebler ] and it would also be answered by Mr. Liu. First of all, the clusters by which brackets. And those are completely separate figures, and there are no overlaps. And let's talk about those who earn up to EUR 120,000, in the year 2022, that was 268 persons; in the year 2021, 294. Employees with an income higher than EUR 250,000 for the year 2022, that was 41 employees. And in the last year, those were 50. Employees with an income higher than EUR 500,000 for the year 2022, that was 1 person. For the year 2021, those were 2 persons. The topic of minimum wage is not a topic for Beiersdorf Group at all. Amongst the about 5,600 full-time employees of all our domestic affiliated companies, almost 70% have a monthly wage of less than EUR 3,000. This corresponds to 1.3% of the overall workforce in Germany. Looking at the domestic affiliated companies, we have 3,500 employees with an annual salary of up to EUR 85,000. And beyond that, almost 2,000 have an income which is higher than the EUR 85,000 threshold. Now this is about the current business year. What does the Board plan to make better in 2022? And the next question is outside of Corona and the effects of the Ukraine war. What will be the main challenges for the company in 2022? And Mr. Warnery will answer the questions.

I believe that in 2021, we have built a very strong executive committee with the right mindset and a total alignment in terms of priorities. The nomination of Patrick Rasquinet, Oswald Barckhahn and Grita Loebsack has very well complemented of this team, which will drive Beiersdorf to new heights in 2022. Our priority is clear, deliver our CARE+ strategy and implement it and make Beiersdorf again the leading skin care company. And now concerning the second question, Corona and the war in Ukraine. Corona and the Ukraine war will clearly stay challenges for our company as well as for the overall market. In this difficult environment, our challenge is to be able to gain momentum on NIVEA despite necessary price increases and supply issues, but we are confident we will achieve this objective.

The next 2 questions are from [ Matthias Giebler ] relate to different topics. Astrid Hermann is going to answer. He would like to know what was your biggest loss during the year? And was it fully covered by insurance? Another question is how much of each share is currently backed by equity and be encumbered by liabilities? And another question of Mr. Gabler, which 3 products were the most successful products, A, in terms of volume, B, in terms of sales, C, in terms of contribution margin, and D, in Germany, E, Europe and F, worldwide in the fiscal year 2021? And what were the changes compared with the previous year? And another question by Mr. Giebler, how many tips were there in your whistleblow system in the reporting year, so hints given by the whistleblow platform, is the whistleblow system set up internally or externally, what significant consequences were drawn from those tips?

The question on losses. Well, there was important, large completed loss event in 2021 was a property loss in South Africa in connection with rioting in July 2021. This mainly affected the value logistics warehouse and [indiscernible]. In the first step, most of the damage was reversed by the local insurer. The payment amounted to EUR 1.1 million. We are confident that the remaining balance amounting to EUR 300,000 will also be paid. On equity. As of the 31st of December 2021, the equity ratio was 61%. So proportion each share is backed by 61% equity and encumbered with 39% of liabilities. On the products, in Germany in terms of volume, sales and contribution margin, the following products are among the top products, NIVEA Soft 200 milliliters, NIVEA Rich Body Milk 400 milliliters and NIVEA body spray fresh for women, 150 millimeters. In Europe, it's the following products. NIVEA Soft 200 milliliters, NIVEA Men Aftershave balm 100 milliliters and NIVEA Deo Roll on Black & White for Men 50 milliliters. And globally, NIVEA Soft 200 mL, NIVEA Deo Roll-on Black & White for Men 50 milliliters, and NIVEA Cream 150 milliliters. On the whistleblower system. In the year under review, we received a double-digit number of reports via our whistleblowing system. The whistleblower system is open to all employees and since 2019, also to people outside the company. And so far as there were breaches in individual cases, clear consequences were taken, the necessary changes were made relating to our internal preventive and control system and communication measures were also carried out. The reported cases, all in all, did not provide any indications of systematic violations of the rules.

The next questions relate to products, and he would like to know what percentage is the raw material costs and logistics costs have increased in the reporting year. To what extent were you able to pass on the increased raw material and logistics cost of prices in the top-selling product areas? And another question, what is the value ratio between content and packaging material using the example of a NIVEA can?

On costs, material costs increased globally by 3.3% in the fiscal year 2021. Logistics costs increased globally by 6% in the year 2021. And the other questions on costs. First of all, I would like to emphasize that pricing in retail is always at the discretion of the retailer. Furthermore, please understand that we are unable to publicly disclose confidential contractual matters relating to our business partners. Still, I can say that we were able to increase our prices as regards to the retailers in 2021. So this was driven by emerging markets at Derma and La Prairie. And then on the value ratio between content and packaging, the value ratio between content and packaging material varies depending on the size and category. On average, the ratio is 50-50.

Next question is by [ Andres Gibler ] and he wants to know what alternative packaging options would there be for a NIVEA can and what cost effect would this entail? Why is it not yet possible to dispense with the aluminum foil and the can as product protection?

NIVEA cream comes in packaging made of different materials. In addition to the iconic aluminum can, there are also plastic tubes and jars as well as glass jars, NIVEA cream aluminum cans are manufactured at the Hamburg factory using electricity from renewable resources and have very good recyclability. In addition to cost, the application and the preference of our consumers also play a role in the choice of material. For example, plastic tubes are receivable and robust for the use on the go, whereas jars are more widely used in the home. The ceiling firm ensures that the product reaches the consumer hygienically and that the best before date is reached that no water exists and that we can guarantee a 3-year best before date, and this is good for nature because it saves on waste. I would like to add something in this very nice but also very serious question to say my farewell to the shareholders. I had the opportunity to answer your questions in 8 AGMs in a row and it has been quite a raft of questions. I thank you very much for bearing with me for the support. You will always be able to place your trust in the people of Beiersdorf. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Liu. Let's move on to the next and final 2 questions. This is about the largest challenges for the next year, 2022? What was the biggest issue in 2022? What was your biggest success and these will be answered by Mr. Warnery.

Of course, corona. The succession of corona waves at different times in different places associated to the very different way of managing the crisis chosen by the various governments across the world who has made the management of our brands rather complicated, but we were, however, able to achieve new record sales. And as you have yourself asked the question about the lack of stability of the Executive Board, one of my biggest points of pride is that the Board team that we have together with the Chairman and the Supervisory Board built over those last month. I clearly believe that we now have the team that Beiersdorf needs to achieve its ambitions.

Ladies and gentlemen, those were the questions to the Executive Board. And now I close the opportunity to pose additional questions and now answer the questions to the Supervisory Board. Thank you very much, Mr. Pöllath. And next, I will start with Dr. [ Stefan Klaus ]. This is about the dividend. If business continues to develop positively, will an increase in the dividend from EUR 0.70 be considered? When was the dividend policy last discussed in the corporate bodies and with what result? Followed by a question by [ Marcus Pandol ], why is the dividend so extremely low?

Well, it would be too easy if I said, well, of course, a change can be considered, but it is the shareholders who decide on the dividend and the Executive Board discusses this every year, and we discussed this very much in detail. We look at options, alternatives and the proposal that we give and have given for a long time, seems appropriate and to be in the interest of growth and security of the company and also in the long term in the shareholders' interest. Therefore, we hope that you can agree with this.

The next questions will be about EY and [ Stefan Klaus ] wants to know how does the Supervisory Board justify the renewed nomination of Ernst & Young as auditors against the background of the Wirecard scandal? Why are you seeking to E&Y? Have you obtained alternative offers from other auditors? When is the regular change of auditor due? The DSVA, the German association of private investors rejects the choice of E&Y auditor. And the question by [ Matthias Giebler ] also on the same topic. Why does the Supervisory propose E&Y as auditor, although the auditor should know that many shareholders of the company were also injured Wirecard shareholders at the same time. Was there any serious discussion at all within the Supervisory Board about the auditor proposal? Why did the Supervisory Board lack the appropriate sensitivity for shareholder sensitivities when proposing the auditor to be selected? And another question, how long has Ernst & Young been acting as a company's auditor. When does the Supervisory Board intend to make the next change? When is your invitation to tender expected to be issued for this purpose?

Well, the question is, why do you stick to E&Y? That sounds a bit too stable. Well, every year, we think about this. And every year, we come to a conclusion. The Supervisory Board of Beiersdorf decides on a proposal and then decides on the auditors and gives a resolution on this and decides on everything else that we have to deal with duly and in the interest of the company and its shareholders, the shareholders as shareholders of this company. in order to do justice of this in the plenary session and in the committee, we'll always review the security and the safety of the results. And we also look at the development of other potential candidates. Ramifications from that might be possible, but we couldn't see the potential in them, and that is not expected. We are following up on this topic as seriously as was done in the past, and we'll continue to do so in the future. Of course, we are also talking to other auditors and other auditors give us our non-review audits, and we are in a constant professional contact with them. A well-prepared change is envisaged for the year 2024. Ernst & Young has been our auditor since 2006. Before that, it was BDO since its foundation for 70 years. And then both auditors audited us reliably. And we reviewed their work again very critically. There is now a change looming in 2024 and the call for tender will be prepared in 2022 and will take place in the year 2023.

And the next question is about the remuneration of the Supervisory Board. Remuneration reward, significant financial compensations for the duration of the covenant notch to compete are paid to former Executive Board members. Who specifically sets the individual targets for the Executive Board compensation and within that framework, does this take place? Who specifically reviews the specified targets in the first place, who specifically determines whether the individual targets have been achieved? And another question, who calculates the exact compensation amounts paid to individual Executive Board members in the first place? Who verifies the calculated amount accordingly? Is this done in-house or with the help of external specialists? Can the members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board recalculate the compensation to which they are entitled to themselves? And has the return back to the DAX been taken into account as a possible goal in the very executive board. And if no, why not?

Well, normally, we do not normally go without the financial compensation for the duration of the CNC. In 2021, we had one case where we have to pay for this compensation. This is 50% of the salary and the annual bonus. The legal limit would have been much higher. Well, other income would come would be credited to these allowances. And I don't think I remember we ever had this case. No individual targets. Well, who determines them. It is only the Supervisory Board on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, and it agrees on the targets and how these targets can be reached. All this is discussed at length. And I can assure you, this is a lot of work, and it is a lot of very detailed work of the Chairman and the CEO. We are not using external help apart from the correctness of the remuneration system that was agreed on in the previous year and that we review on an ongoing basis. The question on who calculates the exact compensation amounts, well, these are calculated amounts. The remuneration is based on performance parameters internally and is calculated with a range of 20% of discretion of the Supervisory Board, which the Board uses very carefully, as you can often tell by the very strange figures that already paid out.

Well, can we calculate this and review this?

Yes, of course, believe me, the individual members of the Board do their calculating their math very thoroughly. And this is a very appropriate topic to measure performance and to discuss improvement potential. And in the end, we always reach this identical result. Now the return on the DAX, well, this is not part of the compensation of the Executive Board. Being part of the taxes or not is often the result of spin-offs or the free float of other companies. Our company and the Executive Board cannot take this into account. And therefore, it is not a topic to be included in the compensation.

Thank you very much. We stick to the topic of remuneration, but this is now about Stefan De Loecker remuneration here. [ Matthias Giebler ] has a few questions. Why is Stefan Loecker going to receive more than EUR 5 million, which is more than 3% of the dividend of all shareholders? And another question, why in spite of the severance, the high severance pay has -- he also received a cost lump sum on what legal basis and what payments will Mr. De Loecker received after him leaving the company. And Mr. Gabler would also like to know based on your knowledge, what does Mr. De Loecker do right now?

Mr. De Loecker received EUR 5 million. Yes, there is a discretionary rounding included in this, but a very small one. But this is exactly the calculated amount of the annual bonus of Mr. De Loecker for the activities, the service performed not for the time after him being exempted from his functions. But for the performances he has served. So this was agreed with -- before he became CEO. And when he took over the Chairmanship, it was also agreed with him as was mathematically calculated correctly and paid out. Also, the EUR 150,000 cost allowance cost lump-sum that you're talking about, it's a lump sum. This is based on the agreements with him to compensate for inconveniences and burdens that he incurred, for instance, his family, the family of Mr. De Loecker according to his contractual obligations has transferred their home base from Dubai to Hamburg. So what is the payment he will receive as a maximum? Well, he received the salary and the annual bonus, not the long-term bonus, but his salary and his bonus until the end of his contract. He does not receive a severance pay. And in my time, this has never been the case. We fulfill our contractual obligations and after the end of the contract he will have the usual waiting allowance. So it's another one of the cases, which I have mentioned earlier. So what is he doing right now? I actually follow this because we are having to do with each other otherwise, and he is not newly employed during his time of exemption, which legally would be impossible.

The next questions of [ Matthias Giebler ] refer to the remuneration of the Supervisory Board. And he asked on what grants do you consider justified that the Supervisory Board compensation has risen by around 40% in the past 4 years, while the employee income has only had an increase of around 10%? And another question, why with the basic compensation of each Supervisory Board member is a proud EUR 85,000 is an attendance fee of EUR 1,000 also paid, which amounts to just 1.7% of the basic compensation, could this simply be dispenses? And another question, what consequences have you drawn from the Federal Ministry of Finance letter dated 8th of July 2021, which Supervisory Board members have accounted for the compensation with sales tax to date? Have you been able to deduct input tax in each case to date? Will you also be able to deduct input tax in the future? What is your for the procedure in this regard? And another question on this. If almost 10% of the annual report is devoted solely to the executive compensation, is this actually still appropriate? Isn't the operating business actually much more important than the compensation of the Management Board and Supervisory Board?

The Supervisory Board remuneration has increased what is shown in this business report. We need to take into account or we need to show the remuneration paid out although it has already been shown in the previous report. So it was the last tranche of the variable Supervisory Board remuneration from the fiscal year 2018. The remaining 20% increase result on a mathematical basis from the resolutions that we have to take on the Supervisory Board remuneration. To a very large extent, it's the increase of the remuneration for the audit report and the financial audit or Audit Committee and Financial Committee. Here, part is that there has been more meetings I have already mentioned the number of meetings, and this also has an increasing effect. All in all, it seems to me that the Supervisory Board remuneration is appropriate. So it's not substantial or too high. And then the attendance fee, could you do without the attendance fee? Yes, you could dispense with it, but this has been agreed, and you could agree on something else. But you have to take into account when we switched to the variable Supervisory Board remuneration to a fixed one, it was calculated in such a way that the actual fixed remuneration was slightly decreased, and the difference was compensated for with the attendance fees. So that all in all, the total of the fixed remuneration and the attendance fee was guided by the Supervisory Board remuneration during the previous times. There has not been any other increase. VAT, well, the Supervisory Board activities 2021 is subject to value-added tax and gives the company the right to deduct input tax in 2021. Here, according to the BMF letter that you quote, we have determined this is different. And if we are subject to VAT, we also have the right to deduct of input tax. 10% of the annual report is devoted solely on to executive compensation is supposed to correspond to the success of the company and measures the performance of the Executive Board in the operational business. At least that's the intention. So it seems appropriate whether 10% of the annual report is an accurate number. The volume of the report has increased this, corresponds to the law and the code and it also corresponds to the concern for transparency that the company has with regard to the shareholders. It's our concern. It's also the shareholders' concern. Yes, the transparency, believe me as a Chairman, this is not always pleasant. This also has -- holds a disadvantage when we compete for people. And -- but this is what needs to be borne and it's certainly is not an appropriate burden. Fluctuation on the Executive Board, this is a very important topic. The Supervisory Board as well would like to see more continuity and we're not very good at this. But on the other hand, staff decisions are always a wing of performance and a fit, and on the other hand wish for continuity. This goes for the company and for managers at the same time. We need to come to an agreement. The fluctuation in a specific case was due to a change of the CEO and due to the contractual term of two positions on the Executive Board. The addition of Ms. Hermann is very welcome in particular to improve the transparency for the Executive Board.

Thank you that you've already answered this question. I just want to -- like to read out the question that this will answer, where the first question came from Dr. [ Stefan Hausen ]. He wanted to know over the last years, we've seen a lot of fluctuation on the Executive Board. Will there be continuity now, especially in the finance department. And Mr. [ Giebler ] also dealt with this topic. And he said, shortly after last year's AGM, there's been the resignation of three members, including the Chairman of the Executive Board. Stefan De Loecker was the Supervisory Board already aware of this at the time of the last year's Annual General Meeting at what specific point in time, what were the specific reasons for the resignations in each case. If it was the different strategic ideas, which [indiscernible] doesn't excuse. Please give a concrete example of these different ideas. In each case, did the desire to leave from the Executive Board member concerned or from the Supervisory Board? And another question by Mr. [ Giebler ], a view of the extreme fluctuation on the Executive Board last year, shouldn't the Supervisory Board asked itself critically whether it acted in the interest of the companies or whether it acted incorrect in selecting the Executive Board.

Please accept my apologies for the reply to your question that I gave you a bit too early. So please accept my apology. I hope you understand. Now why after the last AGM, did we have 3 members of the Board leave Board? Well, two out of these members actually had contracts that were coming to an end towards the end of the year from one of them. And the most important change probably was the change of the CEO, which actually happened on the very day when it was announced that was the 27th of April. And during the week before that, this change was prepared. It went very well without any friction, which does not go without saying because time was short, but everyone showed their goodwill and the changes on the Board were all in agreements. And there were no different ideas about the strategies. The strategy C.A.R.E.+ is a strategy that both the predecessor that is Mr. De Loecker and Mr. Warnery, all the remaining members of the Supervisory Board, we all participated in drawing up that strategy and will continue the strategy. It is a very important aspect for us to really carry this strategy on into the future and implement it. And the CEO, Mr. Warnery has a particular experience in the field of skincare. And he also before he changed into the CEO position, had held the necessary experience in that field. And we are very pleased to have been able to secure this strategy and not only that, but give it an additional impetus. And then you also asked the question about our self-critical assessment. Well, that is a good question. And I mean it. Of course, we do ask ourselves this rather self-critical question in this concrete case, but also with a view to other staff or staffing decisions, whether there should be a continuation or whether we should terminate a certain contractual context. And we always ask ourselves whether we have acted correctly in the interest of the company or not and what we can do better. And that is especially true for changes at the CEO level. And especially, when the change of staff is such a quick one, even if it went without any major problems here, but it still is a reason for us to ask ourselves rather critically about possible continuity, but also about the possible necessity of exchanging certain people in certain positions.

Okay. Then let's stay with the questions about the Board. Mr. [ Giebler ] wanted to know whether -- why there is no continuity on the Executive Board as there is on the Supervisory Board to which Mr. Pollath will have belonged for a full 20 years in May. What succession planning is in place for Mr. Pollath? And another question by Mr. [ Giebler ]. How did you decide on the new members of the Executive Board in each case? Were personnel consultants involved? And if so, specifically at what cost did they incur? Another question by Mr. [ Giebler ]. Why were there no employees internally suitable for the Board function and what signal does this send within the workforce.

Now you've asked the question about the Supervisory Board and the Chair of the Supervisory Board. I could have just saved my breath and really explain right now because this is really pointing the finger at a very important point, indeed, because there is also a continuity that can go on for too long, which is also a question that we have to self-critically ask ourselves also as the Supervisory Board. We have to ask ourselves when a certain amount of time is just too long. Now, I've been elected until the AGM 2024. And before that, we will have internal and external preparations for the succession planning. That is before the election for the Supervisory Board during the AGM 2024. And for that, we also have an Independent Nomination Committee as part of our Supervisory Board, and they will take care of that task. Now, how did we decide on who to accept as a new Board Member with the different search services? Well, out of the new Board Members, two actually were internal candidates. So, we did not use any personal agencies or anything like that. But of course, we also try to take a look around in order to get the necessary benchmarking them. But [indiscernible] came from inside the company. Others were from outside. But for those -- of course, there are differences, but there are not major differences. And that means that we, of course, in those cases, need someone to advise us. And we use the services of Russell Reynolds, Heads International, Hoffman and [indiscernible] And for that, we spent a whole sum total of EUR 806,460. Why did we not find any suitable applicants internally inside of our company? Well, we did find these candidates. And what kind of signal did we send out? Well, I think that this is the signal that Beiersdorf and with a Beiersdorf career, you can actually be very successful in this career and your experiences are rather promising elements for your future career. The external hirings send out the signal to all of us, of course, to the employees, but to all of us as well, that in these successions, it is all about being able to keep up with the competition. So, we try to use all the different possibilities internally, externally, but career implications and the competition signals are equally important.

The next question is about the current business year. Mr. [ Giebler ] wants to know what the Supervisory Board wants to make better in 2022 and in 2021?

Well, I can't really speak on behalf of the whole of the Supervisory Board. And I will ask them after this meeting. Of course, that is a question that we keep asking ourselves year in, year out. And afterwards, of course, we can also discuss this question at the Supervisory Board level. But I can speak on my own behalf, from the last efficiency review of the Supervisory Board that arose the need to also have a better personal or rather HR work for C.A.R.E.+ also at the Supervisory Board level. I share this idea and this endeavor as you do, based on how you formulate your questions. Well, C.A.R.E.+ is something that we don't do at the Supervisory Board level, but we also support and that we want to, of course, not only monitor closely, but also, as I said, support and champion. And for this, the subject or the digitization of the company plays a very important role. It might even be the biggest item for which we need some additional effort here. It is good that the Supervisory Board subscribes to this in such a way. But of course, this is still something that we need to do better and also at the Supervisory Board level.

Thank you, Mr. Pollath. The next question relate once again to the AGM and go to the Executive Board once more. [ Matthias Giebler ] wants to know, have the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board addressed the security of the AGM software used? And what conclusions have you drawn for yourself from the investigation of Professor Dr. Andreas Maier, after the software received a poor rating. Astrid Hermann will answer the question.

Now the question relating to the AGM software. We are aware of the paper of the Ministry, of the BSI for Internet Security. Immediately after the publication of the study by Professor in 2020, our AGM service providers thoroughly checked all security-relevant components and where necessary, replaced them with additional new security methods of a higher standard. Ongoing adjustments and software updates in this area ensure the highest possible security when using the AGM portal. Our specialist departments work closely with the AGM service provider in this area and check the proper and legally compliant process in advance of use.

And the next question of [ Matthias Giebler ] relates to the participation during the AGM. And he wants to know if all members of the Executive and Supervisory Board participate in the AGM throughout its course? Or is it a voluntary thing?

Yes. I will answer to that. All Executive Board Members have participated in presence here in the auditorium. As Professor Pollath has mentioned in the beginning, Ms. Hermann, unfortunately cannot be here due to quarantine reasons. But as all members of the Supervisory Board as well, she is logged in here. She follows today's AGM and can get in touch with the Chairman of the assembly at any moment in time.

And then I come to the last question handed in before the AGM. He wants to know how many participants were dialed in at the beginning of the Virtual Shareholders Meeting at the end of the Executive Board's speech? And how many people were present at last year's Virtual Shareholders Meeting, at the last non-virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting? Initially, we had 298 users watching the stream at the beginning of the AGM. At the end of the CEO speech, we had 566 users watching the live stream. And in comparison, during the last Virtual AGM, we had 236 users at the beginning of the AGM in our stream and 344 at the end of the Board presentation. During the last in-person AGM, we had more than 1,400 shareholders who were physically present. Thank you very much. And with that, we have come to the end of the questions that were asked ahead of time. Right now one question that Mr. Warnery answered on behalf of the Board also referred to the Advisory Board that was the question about whether they are participating. Yes, of course, they are. And of course, they cannot -- they are not free to choose whether they should be physically present or not. That is also legally binding because, I mean, we have had a Supervisory Board Meeting, for example, starting at 9 o'clock with more than 30 members. And after this AGM, we will also then restart that meeting. And so I think this was all the questions that were submitted before the Annual General Meeting. With that, I would, as announced, close the opportunity to ask or hand in any further questions during the AGM. I've got one question here. Do you have any other questions there? Well, then you can feel free to start, Mr. Warnery.

Well, there is a question by Mr. [ Bijellim ]. He says, first of all, I would like to thank you for still receiving -- or still having the possibility of getting a printed business report. This, unfortunately, is not really something that you can expect. My question is whether you have a long-term strategic planning at Beiersdorf? And if yes, what the time horizon is for your planning? And what kind of long-term strategic objectives you have quantified? Now we've got long-term strategic plans for 2020 or up until 2025 and beyond that. These plans are based on our C.A.R.E.+ strategy, and they also comprise financial and organizational company objectives. C.A.R.E.+ means strengthening our brands by enriching their very purpose, increasing the speed of digital transformation and to win with skincare and to also tap into white spot potentials and to increase our growth by increasing productivity based on our strong foundation of culture, core values, skills and Care Beyond Skin. And then there is another question here that I also see from [ Mr. Bijellim ]. Does Beiersdorf competitors with competitors using peer groups? If so, which competitors are they broken down by segment? Well, of course, we internally also compare ourselves to competitors in order to be able to assess our performance in a market-based comparison. But please understand that we can't give you any names. With a view to the competitors in the consumer area, we, of course, count the known companies in the field of home and personal care. And then there is another question. When will shareholders be supplied with Beiersdorf products again? After all, it would also be possible that a voucher that can be redeemed locally in stores. And my answer is that Beiersdorf shares are their sharers and that means that the Beiersdorf AG does not know about the addresses of the shareholders. When returning to physical and on-site events, we would surely also, again, be able and willing to hand our shareholders, product, novelties, innovative products and samples. Now there is another question of someone who did not want to be named. And he's asking me about the remark I made during the introduction that a Virtual AGM appears to be rather contemporary. And whether this means that even after the pandemic, do we think about returning to an on-site AGM? Well, I believe that a digital kind of meeting actually is a very much a contemporary solution here at Beiersdorf and all over the world. But according to the legal situation today, it is quite clear that during the AGM 2023, you can expect to be able to be physically present on site. If on top of that, we have or should it be possible to have a hybrid or an online AGM as well? We will definitely look at the pros and cons. And then I will only propose a virtual, that is an online AGM if the shareholders' rights are comprehensively protected. And that, of course, is something that we have to weigh and the very concrete situation, and that's only next year. So with that, we've answered all the questions, if I understand this correctly, including four questions of shareholders that were asked during the AGM. Now ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions. And I would now note for the record that all questions submitted to the company in due time ahead of the Annual General Meeting have been answered. And we have also answered the questions you submitted during the Annual General Meeting using the AGM system. And I would like to ask the notary to record that in the minutes.

Thanks so much on the questions and the exchange of the company and its shareholders. Thank you very much that you all did this so thoroughly, and that you did not make use of any restriction rights. And we did well in being very disciplined. We now proceed to the ballots, and I hope that we can do this quicker than in the first part, where we should really take a very thorough approach. So let us proceed on the votes on the items of the agenda, 2 to 6. The resolutions of the agenda items 2 to 6 are called collectively, but handled separately for each agenda item. I said that the vote will be determined according to the addition method. So if you're not -- if you have not already made use of the option of casting your absentee votes or granting a proxy and issuing instructions to the voting representatives appointed by the company. Your yes votes and no votes will now be recorded using the AGM system. You must also actively cast your vote if you wish to vote in favor of a resolution. So yes, so in favor and against resolution must be cast. The [ potential ] must also be entered in the phone. The votes cast by the shareholder representatives appointed by the company in accordance with the instructions issued as well as the absentee votes you have submitted have already been counted in the IT system and will also be included in the tally upon being released. And you can amend your votes until the end and by using the AGM system until the start of the voting. These are the advantages of such a digital format. I will now briefly summarize the resolutions proposed by the management on items 2 to 6. And you have them available. And after this summary, I would like you to cast your vote. So Item 2, resolution on the utilization of the net retained profits. From the net retained profit [Indiscernible] of the EUR 176.4 million, a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share bearing dividend rights will be distributed to the remaining around EUR 17,626,211 [sic] EUR 17,626,711 will be transferred to other retained earnings. The own shares held by the company do not bear dividend rights. On Item 3 of the agenda, approval to be given to the actions of the members of the Executive Board. The countermotion from shareholder, Wilm Diedrich Mueller, requested approval of the action of the members of the Supervisory Board for the fiscal year 2021 would be denied. If you wish to endorse the resolution proposed by the Executive Board, please vote yes. You can endorse the countermotion by voting no on agenda Item 3. We will first hold a vote on the resolution proposed by the management. If it receives the necessary simple majority of the votes cast, the countermotion will be superfluous and a separate vote on it will not be held. Item 4, approval is to be given onto the actions of the Members of the Supervisory Board for fiscal year 2021. There is also a countermotion from the shareholder, Wilm Diedrich Mueller, requesting that approval of the actions of the members of the Supervisory Board for the fiscal year 2021 be denied. The same shall apply, if you wish to endorse the resolution proposed by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, please vote yes. You can endorse the countermotion from Mr. Mueller by voting no. We will once again first vote on the resolution proposed by the management so that a vote on the countermotion might not be necessary. Members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board may not exercise their voting rights to approve their own actions and accordance with and so far as they represent their own or third-party shares. The same applies to shareholders' representatives to the extent that they represent votes from Members of the Executive Supervisory Board. The Members of the Executive and Supervisory Board have been advised of this voting exclusion and have made the necessary provisions before the Annual General Meeting. Item 5 on the agenda. The proposal of Supervisory Board and its committee Ernst & Young is proposed by the Supervisory Board and its Audit Committee as auditor for the 2022 annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements and for any auditor's review of the half year financial report for the fiscal year 2022. The required statement of independence has been received from E&Y. Item 6 on the agenda. Resolution on the approval of the remuneration report of the fiscal year 2021, which has been prepared and audited in accordance with Paragraph 162 of the German Stock Corporation Act. It has been attached in the Annex. I have already explained this agenda item to you, and please refer to the invitation for the voting of this proposed resolution. In conclusion, I now call for a vote on agenda Items 2 to 6 as announced in the Federal Gazette, published 1st of March 2022. If you wish to cast yes and no, please cast your votes using the AGM system by absentee vote or granting a proxy and issuing instructions to the voting representative appointed by the company. So you either vote yes, no, or abstention, please do this actively. There is also the possibility to amend a cast already vote or a proxy given and also to revoke a vote is possible. If you have more than one access card, you must repeat the procedure for each individual card. Please cast your vote now. [Voting]

The voting system will now be open for you for the next two minutes. And at the end of these two minutes, I will close the voting procedure. One minute left. I will conclude the part in one minute. Thank you very much for casting your vote. This was the last minute. Now it has expired. So as announced, voting is now closed. Thank you for voting. The results will now be calculated and announced in a few minutes. During this time, we will have a short intermission. All right. Thanks for your patience. I will now announce the results of the vote on agenda items 2 through 6. They will also be displayed for you and will be available on our website after the AGM. But first, the current attendance. Of the mentioned 252 million company shares issued in total 191,248,734 shares are in attendance that corresponds to 75.89% of the share capital. In addition, absentee votes have been submitted of 808,756 shares corresponding to 0.32% of the share capital. So in total 76.21%. 76.21% of the share capital is represented at the AGM and have participated in voting. Mr. [ Giebler ] had asked how many participants were dialed in after the end of the voting. This was 432 people -- 423, sorry, who have followed in the live stream, have followed the meeting in the live stream. Now the results of the votes as for every item. Two, utilization of the net retained profits. Valid votes cast 192,053,876 corresponding to 76.21% of the share capital. Yay votes 186,133,954. Nay, 5,919,922. Abstentions, 3,614 votes. I now declare and announce that the resolution proposal by the management has been adopted with a majority of 96.92%. Agenda Item 3. Resolution on the official approval of the actions of the members of the Executive Board. Valid votes cast, 190,429,120. This corresponds to 75.57%. Yay votes, 189,615,338 votes and nay, 813,782 votes. Abstentions, 1,628,370 votes. The exclusion from the right to vote was observed. I now declare and announce that the resolution proposal by the management has been adopted with a majority of 99.57%. A vote on the countermotion from the shareholder, Mr. Mueller on agenda Item 3 is therefore superfluous. Agenda Item 4. Resolution on the official approval of the actions of the members of the Supervisory Board. Valid votes cast, 189,902,921. This corresponds to 75.36% of the share capital. The yes votes, 178,918,957 votes. Nay votes, 10,983,964 votes. Abstentions, 2,154,569 votes. The exclusion of the right to vote was observed. I now declare and announce that the resolution proposal by management has been adopted with a majority of 94.22%. A vote on the countermotion from the shareholder, Wilm Diedrich Mueller. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board sincerely thank you for the confidence placed in them. Confirmed by the approval of the actions of the members of the Board. Agenda Item 5. Election of the auditors for the fiscal year 2022 and in the auditor's half-year financial statements for fiscal year 2022. Valid votes cast 191,743,813. This corresponds to 76.09% of the share capital. Yay votes, 187,827,623 votes. Nay votes, 3,916,190 votes. Abstentions, 313,677 votes. I know declare and announce that the resolution proposal by the Supervisory Board has been adopted with the majority of 97.96%. And last but not least, Item 6. Resolution on the approval of the remuneration report for fiscal year 2021, which has been -- well, valid votes cast 187,265,634. This corresponds to 74.31% of the share capital. Yay votes, 136,626,986. Nay, 50,638,648 votes. Abstentions, 4,791,856 votes. I now declare and announce that the resolution proposal by management has been adopted with a majority of 72.96%. Thank you very much for this information. We will take with this into the new fiscal year. Ladies and gentlemen, this means that all management proposals as announced in the Bundesanzeiger and Federal Gazette of March 1, 2022, have been adopted. The agenda has thus been completed. Thanks to all of you for participating, for your critical questions and contributions and for your interest in Beiersdorf during this AGM and beyond it. I also thank you for your understanding, given the special conditions under which this AGM took place. We have endeavored -- enabled you to exercise your rights as far as possible and in excess of what is required by law, in particular by providing the possibility of submitting questions during the AGM. Thank you for making use of it. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the preparation, organization, implementation of this once again, unique AGM. The AGM in 2023 will once again be held around this time of the year in April. The precise date has not yet been set, but we will publish it in good time. Thank you for today. All the best to you. See you next time. Stay healthy. Make good progress. All the best for Beiersdorf. And all of you, thank you and goodbye. The Annual General Meeting is thereby concluded. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]