Evonik Industries AG (EVK) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I herewith open this year's Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Evonik Industries AG and take the chairperson to Section 19 of the Articles of Association of this company. On behalf of the members of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, I would like to welcome our shareholders, the shareholder representatives and the ladies and gentlemen of the press as well as our guests. Unfortunately, you, our shareholders and shareholder representatives cannot be here with us on site in Essen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to these very special circumstances, the Executive Board with the approval of the Supervisory Board decided that the ASM be held in a quarter of the regulations of the German Act on measures to combat the effect of COVID-19 pandemic as virtual ASM. I would like to ask for your understanding for this measure, which, in line with the stipulations of the authorities, have been taken to protect the health and safety of you and all participants of this Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Thank you very much for following this audio and video transmission. My greetings also go to notary public, Dr. Begemann, who is taking the minutes of today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Dr. Begemann is seated in the row behind me, to your right. I believe you can see him well in picture. The members of the Executive Board are here in full. According to the German Act on measures to combat the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible for the Supervisory Board members to not directly be present at the venue of the ASM but participate just like you, shareholders and shareholder representatives, via the audio and video live stream. We've made use of this to minimize the risks for old participants. All other Supervisory Board members, apart from Peter Spuhler, who cannot be here today due to conflicting schedules, are following the ASM via the audio and video transmission. The proxy holders of the company are here in person. Ladies and gentlemen, let me take you through the formalities. I've ascertained that this ASM was dully called and fulfilled all related publication and reporting obligations. Records relating to the publication of the convening on July 16, 2020, in the German Federal Gazette with notary public, Dr. Begemann, and will be attached to the minutes. There are no requests for an addition to the agenda to be announced and no countermotions or election proposals to be published. This virtual ASM is broadcast for all shareholders and shareholder representatives in full and live via the online service. The first part of this annual shareholders meeting up to the end of the report of Mr. Kullmann on the annual financial statement and the consolidated management report will be broadcast live on the Internet and will be available for download later. The rest of this ASM will not be audio or video recorded by management, and I would like to ask you to refrain from making audio and video recordings of this ASM, too. Please be aware that the further proceedings of this ASM, particularly including Q&A, will not be broadcast or publicly available on the Internet. I would like to remind all shareholders and shareholder representatives who are following this ASM on the Internet to log in to the online service to be able to follow this meeting, particularly Q&A in full. Ladies and gentlemen, all-important disclosures and note on the further proceedings, including the voting options and the options to object against resolutions of this virtual ASM can be found in the convening the invitation, the -- on the Internet page of the company and in the online service. If you've cast your vote prior to this virtual ASM in yourself or via a proxy, via personal vote in the traditional way or via the online service or issued a proxy and instructions for the proxy holders and intermediary or a shareholders' association, you don't have to do anything further. You can still cast or change a yes or no vote or abstentions electronically by post of vote via the password-protected online service during this virtual ASM up to the official closing of the voting by me, as a Chair, at the latest. To do so, please enter your votes in the online form of the online service, and then submit them electronically. If you want to exercise the voting rights of several shareholder numbers, please make sure to log in to the online service for each shareholder numbers and exercise the voting rights for each separately. The same goes for those who during this ASM want to [issue] or change proxy and instructions to the proxy holder of the company and intermediary or a shareholder's association. The shareholder representative of this company, the shareholder -- the proxy holders of this company will exercise their voting right only in so far, as they've been given clear instruction. It's only possible to give instructions on the resolutions proposed by management and made public by the company prior to this ASM. The proxy holders do not take instructions on other shareholder rights, including asking questions or filing motions. In due time before the closing of the voting, I will, once again, inform you about the possibility of exercising your voting rights. However, I would like to ask you to make good use of the option available, if need be in good time, since the live stream might be subject to time lag despite all precautions. Up to the end of the ASM, you can also declare your objection against the resolution of this ASM via the online service to be taken to the minutes, if you have exercised your right to vote or exercising your right to vote. Let me point out again, to make use of this option in good time if need be, as the live stream might be subject to time lag. We're now proceeding with the agenda. Item 1 of the agenda, submission to the ASM pursuant to Section 176 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 of the Stock Corporation Act. Those are the adopted annual financial statement of Evonik Industries AG as of December 31, 2019; the approved consolidated annual financial statement as of December 31, 2019; the summarized management and consolidated management report of Evonik Group and Evonik Industries AG, including the explanatory report of the Executive Board on disclosures pursuant to Section 289a Paragraph 1 and 315a Paragraph 1 of the German Commercial Code; the report of the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG; and the proposal of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG on the allocation of the net profit. The consolidated annual financial statement with the unqualified audit opinion by the auditor is published in the financial report 2019 from Page 97, the summarized management report from Page 11 and the report of the Supervisory Board from Page 67. All aforementioned documents have been available since the convening of this AGM on the Internet page of Evonik Industries AG and are available in the offices of the company for inspection. The Supervisory Board examined the annual financial statement and the summarized management report of Evonik Industries AG and the group and the consolidated annual financial statement and approved it in its meeting on March 3, 2020, as a result of which the annual financial statements were adopted. At the same meeting, the Supervisory Board examined the original proposal of the Executive Board on the allocation of the net profits and approved it. In the same meeting, the Supervisory Board reviewed the Executive Board's report on the relations with the affiliated companies in fiscal 2019, which were audited and given the unqualified audit opinion by the auditor. The Supervisory Board have no objections to the report and the results of the audit by the auditor. As previously mentioned, the report of the Supervisory Board can be found in the financial report from Page 67. Since the activities of the Board, these are described there in detail, I would only like to say the following. The Supervisory Board in the past fiscal year performed all its task aligned with the law and the Articles of Association with great diligence. It continuously and conscientiously supervised the Executive Board and advised and supported the Executive Board in managing and strategically developing the company. The Executive Board always immediately informed the Supervisory Board about essential matters of the company. As Supervisory Board Chair, I was regularly informed in between meetings by the Executive Board, and I was in continuous dialogue with the Executive Board Chairman. An essential part of the activities of the Supervisory Board are performed in the committees of the Supervisory Board. These bodies hold intensive subject-related discussions with the Executive Board. They decide on subject matters relating to their responsibilities and prepare decisions for the Supervisory Board. The chairs of the committees report about the work of the committees to the overall supervisory board to guarantee close collaboration and an adequate flow of information. The Supervisory Board, together with the Executive Board, issued a corporate governance report, a report which you can find in the financial report from Page 74. Corporate governance of Evonik Industries AG, which the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board plays huge importance on, described in detail. In the past fiscal year, the activities of the Supervisory Board and its committees focused on the business, the status quo and the development of the company, including company plan, in particular, on the strategic further development of Evonik. The Supervisory Board focused, in particular, on the divestment of the methacrylates business and dealt in detail with the merger control clearance in connection with the acquisition of PeroxyChem, a global producer of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. On the agenda also, the call for tender for an auditor from 2021, which the Audit Committee intensely worked on. In the past fiscal year, we also had personnel changes on the Supervisory Board. Mr. Michael Hofmann left the Supervisory Board as at April 30, 2019, and Ms. Carmen Fuchs as at December 11, 2019, from the employee side of the Supervisory Board. I would like to thank Mr. Hofmann and Ms. Fuchs for the trustworthy and collegial collaboration and wish both all the best for the future and continued success. Mr. Hofmann is succeeded by Ms. Reish effective May 13, 2019, and Ms. Fuchs has succeeded by Mr. Hussin El Moussaoui effective December 11, 2019. Both were appointed by order of the Essen local court pursuant to Section 104 Stock Corporation Act as member of the Supervisory Board. This fiscal year, too, we have personnel changes on the employee side of the Supervisory Board. Ms. Edeltraud Glänzer is resigning her seat on the Supervisory Board with the end of today's Annual Shareholder Meeting. As successor, Essen local court appointed Birgit Biermann effective September 1, 2020, pursuant to Section 104 of the Stock Corporation Act as member to the Supervisory Board. With the resignation of Ms. Edeltraud Glänzer, the Supervisory Board elected Karin Erhard effective September 1, 2020, for the rest of this ASM -- the rest of this term of the Supervisory Board to fill the position of Deputy Chair. Ms. Glänzer, I believe you can see me via the live stream. You have been part of the Supervisory Board of Evonik since May 2016, a Deputy Chair of this body. You have been a member of the Executive Committee and the Mediation Committee. You have also held responsibility on the finance and investment committee. Your name stands for active social partnership. You've vouched for it successfully, be it as Works Council member, Deputy Chair of the IG BCE Trade Union or a Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board of Evonik. You're one of those people who persistently and consistently work to find solutions, to find compromises in the interest of the employee and the company. This is not always easy, but it benefits both sides. You had a major part in shaping the strategic further development of Evonik, as shown by many important investment projects. Evonik is a strong creative and profitable company that it is today, also thanks to your valuable contributions. Once again, thank you very much for your outstanding and trustworthy collaboration, Ms. Glänzer, and all the best. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Reisch presented herself at last year's ASM as new member to the Supervisory Board in person. Under these changed circumstances of a virtual ASM, we would like to keep up this tradition that newly appointed and elected members of the Supervisory Board present themselves in person. So shortly before this ASM, we made video messages by Mr. El Moussaoui and Ms. Biermann. We will now see them both.

Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be here today as a new member to the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG on the employee side. My name is Hussin El Moussaoui, I'm 53 years old. I'm married and have 2 children. In 1985, I started my apprenticeship as the former Degussa AG as shop mechanic and in Hanau, which I completed successfully in 1988. From 1988 to 2005, I worked for the technical service in Hanau. In 1990, I was elected on this Works Council. In 2005, I was released from my normal duties to service -- serve on the Works Council. And in 2015, I was elected Deputy Chair on the Works Council, Hanau-Wolfgang. In 2017, I became a member of the overall Works Council, where I served -- have been serving as a Deputy Chair since 2019. I'm delighted to be able to use my professional experience and look forward to constructive collaboration on the Supervisory Board. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to accompany Evonik on its path into a good new future.

Chair, shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be here today of new employee representative on the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG. My name is Birgit Biermann. Since 2017, I've been the District Manager of Dortmund-Hagen district of IG BCE Trade Union. Before that, I read law at Ruhr University Bochum. In 2004, I joined the German Trade Union Confederation and legal protection to advocate the members' interest in labor and social law in different sites and regions. In 2006, I joined IG BCE. In 2013, I became the Deputy District Manager of Gelsenkirchen district, where I supported the -- over a Works Council of Evonik Industries AG and Essen Campus Works Council. And since 2015 to mid-2020, I was a member of the Supervisory Board of technology and infrastructure. As you can see, I know Evonik, I have a passion for Evonik, and I'm looking forward to the challenge to the task, to cooperative talks on the Supervisory Board. I not only bring in my professional commitment but also a personal commitment and look forward to good cooperation.

So far on the presentation of the new Supervisory Board member's passion for Evonik, we like to hear that a lot. We look forward to good cooperations. So in this invitation to today's ASM, you will find Item 7 and 8, the remuneration system of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board that we put forward for approval. Allow me to explain the following on the remuneration system of the Executive Board first. The remuneration system of the Executive Board is designed to ensure that the members of the Executive Board receive appropriate remuneration for their tasks and responsibilities and to take direct account of the performance of each Executive Board member and the success of the company. The remuneration is regularly reviewed by the Supervisory Board, which uses remuneration service from independent consultants, if need to be. In the framework this review, the remuneration structure and the amount of the executive remuneration are examined, particularly in comparison to the external market and to the remuneration of other positions in the company. The overall remuneration of the members of the Executive Board comprise a fixed monthly base salary, a variable short-term component comprising an annual bonus, a long-term component and the customary fringe benefits. The variable short-term component in form of a performance-related annual bonus depends on the attainment of business targets measured by performance indicators, the bonus factor; and the attainment of qualitative personal objectives, the performance factor. The level of the bonus factor depends on the level of achievement of the agreed business targets and may vary between 0% and 200%. The performance factor rewards the attainment of their personal objectives and may vary between 80% and 120%. The business targets that apply to all Executive Board members equally as the basis for the bonus factor and the individual targets for each Executive Board member as the basis of the performance factor are agreed annually in writing between the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board member. The level of attainment is finally determined by the Supervisory Board. The long-term variable remuneration, the long-term incentive, or LTI, is generally based on a sustained rise in the value of the company. Since 2013, the performance has been measured by the absolute performance of Evonik's share price and its performance relative to the MSCI World Chemicals Index. In addition, all members of the Executive Board have a company pension plan. The standard pension plan is a defined contribution system. This is a capital-based system funded by provisions. The company credits a fixed annual amount of 15% of the target remuneration, that is the fixed annual base salary and of the target bonus to the pension account. Let me now proceed with the remuneration system of the Supervisory Board. It takes account of the responsibilities and the scope of the activities of the Supervisory Board members. And in addition to the reimbursement of expenses and the value-added tax payable under remuneration, the Supervisory Board members receive a fixed annual payment. The remuneration does not include a variable remuneration component. For each meeting of the Supervisory Board and its committees that the Supervisory Board members attend, they receive a daily allowance. For a further information on the remuneration systems, please see the details from Pages 21 following in the invitation to today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the minimum quota, Evonik Industries AG is required by law to have a minimum of 30% men and 30% women on the Supervisory Board. In its current composition of the Supervisory Board and taking into account the changes on the Supervisory Board with the resignation of Ms. Glänzer as of today, Evonik Industries is complying the legal requirements. You can find further information on the minimum quota in the corporate governance report on Page 81 of the financial report. Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to ask the Chair of the Executive Board, Mr. Christian Kullmann, to report on the presented annual financial statement and the management report of the company and the group on behalf of the Executive Board.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Dear shareholders, dear guests, together with my colleagues on the Executive Board, I would like to welcome you all most warmly to this year's Annual Shareholders' Meeting in an unusual format. Exceptional circumstances require us to take exceptional measures. The coronavirus pandemic, which we have all been battling with since the start of this year, has not simply had an impact on how we work together at Evonik, it is also affecting how we hold today's shareholders' meeting. This is why I'm speaking to you today via a camera and unfortunately, not as usual in person. We did not make this decision lightly. Our clear preference was to hold our shareholders' meeting in the normal manner in the established format. That was the reason why we had decided early on to postpone it until this late date at the end of August. Eventually, however, we have to accept that even now, it is not possible to hold a large event, such as a shareholders' meeting. During the crisis, health is top priority for us, especially, of course, the health of our employees and naturally also the health of our shareholders. However, we did not want to wait until now for payment of the dividend. At the beginning of June, we therefore made use of the possibility of making advance payment of EUR 0.57 per share out of the distributable profit for 2019. Your right as shareholders and our dialogue with you are very important to us, even in this very special format. We will do our best to answer your questions, albeit remotely in a virtual format. I can also see a number of advantages in using this virtual format for our Annual Shareholders' Meeting. For example, online transmission opens the meeting up to a wider group of participants. Not everyone is able to attend the Annual Shareholders' Meetings in person for all the shares they hold. Consequently, we are also looking ahead to the future. We will keep an eye on developments and the opportunities offered by the digital world and take part in the debate on whether the previous format for shareholders' meetings can be moved along into a more digital future without infringing any of your rights as shareholders. Now let us turn our attention to the present, to the here and now. In particular, our employees deserve our praise and our special thanks. We are proud, proud of our team and how we jointly have mastered this crisis to date. Evonik is a strong team that is especially evident in these difficult times, allow me to use the next few minutes to outline this in somewhat greater detail. I would like to start by looking at how we, at Evonik, are successfully dealing with the coronavirus. The health of our employees has top priority at all times. Our sites have very high standards of hygiene, and our extensive pandemic plan enabled us to put protective measures in place quickly. Since March, a company-wide team has been deployed, first and foremost, to secure our ability to deliver to our customers and at the same time, to coordinate our response to the reduction in demand. We are monitoring our supply chains very closely, so we can take timely action to counter raw material and supplier bottlenecks. As a result, we have constantly ensured our ability to deliver at all times in the past months. Of course, we are also aware of our social responsibility in this period of crisis. Early on, we noticed increased demand for disinfectants, especially ready-to-use hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants. We took timely action and stepped up production capacity at many sites in Germany. That enabled us to support and supply institutions, such as hospitals, care homes and the fire services close to our sites. Together with our customers, we made the nations of our high-performance polymer PA12 for the production of medical-grade protective equipment. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, we initiated and participated in an emergency disinfectant platform operated by the German Chemical Industry Association, VCI. In the present situation, it is particularly important to work in partnership with other companies on such relief measures in order to ensure rapid and successful crisis management with a clear message, ladies and gentlemen and dear shareholders, which is the chemical industry is helping. Ladies and gentlemen, the strategy that we have pursued systematically over the past 20 months is now paying off, especially in the present crisis. Thanks not least to our steady portfolio transformation, our company has become more robust, and that is visible in our figures. We sold the cyclical methacrylates business. At the same time, we extended the resilient business with active oxygens by acquiring the U.S. company, PeroxyChem. Like the divestment of the methacrylates business that has proven to be very good timing because active oxygens are used as a disinfectant and there is particularly high demand for disinfectants in the present crisis. And just last week, we made another acquisition in order to further strengthen the quality of our portfolio. For USD 210 million, we will acquire the U.S. company, Porocel, which is active in the catalyst business. Porocel has, among other things, a technology for the highly efficient rejuvenation and recycling of used catalysts. The CO2 emissions can be reduced by more than 50% compared to the production of new catalysts with this technology. This is a good example, a good example of the fact that sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in our company and in our investment decisions. Porocel's global position strengthens the worldwide presence of Evonik's catalyst activities. In 2019, the company generated sales of approximately USD 100 million with an attractive EBITDA margin of around 23%. The complementary fit to Evonik's existing catalyst portfolio and especially the available production capacities of Porocel offer considerable growth opportunities to Evonik. This acquisition is, therefore, the next logical consistent step in the strategic development of our portfolio. Another step in this direction -- another step along these lines is our new divisional structure, which we announced in March of this year. This was introduced as planned on July 1, despite the challenging situation. With this, we have aligned our corporate structure to the growth engines defined 2 years ago. Our previous chemical operating segments have now been transferred to 4 divisions, which are well balanced. They are actually more balanced in size and type of business and are easier to manage because of their clear strategic roles, shared end markets and clear alignment of technology platforms. The four divisions, Specialty Additives, Nutrition & Care, Smart Materials and Performance Materials, have a lean and efficient setup. Also with regard to costs, ladies and gentlemen, we've made good progress with our SG&A program to reduce selling and administrative expenses. In 2019, implementation was actually EUR 20 million ahead of schedule. This cost discipline is currently helping us to stabilize earnings in the coronavirus crisis. Ladies and gentlemen, although it feels a very long time ago, let us take a look together at fiscal 2019. In the second half of 2019, we already noticed a considerable deterioration in the economic environment. Our promise to you, our shareholders, to hold earnings stable at EUR 2.15 billion despite this did not make things easier. However, thanks to our timely and systematic response with costs, we were ultimately able to deliver on our guidance. In addition, we improved our margin slightly to 16.4%, which actually is quite an achievement in such an environment. In particular, the tougher conditions showed the increased resilience of our portfolio. The Nutrition & Care segment's consumer-driven businesses serving the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry and most businesses in the Resource Efficiency segment showed a stable and reliable development. That says quite a lot about the specialty nature of our products. And ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, this is what we intend to build on in 2020. This enabled us to report adjusted net income of just over EUR 900 million, giving adjusted earnings per share of EUR 1.94. On an unadjusted basis, in other words, including the proceeds from the divestment of the methacrylates business, net income was well over EUR 2 billion. Dear shareholders, based on the earnings in 2019, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board are once again proposing a total dividend of EUR 1.15 per share including the advance payment which has already been paid. The reliability of our dividend not least in difficult times is one of our top priorities. With a dividend yield of over 4%, this is further confirmation that Evonik is an attractive dividend-paying stock. Now let us focus our attention on the present fiscal year. Hereto, we set ourselves the goal -- excuse me, excuse me, but the air at Grugahalle, the Congress Center is better. Here, it's a little dry. So please bear with me for this short interruption. Hereto, when I look at the present fiscal year, we set ourselves the goal of doing best to overcome the challenging environment. However, due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis, which even we have not be able to avoid, we had to revise our original guidance for adjusted EBITDA of between EUR 2 billion and EUR 2.3 billion in May. Despite the considerable uncertainty and very low visibility, it was important to us to show you possible scenarios for the crisis and give you the most detailed possible guidance. We did this in May, setting a target range of between EUR 1.7 billion and EUR 2.1 billion. As of now, I can fully confirm this outlook. This, again, shows that we are clearly benefiting from the steps taken to implement our strategy. The improved quality and stability of our portfolio gives us a more reliable basis for planning, even in periods of uncertainty, and that is doubtless in your interest as well. In the first 6 months of 2020, sales dropped 8% to EUR 6.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 970 million, a decline of 12%, and adjusted earnings per share were EUR 0.73. Our Nutrition & Care and Resource Efficiency growth segments were largely stable in the first half of the year. Examples of this include the robust noncyclical business with pharmaceutical active ingredients and personal care products in the Nutrition & Care segment and many of the innovate materials from the Resource Efficiency segment that enable resource-saving solutions. This stable trend should continue in the second half of the year. By contrast, we noticed weaker demand from the automotive industry. This has affected, for example, our polyurethane films for car seats, silica for the tire industry and our high-performance polymers. We expect to see a slow step-by-step recovery here in the second half of the year. Our Performance Materials segment was held back significantly by the sharp drop in the oil price. The situation here remain challenging in the coming months. Ladies and gentlemen, on the stock market, 2019 was a volatile year, both for Evonik shares and for the market as a whole. In the first quarter, our shares benefited from the successful divestment of the methacrylates business and the solid first quarter results. As a result of geopolitical uncertainty, the share price proved extremely volatile in the following quarters. The prevailing uncertainty was only overcome in early November when we confirmed our outlook in our third quarter report. And this then supported the share price until the end of the year. In December, our shares then rose to a high for the year of just over EUR 27. Overall, that was a gain of around 25% since the beginning of the year. Evonik, therefore, slightly underperformed the MDAX, which rose by a good 28%. Since the start of this year, the entire market has been affected massively by the effects of the coronavirus. Evonik shares were not immune to investors' enormous uncertainty. Although our share price is not yet quite back where it was at the start of the year, it has not lost as much ground as shares in many other companies in the European chemicals industry. To enable our employees to share in the increase in Evonik's value, we launched a further tranche of our Employee Share Program in Germany, the United States, Belgium and Singapore this spring. Worldwide, around 10,000 employees acquired shares in Evonik. That was a participation rate of nearly 40%. This year, we purchased altogether 841,030 shares for the Employee Share Program at an average price of EUR 18.72 per share, each of which accounts for a proportionate share of EUR 1 of the capital stock. This is equivalent to 0.2% of our capital stock of EUR 466 million. We used, for this, the authorization of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in 2016 to purchase these shares. All the shares have now been transferred, meanwhile, to the eligible employees, and the surplus has been sold on the market. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I trust that you, our esteemed shareholders, will continue to support Evonik in the future and would like to thank you on behalf of my colleagues on the Executive Board for your trust, your interest in our company and your attention. Take care. I wish you good health. I would like to thank you again for your attention. Stay safe. Thank you.

Dear Mr. Kullmann, I would like to thank you for your talk and would like to congratulate you and the entire Executive Board on yet another impressive performance in 2019. I would like to point out that the talk of Mr. Kullmann is also available for download on the Internet. Ladies and gentlemen, I would not only like to thank the Executive Board but express all the employees of our company for their excellent work done in the past fiscal year and for what they have achieved together. I think that I can safely also do this on behalf of all the shareholders. I would ask the Executive Board to convey these words of gratitude to the employees of the company. Ladies and gentlemen, the viewers should be aware -- the viewers on the Internet should be aware that at this point, as announced before, the public part of the live stream of this general meeting will end. I would like to thank you very much for your interest and would like to say goodbye to you. The rest of the general meeting can now be followed only by the shareholders of the company and their proxies, who have joined us through the online service. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]