Swisscom AG (SCMN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear shareholders. [Foreign Language] dear friends of Swisscom. COVID-19 continues to dominate our daily lives. This is why we are not meeting at our usual venue at the Hallenstadion today, but are broadcasting our shareholders meeting from a TV studio, which you may already have seen on 1 or 2 occasions on a program on Swisscom Blue TV. We very much regret that we will not be able to welcome you in person at our shareholders' meeting and that you will not have the opportunity to ask us questions directly. The long time that we have spent away from our offices, from schools, shops and restaurants, from relatives and our friends, have taught us new ways of communicating and working. All of a sudden, we had to do many things differently. And in the process, we have learned that some things can indeed be done differently. This is why we have organized our shareholders' meeting slightly differently today. I would like to welcome Claudia Lässer, Chief Product Officer, Sports and News and Presenter of Blue TV and our CEO, Urs Schaeppi to the studio. Instead of holding a long speech, Claudia will have a talk with us a bit later and look back on the past year 2020. I would also like to welcome Julia Gschwend here at the studio, who is representing the independent proxy of Reber Rechtsanwälte. And also Peter Kartscher, the representative of the auditors. Also with us are Martin Vögeli, Secretary of the Board of Directors and Head of Group Strategy and Board Services; as well as the designated Chairman, my successor, Michael Rechsteiner. Due to the extraordinary situation that we are still experiencing, the other members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board won't be attending today's meeting. I herewith open Swisscom LTD's 23rd Shareholders' meeting and invite you to join us on a journey through the world of Swisscom. Have fun and action. [Presentation]

In 2020, Swisscom managed to operate successfully despite the challenging environment. The continuing price pressure as well as the effects of COVID-19 such as reduced roaming and entertainment revenues resulted in slightly lower revenue. We were, however, able to compensate for the negative effects with growth in cloud and security solutions and at Fastweb as well as efficiency gains. This resulted in a strong operating result. This success is all the more remarkable given that over 80% of our employees work from home, ensuring operations from them. The success of our product continues unabated. The attractive inOne bundle offer continues to grow. We also remain strong in the TV business. And in September 2020, we bundled our entertainment offering consisting of Bluewin, Swisscom TV, Teleclub and [ Cutaway ], to create the new blue product family. I was particularly pleased to see Swisscom winning all the mobile network tests in Switzerland. And to learn about the high level of customer satisfaction among private and business customers. In addition, Swisscom was named the world's most sustainable telecom company in 2020. This makes us very proud indeed. Our subsidiary Fastweb in Italy is also growing sustainably in terms of revenue, operating results and customers. For further details on the 2020 business development, please refer to our annual report. Market saturation, intense competition and the associated high price pressure are proving to a continuing challenge this year. The further course of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for our business are also creating uncertainty. We are meeting these challenges with attractive products, top quality, highly efficient networks and an excellent customer service. In addition, we are continuing to drive forward the transformation of our company and are consistently pursuing the cost targets we have set. 2020 has been an intense year, .our employees performed extraordinarily well at the service of all our customers on a daily basis despite the difficult circumstances. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our employees, the Board of Directors and the Executive Board and especially our CEO, Urs Schaeppi, for their many years of service, their loyalty and untiring commitment to Swisscom. Together, we are inspiring people in an interconnected world. I would also like to thank you, our shareholders, for the trust you have placed in us and for your support. I wish you all the best, stay healthy. Let us now move on to the former part of this shareholders' meeting. The ordinary shareholders' meeting has been duly convened, and we have a quorum. The invitation was published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce on the 23rd of February 2021. The shareholders registered in the share register was sent invitations by post or, if they wished so, by e-mail. No requests for items to be included on the agenda were received from the shareholders. The annual report has been available at the Swisscom's registered office since 4th February 2021. It was also sent to the shareholders by post upon request. Our auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, who audited the annual and consolidated financial statements and the remuneration report, are represented here today. I herewith appoint Martin Vögeli as Secretary. The representative of the auditors, Peter Kartscher, will act as teller. I would like to thank them for making themselves available for this task. The shareholders meeting has a quorum regardless of the number of shareholders present and shares represented. Resolutions are passed today by an absolute majority of the valid votes cast. According to the articles of incorporations, abstentions are considered as votes not cast. The agenda items of today's shareholders' meeting are being displaced -- displayed. You'll also find them in the written invitation. I will therefore refrain from repeating them. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and based on ordinance 3 on measures to combat the 19 -- COVID-19 coronavirus, the Board of Directors has decided to once again hold the shareholders' meeting online without shareholders being physically present. Shareholders who have granted a power of attorney are represented by the independent proxy Reber Rechtsanwälte. Shareholders were informed in the invitation that they could address their questions to the Board of Directors prior to the shareholders' meeting. I will address relevant questions during today's shareholders' meeting. Client-specific questions have been answered in writing and will not be disclosed. Mrs. Gschwend will now hand over to Mr. Vögeli the shareholder votes, together with the instructions given by the shareholders. Mr. Vögeli will then announce the number of shareholders' votes represented. The independent proxy represents all shareholders who have granted him a power of attorney. The remaining persons present do not represent any shareholder votes. Each share registered in the share -- registered -- sorry, each share entity in the share register will voting rights and titles to 1 vote. In total, the independent proxy represents 38,684,528 votes. This then corresponds to 74.68% of shareholder votes. Swisscom share are not represented. Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to the approval of Swisscom LDT's management report consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for the financial year 2020. You will find the comprehensive report in the annual report 2020, which we have sent to you upon request. Together with our CEO, Urs Schaeppi, I will now answer Claudia Lässer's questions.

Thank you very much, Hansueli. And welcome Urs here at the studio, I'm very happy to be able to look back on 2020 together. We've heard that the Board of Directors is happy with the results. For 2020, what's your highlight for 2020 as CEO?

Well, I'm very happy how we did last year. We managed to weather a difficult year. And I'm particularly pleased how well we dealt with the load of the burden placed on our network and our customer service. We were able to launch a few innovations, blue TV, for example, where we bundled different products or cloud and ICT solutions. I believe that Swisscom has shown that it is a well led company.

Of course, Swisscom is also leading when it comes to entertainment programs. Are there particular programs you like to watch?

Well, I love to Football. I'm pleased to hear that. I watch the Super League, but I will prefer Premier League to be honest with you. Jorgen Klopp, a football trainer is someone I've been following since he was a minor sent to now to Liverpool. I believe he is one of the most successful football trainers around. And particularly like to watch him now.

What's your favorite team in Switzerland?

Luzern. Luzern is one of my favorite teams. They did extremely well. But some time, some point and then they did terrible and they're capable of everything.

I've heard that Basel is looking for a new team president.

Well, it's quite a messy situation there.

What about you, Urs? What do you watch entertainment series football?

Well, I only watch TV occasionally. But I like blue TV because I like to be inspired. If I have time to watch TV, go and have a look at what you recommend. And I prefer action movies, to be quite honest with you, no romance films. My wife is the one watching love stories, that's why they always recommended first to me.

Most people have spent many, many months sitting at home. How about people -- how about whether Swisscom has benefited from the pandemic?

Well. Of course, all products include everything, so whether people use more data, make more phone calls, that does not reflect in our figures. But last year has shown that we are supplying a country with important backbone, our infrastructure is vital for the country. Without it neither home schooling, nor working from home, nor shopping from home would have been possible. And I was extremely pleased to have performed this wonderful feat with [indiscernible] fantastic VIPs, we have really managed to provide the country with an infrastructure and a system that does work.

Yes. I really had goosebumps when I saw that video earlier and that was fantastic. Of course, the pandemic has influenced our situation and has placed a great burden on our system.

Yes, during the first lockdown, our network was put under a great deal of strain. People were making more phone calls, using the Internet more often, our technicians did terribly well, they managed to make sure that everything was working. Of course, I keep saying that we are building the network today that we will need tomorrow. So we need to make sure there's some reserve. So that kind of specific burden can be dealt with. And this is why we're investing billions into making our network faster. We're investing in glass fiber, but we're investing in our mobile telephony network 5G, in particular, that's not an easy task because there's some resistance. New technologies always inspire fear, even though they've been well researched. And I do hope we're doing all we can, that we can continue enlarging and strengthening our networks because if we can't strengthen their capacity, they will collapse, sooner or later.

What about these adaptive antennas? Are they better than the previous ones?

Of course, this is a new technology called development, Mobile Telephony and [indiscernible] work differently in the past. Adaptive antennas will only set up connections to customers when customers are actually using their connection. So this technology is much more efficient, it's more sustainable. It produces less CO2 and it is CO2 friendly, it optimizes emissions. So all those who fear radiation should be welcoming this new technology. There's many studies confirming that we should not be afraid of 5G.

The first quarter of 2021 is over now. If you look ahead to the rest of the year, what do you expect to happen this year?

Well, I'm convinced that the situation is going to continue being difficult. We'll experience turbulent sales, but I believe that Swisscom is very well set up, and we will weather this storm. I'm convinced that 2021 is going to be a successful year. We will continue investing in our networks. Customer service is going to be pivotal because customer satisfaction is central to us. But when it comes to products, you can expect a few beautiful things to be presented. And then, of course, as Hansueli said earlier on, Fastweb continue to grow in 2021 and Fastweb is very important for us. So all in all, I believe that it's going to be a good year, a challenging year. Nevertheless, we are going to have a stable turnover, CHF 11.1 billion. Operational profit of CHF 4.3 billion plus/minus unchanged, I'd say. And I'm also convinced that we will be able to pay out a stable dividend of CHF 22 if we manage to achieve the targeted results. So that's fantastic to hear, Hansueli.

To last shareholders meeting as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. You've been in this office for 12 years. We have, therefore, prepared a few surprises for you. I'm not going to tell them away, though. Now if you look back on these last 12 years, they've been very, very amazing years. Are there any highlights?

Well, I'm going to give you 3 highlights. Swisscom is only as strong as its workforce. We need people who understand what they do and people proud of Swiss Government. Secondly, Fastweb is really important. And a couple of years ago, everyone said, sell it off and we said, no, we're not going to sell it. We're going to continue supporting it. We're not going to sell everything off 4 years later. And it was the right decision, Fastweb, together with a few other business area is growing. And Swisscom TV and blue make me really proud. We have become a market leader with Swisscom TV blue. And no one would have said a couple of years ago that we would become a market leader. So that's something to be proud of.

Yes, I find that very emotional, too. Hansueli, you always had good feeling for trends. This is one of your strengths, I'd say, isn't it?

Well, some people say I'm demanding, but I made the right demands.

Well, Hansueli is an entrepreneur, and he does understand people. He understands how people work.

What about Hansueli, what else can you tell us?

Well, he's very forward thinking. He's always supported us. He's always been a perfect boss, I've been happy with him.

That's nice to hear, isn't it?

Well, I keep hearing that about you that you've been fantastic person and a good boss.

Thank you for compliments.

[indiscernible]. I'm now going to pass the floor to you, Hansueli again, for the formal part of this shareholders' meeting. Thank you very much.

A few of our shareholders asked the Board of Directors questions prior to today's shareholder meeting, we confirm to 1 shareholder that Swisscom has received compensation for short time, work for Blue Entertainment AG, at that time, still under the name CTs in a trade [indiscernible]. We have also informed them that the Board of Directors has decided to include the issue of sustainability in the incentive scheme as early as 2021. This also includes the topics such as employees and the environment. The auditors are recommending that the annual financial statements of Swisscom LTD and the consolidated financial statements be approved. I would like to thank the lead auditor, Peter Kartscher and his colleagues for their excellent work. The Board of Directors proposes that the management report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for the financial year 2020 be approved. The shareholders' meeting is approved. The proposal was 99.98% votes in favor. Let us now move on to the remuneration report. [Presentation]

The following amounts have been approved for the Group Executive and the Board of Directors, we now have the figures available. And you are invited to give an affirmative notice to the remuneration report 2020, your votes are very important. They enable us to know whether you approve these figures. The compensation of our Executive Board and Board of Directors is supposed to be fair to everyone. We want to make sure that these figures are fair. And therefore, we look at comparable companies to see whether our figures -- our remuneration is comparable to other companies in 2020. We paid out a total of CHF 2.388 million. And we have paid out the following figures to the individual members in 2020. We have paid a larger sum, which is due to the fact that in 2019, we paid out less because of [indiscernible] left a mandate. And therefore, in 2019, and we only had 8 members for a couple of months in 2019 and 2020. Swisscom paid employees' contribution to social insurance for some members, and the 2020 total compensation is below the total of CHF 2.5 million that you approved initially. In 2020, the members of the Executive Board received a total of CHF 7.265 million of the total remuneration, while CHF 1.853 million were paid to Urs Schaeppi. The total remuneration for the Executive Board has been lowered by 3.3%. The total remuneration of the CEO was increased by 5.3%. And the lower figure is due to the fact that we had less members in 2019. And the increase for the remuneration of the CEO is due to the fact that the targets were overachieved. Total remuneration for 2020 is, therefore, lower than the initial budgeted compensation. PricewaterhouseCoopers have assessed the remuneration report and confirm that it complies with all the regulatory obligations.

The Board of Directors proposes that you give an affirmative notice to the remuneration report 2020. The shareholders meeting has approved the proposal of the Board of Directors with 95.07% votes in favor. I thank you for your affirmative notice of the remuneration report. We will now proceed to the appropriation of the retained earnings and declaration of dividend. The retained earnings are made up of the balance carried forward from the previous year and the net income for 2020. It amounts to CHF 5.634 billion. The Board of Directors proposes to distribute CHF 1.14 billion as dividend and to carry forward CHF 4.494 billion to the new account. No dividend will be paid on Swiss shares held by Swisscom LDT. As in the previous year, this corresponds to the dividend of CHF 22 per share or CHF 14.30 after deduction of withholding tax. The shareholders have approved the Board of Directors' proposal with 99.34% of votes in favor. The net dividend of CHF 14.3 per share will be paid out on April. The last trading day with entitlement to receive the dividend is the first of April. As of the 6th of April, the shares will be traded without dividend entitlement. Let us now move on to item #3. The Board of Directors proposes that the discharge be granted to the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board for their activities in the financial year 2020. The members of the Board of Directors and all persons participating in the management of the company in the financial year 2020 are not entitled to vote on the discharge, neither for their own shares nor for shares -- for the shares they represent. This also applies to any representatives of these persons. The shareholders have hereby granted to discharge the Board of Directors and the Executive Board, with 99.82% votes in favor. Thank you for the trust you have placed in us. Let us now proceed with elections to the Board of Directors. At today's shareholders' meeting, I have reached the maximum term of office of 12 years. And I'm therefore, stepping down from the Board of Directors. All other members to be elected by the shareholders' meeting are standing for reelection. The federal representative, Renzo Simoni, is not elected by the shareholders' meeting, but rather appointed by the Swiss Federal Council. The Federal Council has appointed him for a further term of office until the 2022 shareholders meeting. The Board of Directors proposes that Guus Dekkers be elected as a new member of the Board of Directors. Guus Dekkers was born in the Netherlands and has lived and worked in other European countries for over 25 years. He holds a Master's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Business Administration. In his international career, he has worked in the manufacturing industry for many large international companies. His career began at Volkswagen, out in Wolfsburg, a company for which he worked from 1990 to 2001 in several countries and in various functions, mainly in business process optimization. From 2002 to 2005, he was Vice President of Information Technology, Europe and international at Johnson Controls Automotive. Subsequently, he was Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Siemens VDO Automotive AG in Germany. And from 2005 to 2007, he was Chief Information Officer of Airbus Group in France where he drove extensive technology transfers. Since April 2018, Guus Dekkers has been Chief Technology Officer at the retail chain Tesco Plc in London, where he's responsible for the digitization of all Tesco activities worldwide. He has served on various boards of directors of subsidiaries at Airbus Group and is currently a member of the advisory Board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology and the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity in Darmstadt. With this broad international experience in leadership and transformation gains in various industries, his technological competencies and experience in business and private banking, Guus Dekkers is an ideal addition to the Board of Directors. Guus Dekkers also meets the independence criteria of the Swiss code of best practice for Corporate Governance Compliant by Economy Swiss. The careers and functions of the previous members of the Board of Directors are fully disclosed in the corporate governance report. You will find a summary of this information in the invitation to the shareholders meeting. I will therefore refrain from introducing the members again individually here. We will now proceed to the votes on agenda items [ 4.1 to 4.8 ]. The proposal is displayed on the screen, and the members will be elected individually. All the members proposed for election have been elected as proposed. Roland Abt with 98.39% of votes in favor, Alain Carrupt with 99.86% of all votes cast and Guus Dekkers with 99.84% votes in favor. And Frank Esser with 99.25% of the votes in favor. And Barbara Frei with 92.58% of all votes in favor. Sandra Lathion-Zweifel with 95.79% of the votes in favor. Anna Mossberg with 99.74% of all votes in favor. And Michael Rechsteiner with 99.31% of votes in favor. My colleagues have previously declared their acceptance of the election in writing. On behalf of my colleagues, I thank you for the trust you have placed in us. The Board of Directors proposes the election of Michael Rechsteiner as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Michael Rechsteiner will introduce himself in a minute.

Dear shareholders. My name is Michael Rechsteiner. You have the opportunity to elect me as a new Chairman of the Board of Directors at Swisscom. Before you do that, I would like to introduce myself briefly. I would like to tell you who I am, what motivates me and what future challenges are as I see them. Who am I? I'm Swiss, 58 years old, married. I have 3 adult children. And I live with my wife Claudia and my daughter [ Dominique ] [indiscernible]. I studied Machine Engineering at [ ETH ] University, Zurich. And later, I studied corporate leadership at [ Sanga ] University. I've always worked in an international environment in the infrastructure segment, I've worked with [ SureTex ], [indiscernible] and textile engineering and then 27 years power generation for [ Alstom ], [ BBE ] and General Electric. What motivates me? Why would I like to work with Swisscom. Swisscom builds and maintains essential basic infrastructure for IT and telecommunication. It is vital and sustainable for our society and economy. Secondly, there are many parallels between the energy and the telecommunications sectors. I have already mentioned that I was active in infrastructure. But there are megatrends such as digitization, security, application security, but also supply security, mobility and sustainability. And then thirdly, Swisscom is an extremely strong brand with a fantastic reputation, both with its employees and customers, but also across the population. We built the best network. We regularly win tests, and we've just been named the most sustainable telecommunications company worldwide. And we also do very well in corporate government in Switzerland. So we are an excellent company. But of course, there are many challenges. Swisscom is a stock company and is acting in a liberalized market. There is an enormous price pressure and fierce competition in order to continue being competitive and sustainable, we have to continue providing innovative solutions to our customers. We need to optimize our cost base on a constant basis and to need to increase our efficiency on an ongoing basis. In addition, we need to keep looking for growth, both in our core business, but also in similar business areas. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased to present myself as a candidate for this election.

You have elected Michael Rechsteiner with 99.81% of votes in favor.

I thank you, dear shareholders, for the trust you have placed in me. Of course, I gladly accept this election. Together with the other members from the Board of Directors, the Executive Board, and together with all the Swisscom employees, I look forward to meeting all your expectations and handling all future challenges.

We are now going to move on to the next item. We are going to elect the members of the compensation committee. The Board of Directors intends to reappoint Barbara Frei as Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee, if she's elected at the shareholders' meeting. The Board of Directors proposes that Roland Abt, Frank Esser, Barbara Frei, Michael Rechsteiner without voting rights and Renzo Simoni to be reelected. All results of the elections to the compensation committee are now being displayed. All the members proposed for election have been elected as proposed. Roland Abt with 98.71% of votes in favor. Frank Esser with 99.58% of votes in favor. Barbara Frei with 93.17% votes in favor. Michael Rechsteiner with 99.64% votes in favor. And Renzo Simoni with 97.62% votes in favor. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank you for the trust you have placed in us. All members have previously declared their acceptance of the election in writing. And let us now move to the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board for the 2022 business year. The actual total remuneration paid to the Board of Directors and the Executive Board will then be disclosed in detail in the remuneration report for the business year 2022. A consultative vote on this remuneration report will be held at a shareholders' meeting in 2023. The Board of Directors proposes a maximum total amount of CHF 2.5 million for the 9 members of the Board of Directors. It consists of the following amount, CHF 2.2 million for a function-based flat fee. CHF 0.3 million for employee contributions to social insurance and occupational pension. The employee contributions to the occupational pension scheme include the expected statutory and regulatory obligations for the potential pension payments to be insured in 2022. The amount of the contribution is dependent on, amongst other things. The employment situation of the Board members, their age structure and of course, the insurance contribution rates. The remuneration page to the Board of Directors amounted to CHF 2.2 million in 2019 and CHF 2.4 million in 2020. The total amount already approved for 2021 and proposed again for 2022, amounts to CHF 2.5 million. The maximum total amount for the remuneration of the Board of Directors in 2022 was approved with 99.2% votes in favor. Let us now move on to the remuneration of the Executive Board, the Board of Directors proposes maximum total amount for the remuneration of the Executive Board, amounting to CHF 8.7 million. The amount is based on the remuneration of 6 members of the Executive Board and is expected to comprise the following totals. CHF 3.5 million for basic remuneration, CHF 3.5 million for the variable performance-related remuneration and CHF 1.7 million for pension contribution of fringe benefits as well as employer contributions to social insurance. The basic remunerations include a potential increase of 5% compared with 2021. As a rule, the individual remuneration in place for members of the Executive Board is reviewed once every 3 years of employment. The Board of Directors will decide whether to implement the envisaged basic remuneration increase for each member of the group board individually based predominantly on the evaluation of the market value of the functioning question. Taking into account individual performance, the Board of Directors will determine a basic remuneration for 2022 at the end of 2021. The Board of Director will define the targets for the 2022 business year at the end of 2021. Once the 2022 annual results are made available in February 2023. It will then determine the target achievement, which can vary between 0% and 100%. From today's perspective, the Board of Directors considers a target achievement of 100% to be realistic. If 100% of target are met in 2022, the total remuneration is expected to amount to CHF 8.4 million. As the chart displayed shows the targets have never been outperformed to such an extent that the maxim possible variable component has not even yet been approached. The remuneration effectively paid out in 2020, 2019 is significantly below the expected maximum total amount, and the Board of Directors expect the same for 2021 and 2022. The maximum total amount of 1 -- CHF 8.7 million for the remuneration of the members of the Executive Board for the year 2022 has been approved, was 97.14% of votes in favor. We are now going to proceed to the reelection of the independent proxy. The Board of Directors proposes to the shareholders' meeting that the law firm Reber Rechtsanwälte be reelected independent proxy. The Reber Rechtsanwälte law firm has confirmed that their firm meets the independent requirements for performance mandate. Reber Rechtsanwälte law firm is herewith elected as independent proxy. Until the end of the conclusion of the next ordinary shareholders' meeting with 99.98% of the works in favor. I congratulate Reber Rechtsanwälte law firm and thank them for accepting the mandate. Let us now move to the last item on the agenda of this shareholders meeting, namely the reelection of the auditors. The Board of Directors proposes that PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC is reelected. PwC is related to the state supervised audit company with a Swiss Federal Audit Supervisory Authority and has confirmed to Swisscom that it meets the legal requirements concerning independence. PricewaterhouseCoopers are hereby elected as auditors for the financial year 2021 with 98.25% votes in favor. I have received their declaration of acceptance. And of course, it's a very special shareholders meeting. And therefore, I am very pleased to hand over to Claudia Lässer, now.

It is indeed a very special shareholders meeting. Could I ask you to sit down with me again, Hansueli and Michael Rechsteiner is here too. It is your last shareholders meeting. You're looking back to 12 years at Swisscom. How do you feel today?

It is a very extraordinary shareholders meeting. It's my last one. And when I drove here by car, I look back to the past 12 years. I'm very happy with what I remembered. Of course, there were difficult moments, too, but our lives are not always only happy.

So what is your best memory? What are you taking home with you?

Well, of course, Swisscom has always been very dear to me. I will never forget Swisscom and all its employees. Any company that performs well over so many years is a company that has a great deal of stability, both when it comes to Executive Board and the Board of Directors.

You are beginning a new life, both professionally and privately. What are you planning?

Well, of course, I can't just stop working, simply not possible. Well, I'm looking forward to other mandates. I started a new mandate at Pilatus and also be serving Transgourmet. I hope that over the next couple of months, Transgourmet will be supplying restaurants and hotels again. I bought myself a horse. I want to start horse riding again.

I remember that when you were small, you told me that horse riding was a big thing. You loved it.

But at some point, I had to decide whether I was going to become a professional horse rider or whether I was going to start working for a company and I opted for companies, but now I'm going back to horse riding.

Unfortunately, we are not able to celebrate with our shareholders and guests, but we have 1 special guest present here, who would like to thank you personally.

Dear Hansueli Loosli you were with [indiscernible] was working for consumer protection many years ago. We didn't always agree, but I always appreciate you as a person. You are an innovative person, a person with an open mind for new things and you never became arrogant. You always remained down to earth. And that's how I got to know you as a chairman of the Board of Directors of Swisscom. Today, I would like to thank you for your untiring work. You are stepping back as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Swisscom, the Loosli era at Swisscom is coming to an end. You have built up a strong company. You shaped Swisscom into a new company that is very employee friendly and very social. Swisscom is a company that is competitive, efficient, that is innovative. It operates in a very dynamic situation, and you have always felt that -- you've always had the ability to feel out trends. And at the same time, you never lost touch with the base. You've always remained down to earth. Responsibility is not just a mere word for you. I always felt that you took your responsibility very serious. You always knew what it meant to be at the top of a company with nearly 90,000 employees. Thank you very much, Mr. Loosli. You are now taking on new challenges. It seems you want to spend more time with your family, you want to spend more time writing, playing music. I would like to thank you very much for your hard work, for your loyalty on behalf of the Swiss Federal Council, on behalf of Switzerland.

Beautiful Words, [indiscernible]. I'm speechless, as Mr. Loosli. Well, I believe that we've heard 3 things that many people say about you. You are very open, you have an open mind. You are -- you have your feet firmly on the ground. You never lose touch with the base.

Now we have an additional small surprise prepared for you. Of course, we have something on the site for you at present. But at first, before you go, we would like to thank you for your hard work over the past 12 years. You participate in over 300 meetings over the past 12 years, and 250 of them you chaired as a chairman, 12 years. That is a time filled with highlights that you shaped, you co-decided on. I'm not going to start picking out individual highlights because this would go beyond the scope of this shareholders' meeting. But I would like to pick out 2 things. Hansueli, you are passing on a very successful and sustainable company, a proud company on to your successor. A company that has kept proving that it is capable of reinventing itself, of growing, of finding new areas of growth. And the second thing I would like to emphasize is that you've always remained yourself. You always remained down to earth and close to your customers and employees. You always placed people at the center of your activities. And to Hansueli, you deserve great respect and gratitude for being that kind of person. And I'm very proud to be able to present you with a small present on behalf of the entire staff and the Board of Directors. We have brought a small lamp with us for you. We hope that this small lamp will find a nice place in your house and that it will keep reminding you of your friends at Swisscom. Dear Hansueli, thank you very much for your work. Stay healthy and all the best for your future. Thank you very much. May I?

I would like to thank you for those kind words, Michael. I'm convinced that you are the right person for this job. Of course, we prepared [ for this ], we thought about it together with Urs Schaeppi and the executive board. We would like to thank you for joining us. We need someone who's down to earth, who has his feet firmly rooted in the brand. Thank you very much, Michael.

You once told me, Hansueli, that for your last shareholders meeting, you would like to have a very special guest here. And we remember who that you said, and therefore, we've invited him to join us. Maybe you have forgotten who you wanted to see but we have him here. Especially for you. [Presentation]

That is an amazing surprise. Thank you so much.

Hansueli, about a year ago, approximately, we met, and we talked about something entirely different. And then you told me please don't organize anything on the 31st of March next year. I want to have you around with a big band at Hallenstadion. And then when the pandemic broke out I knew -- feared that it might not become possible. We understood that no big events were possible. But luckily, we found a solution. We have a small, small event here prepared for you with these 2 old guys in front who both turned 75 years ago -- a couple of months ago, I would like to wish you all the best for your future. I know you are an extremely active person. So you're not going to rest. So have a great time, stay healthy, and thanks for having us here.

Thank you for coming. Hansueli Loosli, was that not amazing? What do you know [ Pepe ] from?

Well, I met [ Pepe ] many, many years ago, and when I was a young Bosset Corp., I invited [ Pepe ] to the management meeting in Lugano, 3,000 people there, all in all, and I needed to wake them up occasionally, I need to get them going. And I remember I even sang. We would set up a few pallets, and he played, I sang. I mean nobody forgot this. I mean, everybody kept talking about this event for many, many years later. So that's the beginning -- and that was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Yes. Of course, you'll be able to toast with him later on, but there's 1 formality awaiting you, namely the formal conclusion of the shareholders' meeting in 2021.

Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to the end of this year's ordinary shareholders meeting. Dear shareholders, I would like to thank you for your commitment to our company and for the trust you have placed in Swisscom's Board of Directors by approving all of our proposals. I would like to also thank Martin Vögeli and all the employees who have made this shareholders meeting possible. We even had music, who would have believed it. The next ordinary shareholders' meeting will be chaired by Michael Rechsteiner. And hopefully, it will be held together with you present in person, dear shareholders, at the Hallenstadion in Zurich on the 30th of March 2022. And finally, I would like to thank you personally for the trust you have placed in me over the past 12 years. As I said before, Swisscom has grown close to my heart during this time. I will continue to remain close to Swisscom. And I hereby bid you, dear shareholders, farewell. I wish you all the best. I look forward to attending next year's ordinary shareholders meeting as a shareholder, together with you. And the 2020 ordinary shareholders meeting is herewith closed. Thank you very much. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]