Wienerberger AG (WIE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to all of you. In my position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I hereby take the chair and open today's 152nd Annual General Meeting of Wienerberger AG. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting will be held as a virtual Annual General Meeting and be broadcast live on the Internet in accordance with the COVID-19 Act and the corporate law, COVID-19 regulation of the Federal Minister of Justice [indiscernible]. I would like to welcome the shareholders of our company as well as the special proxies; Florian Beckermann, Ewald Oberhammer, Attorney at Law; Paul Fussenegger, Attorney at Law; and our Notary Public, Arno Weigand. I would also like to welcome the members of the Supervisory Board, who are participating in the 152nd Annual General Meeting online as well as the Managing Board; CEO, Heimo Scheuch; Gerhard Hanke; Ms. Solveig Menard-Galli; and Harald Schwarzmayr. I would also like to welcome Gerhard Marterbauer as the representative of the auditors of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements, Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH, as well as the representatives of the media who are following today's AGM online. Dr. [ Bernhard Gierke ], notary public in Vienna, will certify the resolutions adopted at today's Annual General Meeting and supervise the voting process. I would like to point out that an audio recording will be made of today's Annual General Meeting for the sole purpose of assisting in the drafting of the notarial minutes. And this recording will only be available to the notary. First of all, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of this AGM being held as a virtual AGM. During the preparations, the company and I, as Chairman of the Annual General Meeting, have ensured that all legal requirements, recommendations and procedures for holding the Annual General Meeting virtually are complied with and implemented accordingly. The Annual General Meeting will be held in German, but will also be simultaneously interpreted into English. The link for the simultaneous interpretation can be found on the company's website. I hereby state that the invitation to today's 152nd Annual General Meeting, including the agenda, was issued in due time in compliance with the provisions of the law and the articles of association by publication in the official Gazette number 64 of Wiener Zeitung on the 2nd of April 2021. Furthermore, the convocation was distributed electronically throughout Europe on the same day in accordance with Section 123 Para 4 of the Austrian Stock Exchange Act. At the same time, the agenda of today's AGM was announced. The invitation and the agenda were also published on the company's website on the day the meeting was convened. I hereby order that an excerpt from the official Gazette to Wiener Zeitung of the 2nd of April 2021 as well as proof of the due publication of the convocation via the electronic information dissemination system of the 2nd of April 2021 be attached to the minutes of the AGM as an exhibit. I also confirm that the information on the organizational and technical requirements for attaining today's 152nd AGM as a virtual Annual General Meeting on the 2nd of April 2021 has been published on the company's website. The proposed resolutions of the Managing Board and Supervisory Board on the individual agenda items were made available on the company's website which is registered in the commercial register in due time on the 2nd of April 2021. The company's website is www.wienerberger.com. The holding of the Annual General Meeting in virtual form in accordance with the corporate law COVID-19 regulation has led to modifications in the organization of the AGM as well as in the exercise of shareholders' rights, which I would like to discuss in more detail down below. Regarding the process itself, after the remuneration report and the report of the Managing Board, I will present the proposed resolutions on all agenda items en bloc. After that, the special proxies will have the floor to read out any proposed resolutions. This will be followed by the general debate. In other words, I will read out the shareholder questions and the Managing Board will answer them. In addition to the questions submitted in advance to the AGM, shareholders will have the opportunity to ask supplementary questions and questions for clarification, 2 rounds of questions, during the general debate. After the questions have been answered, the proposed resolutions on agenda items 2 to 7 will be voted on. The right to vote, the right to submit motions and the right to object are exercised exclusively by granting power of attorney and issuing instructions to one of the special proxies proposed by the company in advance. The forms required to issue a proxy and instructions to one of the special proxies have been available on the company's website since the 2nd of April 2021. Voting instructions as well as objections for the record must be received by the proxy authorized by you, by the start of the voting process, in other words, shortly before the vote on the first agenda item. To ensure an orderly process, we have kindly asked you to send in your questions and proposed resolutions to the company in advance. However, during the virtual annual meeting itself, you will also have the opportunity to e-mail any questions and motions for resolutions to the e-mail address of the special proxy authorized by you. Now please e-mail your questions to the e-mail address, [email protected]. Once again, the motions for resolutions are to be sent to the e-mail address of the special proxy authorized by you. I'm going to point out the start of this period separately. So please refer to the relevant agenda item when submitting your questions, motions for resolutions or voting instructions as well as objections for the record. Before the vote on the proposed resolution items and agenda items 2 to 7, you will have at least a further 5 minutes in the second round of questions to submit any follow-up questions regarding the answers given and to submit any motions for resolution. The time of receipt of the questions and motions for resolution is deemed relevant to determine the timeliness of both rounds of questions. I will also point out this deadline separately. To verify your identity as a shareholder, please use the sender's e-mail address that you confirmed in the proxy form for transmission. In addition, I would like to ask you to state your first and last name in the e-mail. If the shareholder is a legal entity, please provide the company registration number for identification purposes. You should send your motions for resolutions, loading instructions or any objections to the e-mail address of the special proxy authorized by you within the time limit specified in each case. You will find e-mail addresses on the first page of the proxy form. However, I'm going to read them out once more and you will also be able to see those e-mail addresses on your screen. For Mr. Beckermann, the e-mail address is [email protected]; for Mr. Oberhammer, the address is [email protected]; for Dr. Fussenegger, [email protected]; and for Dr. Weigand, the e-mail address is [email protected]. Please send your questions to the e-mail address [email protected] within the time limit provided for this purpose. The list of participants will be completed after -- post resolutions have been read out. It will be signed by me, and I will announce the number of shareholders present. The list of participants will also be available for inspection at the special proxies authorized by you. I reserve the right, as in the case of a regular AGM, to structure the proceedings in terms of time and, as already explained, to announce a specific time up to which questions or motions can be submitted. I would like to point out that it may be necessary to briefly interrupt the virtual AGM in order to process instructions received from shareholders to the proxies. Let me now present the report pursuant to Section 65, Para 3 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act. As already stated in the invitation to today's AGM, the company currently has issued 150,187,982 shares. As of today, the company holds 2,922,168 treasury shares. This corresponds to a share of 2.54% of the capital stock. Since the last Annual General Meeting, 605,634 treasury shares have been purchased. The purchases were made in the period between May 5, up to and including June 30, 2020, on the basis of Section 65, Para 1, Item 8 of the Stock Corporation Act for purposes provided for by the law and for purposes in accordance with the authorization resolution of the AGM. This provided for the sale of treasury shares in the way other than via the stock exchange or a public offer, namely, in particular, as consideration for the acquisition of companies, businesses, parts of businesses, and shares in companies. One no par value share corresponds to 1 out of a total of 115,187,982 of the capital stock. The shares acquired in this way represent a total of 0.53% of the capital stock. The purchase price for this acquisition was EUR 11,228,963. Before I now turn to the changes of the company's Managing Board, I would like to pay tribute to our former Supervisory Board colleague, Dr. Wilhelm Rasinger, who passed away in December last year. As a long-standing member of the Supervisory Board, Wilhelm Rasinger always championed the interest of private investors and played a key role in shaping the word of the Supervisory Board through his professional expertise, particularly in capital market strategy matters. Our thoughts are with his family. I would now like to talk about the changes on the company's Managing Board. And then in all due brevity, give you a few explanations on the remuneration report 2020. Since July 2020, the 2 business units, Wienerberger Building Solutions and Wienerberger Piping Solutions, have each been represented by 1 representative from the Managing Board. Ms. Solveig Menard-Galli, who most recently successfully drove the group's efficiency improvement and digitization agendas as Chief Performance Officer, was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Wienerberger Building Solutions. Similarly, Harald Schwarzmayr, who had already been in charge of the pipe business of the Wienerberger Group, was appointed to the Managing Board as Chief Operating Officer for Wienerberger Piping Solutions. Harald Schwarzmayr was responsible for numerous strategic growth and also M&A projects during his career in the Wienerberger Group, which now spans more than 20 years, and most recently took major strategic steps to expand the company into one of the largest suppliers of pipe systems in Europe. Now this realignment of the Managing Board increased synergies in between the individual business units and further accelerated the implementation of the Wienerberger Group sustainable growth strategy. Since March of this year, the Managing Board team around CEO, Dr. Heimo Scheuch, has also been strengthened by Mr. Gerhard Hanke as the new CFO. Gerhard Hanke, who most recently served as Chief Operating Officer, region East Central of the Wienerberger Building Solutions business unit, succeeds Carlo Crosetto, who left the Wienerberger Group by mutual agreement last February. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Crosetto for his commitment and his contribution to mastering the challenges of the previous business year. The appointment of Mr. Gerhard Hanke as CFO was the result of a careful and comprehensive selection process. I'm particularly pleased that a top manager with excellent industrial and financial expertise from within the company has moved up to the Managing Board. You will then also have the opportunity to meet Mr. Hanke as part of the Managing Board remarks on the 2020 financial year. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I wish the new members of the Managing Board, Mr. Gerhard Hanke and Mr. Harald Schwarzmayr, all the best and every success for the work on the Managing Board of our company. I would now like to make a couple of additional remarks and comments on the remuneration report 2020. I would, first of all, like to start with the remuneration of the Supervisory Board. I'm going to present the individual elements. Now we also introduced this new scheme at the previous year's AGM, you dear shareholders resolved on this. Basically, it was all about making the whole system easier. Now we have moved away from an attendance fee. And now we want to introduce a performance-based remuneration. What you see here on this slide is the individual remuneration elements resulting from this new scheme, payable and that were actually paid to the members of the Supervisory Board in 2020. Now clicking to the next slide, you will then, of course, be able to see the same figures when you go to the annual report and also the remuneration report of the company. Now even when at last year's AGM, we presented the remuneration policy to you. We reserve the right in very exceptional cases as it were at our discretion to intervene with the remuneration structure of the Managing Board. In 2020, very early onwards actually, we were able to see that the original budget targets were not going to be achieved. Now therefore the approach taken in our policy, which is to say in very specific cases, we intervened actually. And this is why, from the point of view of the financial target, a highly ambitious goal was redefined and the EUR 520 million EBITDA was set as a new goal in order to tell our shareholders, well, full remuneration cannot be achieved. And in that regard, we are going to sympathize with you as shareholders, and the upper threshold was 70% of total remuneration. Now that was done for the regular members of the Managing Board. For the CEO of Wienerberger, we went a different way, a different approach was taken. Dr. Scheuch actually waived his claim. And we converted it to an LTI component. For the details of this long-term component, please refer to this slide. But also you may want to turn to the written remuneration report for 2020. I would like to say at this point in time that basically an STI component was converted into an LTI component with the result that at the time when this was granted, taxes become applicable and Dr. Scheuch is going to personally take care of this payment. Well, let us say, the other elements are going to become applicable within 5 years at the earliest. And we do believe that we have taken an approach here that fully meets the interest of the shareholders. Now what you can see here is a summary actually of the targets we have set for 2021, both for the short time as well as the long-term component. Also, I would like to point out that for the first time, specific ESG targets have been integrated in the long-term variable remuneration for the first time in 2021, specifically, the CO2 reduction. That basically completes my remarks on the remuneration report. And now I would like to give the floor to our CEO, Dr. Scheuch, and Mr. Hanke. They are going to present their view on the 2020 financial year, but we are going to start this presentation off with a brief video. [Presentation]

Distinguished shareholders of Wienerberger. I, too, would like to welcome you most cordially on behalf of all the people working at the Wienerberger site in Vienna and all those working in many other countries. We would like to walk you through the developments of recent years today and show you how strong and how resilient Wienerberger was last year. Despite the pandemic that hit us all that affected our public -- our private lives and public and economic life in Europe and beyond, which almost brought it to a standstill, nevertheless, we were able to deliver a satisfactory result. We were able to do so because together, we navigated this crisis. When you look at revenues, more than EUR 3.3 billion, no more than 3% below the record level of the previous year. Given the fact that we had lockdowns that business was strongly impaired in many areas. This shows how strong our business model is. EBITDA, EUR 565 million, was only 5% below the previous year's level. Again, a strong indication of our resilience. Free cash flow even increased by almost 40% to EUR 400 million. This shows how disciplined we were in dealing with our liquidity. This was possible because all of us were working together in a partnership between employees, customers, partners and you, our shareholders. For us, the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board, it was the major concern to get us all through this crisis in good health. And Wienerberger was able to show in various markets that were concerned by the pandemic to different degrees succeeded in doing that, simply because, for us, people always come first. Of course, we need a strategy. We need a vision to implement. Those are important topics. But at the end of the day, what makes Wienerberger successful is that people come first. It was important for us to get all our employees through the crisis in good health. And I would like to thank the worker's council, Gerhard Seban, in particular, as a member of our Supervisory Board, for the constructive and visionary cooperation during these difficult months. No one panicked. Together, be it in Northern Italy during the peak of the crisis, we were still able to deliver our products. Same in France, in Austria and elsewhere. We made sure that all health requirements, all rules and regulations were met together with our partners. We succeeded in doing that because we had focused on digitalization at a very early point in time. And therefore, cooperation with our customers and partners was not only maintained but increased. We -- and I'm quite relaxed in saying that we were better prepared to -- for such crisis than other companies, both in terms of responsibility and in terms of policy. In our company, it was important to advance equal opportunities and diversity despite the unfavorable environment. And we were able to achieve major progress there. These days, ladies and gentlemen, it's important not only to manage the challenges confronting us but also to invest in training and further training, and in the future-oriented expansion of our activities. Thousands of hours of training were provided internally and externally because a transfer of knowledge is important internationally between the business units and the entities despite travel restrictions and despite problems which we are still encountering today, but we have to ensure a transfer of knowledge between generations and disseminate and pass on knowledge to the younger generation. Wienerberger and its business model, this is a local business. We're Fins in Finland, we are Italians in Italy and we are French in France, Americans and Canadians, and we're also Russians in Russia. So we do cooperate with local partners. We respect local cultures. We have our local supply chains. Therefore, Wienerberger doesn't have any problems as regards to the delivery of products and the receipt of supplies from our suppliers. Wienerberger relies on partnerships. We cooperate with local partners. We rely on local value creation. This has made us successful and strong. We have come out stronger of this crisis. And this is confirmed by the strategy implemented on the basis of a material -- materiality analysis in which more than 2,000 stakeholders participated. Another important thing is during this phase of a difficult economic environment, we have to comply with our ESG criteria, but this is not enough. We have been making progress in this respect. Wienerberger, as the only company in the building materials industry, was able to communicate regularly and in a well-structured way. We had 2 weekly conference calls with the finance -- financial market. We were talking to you, as shareholders and their representatives. I made available my private mobile phone number to the entire financial market in order to ensure that we are not in panic, that we are well prepared. And this proved its merit. We had 65% more appointments with investors than in previous year. We were present at all digital road shows. We maintained contacts with all investors in Canada, in the U.S.A., in France and in Austria. And we were rewarded through the development of our share price, and through awards won in the international financial market. So Wienerberger is strong in transparent communication. Of course, we were not only paying attention to external communication. We also ensured continuous contact and communication with our internal colleagues. Weekly videos, information about the measures taken by the management. Wienerberger's business model is easy to explain. We are a local business. We react quickly to market developments and changes. We are fast in implementation, be it in terms of growth. We were the first ones to be back after the lockdowns, resuming our deliveries. And even when we suffered from lockdowns, we reacted quickly and extensively. Thanks to our diversified business model, we were able to react quickly to divergent business cycles. And to balance them, we are working in new build, in renovation and in infrastructure. An important point in this context is logistics. It was extremely important and -- particularly during the crisis to have adequate logistics and to be able to ensure that products are being transported, with due attention given to health requirements. We are a long-term partner for our stakeholders, be it principals, developers, or be it plumbers, electricians or roof setters. We are a partner that stands for innovation and digitalization. 33% of our revenues are accounted for by innovative products, products that enable our customers to create added value, more and better convenience, that means working faster, working safely and complying with all ESG criteria, which we are committed to. This has become possible because we've been able to build strong markets in the individual markets. Our brand notoriety is more than 80% worldwide. We are a very strong brand, almost a consumer brand in the markets we operate in. When we take a look at our unique value proposition, we create values for -- value for you as shareholders but also for our customers. Every day, we are working to improve people's quality of life bid through infrastructure for water and energy bid through building energy-efficient homes or renovation. Not only financial criteria have to be taken into account, it's our strategic commitment to ESG which is important. We have a highly efficient organizational structure that enables us to be cost-effective and to ensure that all our processes are conducted properly and with due consideration of good governance principle. This is what has made us a leading company. And this has been made possible by 17,000 employees who cooperated so well during the previous year. And this makes me optimistic because the past year was not an easy year for none of us. And cooperation and partnership have proved their merits in a year of crisis. In this context, I would like to briefly refer to the company's strategy. We focus on innovation and digitalization. As I said, more than 30% of Wienerberger's revenues is accounted for by innovative products. We continuously invest in the further development of the company. Operational excellence, that is continuous improvements of processes in our plants, but also at administrative level is extremely important for us. And growth, growth through mergers and acquisition and through portfolio optimization. Our end markets are clear; infrastructure, renovation and new build. Those are the core markets in Europe and North America. This is where we want to grow. And of course, ladies and gentlemen, we have set ourselves clear goals, clear targets in terms of ESG. Let me just mention a few of them. As a producing company, and after the acquisition of Meridian in North America, we are going to have more than 200 production sites. And everywhere, we want to promote biodiversity. And our staff will all cooperate on that. We're not only going to draw up plans, but we will implement them. And we will make a contribution to a healthy future of our planet. The secular economy is something which we can implement already today because our product can be fully recycled. They can either be recycled or reused in the production process. Ladies and gentlemen, we could -- our -- the life cycle of our products is more than 100 years. In some cases, 200 or 300 years. So we will have to wait a long time before these products come back to us as secondary raw materials. Therefore, we have to look out for alternatives and use our raw materials sparingly. We cooperate with numerous partners. In the Netherlands, for example, as regards the re-naturing of depleted clay sites -- clay pits, or the Clean Oceans project in Norway, where we are working on the removal or the elimination of plastic waste from the sea. And finally, a very important point. We're going through a transformation process in our production, and we are using energy for that. We have to reduce the sources of energy we need and find alternatives to the current energy sources. It is our objective for the coming 3 years to reduce our CO2 emissions by another 15% through the appropriate initiatives. I'm confident, thanks to the work of our engineers, that we are well on track towards reaching these objectives. So we will make our contribution to climate protection. Ladies and gentlemen, let me briefly summarize the 3 end markets of Wienerberger; new build, renovation and infrastructure. We want to offer innovative solutions and implement them in our markets. Wienerberger currently is undergoing a process of transformation, particularly in infrastructure. We are becoming an infrastructure provider for water management at the highest level of qualification together with infrastructure providers. We want to offer modern solutions. We have already done so, and we're going to continue working on that. In renovation, particularly as regards roof renovation, we are a leading company and we'll do even more. The same holds for new build. We are a leading company for sustainable building, building for decades, creating living space for people that is healthy and energy efficient. When we look at our acquisitions and for the further growth of Wienerberger, we can see clear steps that have been taken, particularly in the USA through the acquisition of Meridian Brick. The closing will happen in the second quarter, subject to approval by the American antitrust authority. This will make Wienerberger the biggest provider of facing bricks, and it will underline our commitment to ESG. So we will have a very profitable business there. The acquisition of a very small company in the Netherlands, Inter Act, shows that we are offering smart solutions, cloud-based solutions in water management, and we will successfully implement these solutions in our markets, particularly in Northern Europe. Last year, we sold our Swiss operations because there wasn't enough potential for growth. So we sold our brick operations in Switzerland, and we found another owner for these operations. We invest in future growth. And we've also exited from Greece in the field of infrastructure and from Russia in the field of infrastructure as well. So we are very consistently focusing on growth. This is an example of our clear structure. The acquisition of Meridian, the leading company in the United States in facing brick. We are setting up a structure that is focused on digitalization, improved market access and know-how in production. The perfect cost management of the American structure will be transformed into an even more efficient new structure. When we look at innovations, in 2020, our photovoltaic roof solutions are forward-looking and future oriented. We can now offer that. In the field of 3D printing, we are already working both 3D printing and mass production. And we are moving from the classic pipe segment into a more advanced segment of prefabricated systems. So we are customer-oriented and solution-oriented at the same time. All that under the roof of a clear ESG strategy, minus 15% CO2 emissions, 100% secular economy and our biodiversity program for all sites. Ladies and gentlemen, when we take a look back to the past decade of Wienerberger, we can see that we are one of the few companies in the building materials industry that generated 6% organic revenue growth per year. This testifies to the strength of our company. We've been able to grow on the basis of our own strengths through new and innovative products. This is why I look to the future with optimism. And we've been able to generate dividend growth of 18% per year. That is considerable added value, thanks to our growth, and we will continue along these lines in the future. Ladies and gentlemen, looking back to 2020, once again, despite the crisis, and I told you how we coped with this crisis. So despite the crisis, we have been able to pay out a dividend of EUR 0.6 per share. We also made a share buyback transaction, and we repaid our hybrid bond, which we had held on our balance sheet for more than 10 years. So we repaid EUR 250 million for that. So the total payback to -- payout to investors was more than EUR 300 million, although this was a year of crisis, and this confirms the strength of our company. As regards to the figures, I'm happy to tell you that these will be presented by our new CFO, Gerhard Hanke. I'm grateful to the Supervisory Board that we have succeeded in a very detailed and intensive executive search such program. We selected Gerhard Hanke, and I'm convinced that, thanks to his wealth of experience, we will be able to cope with the challenges of the coming 3 to 5 years. Gerhard, you have the floor.

Thank you very much. I'm happy to be able to stand before you today in the capacity of CFO and to present the figures for 2020. As was already mentioned, we've navigated the crisis successfully. Our revenues are almost at record level despite the restrictions due to COVID-19. Lower sales, particularly in the second quarter, were offset by improved pricing and a better product mix. Our strong operating performance and strict cost management resulted in plus 39% free cash flow generation, which is well above that of the previous year. Through fast forward, our performance enhancement program, we made a contribution to EBITDA of EUR 40 million. Ultimately, this resulted in EUR 566 million EBITDA like-for-like, which is highly satisfactory. Let's take a look at the business units. Across all business units, we can see satisfactory results. Building Solutions, which was hit hardest by the crisis, especially in the second quarter, was able to catch up in the second half of the year, particularly through strict cost management and the results lost in the second quarter were offset in the second half of the year. And EBITDA is only 9% below that of the previous year at EUR 414 million. Piping Solutions reports a result, which is above the record level of 2019, a stable infrastructure environment and strong development in our in-house business led to an increase in EBITDA like-for-like by 4%. The strongest performance was seen in North America, where we saw a more than 20% increase in EBITDA like-for-like. This was driven by growth in single-family-home construction, in particular, in our core markets. Let's now take a quick look at the income statement. Please, only -- I will only elaborate on individual items of the income statement. Revenues, down by 3% from the previous year. EBITDA like-for-like at EUR 556 million (sic) [ EUR 566 million, ] 5% below the previous year's level. As of the end of the first quarter, we did impairment tests also in connection with the COVID crisis, which, in Europe and North America, in Q1 was felt sorely. The impairment tests required impairment charges on assets of EUR 22 million and full write-down -- write-off of goodwill in North America in the amount of EUR 90 million. As a result, EBIT was EUR 193 million, which is 47% below the previous year's level. The financial result was improved slightly. Taxes were also lower, the net result then amounted to EUR 88.5 million, mainly under the impact of one-off impairments. We saw a very strong free cash flow generation, plus 39% free cash flow. Basically, this is due to 3 items. On the one hand, the positive and highly resilient development of business, proactive working capital management and very strict cost management, particularly in terms of structural costs and reductions in maintenance, investments and special CapEx. Free cash flow in 2020 was more than EUR 100 million above that of the previous year. Despite the reclassification of the hybrid bond from equity to financial liabilities, as of the date of the call, you know that the hybrid was called in December 2020, and the outstanding amount was reclassified from equity to net debt. Our net debt is stable at EUR 882 million. The ratio of net debt-to-EBITDA of 1.6x is way below our internal threshold, so we have a solid and strong balance sheet. In conclusion, I'd like to say a few words about Fast Forward. We had a performance enhancement program for the period from 2018 to 2020. This performance enhancement program, which was based on internal measures and our own strength is basically due to initiatives in production, sales, procurement, the supply chain and turnaround countries also contributed significantly. The additional contribution to EBITDA over the 3 years was EUR 110 million, and we expect another EUR 10 million to be generated by the program Fast Forward 1 in 2021. The method has proved its merit, and it will -- we will continue applying it in the coming years. So we will have a second performance enhancement program for 2021 to 2023. Here are the milestones or the cornerstones of this program. The essential initiatives are embedded in our strategic priorities: operational excellence, continuous improvement of all processes within the company. This is an essential pillar of operational excellence. The optimization of our industrial setup will be one of the priorities. The second pillar is innovation and digitalization. Here, we are going to continue evolving into a system provider. We will come up with new innovative products and in the field of services, not just normal services, but also digital services will become part of our product portfolio. The third pillar is that of sustainability. Major priorities will be pursued as regards the existing and new technologies and the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This program also has clear financial targets. The financial target for 2021 to 2023 includes an additional EBITDA contribution of EUR 135 million, EUR 40 million thereof already expected in 2021. These financial targets are underpinned by a program of growth investments in the amount of EUR 140 million per year, broken down by EUR 60 million to be invested in ESG with a focus on reduction of CO2 emissions, circular economy and biodiversity. The second part of investments will be focused on innovation and digitalization. We are planning to invest in innovative products and in a broadening of our offer of system solutions. This program is an essential part of our growth strategy. I regard it as an essential task for myself and for my function, as CFO, to implement this program. We will be working hard on those EUR 135 million because they are an essential contribution to our growth strategy. With this, I'd like to thank you for your attention, and I hand back to Heimo Scheuch.

Thank you, Gerhard. Shareholders all that remains for me to do is to give you an outlook for the current years. When we look at the individual regions and our markets, we can see that New Build in Western and Northern Europe is going down slightly after the excellent years of 2019 and '20. That's not alarming, it's to do with the market structure. We see a stable development in Central and Eastern Europe and an increase in North America. So basically, I would say, this is a healthy and sustainable market environment. In Renovation, we can see positive trends everywhere in Europe and in North America. Our activities regarding roofs and facades will have to be further expanded. In Infrastructure, it's basically stable. We expect a slight increase in North America and a slight downward trend in Western Europe. That's also to do with the political situation there. But basically, it's a positive climate for Wienerberger everywhere. And here are our assumptions for 2021. We take it that there will be no further lockdowns in the countries concerned. We hope to be able to work well also in the second quarter. The first quarter was a satisfactory one. We also assume that cost inflation in certain areas can be passed on to the market. We plan minor price increases. The only issue, which we talked about already at the beginning of the year, is plastic granulates, which we need for plastic pipe production. We see a steep upward trend of prices. We can't pass on all that to our customers. So there is a risk potential for the Wienerberger group in the amount of up to EUR 20 million, which will be needed in the second and third quarters. So that is a one-off effect in raw materials. As regards CapEx, Mr. Hanke already told you that we need EUR 120 million for maintenance CapEx and EUR 140 million to EUR 160 million for special and ESG CapEx. To give you a clear vision of what we expect for the coming year, we -- as regards to EBITDA like-for-like, we started out with EUR 560 million, the self-help program EUR 40 million. From the Plastic Pipe segment, we expect headwinds, but we expect -- still expect to grow by EUR 20 million to EUR 40 million. So the expectation for the full year in terms of EBITDA like-for-like is to EUR 600 million to EUR 620 million. And I can already report that the first quarter performed as expected. Measures taken are going very well, and after a slow start on both sides of the Atlantic, in New Build due to unfavorable weather conditions, we were able to catch up in March and activities are going well. So basically, it's a positive and optimistic outlook for the full year. We're going to work hard to achieve what we are planning to achieve, and we are confident to be able to implement our targets. Personally, I'd like to -- yesterday, I took a look at our share price, which is above EUR 33 at the moment. And this shows that the measures taken over the past 10 years are being recognized by the financial market. I took over the company in 2009 with a share price of EUR 4.7 and a market capitalization of EUR 500 million. Yesterday, it was EUR 3.8 billion, which makes us optimistic for the future, and we intend to continue along these lines together with you, our shareholders. We can see great potential for Wienerberger. In the important segment of Infrastructure, Renovation and New Build, we are very well-positioned with our product. And together with our team, we want to implement the planned success. I thank the Supervisory Board the confidence shown in me. I will be allowed to lead this company for the coming 5 years. And I also thank you, our shareholders, for your confidence. So together, we will succeed. And as I said earlier, people for us always come first, also in the future of Wienerberger.

Thank you very much to our CEO and CFO for the reports on the financial year 2020 and also for the outlook. A lot can be said actually in favor of this year. Now ladies and -- dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to move on to the agenda for today's AGM. Agenda Item 1: Presentation of the adopted 2020 annual financial statements and the management report of Wienerberger AG for the financial year 2020, the consolidated financial statements and the group management report, the corporate governance report, the non-financial report and the report by the Supervisory Board on the financial year 2020. I would like to point out that as announced in the invitation to the AGM, the 2020 Annual Report, the annual and consolidated financial statements as well as the management report and the group management report have been available on the company's website since the 29th of March 2021. The annual financial statements for the 2020 financial year prepared by the managing report and the consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards were audited by Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH and received an unqualified opinion. The auditor also confirmed that the management report of Wienerberger and the group management report prepared by the Managing Board are consistent with the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements and that the company has prepared a corporate governance report in accordance with Section 243c of the Austrian Commercial Code and the nonfinancial report in accordance with Section 243b of the Austrian Commercial Code. On the basis of the written audit report submitted by the auditor, the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board examined the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for the 2020 financial year, together with the management report of the management report and recommended that the Supervisory Board approve them. At its meeting on 26th of March 2021, the Supervisory Board approved the annual financial statements of Wienerberger AG as of December 31, 2020, and the management report of Wienerberger AG, and thus adopted the annual financial statements in accordance with Section 96, Para 4 of the Stock Corporation Act, and adopted the consolidated financial statements, the group management report, the nonfinancial report and the corporate governance report. I would also like to report that during the year under review, the Supervisory Board held a total of 16 meetings; the Audit and Risk Committee and the Nomination Committee, 5 meetings each; the Remuneration Committee, 4 meetings; and the Sustainability and Innovation Committee, 3 meetings. In those meetings, they discussed in detail the reports of the Managing Board and reviewed and approved the business cases submitted by the Managing Board that required its approval. At the same time, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and his deputies were in constant contact with the CEO to discuss issues of corporate strategy and the focus of the Supervisory Board meetings. A resolution on this agenda item is not required. On to agenda Item 2: Resolution on the use of net profits, as shown in the 2020 annual financial statements. The 2020 annual financial statements of Wienerberger AG show a net profit of EUR 69,044,767.75. The proposed resolution of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board on the appropriation of this unappropriated profit pursuant to Section 108, Para 1 of the Stock Corporation Act is as follows: The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG propose that the AGM decided to distribute from the net profit of EUR 69,044,767.75, on the share capital of EUR 115,187,982, a dividend in the amount of EUR 0.60 per share entitled to receive dividends. This corresponds to EUR 69,112,789.20, less a pro-rated amount of EUR 1,753,300.80 for treasury shares, thus EUR 67,359,488.40, and to carry forward the remaining profit of EUR 1,685,279.35. The dividend is payable, starting on Monday, the 10th of May 2021 and will be credited to the custodian banks. The record date for 2020 dividends is Friday, the 7th of May 2021. The details of the payment will be announced in the official gazette of Wiener Zeitung. On to item 3 of the agenda: Discharge of the Managing Board members for the financial year 2020. The proposed resolution of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board is as follows: The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG propose that the Annual General Meeting decides that the members of Wienerberger AG's Managing Board acting during the financial year 2020 be discharged for that period. I would like to point out that the discharge for the financial year 2020 concerns the members of the Managing Board, Heimo Scheuch, Carlo Crosetto, Solveig Menard-Galli and Harald Schwarzmayr. Agenda Item 4: Discharge of the Supervisory Board members for the financial year 2020. The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board have also submitted a proposal for a resolution on this agenda item in accordance with Section 108, Para 1 of the Stock Corporation Act. This reads, The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG propose that the AGM decide that the members of Wienerberger AG's Supervisory Board acting during the financial year 2020 be discharged for that period. I would like to point out that the discharge also concerns Ms. Caroline Gregoire Sainte Marie, who resigned from the Supervisory Board in May 2020 for personal reasons. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Gregoire Sainte Marie, who was a member of the Supervisory Board since 2015, once again, for her commitment and cooperation, in particular, in the areas of sustainability and innovation. On to agenda Item 5: Election of the auditors of the annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2021. A proposal for a resolution pursuant to Section 108 (1) of the Stock Corporation Act has been submitted. The Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG proposes that the AGM decide to elect Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH, Vienna, as auditors of the annual financial statements and consolidated statements for the financial year 2021. In this regard, a letter from Deloitte containing the information pursuant to Section 270, Para 1, of the Business Code has been received, explaining that there are no circumstances that could give rise to concerns of bias and that Deloitte has a valid certificate of participation in an external quality assurance system. For the sake of order, it should be mentioned that the proposed auditor Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH would audit the Wienerberger Group for the fifth consecutive year, if elected the 2021 financial year. A legal obligation to appoint another auditing company exists after 10 audit years. Item 6 of the agenda: Elections to the Supervisory Board. Pursuant to a resolution adopted by the AGM on May 22, 2015, the company's Supervisory Board, as of the beginning of 2020, consisted of 8 members elected by the Annual General Meeting. The capital representatives and 3 members delegated by the Works Council. Actually, it has been made up by 8 members elected by the AGM, the so-called capital representatives, and 3 members delegated by the Works Council pursuant to Section 110 of the Labor relations Act. Since Ms. Caroline Gregoire Sainte Marie prematurely resigned from office as of 5th of May, 2020, this is 2 years prior to the lapse of her statutory term of office. And Mr. Christian Jourquin prematurely resigned from office as of the end of March 2021, the number of capital representatives has been reduced to 6 members. 4 of the remaining six capital representatives are men and 2 women; 2 of the 3 employee representatives are men and 1 is a woman. The Supervisory Board, therefore, currently consists of 6 men and 3 women and thus complies with the minimum share of men and women under Section 86, Para 7 of the Stock Corporation Act. No objection was raised under Section 86, Para 9 of the Stock Corporation Act, which means that the requirement under Section 86, Para 7 of the Stock Corporation Act must be complied with by the Supervisory Board as a whole. Taking into account 6 capital representatives and 3 Supervisory Board members delegated by the Works Council, at least 3 members must be women and 3 members must be men. Now during the year, 2020, the Nomination Committee of the Supervisory Board has intensively discussed the appropriate size of the Board. Evaluations led to the recommendation to reduce the number of capital representatives by 1 person, which is to 7. In order to assure that the Supervisory Board has the required expertise and experience available to fulfill its responsibilities after the resignation of Ms. Gregoire Sainte Marie and Mr. Jourquin, a transparent succession process was started in 2020 that was assisted by professional recruitment consultants of international repute. This process was also aimed at assuring that all applicable standards of good corporate governance, including in relation to gender diversity on the Supervisory Board are complied with. Before I now go into more detail on the candidates standing for election, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Christian Jourquin, who had been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2014 and stepped down from the Board at the end of March, this year, for personal reasons, for his extraordinary commitment and valuable contributions to the success of the Wienerberger Group. On behalf of my colleagues, I wish him good luck, good health and all the best for the future. Please allow me to make a few comments about the candidates themselves. I'm pleased that with Ms. Kati Ter Horst, we were able to acquire an internationally experienced manager having comprehensive industry know-how to join the Board. In addition to her professional expertise, Ms. Ter Horst, being a Finnish citizen, has thorough knowledge of the markets, which is particularly relevant to Wienerberger's infrastructure business. Ms. Kati Ter Horst will now introduce herself to you in a short video statement.

Gentlemen, dear Wienerberger shareholders. It is an honor and a pleasure for myself to introduce myself to you today. My name is Kati Ter Horst. I was born in Finland, where I currently also work and live. But I see myself a bit more as in cosmopolitan as I married to a Dutchman, and I have lived more than 20 years abroad studying or working in the U.S., Singapore, Belgium and the Netherlands. This year, I have worked 25 years for Stora Enso, a multinational renewable materials company in packaging, biomaterials, wood and construction, and paper. And since 2014, I've been leading the Paper division of the company. And as the member of the group leadership team contributed actively to the future direction of the company. How can I then contribute to Wienerberger Supervisory Board. First of all, through my management position, I am very much connected daily to what happens in the global business environment. Now, for instance, I have experienced how COVID-19 impacts business and people, and I have seen how important it is to be able to adapt quickly to the changing situation. Secondly, having an extensive experience in a multinational company, I think, I can provide some other perspectives to Wienerberger Supervisory Board and, thus, increasing the diversity of thought. Through my commercial background, I have worked a long time with customers on all continents. And I have a very strong customer orientation and business development focus. Also then outside European countries, I have had production plants in Latin America and China under my leadership. Thirdly, I hope to be able to contribute in the area of sustainability and innovation. Stora Enso has been going through a big transformation with a strong focus on sustainability, circularity and innovation. And this is where I see a lot of parallels to Wienerberger. When sustainability and innovation is in the core of the company's strategy, creating a competitive advantage, the company is able to attract the best possible talent, access green financing and win on the market. The ultimate goal is to help the customers to improve their sustainability performance. And in the end, to provide consumers with a better quality of life. I also believe that stock listed companies will have increasing demands for ESG communication. And it's important that every company paints a clear picture how they contribute to sustainable economy. Next to my management position at Stora Enso. I'm a Board member in a stock listed stainless steel company, Outokumpu and Climate Leadership Coalition, the largest nonprofit business climate network in Europe. This underpins my interest in the Board work and sustainability, and I hope it will also add value to the future development of Wienerberger. I can also confirm that I'm not aware of any private or professional circumstances that would conflict with the Supervisory Board mandate at Wienerberger. I would very much like to contribute my expertise and experience to the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger, and I would be very pleased if you gave me the opportunity to do so.

Thank you very much, Kati, from our shareholders today. Let us now move on to the next candidates. Mr. David Davies and Mr. Peter Johnson will retire from the functions by rotation at the end of today's AGM. In order to preserve the extensive experience of both candidates for the company and to ensure the continuity of the Supervisory Board's work, the Supervisory Board, upon the recommendation of the Nomination Committee proposes both candidates for reelection, Mr. David Davies and Mr. Peter Johnson will now also introduce themselves to you in a short video statement.

[Foreign Language]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I've been a member of the Wienerberger Supervisory Board since 2005 and was its chair between October 2019 and the end of last year. I spent almost all my working life involved in the international building product and construction industries. From 1988 to 1996, I was an Executive Board Director of Redland Plc, primarily responsible for its worldwide, roofing and brick businesses in Europe, North America and Australia. From 1996 to 2000, I was the CEO of the Rugby Group, an international producer of cement and other building products. And from 2000 to 2006, I was the CEO of George Wimpey Plc, a major housebuilder in the U.K. and USA. I have over 33 years' experience on the Boards of large international quoted companies. In addition to my executive roles from 1988 to 2006, on the Boards of Redland, the Rugby Group and George Wimpey, I was a nonexecutive Director of DS Smith Plc, an international producer of paper and packaging materials, from 1999 to 2006, and its chair from 2007 to 2012. Non-Executive Director of SSL-International, an international producer of consumer products, from 2008 to 2010. And Chair of Electrocomponents Plc, an international supplier of products and services to engineers, from 2010 until earlier this year. For many years, I've been involved with various committees of Oxford University and currently chair the Remuneration Committee of my own college, St Edmund Hall. I am honored that Peter Steiner has asked me to serve a further term and confirm that, should I be reelected, I have both the time and the energy to dedicate myself to the work required of the Supervisory Board, and of those committees on which I am asked to serve. Thank you very much.

David and Peter, thank you for your willingness to continue to serve on our Board. Finally, I would like to thank the candidates, of course, and I would like to point out that the CVs of all Supervisory Board candidates standing for election today as well as the declarations pursuant to Section 87, Para 2 of the Stock Corporation Act have been available on the website of Wienerberger AG since the 2nd of April 2021. Resolutions -- proposed resolutions for agenda Item 6. Number one, the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger proposes that the AGM decide to reduce the number of Wienerberger AG's members of the Supervisory Board elected by the AGM from currently 8 members by 1 person to a total of 7 members within the limit of 3 to 10 members as provided for by the Articles of Association. Proposed Resolution 2 reads, the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG proposes that the AGM decide that will effect from the close of this AGM, Mr. David Davies be reelected to the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG for the statutory maximum term of office pursuant to Section 10, Para 3 of the Articles of Association of Wienerberger. This is until the close of that AGM resolving on the granting of discharge for the financial year 2020. B, Mr. Peter Johnson, be reelected to the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG for the statutory maximum term of office pursuant to Section 10 (3) of the Articles of Association of Wienerberger AG. This is until the close of the AGM resolving on the granting of discharge for the financial year 2024. And C, Ms. Kati Ter Horst be elected to the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG as a replacement for the remaining term of office of Ms. Caroline Gregoire Sainte Marie pursuant to Section 10 (5) of the Articles of Association of Wienerberger. This is until the close of the AGM resolving on the granting of discharge for the financial year 2022. On to agenda Item 7: Resolution on the 2020 Remuneration Report. The proposed resolution of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board is as follows: The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board proposed at the AGM adopt the Remuneration Report on the remuneration of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG for the financial year 2020. I would like to point out the remuneration policy 2020 to 2024 for the Managing Board as well as the one for the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger AG were submitted for approval to the 151st Annual General Meeting on May 5, 2020 and were adopted by the latter. The Supervisory Board has subsequently implemented the contents of these remuneration policies, taking suggestions by some of our shareholders into consideration. The 2020 remuneration report documents this implementation and has been made available at the company’s website under www.wienerberger.com., since the 2nd of April 2021. This concludes the presentation of the reports and proposed resolutions on the agenda items. In the meantime, the list of participants has also been completed so that I can now announce the attendance at today's AGM. Now according to the list of participants drawn up in accordance with Section 117 of the Stock Corporation Act, 867 shareholders are represented by the 4 special proxies who are entitled to cast a total vote of 68,327,242 votes. I therefore, established that today's AGM has a quorum for all items on the agenda. The list of participants shall be made available for inspection by the 4 special proxies present. In addition, the list of participants will be attached to the minutes of today's Annual General meeting. For reasons of data protection, also in the interest of the shareholders, we refrain from disclosing the list of participants in this broadcast. I will now give the floor to each of the special proxies and ask them to state whether any motions for resolutions have been received from the proxy shareholders prior to the AGM. If so I would like to ask you to read them out. If no, I would like to ask you to confirm that you have not received any motions for resolutions to date. Let me start with Mr. Beckermann.

Thank you very much for giving me the floor. My name is Florian Beckermann. I'm the head of the IVA. We represent 25 shareholders. Thank you very much for their interest, and I have not received any motions.

Mr. Oberhammer?

Mr. Chairman, I would like to confirm that I have not received any motions.

Mr. Fussenegger?

Mr. Chairman, I would also like to confirm that I have not received any motions.

And last but not least, Dr. Weigand?

Mr. Chairman, I would like to confirm that I have not received any motions.

Thank you very much. It is now 11:28. You now have 15 minutes to transmit additional questions or any motions. By 11:43, they will have to be received at the requisite e-mail address [email protected] or at the e-mail addresses of the special proxies. Here, you can see the e-mail addresses of your special proxies. I now open the general debate on all items on the agenda.

I'm now going to read out the questions that have been received. The first question concerns the current development of business. Building materials prices increased by 40% to 60% in Austria in recent weeks. Why is that so? And is Wienerberger concerned by these increases?

It's not just the international shortage of raw materials that has led to price increases. We can also see a tightening of the legal frame work in Austria and in other countries. The public sector through additional legislation contributes to such price increases. And these, of course, have to be passed on to the consumers by the various industries. For Wienerberger itself, in the field of ceramic production, that is clay products, we are fortunate because we own most of our clay pits, our clay reserves, and we don't record any price increase there. As regards to plastic granulates, as I said during my presentation, we do see significant increases already last year and this year again. And we expect additional costs of about EUR 20 million, which cannot be passed on to the market. So this is a potential risk for us. Basically, in the general construction business, we do see price increases, substantial ones even. But thanks to the fact that we work with local clay supplies and that we have excellent cost management, the effect will be limited for Wienerberger. Another question, Mr. Crosetto served as CFO for a couple of months only. Why the change? Welcome, Mr. Hanke. Carlo Crosetto left the company for personal reasons. From our point of view, it wasn't planned that way, but we are happy to have succeeded in finding a successor who is ideally suited for the position, who comes from the company, who introduced himself already and who has a great deal of experience in operational and financial terms. And we're happy to have managed this solution. Third question, compared with the previous year, the payout ratio and the dividend proposal is high. Can you tell us why? I would like to refer to the core item for our dividend policy. It's free cash flow. This is the most important parameter for us. And we said that 20% to 40% of the free cash flow are to be paid out through dividends and share buyback transactions. The free cash flow in 2020, you heard about that. The dividend is EUR 67 million. The share buyback is EUR 20 million, so EUR 87 million altogether relative to the free cash flow of EUR 397 million last year. Our payout is at the lower range of the 20% to 40% range. Please bear in mind that our parameter is free cash flow and not the net income. So this is a sustainable and forward-looking dividend policy, and we complied with this policy also for 2020. The next question says, what are the measures taken by the management today to cope with the challenges of the so-called delivery chain act? Where any reviews performed in 2020? Yes, we are a pioneer in this respect. We have not only examined local legislation that is coming up. In 2019, we established a group-wide Supplier Code of Contact -- Conduct with internal and external expert support. This code of contact -- conduct comprises all the minimum requirements on the part of Wienerberger, everything we expect of our suppliers, including environment, social and governance, including human rights and the requirements of the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact. Implementation of the Supplier Code of Conduct was ensured throughout the company, and we performed supplier audits throughout the year 2020. So on a random sample basis, we check our suppliers, and we assess them in terms of nonfinancial aspects like health and safety of employees, human rights, fight against corruption and bribery and environmental protection. And the sustainability performance of suppliers is being analyzed by an ESG rating company, EcoVadis for potential risks, and we have also received an award in this respect. Let me continue with question #5. Building material recycling can improve the energy balance. What's the recycling rate at Wienerberger today? What are your targets? I think I said very clearly in my presentation that the circular economy and the reuse and recycling of our product is very important for us. We are pursuing a clear 100% recycling or reuse policy. We also outlined that in the current environment, given the very long life cycles of our products, 100, 200 years, we don't get products back as secondary raw material. But in the field of plastic pipes, we do -- we have achieved a significant increase in the use of secondary raw materials from 60 to 82 kilos per ton of product produced. Reuse is possible. We have taken all the necessary measures, but we need to get the secondary raw materials. And in terms of logistics, this is not always easy given the differences between the individual countries. We will be talking to the individual countries to improve their situation. That was question #5. I move on to question 6. The liquidity ratio was high, did we pay negative interest? How much and to whom? Basically, given our business model and the central treasury at Wienerberger, we try to balance the situation in the individual segments and countries. And cash positions are being distributed over different banks in different countries in order to avoid negative interest. In mid-2020 through the issuance of a EUR 400 million bond, we secured our liquidity for the COVID year. We had a rather high liquidity position. And we did pay negative interest to a certain extent, EUR 750,000 in total. And this year, through the redemption of the hybrid bond and the forthcoming acquisition of Meridian, we will not pay negative interest anymore. Question #7, it refers to the annual report, Page 141. Impairments or impairment charges on goodwill and assets, which companies were concerned? I think I remember correctly that Mr. Hanke pointed out that the impairments were booked in the amount of EUR 90 million, and that was primarily due to the full write off of goodwill in North America. That was goodwill from 1996. So we had it on our balance sheet for a long time, and it was now adjusted. There were also minor impairment charges to assets in Europe and most of them in Russia, EUR 9 million in Russia alone. Those were the impairment charges. Question #8, annual report, Page 147, taxes. Minus EUR 63.6 million in nontemporary differences. Could you explain that? Well, I can explain this item as follows: Nontemporary differences contain minus EUR 30 million in a special effect from a correction of losses carried forward and not recognized before within the framework of a tax audit. This had to be booked in positively and the position changes in nonrecognized deferred taxes. But it had no effect on tax reconciliation. Question 9, scope of consolidation. How many employees does the company have in India? And what's the business purpose there? In the south of India, near Bangalore, we have a brick plant, producing high-quality thermal insulation bricks. Of course, you are aware of the health situation in India. We are working with the local management in order to ensure that the health of employees is being protected through proper management abroad. In India, we have approximately 100 employees and some temporary workers. The number depends on the volume of business. We have a clear strategy for India, which we've been pursuing for a number of years. These are high-quality products, and we hope to establish them well in Southern India. I now hand over to the Chairman because the next question concerns the remuneration report.

There is a question about managing Board remuneration. The managing board waives parts of its variable remuneration. What are the reduction criteria? I think behind this question, there is a certain misunderstanding because, as I explained earlier, at a relatively early point in time of the year. We saw that the original targets for the year could not be achieved. Therefore, we would have had a Managing Board who, regardless of what it did in 2020, could not have reached an incentive. And if you want to believe in the positive effect of an incentive structure, the Supervisory Board has to react to that. And this is an exception allowed within the framework of the remuneration policy. The Supervisory Board defined a new target, which was an ambitious target, and at the same time, saw to it that the short-term variable remuneration is capped at 70%. That was a decision, a discretionary decision by the Supervisory Board. The underlying thought was that we have to show our shareholders that our Managing Board members feel the restrictions due to the pandemic also in the remuneration package. And that was well received by our shareholders, as according to the feedback I got, and also by the Managing Board. I'd like to briefly interrupt because the 15 minutes are over. And we have -- we are quite advanced in answering the question. It is now 11:44. And in it -- if, in addition to the questions that have already been answered, you have follow-up questions, questions for clarification or motions, you have another 5 minutes to transfer them to the e-mail addresses indicated earlier. I would like to point out that after those 5 minutes, questions and motions can no longer be taken into consideration. So it's now 11:45. You have time until 11:50. I continue my answer to the questions received. Will this discretionary reduction be taken into account in the long-term variable remuneration component? No, we didn't do that. It wouldn't have been possible. The long-term variable remuneration component continued as it was. For the Managing Board members, this meant that for 2020, on a pro rata basis, long-term variable remuneration was not earned. And we reacted to the situation of the pandemic, and we don't think that the pandemic is going to be a long-term situation. We hope that it will be overcome in the course of this year. So it wouldn't have made any sense to include that in the LTI. Another question on the remuneration policy. Inclusion of ESG criteria, coupling of ecological criteria and the performance criteria of the Managing Board members. I pointed out earlier that for the first time. Among the long-term targets, we have included an ESG element concerning the reduction of CO2 emissions by a specific figure. The target for the reduction in 2021 is 6.7% reduction in CO2 emissions. Heimo, I hand over to you for further questions.

Question #13. Questions concerning lessons learned from the Wirecard scandal? How many whistleblower messages that you received worldwide? How many of them did you follow up? Well, let me say the following. At Wienerberger, we are committed to 0 tolerance of any form of corruption and other things. All employees of Wienerberger are obliged to comply with all laws, rules and internal regulations and policies. We have no cases of corruption in recent years. We have a highly efficient internal audit system performing controls in all countries of Wienerberger. The management is such that we cooperate closely with the local organizations. The financial structure built on SAP is also able to retrace whatever happens. So in recent years, we didn't have a single case of corruption. In 2020, within the framework of our whistleblower system, we had a single case, which we followed up, but which hasn't led to any identification of corruption. So we didn't have any cases. The second point in this context concerns the auditor. Is quality assurance of the network of auditors working abroad, has it been specified? I can give you a clear answer. Quality assurance throughout the network of Deloitte is a very important point. In the Deloitte network, there are uniform quality and audit standards, including internal and external practice reviews, the results of which are being implemented within the framework of the group audit. Detailed instructions are sent out regarding the priorities of the audits to be performed, and the audit results transmitted by the network auditors are carefully evaluated. And the quality of the audit is being reviewed by the group audit team, and there have been no complaints whatsoever. And last but not least, the group auditor specifies the importance of an independent quality assurance partner to monitor the audit. Two last questions. The questions about lessons learned from the Commerzialbank scandal. That is an Austrian topic. Is there a policy regarding liquidity management? When was it updated? Of course, we have a policy on liquidity management. We have a general financial constitution and a set of policies which have been existed for a long time. They are being updated continuously. This is part of the backbone of our financial management. We have a special risk policy on counterparty risk, which is being updated. It was last updated on the 31st of March 2021. Compliance with the treasury guidelines and the treasury policy is being monitored by the CFO and his team. Last question concerns the four-eyes principle. Does it apply across the group for payments made? And the answer is a clear, yes. Moreover, Wienerberger, as far as possible, uses a central payment platform. All payments are being settled via the SWIFT network, directly with the banks connected to it. This prevents the dependence on numerous local electronic banking solutions and ensures a central audit of locally initiated payments by corporate treasury at the head office. And a point concerning line management. The management complies with the four-eye principle in all its functions. I hope we have succeeded in answering the 16 questions, and we're going to see if there have been any additional questions coming in recently. Yes, a few more questions have come in. Okay. A couple of additional questions. Question #1 is, how much do we spend for IT and hardware? How much do we spend for security software? Have there been any data that have been leaked, et cetera?

Now if I may, I would like to answer that. Now the total IT cost for 2020 amounted to EUR 37.2 million. EUR 2.6 million of them were spent for IT security. The budget for 2021 amounts EUR 2.9 million for information security. Now the most substantial pillars of IT security are the integration cloud systems in a cyber defense environment, now training and also awareness raising programs, then the rollout of identity and access management programs in all local organizations, and access and security management especially in the strategic locations. And a lot of digital initiatives have been implemented. No major data leaks or no major security incidents were reported in 2020.

Now on to the next question, which regards the costs of AGM, also including the announcement in Wiener Zeitung. Also the question refer to the cost really of the circulation, [ 400 ] in english. And total costs amounted to EUR 25,000. Another question was, were all brickworks in the U.S. switched over to natural gas? And how about Meridian Brick, how many staff had to be taken over, Meridian Brick? Right now -- or okay, would you like to answer this?

Now indeed, all locations have been switched over to natural gas, so all existing locations and, of course, also Meridian Brick have been switched over to natural gas. And as far as the -- number of employees, that will be determined as of the closing. That cannot be done right now. But within the next week -- weeks or so, we can provide this number. Now staff turnover for 2019, that was another question. That was 11.3% and 13.1% in 2020. Also, I would like to mention that the global restructuring measures that we have been taken are integrated here. And also, Mr. Hanke talked about this when he talked about the Fast Forward program. For a final question, maybe how many employees retired in 2020? And how much was paid in terms of severance payment? How many employees retired for health reasons -- retired early, that is? Now we did not have any early retirement for health reasons. One employee retired for reasons of age. And right now, we do not have any figures that we can report for the total group. That brings us to the end of the general debate. I would like to point out that as announced, no further questions will be answered as for today. Now I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for listening. Now having dealt with all questions, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Managing Board and all employees of Wienerberger Group for their successful work during the past financial year. I will now, once again, like to give the floor to the 4 special proxies present and ask them to read out any motions that have been received. And once again, I would like to ask them whether they have received any motions, motions they have received by the end of the second round of questions. And I would like to ask them to confirm that no such motions have been received. Let me start with Mr. Beckermann.

Mr. Chairman, I have not received any further motions.

Mr. Chairman, I have not received any motions either.

Mr. Fussenegger?

Mr. Chairman, I have not received any motions either.

And Dr. Weigand?

Mr. Chairman, I have not received any motions.

All right, can I interrupt you briefly, we have received 2 additional questions. Now if I may, I would like to answer them.

All right now. But I would not like to open the question-and-answer session once again. Heimo, please?

One question regards the number of temp agencies and temp workers. Now the answer is in 2020, for the entire group, 968 temp workers; 1,021 in 2020. All of these are local temp workers working in the individual companies. Regarding the temp agencies we do not have any data. Wienerberger AG itself does not employ any temp workers. That was question #1. Question #2, how many brickworks do we have in the U.S.? And how many employees. Now as of December 31, 2020, this is my reference date, we had 13 plants in all of the U.S., 9 of them bricks works. And the staff rate was 1,352 FTEs in 2020; 1,415 in 2019.

Well, thank you very much, Heimo. Now I do believe that all information has now been given. I've said before that I would not like to open the general debate once again. I would rather like to move on to the voting process. As of now, as we've already explained at the start of the meeting, it's no longer an option to submit any proposals. I've already read out the agenda items. And also they have been made available at the website. I would now like to ask our notary public, Dr. Kirchl, to certify the resolutions of today's AGM. Now before the vote, I would like to point out that those shareholders, or their special proxies, who are affected by the resolution are not entitled to vote. Voting will, once again, be carried out by the subtraction method. In this voting procedure, no votes as well as the abstentions are counted and subtracted from the total number of votes represented. Now for this purpose, attendance is kept on record at all times. And as Chairman, I reserve the right to modify the procedure as necessary. Now at the beginning of today's Annual General Meeting, the 4 special proxies received voting cards bearing the number under which they are entered in the register of participants. By entering these numbers in the IT system, the number of shares held by you will be included in the calculations in accordance with the votes cast. I would now like to ask the special proxies who vote no or abstain from voting to raise their voting card until it has been read out by our staff. Let us now actually move on to the vote on item 2 on the agenda, resolution on the use of net profits shown in the 2020 annual financial statements. Who is against this motion? [Voting]

No votes. Once again, no, no votes.

One moment. Just bear with us for 1 minute. Okay. Let me ask you once again. Who votes against this motion? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer. No further no votes.

Who abstains from voting? [Voting]

No abstentions.

Once again, apologies. We're just getting warmed up, but things will work out. I do believe that we have encountered some technical problems. So therefore, I'm going to interrupt the meeting for a brief moment. Please stay with us. [Technical Difficulty] I suggest that we start once again. All right. Let me now start again with item 2 on the agenda resolution on the use of net profits as shown in the 2020 annual financial statements. Any no votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer.

Anybody who abstains from voting? [Voting]

Once again, instruction card Oberhammer.

I'm going to close the voting process and announce the results: yes votes, 68,326,389, corresponding to 99.99%; no votes, 350, corresponding to 0.00051%. Now all in all, a total of 68,326,739 valid votes were cast. This corresponds to 59.32% of the capital stock. I would hereby like to state that the proposed resolution was adopted with the required majority and that the Annual General Meeting has, therefore, approved the proposed appropriation of the net profits. I would like to continue with the vote on item 3 of the agenda, discharge of the Managing Board members for the financial year 2020. It is proposed that the actions of the members of the Managing Board holding office in the 2020 financial year be approved en bloc. I would like to point out once again that those shareholders or their representatives who are affected by the resolution are not entitled to vote. Now any no votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Who abstains from voting? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

I would like to close the voting process and, hereby, announce the result, which is as follows: yes votes, 65,415,801, corresponding to 99.76%; no votes, 155,219, corresponding to 0.24%. All in all, 65,571,020 votes were cast corresponding to 56.39 -- 56.93% of the capital stock. I note that this proposed resolution was adopted with the required majority and that the AGM has, therefore, resolved to approve the discharge of the Managing Board members for the financial year 2020. Item #4 of the agenda, discharge of the Supervisory Board members for the financial year 2020. Also with regard to this item, it is proposed that the actions of the members of the Supervisory Board holding office in the 2020 financial year be approved en bloc for this period. In this case, once again, those shareholders and/or their representatives who are affected by the resolution at hand are not entitled to vote. Who's against this motion? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Who abstains from voting? [Voting]

Voting card -- or rather instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

I, hereby, close the voting process and announce the result as follows: yes votes 62,397,334, corresponding to 94.91%; no votes, 3,340,366, corresponding to 5.01%. A total of 65,737,700 valid votes were cast corresponding to 57.07% of the capital stock. I note that this proposed resolution was adopted with the required majority and that the Annual General Meeting has, thus, resolved to discharge the Supervisory Board members for the financial year 2020. On behalf the Supervisory Board members, I would like to thank you, our shareholders for that resolution. Item #5, election of the auditor of the annual financial statement and consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2021. Who votes against this motion? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, and instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Any abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

I'd like to close the voting process and announce the result as follows: yes votes, 67,413,803, corresponding to 98.66%; no votes, 912,360 or 1.34%. A total of 68,326,463 valid votes were cast corresponding to 59.32% of the capital stock. I note that this proposed resolution was adopted with the required majority, and that the Annual General Meeting has elected Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH, Vienna as auditor and group auditor for the financial year 2021. Let us now move on to item 6 on the agenda, elections to the Supervisory Board. Proposed resolution 1, reduction of the number of capital representatives from 8 to 7 members. Any no votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Any abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer. No further abstentions.

This concludes this vote as well. The results are as follows: yes votes, 68,325,607, corresponding to 99.99%; no votes, 772, corresponding to 0.001%. A total of 68,326,389 valid votes were cast, corresponding to 59.32% of the capital stock. I note that this proposed resolution was adopted with the required majority and that the Annual General Meeting has, therefore, resolved to reduce the number of capital representatives from 8 to 7 members. Now proposed resolution 2 under this agenda item concerns proposed elections. I would now like to ask you to vote on the motion to reelect Mr. David Davies to the Supervisory Board for the maximum term stipulated in the articles. No votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer and instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Any abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer. No further abstentions.

I would like to close the voting process and announce the results: yes votes, 67,401,659, corresponding to 98.7%; no votes, 839,680, corresponding to 1.23%. A total 68,241,339 valid votes were cast, corresponding to 59.24% of the capital stock. I, hereby, determine that the motion was adopted with the required majority, and that Mr. David Davies was elected to the Board of Wienerberger for the maximum term stipulated in the Articles of Association until the end of the AGM which resolves on the discharge for the financial year 2024. I would now I'd like to ask you to vote on the motion to reelect Mr. Peter Johnson to the Board for the maximum term stipulated in the Articles of Association. No votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Fussenegger and instruction card Beckermann. No further no vote.

Abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

Thank you very much. Yes, votes, I hereby announce the results: yes votes, 59,624,308, corresponding to 87.27%; no votes 8,690,666, corresponding to 12.72%. A total of 68,314,974 valid votes were cast corresponding to 59.31% of the capital stock. I, hereby, determine that the motion was adopted with the required majority and that Mr. Peter Johnson was elected to the Supervisory Board of Wienerberger for the maximum term stipulated in the Articles of Association. This is until the end of the AGM which resolves on the discharge for the financial year 2024. I would now like to ask you to vote on the motion to elect Ms. Kati Ter Horst to the Supervisory Board until the end of the AGM which resolves on the granting of discharge for the financial year 2022. No votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer and instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Any abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

The result is as follows: yes votes 63,510,693, corresponding to 92.98%; no votes, 4,795,578, corresponding to 7.02%. A total of 68,306,271 valid votes were cast, corresponding to 59.3% of the capital stock. I, hereby, state that the motion was adopted with the required majority, and that Ms. Kati Ter Horst was elected to the Supervisory Board until the end of the AGM which resolved on the discharge for the financial year 2022. Let us now move on to the vote on the proposed resolution concerning item 7 on the agenda, resolution on the 2020 remuneration report. Any no votes? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further no votes.

Any abstentions? [Voting]

Instruction card Oberhammer, instruction card Beckermann. No further abstentions.

I would like to close this voting process and announce the results as follows: yes votes, 50,274,393, corresponding to 78.62%; no votes, 30,670,465, corresponding to 21.38%. A total of 63,944,858 valid votes were cast, corresponding to 55.51% of the capital stock. I note that the motion was adopted with the required majority and that the remuneration report concerning the remuneration of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2020 financial year was approved. Now ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, this concludes the agenda for today's Annual General Meeting. I would like to thank the shareholders who have been following the Annual General Meeting on the Internet and all those who participated in the preparation and implementation and organization of the virtual AGM. And I'm now going to close the Annual General Meeting. Thank you very much, and I'll see you next year. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]