STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 21, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting of Capio AB voted to authorize the Board to make decisions about the purchase and transfer of the Company's own shares and to decide on new issues of up to a maximum of 1.5 million shares. The Meeting also approved a proposal for the implementation of a global options programme for employees. The members of the present Board of Directors were re-elected and Capio's President, Per Batelson, was elected as a new member of the Board. The Annual Report for the 2001 financial year was approved and the Annual General Meeting approved the proposal that, as in the preceding year, no dividend would be paid.
"During the year, Capio took a decisive step toward internationalization. The acquisition of 21 hospitals in the United Kingdom means that the Group now has operations abroad that generate more sales than its operations in Sweden. We are becoming increasingly attractive as the owner of a group of fast-expanding, innovative specialist companies that need access to capital, management systems, new markets and support for their continued growth. But perhaps the most important aspect is our growing attractiveness as an employer of all categories of care-services personnel," said Capio President, Per Batelson.
In his address to the shareholders, Per Batelson underlined that Capio is making good progress toward its goal of becoming a leader within several of its product areas, such as the laboratory medicine and ophthalmic care fields. In these product areas, Capio employs its own unique care concept, which can be established in other markets in the future. Today, Capio is one of the leading healthcare companies in Europe.
The Annual General Meeting decided:
1. to authorise the Board to make decisions in regard to the purchase
and transfer of Capio's own shares for the purpose of increasing
the Board's freedom of action to conduct work on the Company's
capital structure and to cover the allotment of shares in
accordance with the applicable options programme, or for the
Company to use its own shares for the acquisition of operations
or new companies;
2. to authorise the Board to make decisions about new issues of
shares that will have a dilution effect of no more than
approximately 1.9 per cent of the total share capital and votes;
3. to implement a Group-wide options programme for employees that
will have a dilution effect of no more than approximately 4.3 per
cent. It is estimated that the employee options programme will
create greater employee interest in Capio's operations, raise
motivation and increase the spirit of unity within the Group and
thus support the positive future development of Capio.
The following members of the present Board were re-elected: Jan Blomberg, Krister Hertzen, Roger Holtback, Lars Ingelmark, Monica Lindstedt and Olle G P Isaksson. Per Batelson, Capion's President and CEO, was elected to the Board as a new member. The Capio Board also includes the following employee representatives: Christina Gerdin, Lisbeth Berglund (deputy), representing the Swedish Association of Health Professionals; Thomas Karte, the Swedish Confederation of Professionals Associations; Kevin Thompson, the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union; and Birgitta Linde Svensson (deputy), National Union of Local Government Officers.
The Annual General Meeting elected the following persons as members of the Nomination Committee prior to the Annual General Meeting in 2003: Caroline af Ugglas, Ola Uhre, Erling Gustafsson and Roger Holtback.
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net