STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 25, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Annual General Meeting of Munters AB (publ):
Board of Directors and Auditors
At today's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting in Munters AB, the board members Berthold Lindqvist, Soren Mellstig, Bo Ingemarson, Sven Ohlsson, Anders Jagraeus, Lars Spongberg and Lennart Evrell were re-elected. At the subsequent Statutory Board Meeting, Berthold Lindqvist was appointed Chairman of the Board.
The Meeting appointed Bjorn Fernstrom as Auditor and Peter Frygner as Deputy Auditor for the period up to the Annual General Meeting 2004. In addition, Gunnar Widhagen has previously been appointed as Auditor and Magnus Rocklinger as Deputy for the period up to the Annual General Meeting 2004.
Distribution of Dividend
The Meeting approved the proposal by the Board and the Managing Director for a dividend of SEK 3.00 per share. The record date was set to April 30, 2002 and the dividend is expected to be distributed by VPC on May 6, 2002.
Buy back and Transfer of own shares
The Meeting decided, in accordance with the proposal of the Board of Directors, to authorise the Board to decide to acquire and transfer own shares. In substance, the decision of the Meeting means that the Board is authorised, until the next AGM, to make a decision to acquire a number of shares which does not at any time exceed 10 per cent of the total number of shares in the company. Acquisitions will be made on Stockholmsborsen or through an offer which is directed to all shareholders. In addition, the decision of the Meeting authorises the Board, until the next AGM, to divest bought-back shares in connection with acquisition of companies or operations other than on Stockholmsborsen. The objective of the authorisation is to give the Board of Directors an opportunity, during the period until the next AGM, to cover the company's undertaking in accordance with the existing warrant scheme and the proposed call option scheme and to give the company the opportunity to buy back shares and use them to finance future acquisitions of companies or operations.
Call options
The Meeting decided, in accordance with the proposal of the Board of Directors, to issue call options for bought-back shares and to transfer bought-back shares in connection with a call for exercising of such call options. In substance, the decision of the Meeting means that the company will issue not more than 192,500 call options for bought-back Munters shares to approximately 100 senior executives in the Munters Group. Each call option shall entitle the holder, during the period 1 September 2005 - 31 March 2006, to acquire one Munters share for a price equivalent to 145 per cent of the average of the highest and the lowest prices paid on Stockholmsborsen during the application period, 30 April 2002 - 7 May 2002. The call options shall be transferred at a market price calculated by Handelsbanken Securities in accordance with an established valuation model (Black and Scholes).
CEO speech
President and CEO Lennart Evrell summarized fiscal 2001:
-- Net sales during the year increased by 22 per cent to SEK 3,894M -- Operating earnings for the year improved by 31 per cent to SEK 401M -- Earnings per share rose by 30 per cent to SEK 9.57
Further he continued with a short presentation of the results of the first quarter 2002 which was published earlier today:
-- Operating earnings increased by 19 per cent to SEK 86M
-- Acquisition of Polygon, Norway and Glacier-Cor, USA added net
sales of SEK 124M
-- Strong growth within HumiCool
-- Earnings per share rose by 22 per cent to SEK 1.97
Lennart Evrell closed his speach with a presentation of the acquisition of Polygon.
Stockholm April 25, 2002 Munters AB (publ)
For further information, please contact: Lennart Evrell, CEO Tel: 08-626 63 03 Mob: 070-588 15 15 Bernt Ingman, CFO Tel: 08-626 63 06 Mob: 070-672 74 54 Soren Sjostrom, VP Corporate Tel: 08-626 63 08 Mob: 070-600 22 44 Communication
Munters is the world leader in humidity control with products and services for dehumidification, humidification and cooling of air. Customers are found in a wide range of segments, the most important being insurance-, utilities-, food-, pharma- and electronics-industries. Manufacturing and sales are carried out via the Group's own companies in more than 25 countries in Europe, Americas, and Asia. The Group has 2,900 employees and net sales of SEK 4,100 million. Munters is listed on Stockholmsborsen, the Stockholm Stock Exchange. For more information see www.munters.com
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http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/25/20020425BIT01950/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/25/20020425BIT01950/wkr0002.pdf