1,804 shareholders took part in the 19th General Meeting of Shareholders of Swisscom Ltd in Zurich's Oerlikon district. They represented 70.9 percent of the shares with voting rights. The number of Swisscom shareholders registered in total was around 79,000 at the end of March.
According to Hansueli Loosli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Swisscom can look back on a pleasing year: "We have successfully held our own in a demanding environment. In terms of the number of TV and broadband connections as well as with respect to bundled offers, we have once again seen growth and have been able to preserve our strong market position in Switzerland. The challenges facing us in 2016 were ever stronger competition, lower roaming prices and the flattening-off of participant growth. All of this caused a drop in turnover in Swiss core business. We are continuing to invest heavily in the development of our network and IT infrastructure; last year we invested almost CHF 1.8 billion in Switzerland alone. We are convinced that this will further strengthen the company's capital assets and help us remain healthy in the face of intense competition. After all, fast Internet and good coverage even in more remote regions are key factors for our customers."
The shareholders approved the management report, the consolidated financial statement and the financial statement for 2016. In addition, they agreed to the request of the Board of Directors to set the ordinary dividend at CHF 22 gross per share, as in the previous year. The dividend yield is around 4.8 percent – based on the current closing price. The total dividend amount is CHF 1,140 million. On 7 April 2017, shareholders will be paid a net dividend of CHF 14.30 per share after deduction of federal withholding tax of 35 percent.
For the current year 2017, Swisscom expects a net turnover of around CHF 11.6 billion and EBITDA of around CHF 4.2 billion. The development of the network infrastructure in Switzerland and in Italy continues to require high investments: Swisscom is anticipating a total of around CHF 2.4 billion, including over CHF 1.75 billion in Switzerland. "If Swisscom achieves its goals, we are once again planning to propose a dividend of CHF 22 per share to the General Meeting of Shareholders 2018 for the financial year 2017," says Hansueli Loosli.
The Meeting formally approved the actions of the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board for the financial year 2016. In an advisory vote, the Meeting noted and approved the remuneration report.
Former federal representative Hans Werder left the Board of Directors. Renzo Simoni was appointed to succeed him as the state representative by the Council of Ministers on 9 December 2016 for a term of office lasting until the conclusion of the ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2018. Renzo Simoni (1961) has a doctorate in civil engineering from ETH Zurich and has been Chief Executive Officer of AlpTransit Gotthard AG since 2007. He will give up operational management as of the end of June 2017. At the General Meeting of Shareholders, the one-year term of office of all other members of the Board of Directors came to an end. All members of the Board of Directors, the Chairman and the members of the Remuneration Committee were re-elected by the General Meeting of Shareholders individually for one year.
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