Notice of Annual General Meeting
2017 February 24, 13:00 CET
Gothenburg, 24 February 2017:
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Aktiebolaget SKF will be held at SKF Kristinedal, Byfogdegatan 4, Gothenburg, Sweden, at 13.00 on Wednesday, 29 March 2017. The doors are open from 11.00. Please note that refreshments will be served, prior to the Annual General Meeting, between 11.00 and 12.30.
Annual General
Meeting
For the right to participate at the meeting, shareholders must be
recorded in the shareholders' register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB
by Thursday, 23 March 2017 and must notify the company at
the latest on the same day by letter to Computershare AB, “AGM 2017
of AB SKF”, Box 610, SE-182 16 Danderyd, Sweden, or via the
company's website www.skf.com, or by phone
+46 31 337 25 50 (between 09.00 and 16.00). When
notifying the company, preferably in writing, this should include
details of name, address, telephone number, registered shareholding
and number of advisors, if any. Where representation is being made
by proxy, the original of the proxy form shall be sent to the
company before the annual general meeting. Shareholders whose
shares are registered in the name of a trustee must have the shares
registered temporarily in their own name in order to take part in
the meeting. Any such re-registration for the purpose of
establishing voting rights shall take place so that the shareholder
is recorded in the shareholders’ register by Thursday, 23
March 2017. This means that the shareholder should give notice of
his/her wish to be included in the shareholders' register to the
trustee well in advance before that date.
Agenda
- Opening of the Annual General Meeting
- Election of a Chairman for the meeting
- Drawing up and approval of the voting list
- Approval of agenda
- Election of persons to verify the minutes
- Consideration of whether the meeting has been duly convened
- Presentation of annual report and audit report as well as consolidated accounts and audit report for the Group
- Address by the President
- Matter of adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet
- Resolution regarding distribution of profits
- Matter of discharge of the Board members and the President from liability
- Determination of number of Board members and deputy members
- Determination of fee for the Board of Directors
- Election of Board members and deputy Board
members
14.1 Leif Östling
14.2 Peter Grafoner
14.3 Lars Wedenborn
14.4 Baba Kalyani
14.5 Hock Goh
14.6 Marie Bredberg
14.7 Nancy Gougarty
14.8 Alrik Danielson
14.9 Ronnie Leten
14.10 Barb Samardzich - Election of Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Determination of fee for the auditors
- Election of auditors and deputy auditors
- The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on principles of remuneration for Group Management
- The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017
- Resolution regarding Nomination Committee
Proposal under item
10
The Board of Directors proposes a dividend for the financial year
2016 of SEK 5.50 per share. It is proposed that shareholders with
holdings recorded on Friday, 31 March 2017 be entitled to
receive the proposed dividend. Subject to resolution by the Annual
General Meeting in accordance with this proposal, it is expected
that Euroclear will distribute the dividend on Wednesday, 5
April 2017.
Proposals under items 2, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16 and 17
The Nomination Committee formed according to a resolution of the
Annual General Meeting 2016 to represent all shareholders of the
company consists of, besides the Chairman of the Board of
Directors, representatives of FAM, Alecta, Skandia and AFA
Insurance, shareholders who together represent close to 40% of the
votes of the total number of company shares. The Nomination
Committee has informed the company about the following
proposal:
- that Leif Östling is elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting;
- that the Board of Directors shall consist of ten members and no deputy members;
- that the Board of Directors for the period up to the end of the next Annual General Meeting, receive a fee according to the following:
a) a firm allotment of SEK 7,512,000 to be distributed with SEK 2,008,000 to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and SEK 688,000 to each of the other Board members elected by the Annual General Meeting and not employed by the company; and
b) an allotment for committee work
to be distributed with SEK 233,000 to the chairman of the Audit
Committee, with SEK 166,000 to each of the other members of the
Audit Committee, with SEK 133,000 to the chairman of the
Remuneration Committee and with SEK 106,000 to each of the other
members of the Remuneration Committee.
A prerequisite for obtaining an allotment is that the Board member
is elected by the Annual General Meeting and not employed by the
company.
- re-election of the Board members Leif Östling,
Peter Grafoner, Lars Wedenborn, Baba Kalyani, Hock Goh, Marie
Bredberg, Nancy Gougarty and Alrik Danielson. It is proposed that
Ronnie Leten and Barb Samardzich are to be newly elected. Leif
Östling is proposed to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Ronnie Leten has a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the
University of Hasselt, Belgium. He is since 2009 President and CEO
of Atlas Copco and has experience from several leading positions
within the Atlas Copco Group 1997-2009 and 1985-1995. He is also
Chairman of the Board of Directors of AB Electrolux. Barb
Samardzich has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from
the University of Florida, a Master of Science in Mechanical
Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Science
in Engineering Management from Wayne State University. She has
experience from several management positions within Ford Motor
Company 1990-2016. She is also a Board member of Adient plc,
Velodyne LidDAR and MTS Systems (a presentation of the proposed
board can be found at the company’s website www.skf.com). Lena
Treschow Torell and Joe Loughrey have declined re-election; and
- that the auditor during the term of office is
paid for work performed according to approved invoice; and
- re-election of PWC as auditors until the close of the Annual General Meeting 2021 in accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee.
Proposal under item
18
The Board of Directors has decided to submit the following
principles of remuneration for SKF’s Group Management to the Annual
General Meeting.
Group Management is defined as the President and the other members
of the management team.
The Board of Directors’ proposal is that the remuneration of Group Management members shall be based on market competitive conditions and at the same time support the shareholders' best interests. The total remuneration package for a Group Management member shall primarily consist of fixed salary, variable salary, performance shares, pension benefits, conditions for notice of termination and severance pay, and other benefits such as a company car. The objective of the principles of remuneration is to ensure that the SKF Group can attract and retain the best people in order to support the SKF Group's mission and business strategy.
The fixed salary shall be at a market competitive level. Competence, responsibility and performance shall be taken into account when the fixed salary is established.
The variable salary runs according to a performance-based program and the maximum variable salary is capped at a certain percentage of the fixed annual salary varying between 40 and 70%.
The Board of Directors proposes that a decision be taken at the Annual General Meeting on SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017. The programme is proposed to cover not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the SKF Group with an opportunity to be allotted, free of charge, SKF B shares. (See further item 19 below.)
SKF strives to establish pension plans based on defined contribution models.
A Group Management member may terminate his/her employment by giving six months' notice. In the event of termination of employment at the request of the company, employment shall according to the agreement cease immediately. A severance payment related to the number of years’ service shall, however, in this case be paid out, provided that it shall always be maximized to two years' fixed salary.
The Board of Directors also proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to authorize the Board of Directors to, in certain cases, deviate from the principles of remuneration decided by the Annual General Meeting.
Proposal under item
19
Background
At the Annual General Meeting in 2008 the SKF Group introduced a
long-term performance share programme for senior managers and key
employees (SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2008). Since 2008 the
Annual General Meeting has resolved each year upon a performance
share programme. The terms and conditions of SKF’s Performance
Share Programme 2017 are the same as for SKF’s Performance Share
Programme 2016 that was resolved at the Annual General Meeting
2016.
SKF’s Performance
Share Programme 2017
The Board proposes, in order to continue to link the long-term
interests of the participants and the shareholders, that a decision
be taken at the Annual General Meeting 2017 on SKF’s Performance
Share Programme 2017.
The programme is proposed to cover not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the SKF Group with an opportunity to be allotted, free of charge, SKF B shares in accordance with the following principal terms and guidelines.
Under the programme, not more than in total 1,000,000 SKF B shares may be allotted to not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the Group. The number of shares that may be allotted must be related to the degree of achievement of the Total Value Added (TVA) target level, as defined by the Board, for the TVA development for the financial years 2017–2019 compared to the financial year 2016. TVA is a simplified, economic value-added model promoting greater operating profit, capital efficiency and profitable growth. TVA is the operating profit, less the pre-tax cost of capital. After the expiry of the financial year 2019 a comparison is made between the average TVA for the financial years 2017–2019 and TVA for the financial year 2016. The TVA change is expressed as a percentage.
The allocation of shares is based on the level of TVA increase. In order for allocation of shares to take place the TVA increase must exceed a certain minimum level (the threshold level). In addition to the threshold level a target level is set. Maximum allotment is awarded if the target level is reached or exceeded.
Provided that the TVA increase reaches the target level, the participants of the programme may be allotted the following maximum number of shares per person within the various key groups:
CEO and President – 30,000 shares
Other members of Group Management – 13,000 shares
Managers of large business units and similar – 4,500 shares
Other senior managers – 3,000 shares
Other key persons – 1,250 shares
If the TVA increase exceeds the threshold level for allotment of shares but the final allotment is below 5% of the target level, payment will be made in cash instead of shares, whereupon the amount of the cash payment shall correspond to the value of the shares calculated on the basis of the closing price for SKF’s B share the day before settlement.
Allotment of shares normally requires that the persons covered by the programme are employed in the SKF Group during the entire calculation period. If all the conditions included in SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017 are met, allotment of shares shall be made free of charge following the expiry of the three year calculation period, i.e. during 2020.
Before the number of shares to be allotted is finally determined, the Board shall examine whether the allotment is reasonable considering SKF’s financial results and position, the conditions on the stock market as well as other circumstances, and if not, as determined by the Board, reduce the number of shares to be awarded to the lower number of shares deemed appropriate by the Board.
The Board is furthermore entitled to introduce an alternative incentive solution for employees in countries where participation in SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017 is not appropriate. Such alternative incentive solution shall, as far as practicable, be formulated employing the same conditions as SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017.
The company has 455,351,068 shares in issue as per 31 January 2017. In order to comply with the obligations of SKF’s Performance Share Programme 2017, a maximum number of 1,000,000 B shares are required, corresponding to approximately 0.2% of the total number of outstanding shares.
Assuming maximum allocation under the Performance Share Programme 2017 and a share price of SEK 170, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 204. On the basis of a share price of SEK 215, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 258. In addition the administrative costs are estimated at approximately MSEK 2.
The Board does not propose for the time being to take any action to hedge the SKF Group’s obligations under the programme. Delivery of shares under the programme shall not take place until 2020.
Majority
requirements
A valid resolution in respect of the Board of Directors’ proposal
at the Annual General Meeting requires that the resolution be
supported by shareholders with more than half of the votes cast or,
in the event of a tied vote, through the Chairman exercising his
casting vote.
Proposal under item
20
The Nomination Committee has informed the company that it will
propose to the Annual General Meeting to resolve:
- that the company shall have a Nomination
Committee formed by one representative of each one of the four
major shareholders with regard to the number of votes held as well
as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. When constituting the
Nomination Committee, the shareholdings on the last banking day in
August 2017 will determine which shareholders are the largest with
regard to the number of votes held. The names of the four
shareholder representatives will be published as soon as they have
been elected, however not later than six months before the Annual
General Meeting in 2018. The Nomination Committee shall remain in
office until a new Nomination Committee has been appointed;
- in the event that the shareholder the member
represents would no longer be one of the four major shareholders
with regard to the number of votes held, such member, if the
Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may resign and a
representative of the shareholder next in turn size-wise with
regard to the number of votes held be offered the opportunity of
being elected in his/her place;
and in the event that a shareholder representative no longer represents the shareholder, the shareholder is asked to elect a new representative to become a member of the Nomination Committee; - that the Nomination Committee, if the
Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may offer the fifth
largest shareholder to elect a member of the Nomination Committee
and thereby increase the Nomination Committee by one additional
shareholder representative;
- that the Nomination Committee is to furnish
proposals on the following matters to be presented to, and resolved
by, the Annual General Meeting in 2018:
a) proposal for Chairman of the Annual General Meeting
b) proposal for Board of Directors
c) proposal for Chairman of the Board of Directors
d) proposal for fee to the Board of Directors
e) proposal for a Nomination Committee ahead of the Annual General Meeting of 2019; and - that the Nomination Committee, when performing its duties, will fulfil the tasks that rest upon the Nomination Committee under the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, among other things to supply the company with certain information in order to enable the company to fulfil its information obligation under the code.
_______________
Number of shares and votes,
and documentation
When this notice is issued, the total number of shares in the
company are 455,351,068, represented by 36,298,533 series A shares
and 419,052,535 series B shares, with a total number of votes of
78,203,787. The company holds no own shares.
The Board of Directors’ complete proposal according to item 18 and 19 of the agenda and the Nomination Committee’s reasoned statement are available at the company and at the company’s homepage, www.skf.com, and will be sent to shareholders who request this and state their address.
Information at the Annual
General Meeting, etc.
The Board of Directors and the President shall, upon request by any
shareholder and where the Board of Directors believes that it may
take place without significant harm to the company, provide
information in respect of any circumstances which may affect the
assessment of a matter on the agenda, any circumstances which may
affect the assessment of the company’s or a subsidiary’s financial
position and the company’s relationship to other group companies.
Anyone who wishes to dispatch questions in advance may do so to AB
SKF, Att. General Counsel, SE-415 50 Gothenburg, Sweden, or by
e-mail: chairman@skf.com.
SKF's web-based financial report in English will be made public on 7 March 2017.
Proxy forms will be available at the company’s homepage, www.skf.com, and may also be requested by letter to Computershare AB, “AGM 2017 of AB SKF”, Box 610, SE-182 16 Danderyd, Sweden or by phone +46 31 337 25 50.
Gothenburg in February 2017
Aktiebolaget SKF
(publ)
The Board of Directors
The information in this press
release is information which AB SKF is required to disclose under
the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. The information
was provided by the above contact persons for publication on 24
February 2017 at 13:00 CET.
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Visit SKF's factory in
Gamlestaden, Gothenburg
Shareholders are welcome to visit SKF's factory in Gamlestaden,
Gothenburg, in connection with the Annual General Meeting, directly
after the close of the Annual General Meeting, alternatively on 30
March 2017 at 09.00. Shareholders that wish to participate shall
notify the requested visiting date, complete name and address to:
SKF Sverige AB, Besöksservice HK3/3, 415 50 Gothenburg
alternatively via email to: Lars.Werner@skf.com. Please
note that the number of participants is limited.
SKF is a leading global supplier
of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services
which include technical support, maintenance and reliability
services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented
in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor
locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2016 were SEK 72 787 million
and the number of employees was 44 868. www.skf.com
® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF
Group.
For further information, please
contact:
Press Relations: Theo Kjellberg, +46
31-337 6576; +46 725-776 576; theo.kjellberg@skf.com
Investor Relations: Patrik Stenberg, +46
31-337 2104; +46 705-472 104; patrik.stenberg@skf.com
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