Zurich, Switzerland, May 5, 2009 – Shareholders of ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, have approved all proposals submitted by the Board of Directors to the company's annual general meeting in Zurich today.
All eight members of the Board were re-elected for another annual term. The Board of Directors re-elected Hubertus von Grünberg to the position of Chairman of the Board.
Shareholders voted for a payout of 0.48 Swiss francs per share for 2008, to be paid in the form of a reduction in the nominal value of the shares. They agreed to reclassify legal reserves to increase ABB’s share capital flexibility, and to renew the authorized share capital, a measure that allows the company to issue as many as 200 million shares during the next two years.
A total of 1,369 shareholders attended the annual general meeting and 52.5 percent of the total share capital was represented. They approved the annual report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for 2008.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.