Reading time: 4 minutesAt the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Swiss Re Ltd on 10 April 2013, the Board of Directors will propose an ordinary dividend of CHF 3.50 per share and an additional special dividend of CHF 4.00 per share. The Board of Directors will further propose the election of Mary Francis as a new independent member of the Board of Directors for a three-year term of office. Swiss Re also publishes today its 2012 Annual Report "Working together, achieving the best" and its Economic Value Management (EVM) 2012 report.
As a reflection of the excellent operating performance achieved during 2012, the Board of Directors proposes to increase the ordinary dividend to CHF 3.50 per share, up from last year's CHF 3.00 per share. In addition, the Board of Directors proposes a special dividend of CHF 4.00 per share. If approved by the Annual General Meeting, the dividends will be paid out to shareholders holding shares on 11 April 2013. This planned return of approximately USD 2.8 billion in capital to shareholders reflects the Group's excellent capital base and its strong capital position.
The Board of Directors further proposes minor changes to the conditional and authorised capital. The authorisation to issue shares under the current authorised capital expires on 20 May 2013, leading the Board to propose to renew such authorisation for another two years until 10 April 2015. Also it seeks approval to continue to exclude existing shareholders' subscription and advanced subscription rights respectively when issuing shares from conditional or authorised capital until 10 April 2015 and to cap the number of such shares to be issued at 74 000 000. The Board furthermore proposes to cancel the authorised capital for the exchange of shares, created in connection with the public exchange offer in 2011.
Proposed election of Mary Francis as new Board member
The Board of Directors nominates Mary Francis as a new non-executive, independent Board member for a three-year term of office. Mary Francis has extensive experience in both government and business at an international level. As a former Director General of the Association of British Insurers, she will add a deep understanding of the insurance industry to Swiss Re's Board of Directors.
A British citizen born in 1948, Mary Francis is currently Senior Independent Director of Centrica plc and a senior advisor to Chatham House. She was formerly a member of the boards of directors of the Bank of England, Aviva plc, Alliance & Leicester plc, Cable & Wireless Communications plc, and St Modwen Properties plc. From 1999 to 2005, Mary Francis was Director General of the Association of British Insurers. Prior to this, she held several senior positions with the UK Civil Service.
Re-election of current Board members
The Board of Directors proposes the re-election of Walter B. Kielholz, Malcolm D. Knight, Carlos E. Represas and Jean-Pierre Roth, each for a three-year term of office. Details and biographies for Board members proposed for re-election are available on www.swissre.com/media/media_kit/
For the voting process on the proposed agenda items, Swiss Re will be among the first Swiss companies to introduce an online platform where shareholders can register and provide voting instructions electronically.
Publication of 2012 Annual Report
Today, Swiss Re publishes its 2012 Annual Report "Working together, achieving the best", consisting of the Business and the Financial Report including financial statements. The report is available online and can be downloaded from www.swissre.com/investors/financial_information.
For the bondholders of Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Swiss Re also publishes today the Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.'s Consolidated 2012 Annual Report in English containing Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.'s audited annual consolidated financial statements and audited annual statutory financial statements for 2012. The full report is available online and can be downloaded from www.swissre.com/investors/financial_information.
Group EVM income at USD 5.2 billion in 2012
In 2012, Swiss Re generated a Group Economic Value Management (EVM) income of USD 5.2 billion, a strong increase compared to USD 0.8 billion in 2011. After taking into account capital costs, EVM profit was USD 4.2 billion, compared to the USD 1.7 billion loss in the previous year 2011.
As of 31 December 2012, Economic net worth (ENW) increased to USD 33.9 billion, up from USD 29.0 billion at the end of December 2011. Economic net worth per share was USD 98.87 compared to USD 84.72 at the end of 2011.
Economic Value Management (EVM) is Swiss Re's proprietary method of measuring economic value creation on a market consistent basis, with an explicit recognition of capital costs. Swiss Re adopted the EVM framework in 2003 and uses it to support business and strategic financial decisions and in setting variable compensation of the Group.
Media Contact:
Swiss Re AG Media Relations Zurich Phone 043 285 7171 www.swissre.com
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Source: Swiss Re AG, Press release