Proposals by the Board of Directors of Nokian Tyres plc to the Annual General Meeting

HELSINKI, Feb 02, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Nokian Tyres plc Stock Exchange Release February 2, 2017 at 8:00 a.m.

The Board's proposals to the Annual General Meeting of April 10, 2017 concern the payment of dividends, change to Articles of Association, the remuneration of the Board, the election of the members of Nokian Tyres' Board of Directors and the Auditor, authorizing the Board to decide on the repurchase the company's own shares and Authorization for a share issue.

1. Dividend payment

The Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 1.53 per share be paid for the period ending on December 31, 2016.

The dividend shall be paid to shareholders included in the shareholder list maintained by Euroclear Finland on the record date of April 12, 2017. The proposed dividend payment date is April 27, 2017.

2. Change to Articles of Association

The Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting a change in Article 4 of the Articles of Association: Current wording of Article 4: The Company's administration and proper organization of operations shall be the responsibility of the Board of Directors, consisting of a minimum of three and a maximum of eight members, in accordance with the decision made by the General Meeting of the Shareholders. The term of office of the members of the Board of Directors ends at the closing of the first Annual General Meeting following the election. The Board of Directors shall elect a Chairman from among its members until the closing of the next Annual General Meeting.

New proposed wording of Article 4: The Company's administration and proper organization of operations shall be the responsibility of the Board of Directors, consisting of a minimum of four and a maximum of eight members, in accordance with the decision made by the General Meeting of the Shareholders. The term of office of the members of the Board of Directors ends at the closing of the first Annual General Meeting following the election. The Board of Directors shall elect a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman from among its members until the closing of the next Annual General Meeting.

3. Remuneration

The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Nokian Tyres' Board of Directors proposes the following as regards remuneration: The monthly fee paid to the Chairman of the Board would be EUR 6,667 or EUR 80,000 per year, the monthly fee paid to the Deputy Chairman of the Board and to the Chairman of the Audit Committee would be EUR 5,000 or EUR 60,000 per year, and the monthly fee paid to Members of the Board would be EUR 3,333 or EUR 40,000 per year.

50% of the annual fee to be paid in cash and 50% in Company shares to the effect that in the period from April 11 to April 30, 2017, EUR 40,000 worth of Nokian Tyres plc shares will be purchased at the stock exchange on behalf of the Chairman of the Board, EUR 30,000 worth of Nokian Tyres plc shares will be purchased at the stock exchange on behalf of the Deputy Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit committee, and EUR 20,000 worth of shares will be purchased on behalf of each Board Member.

The company is liable to pay any asset transfer tax which may arise from the acquisition of shares.

Each member of the Board will receive a meeting fee of EUR 600 per attended meeting. If a Board member's habitual residence is outside Finland, the meeting fee is EUR 1,200 per attended meeting.

Travel expenses to be compensated in accordance with the company's travel policy.

4. Members of the Board and the Auditor

The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Nokian Tyres' Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the Board comprise of eight members and that all current seven members; Heikki Allonen, Hille Korhonen, Tapio Kuula, Raimo Lind, Veronica Lindholm, Inka Mero and Petteri Walldén be re-elected for the one-year term.

New proposed member: George Rietbergen, COO (dept. CEO) Arriva Nederland.

All Board members are independent of the company.  All Board members are independent of any major shareholders of the company.

Additional information on the current Board members is available in the Investor information section of Nokian Tyres' website at https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/investors/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/

The Board of Directors of Nokian Tyres proposes to the Annual General Meeting that KPMG Oy Ab, authorised public accountants, be elected as auditors and that fees be paid according to current practice.

5. The Board asks for the AGM's authorization to decide on the repurchase the company's own shares 

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders authorize the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 5,000,000 shares in the Company by using funds in the unrestricted shareholders' equity. The proposed number of shares corresponds to 3.7% of all shares of the Company.

The shares may be repurchased in order to improve the capital structure of the Company, to carry out acquisitions or other arrangements related to the Company's business, to be transferred for other purposes, or to be cancelled, for the Company's incentive plans or, if according to the Board of Directors' comprehension, it is the interest of shareholders.

The price paid for the shares repurchased under the authorization shall be based on the market price of the Company's share in public trading. The minimum price to be paid would be the lowest market price of the share quoted in public trading during the authorization period and the maximum price the highest market price quoted during the authorization period.

Company's own shares can be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shareholdings of the shareholders (directed repurchase).

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, however, at most until October 10, 2018.

6. The Board asks for the AGM's authorization for a share issue

The Board of Directors proposes that at the Annual General Meeting the Board should be authorized to make a decision to offer no more than 25,000,000 shares through a share issue, or by granting special rights under chapter 10 section 1 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act that entitle to shares (including convertible bonds), on one or more occasions.

The Board may decide to issue new shares or shares held by the company. The maximum number of shares included in the proposed authorization accounts for approximately 18.4% of the company's shares.

The authorization includes the right to issue shares or special rights through private offering, in other words to deviate from the shareholders' pre-emptive right subject to provisions of the law.

Under the authorization, the Board of Directors will be entitled to decide on the terms and conditions of a share issue, or the granting of special rights under chapter 10, section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act, including the recipients of shares or special rights entitling to shares, and the compensation to be paid. It is proposed that this authorization be exercised for purposes determined by the Board of Directors.

The subscription price of new shares shall be recognized under unrestricted equity reserve. The consideration payable for Company's own shares shall be recognised under unrestricted equity reserve.

The authorization will be effective for two years from the decision made at the Annual General Meeting. This authorization will invalidate all other Board authorizations regarding share issues and convertible bonds.

Nokian Tyres plc
Board of Directors

For further information:

Anne Leskelä,
Vice President, Finance and Control,
tel. +358-10-401-7481

Distribution: Nasdaq Helsinki, media and www.nokiantyres.com 

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Related Links

https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/investors/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/