Coca-Cola HBC AG

Post 2021 AGM Shareholder Engagement – Update Statement

 

 

Zug, Switzerland – 17 December 2021 – In accordance with Provision 4 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, Coca-Cola HBC AG ("Coca-Cola HBC" or the "Company") is providing an update to the statement made on 22 June 2022 in relation to the voting outcomes of Resolution 7 and Resolution 9 (the "Resolutions") at its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") which were advisory votes to approve the Company's UK Remuneration Report and Swiss Remuneration Report respectively.

 

The Board understands the sensitivities around the issue of executive renumeration and it had consulted with and received the support from its largest shareholders on the decisions made in the months prior to the AGM.

 

At the AGM, shareholders representing approximately 72% of the votes cast, voted in favour of the Resolutions. Following the AGM, the Company and the Chair of the Remuneration Committee has continued its engagement with shareholders and their proxy advisors on remuneration issues, in particular to understand the reasons why certain shareholders were unable to support these Resolutions.

 

The Company is grateful to those shareholders that took the time to express their views and understands that shareholders concerns were primarily connected to the adjustment of targets contained in the Company's incentive arrangements, in particular the original targets relating to the 2018 Performance Share Plan awards. Whilst the Remuneration Committee has sought to ensure that these incentive arrangements continued to align with their original intent given the impact of Covid-19, the Remuneration Committee acknowledges that shareholders have a range of views as to the appropriateness of such adjustments. The Remuneration Committee believes that the adjustments made were necessary to retain and incentivise the broader management team, in addition to the executive leadership and CEO. These individuals were directly responsible for navigating the Company through the Covid turbulence and ensuring the resilience and strong recovery of the business.

 

The Company would like to thank all the shareholders that have taken part in the engagement processes, and for the feedback provided. The Company will continue its constructive dialogue with shareholders and seek to incorporate this feedback into future remuneration decisions.

 

In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, a further update will be provided in the Company's annual report and accounts published in 2022.

 

 

Enquires

Coca‑Cola HBC Group

Investors and Analysts:
Joanna Kennedy Investor Relations Director	Tel: +44 7802 427505  joanna.kennedy@cchellenic.com
Jemima Benstead Investor Relations Manager	Tel: +44 7740 535130 jemima.benstead@cchellenic.com
Marios Matar Investor Relations Manager	Tel: +306974443335 marios.matar@cchellenic.com
Media:
David Hart Group Communication Director	Tel: +41 41 726 0143  david.hart@cchellenic.com

 

 

About Coca-Cola HBC

Coca-Cola HBC is a growth-focused consumer packaged goods business and strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. We create value for all our stakeholders by supporting the socio-economic development of the communities in which we operate and we believe building a more positive environmental impact is integral to our future growth. Together, we and our customers serve more than 600 million consumers across a broad geographic footprint of 28 countries on three continents. Our portfolio is one of the strongest, broadest and most flexible in the beverage industry, offering consumer-leading beverage brands in the sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, plant-based, ready-to-drink tea, coffee, adult sparkling and premium spirits categories. These beverages include Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Schweppes, Kinley, Costa, Valser, Romerquelle, Fanta, Sprite, Powerade, FuzeTea, Dobry, Cappy, Monster and Adez. We foster an open and inclusive work environment amongst our more than 26,000 employees and we are ranked among the top sustainability performers in ESG benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, CDP, MSCI ESG and FTSE4Good.

 

Coca-Cola HBC has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:CCH) and is listed on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX:EEE). For more information, please visit https://www.coca-colahellenic.com.