Bayer stock of great importance on the international financial markets

Another topic raised during the discussion was the proportion of Bayer stock in the hands of foreign investors. “We are proud of our stockholder structure,” the Management Board Chairman said, remarking that in recent years the company has managed to convince the most prominent global funds of the benefits of its strategy. A current survey on Bayer stock ownership by institutional investors showed that 78 percent of the capital covered by the survey is held by foreign investors, with nearly half of Bayer’s institutional stockholders based in the United States. “The high proportion of foreign investors mirrors the considerable importance of Bayer stock on the international financial markets,” Wenning commented.

Numerous visitors to the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting expressed their concern about the planned carbon monoxide pipeline linking the Krefeld-Uerdingen and Dormagen sites. “We are convinced both of the pipeline’s safety and its necessity,” Wenning emphasized. Without this pipeline, he said, the Krefeld site’s prospects for success in the international competitive arena would clearly be diminished. He explained that not only are the Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen chemical park sites dependent on the safe and smooth supply of raw materials, but so are manufacturing companies in North Rhine-Westphalia that procure supplies from these sites. Stressed the Bayer CEO: “It is important to remember that pipelines are the best means of transporting many liquid and gaseous substances – both from a safety and an environmental point of view.”

The Bayer Cross and company colors featured prominently in the lobby of the Cologne Exhibition Center.

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The Bayer Cross and company colors featured prominently in the lobby of the Cologne Exhibition Center.

Wenning pointed out that the Bayer Group has decades of experience in the safe handling of carbon monoxide and has operated a number of supply pipelines for years. On top of that, Bayer’s safety precautions go beyond those required by law. Wenning emphasized that Bayer MaterialScience is implementing this project in compliance with applicable law and that the pipeline’s construction has been approved by the Düsseldorf regional government and the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia. “We take the interests and the concerns of our neighbors very seriously and are providing comprehensive information. This we will continue to do.” Wenning also spoke of the company’s efforts to cover its personnel requirements for the future. “As a company that applies the results of scientific research worldwide, Bayer enjoys an outstanding reputation among up-and-coming scientists as an attractive employer.” The Bayer CEO said the company has no difficulty in attracting highly qualified new employees for its research and development activities.

Another topic of discussion was the company’s commitment to climate protection. This is a global challenge that Bayer has long been addressing, Wenning explained, pointing out that the company has been included since 2005 in the “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index” – the world’s first index that evaluates companies in terms of their efforts to help protect the earth’s climate. This year, in fact, Bayer was the only European chemical company to receive the “Best in Class” designation.

Bayer CEO Werner Wenning (right) and Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Manfred Schneider were pleased with the outcome of the Annual Stockholders' Meeting.

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Bayer CEO Werner Wenning (right) and Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Manfred Schneider were pleased with the outcome of the Annual Stockholders' Meeting.

One stockholder asked about the company’s support for cultural activities and sports. “I can assure you that cultural affairs are very important to us,” Wenning replied. “This season we are celebrating 100 years of the Bayer Cultural Affairs Department.” The Bayer Chairman stressed that the company’s corporate social responsibility program will continue to include support for recreational, youth and disabled sports. In professional sports, the focus is now confined to the Bayer 04 Leverkusen soccer club and the opportunities for corporate advertising that this provides. “The money we are saving in this area is instead being invested in young people’s education,” Wenning explained, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation having been endowed with an additional €10 million for this purpose. The anticipated investment return of some €500,000 per year will be used to help schools finance projects or equip classrooms for science teaching, for example.

Further questions posed by the stockholders related to the remuneration of the Supervisory Board and the members of the Works Councils, the company’s policy on donations, the delisting of Bayer shares from the New York Stock Exchange, the safety of Trasylol®, child labor in India and the planned construction of a coal-fired power plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen. In the voting that followed, the stockholders approved the proposals of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management by large majorities (see Resolutions of the Annual Stockholders' Meeting).