At the annual meeting of AutoWallis several important issues such as dividend payments were decided by the companyʼs shareholders besides the adoption of last yearʼs report and the election of a new member of the board of directors, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.
The company decided on dividends to be paid to the pre-emptive shareholders – a total of HUF 575 million – but the entitlement to dividends on all pre-emptive shares was also terminated, so that next year only holders of ordinary shares will be entitled to dividends.
The indirect holder of the papers, Tibor Veres, indicated that he wanted to return the dividends to AutoWallis, thus supporting the financing of the implementation of the growth strategy.
The managementʼs plan is to adjust the amount of dividends to the financing needs of the group, taking into account the current interest and yield environment, the company says.
According to the press release, AutoWallis plans to double its revenue over the next five years, and will present its strategy to achieve this target in May.
At the annual meeting, the company also decided to approve the companyʼs IFRS financial statements for 2018. The groupʼs sales revenue in 2018 (excluding turnover between group members) was HUF 65.5 billion, its pre-tax profit was HUF 1.1 bln, and after-tax profit was HUF 830 million. Based on all of these, the EBITDA result category (financial items, profit before tax and depreciation) was put at HUF 2.1 bln.
In another significant decision, shareholders elected Gábor Ormosy, CEO of AutoWallis, a member of the board of directors.
He said that the company will keep going down the road it set out on in February, when the shares were introduced on the stock exchange. Regarding the growth strategy, Ormosy emphasized that the company is currently looking for investment opportunities in Hungary, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
During the implementation of the strategy, AutoWallis could also expand through the acquisition of new brands and markets and the integration of new synergies.
The CEO added that the company would like to see its shares included in the Budapest Stock Exchange Premium category as soon as possible.
