Christel Johannhörster arrives at the station by train from Düsseldorf an hour before the Annual General Meeting. “That really appealed to me,” enthuses the pensioner: “at last it’s not just these virtual things again!” The woman with a black fabric bag and short, gray hair owns shares in a number of companies in the Rhine and Ruhr regions – and she insists on attending general meetings. “You’ll learn a lot more than you read in the press.” And Johannhörster clears up a prejudice right away: “It’s not about the coffee or the sausage.”
So a renaissance begins on Thursday that seemed almost improbable: that of the old shareholders’ meeting. Some corporations may be very happy that they are allowed to move the so-called high mass of shareholder democracy to the Internet during the corona pandemic. Deutsche Telekom, on the other hand, has again invited its – traditionally numerous – shareholders to Bonn. Ironically, one might think, Telekom actually earns its money by helping people not speak face to face. But so be it.
Instead, hundreds of shareholders now stream through the airport-like security gates at the entrance. Some, by no means all, leave their masks on even after sitting down on one of the gray chairs. Escalators take shareholders down to the “Catering Area” where they can choose between hash browns and pea soup at lunchtime. “We are all happy that this is a real general meeting,” calls the chairman of the supervisory board, Ulrich Lehner, into the microphone in front of the plenum – and gets the first round of applause of the day.
In fact, the general meeting is a high-ranking body of every stock corporation: only it elects representatives to the supervisory board, only it makes the final decision on the dividend. Nevertheless, fewer and fewer shareholders have tended to take part in the meetings of many companies in recent years. In times of contact restrictions, the federal government then allowed companies to move general meetings to the Internet. According to a draft by the Federal Ministry of Justice, the virtual meeting should now become a fixed option in the German Stock Corporation Act, even after the pandemic. Of course, the majority of participants in the general meeting would have to vote in favor of moving the event permanently to the Internet.
Virtual meetings are considered to be more efficient and easier for investors from abroad
Proponents point out that, for example, investors from abroad can take part in virtual formats much more easily; some companies report higher attendance rates than “real” meetings. The effort is less for everyone involved. “So our virtual format has many advantages without any relevant disadvantages,” advertised Eon boss Leonhard Birnbaum at the most recent general meeting of his energy company.
Live and in colour: the CEO of Deutsche Telekom, Timotheus Höttges, at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Bonn.
(Photo: Henning Kaiser/dpa)
On the other hand, a face-to-face meeting also offers private investors the opportunity to give the Management Board their opinion “live”, to ask questions and queries that the company must answer truthfully. “We are firmly convinced that only the general meeting in person enables a genuinely interactive debate,” says Frederik Beckendorff from the German Association for the Protection of Securities (DSW). From their point of view, however, shareholder meetings are also an extremely important stage.
A real debate broke out on Thursday, above all about whether the still CEO of Deutsche Post, Frank Appel, should now also become chairman of the supervisory board at Telekom. “Two top positions are one too many,” criticizes Henrik Pontzen from Union Investment, the fund house of the Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken – although the double burden is only temporary: Appel wants to give up the top position at the post office in just over a year.
“I was speechless when I saw Mr. Appel’s nomination,” complained Ingo Speich from Deka, the savings bank fund company. Appel’s expertise is not questioned. “But when planning your appointment, we would be interested to know when you actually want to work at Deutsche Telekom.” According to Speich, Appel should decide on a company as soon as possible. “Even for the best manager, these two mandates are too much.”
Post boss Appel wants to give up tasks so that he has enough time for Telekom
On Thursday, Appel will walk the six-minute walk from the Post tower to the Telekom general meeting to campaign for his election to the supervisory board. Appel says he is familiar with the minority stake that the federal government still holds in both Post and Telekom. The same union, namely Verdi, also has a say in both groups. “I will already hand over part of my responsibility in July,” promises Appel. So he has enough time for Telekom.
The outgoing chairman of the supervisory board, Lehner, also protects his desired successor. “Available candidates of this caliber are rare,” says the 75-year-old, who headed the control panel for 14 years. “We are glad that we were able to win Mr. Appel.” In fact, Appel is finally elected to the supervisory board with almost 84 percent of the votes – not a great result, but not a close one either. On Thursday evening he will then be elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board by the control committee.
At the end of this day full of prospects of better mobile phone reception on the train, the planned partial sale of the mobile phone towers, after the last piece of junk and coffee from the paper cup, what remains above all is the longing for a reunion. “We wish the Management Board and the Supervisory Board every success,” says Deka representative Speich, “and look forward to a general meeting next year.”
Upon arrival, Christel Johannhörster checked when the trains were going back to Düsseldorf. Very classic, on the posted timetable.