Nestlé S.A. convened its 158th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne, with shareholders giving strong support to all proposals put forward by the Board of Directors.

A total of 986 shareholders or their proxies attended in person, collectively representing 58.5% of the company’s capital and 80.3% of shares entitled to vote. The Independent Representative voted on behalf of 99.4% of the represented shares.

One of the key developments at the AGM was the election of Laurent Freixe, current Nestlé CEO, to the company’s Board of Directors. Additionally, all existing Board members were re-elected for another one-year term. Shareholders also confirmed the appointments to the Compensation Committee.

Pablo Isla will continue as Lead Independent Director and Vice Chairman of the Board, and he will remain Chair of the Nomination Committee. Dick Boer retains his role as Chair of the Compensation Committee, while Hanne de Mora and Renato Fassbind will continue to lead the Sustainability Committee and Audit Committee, respectively.

Shareholders approved the annual review and financial statements, including a proposed dividend of CHF 3.05 per share—marking the 29th consecutive annual increase and a five-centime rise from the previous year. A proposed capital reduction was also greenlit.

Nestlé’s Non-Financial Statement for 2024 and the Compensation Report 2024 received shareholder approval, along with the total compensation budgets for both the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. Ernst & Young Ltd was re-elected as the company’s statutory auditor for the 2025 financial year.

The Board and its committees for the upcoming year are as follows:

Board of Directors:
Paul Bulcke, Laurent Freixe, Pablo Isla, Renato Fassbind, Hanne Jimenez de Mora, Dick Boer, Patrick Aebischer, Dinesh Paliwal, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chris Leong, Luca Maestri, Rainer Blair, Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, Geraldine Matchett

Chair’s and Corporate Governance Committee:
Paul Bulcke, Laurent Freixe, Pablo Isla, Renato Fassbind, Hanne Jimenez de Mora, Dick Boer

Compensation Committee:
Dick Boer, Pablo Isla, Patrick Aebischer, Dinesh Paliwal

Nomination Committee:
Pablo Isla, Paul Bulcke, Dinesh Paliwal, Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch

Sustainability Committee:
Hanne Jimenez de Mora, Dick Boer, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chris Leong

Audit Committee:
Renato Fassbind, Luca Maestri, Rainer Blair, Geraldine Matchett

 

Editorial contact:
Editor: Kiran Grewal kgrewal@kennedys.co.uk