MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - More than half of the Dax companies are planning an online annual general meeting again this year. This is the result of a survey conducted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur among the 40 largest companies on the German stock market. So far, ten Dax companies have opted for a shareholder meeting in presence or for a hybrid format - including BASF, Henkel, Airbus and Porsche. In contrast, 22 groups want to hold the meeting online only. For the remaining companies, the decision is still pending or they did not provide any information.

Shareholder representatives criticize the online-only event as insufficient. "The presence general meeting is a very important part of the share culture in Germany," said Daniela Bergdolt, vice president of the Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW). The critical dialog between companies and shareholders can best be implemented there, she added.

The option of a shareholders' meeting without the physical presence of shareholders was introduced at the beginning of the Corona pandemic. The annual shareholder meetings, which usually bring together thousands of people to vote on dividend payouts, capital measures and the discharge of the executive and supervisory boards, were allowed to take place online. Last summer, the Bundestag then made the special rule permanent with certain amendments.

According to companies such as Beiersdorf, Merck, BMW, Siemens and Vonovia, which opted for the digital form of the Annual General Meeting again this year, the new format has proved its worth in the Corona era. They say it offers more planning security, protects the health of those involved, saves costs, effort and CO2 emissions from travel, and enables more shareholders to participate, including those from abroad./jml/DP/stk