Profit appropriation pursuant to the articles of association

Under the company’s articles of association, holders of the cumulative preference shares are entitled annually to a 3% yield. The distribution of this preference dividend is at the discretion of the Board of Management, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board. If the Board of Management resolves not to distribute the preference dividend, it must be added to the preference profit reserve.

In addition, the Board of Management may increase the reserves by an amount equal to at most half of the profit available for distribution (after accounting for the preference dividend), with the approval of the Supervisory Board. The remaining portion is at the disposal of the General Meeting of Shareholders. Following approval by the Supervisory Board, the Board of Management will put forward a proposal to the General Meeting of Shareholders for the remaining amount. The General Meeting of Shareholders can decide to distribute all or part of the remaining portion. Undistributed profit is added to the reserves.

The articles of association also state that the General Meeting of Shareholders may decide to make interim distributions, subject to the provisions of the articles of association. There are no restrictions in the articles of association on the size of interim distributions, only the legal restrictions that apply to public limited liability companies. A decision to distribute an interim dividend from the profit for the current financial year can also be taken by the Board of Management, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board.