euro adhoc: GfK AG
other
Hajo Riesenbeck elected Chairman of the
Supervisory Board of GfK AG
Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
Nuremberg, 16 December 2004 - At todays 55th meeting of the Supervisory Board, Peter Zühlsdorff officially resigned as Supervisory Board Chairman at his own request, having previously announced this decision internally. Hajo Riesenbeck was unanimously elected as his successor and will take up office immediately. Dr. Arno Mahlert was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board. At the same meeting, the Supervisory Board nominated Peter Zühlsdorff as its Honorary Chairman. Peter Zühlsdorff, 63, Managing Partner of Deutsche Industrieholding and former Chairman of the Management Board of Wella AG, became a member of the Advisory Board of GfK GmbH in 1987 and following its transformation into joint stock company in 1989, a member of the Supervisory Board and, since 1992, its chairman. In the almost 13 years of his chairmanship, GfK has developed from a German company to a global market research group, which is now the No. 5 in the sector worldwide. The Groups dynamic growth is reflected by an increase in sales from approx. EUR 183 million in 1992 to an estimated EUR 660 million in 2004, with consolidated total income after minority interests rising from EUR -5.1 million to a forecast EUR 50 million in 2004. During his period of office, Peter Zühlsdorff successfully promoted the GfK Groups IPO, establishing the financial basis for further corporate expansion. Zühlsdorff also initiated a continuous rejuvenation of the Supervisory Board and sees his own resignation as the culmination of this process. The Supervisory Board elected Peter Zühlsdorff as its Honorary Chairman. Zühlsdorffs successor Hajo Riesenbeck, Director of McKinsey & Company, Düsseldorf office, has been a member of the Supervisory Board of GfK since 13 June 2002 and Deputy Chairman since 15 June 2004. After graduating in economics, he worked for Unilever. Hajo Riesenbeck then joined corporate consultants McKinsey & Company in 1979, becoming a partner in 1985. He has held his present position since 1991 and is also a member of the Management Committee of McKinsey Germany. In addition, Hajo Riesenbeck shares the Chairmanship of McKinseys European Marketing Group with a colleague from Scandinavia. As Supervisory Board Chairman, Riesenbeck will also head up the Personnel Committee of the GfK Group. Dr. Arno Mahlert, Financial Director of Tchibo AG, is the Chairman of the Finance Committee and Dr. Wolfgang C. Berndt, former president of Procter & Gambles global Fabric and Home Care division, is the Chairman of the Mergers & Acquisitions Committee. Resolution on separate reporting of remuneration for the Management Board and Supervisory Board In the last meeting of this year, the Supervisory Board discussed in detail the topic of Corporate Governance and the German Investor Protection Act (AnSVG). The Management Board and Supervisory Board resolved to include a separate breakdown of the remuneration of the Management Board and Supervisory Board in future annual reports. This will apply from Annual Report for 2004. From 2005, GfK will therefore be complying with 87 of the 91 recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. This includes the commitment to continue shortening the publication periods for annual and interim reports. GfK will meet this recommendation for interim reports in 2005 by publishing these within 45 days of the quarterly accounts. Taking a step closer to the recommendation for publication of the annual report 90 days after the year-end accounts, the GfK Annual Report for 2005 will be published within 101 days. For further information, visit our website: www.gfk.com
end of announcement euro adhoc 16.12.2004 16:56:03
Further inquiry note:
Bernhard Wolf
Tel.: +49 (0) 911 395 2012
E-Mail: bernhard.wolf@gfk.de
Branche: Market research
ISIN: DE0005875306
WKN: 587530
Index: SDAX, Prime Standard, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing