OREANDA-NEWS. The Ordinary and Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting, held on April 23, 2013, nearly 1,300 shareholders under the chairmanship of Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. After hearing from the Chairmen of the four Committees of the Board of Directors (Audit Committee, Strategy and Investment Committee, Appointments and Compensation Committee, Ethics, Environment and Sustainable Development Committee) and reviewing the Board of Directors’ report on the past financial year, the General Shareholders’ Meeting approved the financial statements and the allocation of income for the year 2012.

The dividend was set at €1.50 per share for the 2012 financial year, unchanged from 2011, of which an interim dividend of €0.83 was paid out on October 25, 2012. The balance of the dividend, €0.67 per share, is to be detached on April 25, 2013 and paid on April 30, 2013.

During the General Shareholders’ Meeting, the shareholders ratified the appointment of Ms. Ann-Kristin Achleitner as Director for the remainder of her predecessor’s term of office, until the Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting to be held in 2015, and Ms. Caroline Simon as Director representing employee shareholders, for a period of four years, ending at the Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting to be held in 2017.

The percentage of women on GDF SUEZ’s Board of Directors now stands at 28% (compared with 16% in 2011 and 11% in 2010).

Almost 14,500 shareholders voted prior to the General Meeting, including 60% online (+35% compared with the previous year). GDF SUEZ is a pioneer in the electronic voting system to allow bearer shareholders from banks with VOTACESS to vote using their own online account.

An audio feed from the General Shareholders’ Meeting was streamed live on the Group’s website.