This year's Porsche Annual General Meeting took place on June 28, 2023 in the Porsche Arena Stuttgart. It was the first Annual General Meeting since the IPO. Since September 29, 2022 Porsche was listed independently on the stock exchange again. It was the largest IPO by market capitalization in Europe of all time. More than 170,000 private investors subscribed to the shares, half of whom invested more than EUR 3,000. Since the IPO with the offer price of EUR 82.50 at the time, Porsche shares have performed very well.
Start of the Porsche Annual General Meeting 2023: Opening speech by Wolfgang Porsche
At the beginning of the Annual General Meeting, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Wolfgang Porsche, welcomed the participants. Wolfgang Porsche is also the grandson of company founder Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951), who built up the company in the 1930s.
At the beginning of his speech, Wolfgang Porsche explained some organizational issues and the agenda. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board named "the direct and indirect effects of the Ukraine conflict" as the biggest current problem. However, he sees Porsche in a strong position. His statement is underpinned by the strong company figures, which will be presented by CEO Oliver Blume later in the Annual General Meeting.
Wolfgang Porsche's speech is followed by a short video. This shows various models from the past, present and future. You can also see some of the successes of the various Porsche Racing Teams and gain an insight into production and the history of the company.
The video ends with the sentence "The Porsche legend lives and will never perish."
Speech by the Chairman of the Executive Board Dr. Oliver Blume
This is followed by the speech of the Chairman of the Executive Board, Dr. Oliver Blume. Blume has been a member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics at Porsche AG since 2013 and has been the Chairman of the Executive Board since 2015. Blume brings a wealth of experience in relation to the Automotive industry Before joining Porsche, he worked at Audi AG for over 10 years.
The corporate results of Porsche AG
Blume begins his speech with his satisfaction at the successful IPO. For 75 years now, Porsche has stood for elegance and performance. However, the decisive question for Porsche is always "How can we continue to inspire?" Blume was also very satisfied with the current figures. In the last financial year 2022, Porsche sold almost 310,000 new vehicles, more than ever before.
Compared to the 2020 financial year, the operating result increased by 62% from 4.2 billion to 6.8 billion. In addition, a dividend totaling EUR 915.5 million or EUR 1 per share will be distributed to shareholders. In future, half of the consolidated profit after tax is to be distributed each year.
Blume also presented the "Road to 20" program. This program aims to achieve a Group operating return on sales of 20% in the long term. Another project, the "Porsche Profit Program 2025", is also intended to prevent falling margins. A further 500 measures are currently still being implemented. Sales revenue also increased from EUR 8 billion in Q1 2022 to over EUR 10 billion in Q1 2023. The largest share of vehicles was delivered in Europe with 33%, closely followed by China with 27% and North America with 24%. China is therefore also an important market for Porsche. Blume sees this as a "challenge" for the company, as many new competitors in the field of electromobility also come from China. All in all, the figures are very satisfactory for Blume, which also underpins the confirmation of the annual forecast with a projected annual turnover of EUR 40-42 billion.
Current challenges
However, the biggest challenge for Blume and for Porsche is "to leave our descendants a world worth living in". Porsche wants to "lead the field" in the field of electromobility, with the aim of selling 80% electric cars by 2030. EUR 20 billion is to be invested in electromobility and intensive research into modern technology is also to be carried out. All Porsche models are to be fully electric in the future. The next all-electric models will be the Macan in 2024, followed by the all-electric 718 and the all-electric Cayenne in the middle of the decade. Furthermore, 3 locations are already operated CO2-neutrally. These include the main site in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
As part of this project, Blume presented "Porsche Digital". Porsche Digital is working intensively on "creating sustainable value from digital technologies." Porsche also wants to play a leading role in the field of technology. For example, a partnership has been agreed with Mobileye in order to further advance the field of autonomous driving.
At the end, Blume spoke once again about the biggest current challenges. These include the overall economic situation, supply chain difficulties and the current uncertain situation in China. However, he was confident that Porsche would overcome the problems. "The star is the team" and Porsche would look to the future with passion and a pioneering spirit.
Porsche Holding SE
In the future, Porsche Holding SE, which holds a decisive stake in Porsche AG of over 25% and therefore also has a blocking minority, also intends to strengthen the product portfolio through new company investments. At the beginning of 2023, for example, Porsche SE acquired a stake in ABB E-Mobility, a leading provider of charging solutions for electric vehicles. Porsche SE also acquired a stake in Celestial AI, a company that develops a technology designed in particular to accelerate computing processes in the field of artificial intelligence.
The strategic reorganization of the Mobility and Logistics divisions was also successful, laying the foundation for further growth. Porsche SE also achieved a legal success in the diesel scandal, among other things. In April 2022, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court dismissed lawsuits amounting to EUR 158 million.
With Porsche SE as a successful and financially strong anchor shareholder, which also holds interesting investments, Porsche AG is well positioned.
Conclusion
The shareholders were satisfied with the figures presented and after the Annual General Meeting. The voting results also showed a uniform picture. All voting items were approved by the shareholders with a majority of 100% in favor and 0 votes against. However, the biggest negative factors for the company remain the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the resulting problems in supply chains and high inflation.
The company's results were also convincing across the board, not least because Porsche operates in the luxury segment, a structural growth market, and serves a well-funded clientele.
The prospect of rising dividend payments in the future and organic growth left nothing to be desired for the shareholders.
Author: Tom Breitbart
Tom Breitbart works in Sales & Support at CapTrader in Düsseldorf and deals with a wide range of customer inquiries about platforms and general trading. In his spare time, he is interested in current stock market developments, with a particular focus on German dividend stocks.