The Supervisory Board reports that it has taken the opportunity to comprehensively review the management of the Company, both acting as a whole and also regularly through its committees, Chairman and Deputy Chairman. Detailed presentations and discussions during meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees were used for this purpose, as were recurring meetings with the members of the Managing Board, who provided detailed explanations and supporting documentation relating to the management and financial position of the Company and the Group. The strategy, business development, risk management, internal control system and activities of the internal audit department of the Company were also discussed in these meetings.
The Supervisory Board has formed four committees from among its members. Information on the responsibilities and composition of these committees is available on the Company’s website and in the corporate governance report.
One ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting and five Supervisory Board meetings were held in 2009. Four meetings of the Audit Committee were also held. The Committee for Urgent Matters held one meeting and was also contacted in writing with regard to eight matters. The Supervisory Board was informed of all resolutions passed by these committees at its next following meeting. The auditor of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements, PwC INTER-TREUHAND GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, attended three Audit Committee meetings and two Supervisory Board meetings, including the meeting dealing with the auditing of the annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements and the formal approval of the annual financial statements, as well as the General Shareholders’ Meeting. The Committee for Managing Board Matters also held three meetings in 2009.
No agenda items were discussed in the Supervisory Board and committee meetings without the participation of members of the Managing Board. No member of the Supervisory Board attended fewer than half of the Supervisory Board meetings.
By the inspection of appropriate documents, meetings with the Managing Board and discussions with the auditor, the Supervisory Board Audit Committee was able to form a satisfactory view of the accounting process and found no reasons for objection. The Audit Committee also reviewed the effectiveness of the internal control system, the internal auditing system and the risk management system, by requesting descriptions of the processes and organisation of these systems from the Managing Board, the auditor and the individuals directly responsible
for these areas. The Audit Committee reported on its monitoring activities to the Supervisory Board as a whole and stated that no deficiencies had been identified.
In order to prepare the Supervisory Board’s proposal for selection of the auditor of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements, the Audit Committee requested that PwC INTER-TREUHAND GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (PwC) submit documents relating to its license to audit. Based on a written report, it was determined that there exist no reasons for exclusion or circumstances that could provide cause for concern regarding partiality. In addition, a list, grouped by category of services and showing the total revenues received by PwC from the Company in the previous financial year, was requested and reviewed, and it was verified that PwC was included in a statutory quality assurance system. The Audit Committee reported to the Supervisory Board on the knowledge gained from these investigations and proposed to the Supervisory Board that PwC INTER-TREUHAND GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft be selected, following the General Shareholders’ Meeting, as auditor of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements.
In addition, the Supervisory Board Audit Committee received the 2009 annual financial statements, management report and corporate governance report from the Managing Board, reviewing and carefully examining them. The Supervisory Board Audit Committee also subjected the 2009 consolidated financial statements and Group management report to a careful review. The Managing Board’s proposal for appropriation of profits was also debated and discussed in the course of this review. As a result of this review and discussion, a unanimous resolution was adopted to recommend unqualified acceptance thereof to the Supervisory Board. The committee chairman informed the Supervisory Board of the resolutions adopted by the committee.
The 2009 annual financial statements together with the management report and corporate governance report, the 2009 consolidated financial statements together with the Group management report, and the Managing Board’s proposal for appropriation of profits were subsequently addressed, thoroughly discussed, and reviewed by the Supervisory Board. In addition, the auditor’s reports prepared by PwC INTER-TREUHAND GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft regarding the 2009 annual financial statements and management report and the 2009 consolidated financial statements and Group management report were reviewed by the Audit Committee and by the Supervisory Board as a whole, and debated and discussed in detail with PwC INTER-TREUHAND GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft.
The ultimate findings of the audit provided no basis for any qualifications to be raised. The Supervisory Board stated that it had nothing to add to the auditor’s reports on the financial statements and consolidated financial statements.
After a thorough examination, the Supervisory Board therefore adopted a unanimous resolution to approve the annual financial statements prepared by the Managing Board, to raise no objection to the management report, consolidated financial statements and Group management report, and to state its agreement with the Managing Board’s proposal for appropriation of profits.
The 2009 annual financial statements have therefore been approved in accordance with § 96 (4) of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act.
The Supervisory Board is submitting a motion to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that it resolve on the appropriation of profits proposed by the Managing Board and give its formal approval to the actions of the Managing Board and of the Supervisory Board.
Vienna, March 2010
The Supervisory Board:
KR Dkfm.Klaus STADLER (Chairman)
Compare to 2008