Rockwool A/S (ROCKB) Earnings Call Transcript

Dear shareholders, good morning. Welcome to this Extraordinary General Meeting of ROCKWOOL. Pursuant to Article 8A of the Articles of Association, the Board has decided to appoint Attorney at Law, Anders Ørjan Jensen, Chairman of the General Meeting, and I hand over to him.

Thank you very much, Thomas. My first job is to look at whether the meeting is quorate and has been legally and lawfully convened in relation to the business on the agenda. The AGMs, also the extraordinary ones must be convened by a maximum of 5 weeks, minimum of 3 weeks' notice, and this was done on the 4th of August in the appropriate manner on the company's website and through the Nasdaq Copenhagen's information system. We have a very short agenda for this meeting. We have one item only, and it is a proposal from the Board. So it may actually be approved by the meeting regardless of the number of people turning up and number of votes handed in. So the meeting has been legally and awfully convened and is quorate in relation to the business on the agenda. The proposal is about using between EUR 100 million and EUR 200 million in support of the reconstruction of Ukraine. It will be decided by the Board how to provide support to relevant projects that are specifically intended to reconstruct Ukraine. This may be in the form of cash, materials and other specific services, but it must be in areas where the Ukrainian government has full control. The question as regards to when the amount will be vested will be decided by the Board alone. There may be specific circumstances according to which -- or that may dictate that it is not the appropriate time to make these investments. But let's hear from the Chairman of the Board about the details.

Thank you very much. Just one thing. This is a question of investing between DKK 100 million and DKK 200 million and not euro as our Chairman said. Again, good morning, and welcome to this extraordinary general meeting. As the Chairman has already said, there's only one item on the agenda, but it's an important one. It has to do with seeking approval from the shareholders in the period from now and until the ordinary general meeting this year to spend between DKK 100 million and DKK 200 million on the reconstruction of Ukraine. As I said at the ordinary general meeting in April this year, we are determined to play an active and visible role in the reconstruction of Ukraine and this is the effort that we are now ready to begin with the support of our shareholders. We would like to contribute financially and with know-how and with building materials to the reconstruction of Ukraine. It's been important to the Board of Directors to follow up on what we envisioned at the ordinary AGM and to present concrete measures to actively support and realize our intentions. This is not just, we think, about sending a check. It's very much a question of helping develop and execute on-the-ground projects that will make a direct contribution to the rebuilding of Ukraine. So let me give you a brief update. The management of ROCKWOOL has set up a project organization that will be responsible for all coordination. It consists of colleagues from head office and the local leadership teams in Poland and Ukraine. We've asked the project organization to identify cities or regions in need of the kind of support that we are capable of providing and where the actual security situation will allow us to operate in the near term. The project organization has appointed the Chernihiv region, this is in the northern part of Ukraine. And in June, we started up a dialogue with the governor of this region. Since then, we've had very constructive talks with both local officials in the region and we've been able to discuss how best to support their reconstruction efforts. And we are encouraged by the very positive dialogue we've had. The governor's office tells us that approximately 6,000 buildings in the region have been destroyed by the war. Of this mass, approximately 80% are residential buildings. And this gives us an indication of the huge need for reconstruction support. The local administration has identified a number of projects that involve the reconstruction of new -- or the reconstruction of damaged residential and educational buildings where they believe our support would be valuable. Last week, we, the local government and ROCKWOOL, signed a letter of intent with an outline of our mutual commitment to support reconstruction projects. We want to meet the most immediate needs. And this is what the governor said when he signed the letter of intent. He said, "More than 90% of the destroyed or war-damaged buildings in our region are civilian infrastructure, in particular, housing. It's very important to help rebuild housing where needed as soon as possible. "Today, I had a productive meeting with the ROCKWOOL Ukraine country manager, [ Sergei Kudikov ]. We find it very valuable that a strong manufacturer in the field of construction with foreign investments is ready to help the Chernihiv region. Thank you very much. I look so much forward to getting started." And we, at ROCKWOOL, also look forward to getting started. In addition to contributing financially and with products for the reconstruction, we will also be engaged in the design and project management of the building projects. We will cooperate with the local authorities in selecting contractors and other suppliers. And we will also be involved in the supervision of the construction process itself. The collaboration will also include project terms and conditions, budgets and other relevant matters. It will take time before these large projects will get physically underway. And in the meantime, we would like to help the local government in the region with an urgent effort to prepare for the coming winter. And this effort will primarily be aimed at establishing suitable shelter for citizens in the region. In this way, we will try to meet the need for help here and now, and at the same time, we will plan and prepare for the actual reconstruction projects. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I'd like to conclude by saying thank you to ROCKWOOL's management and the employees who are involved for their efforts thus far in relation to this initiative. Also, a warm thanks to our shareholders for your support in this matter and for your continued support and investment in ROCKWOOL. Thank you very much.

Thank you to the Chairman of the Board. I can tell you that 81% of the capital is represented at the meeting and 93% of all the votes. So this is a very high proportion, and proxies and postal votes have been received amounting to 99.9% of the capital.

Any questions or comments to this proposal presented by the Board of Directors? We have one question. I'm sorry, sir. Please approach the rostrum. We are on a live webcast and we need you to use a microphone. And please also state your name. Go ahead, please.

I'm [indiscernible]. Just one question. I would like to hear whether you coordinate your efforts with the efforts that Ukraine has asked for in relation to Nikolaev where Ukraine has made a request to Denmark.

Thank you. It's a good question. At the present stage, we have no coordination with other actors. We have also seen that the Danish government as recently as last week actually granted DKK 100 million to an emergency initiative in a different region in Ukraine. And as recently as yesterday, we discussed whether it would be a good idea to talk to them about any experience gleaned and whether there's some way of cooperating. Many countries will be involved in these initiatives and all forces are, of course, welcome. So it's a good idea, and we are thinking along those lines already. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any other questions? Another one. Please approach the rostrum.