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MINUTES OF
THE COMBINED GENERAL MEETING
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
19 may 2011—Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
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The Combined Annual General Meeting of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT took
place on 19 May 2011 at the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, under the
chairmanship of Gérard Mestrallet. The Annual General Meeting
provided an opportunity for the Chairman of the Board of Directors
and Chief Executive to illustrate the financial results achieved and
actions taken in 2010, and to present the outlook and main strategic
challenges for the future.
KEY INFORMATION
Duration: 2.5 hours
Audience: 700 shareholders in attendance
Quorum: The shareholders present or rep-resented, together with shareholders who had voted by post and online, held 72.35% of total shares entitled to vote in the An-nual General Meeting (compared to an aver-age provisional quorum of 64% for the an-
nual general meetings of CAC 40 companies)
On stage: Gérard Mestrallet (Chairman), Jean-Louis Chaussade (Chief Executive), Jean-Marc Boursier (CFO), Marie-Ange Debon (General Secretary), Scrutineers
(GDF SUEZ and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert)
Stands: Shareholders’ area, clients’ area and presentations of the Group’s businesses
at the entrance to the hall
Internet: live and recorded broadcasts on the SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT website - click here to access the video Option to vote online
CONDUCT OF THE GENERAL MEETING
15:00 – Opening speech by G. Mestrallet
15:10 – Highlights and activities of the
businesses by JL. Chaussade
15:55 – Financial performance 2010 by
JM. Boursier
16:11 - Governance by G. Mestrallet and
the Committee Chairmen
16:27 – Auditors’ report
16:30 – Dialogue with shareholders
17:18 – Voting on the resolutions
17:30 – End of the AGM
CONTENTS
PERFORMANCE AND STRATEGY
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
FINANCIAL RESULTS
GOVERNANCE
COMMUNICATING WITH SHAREHOLDERS
DIALOGUE WITH SHAREHOLDERS
VOTING ON THE RESOLUTIONS
A FRUITFUL AND PEACEFUL DIALOGUE All resolutions adopted
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PERFORMANCE AND STRATEGY
Both Gérard Mestrallet, during the opening speech of the Annual General Meeting, and Jean-Louis
Chaussade, in his presentation of the highlights and activities of the businesses, described the past
year as ―decisive‖. 2010 was marked by a return to sustained growth in business and a strong
improvement in performance, which continued into Q1 2011.
The Chief Executive pointed out the many industrial and commercial successes achieved by SUEZ
ENVIRONNEMENT and highlighted the efforts made in terms of social progress and innovation.
The group confirmed its long-term sustainable growth strategy
and, in a context of gradual macro-economic recovery, its
attractive medium-term growth prospects, as demonstrated by its
profitability improvement and dividend growth objectives.
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT will be building on its competitive
advantages to create value in the water and waste cycles and
position itself as a leader in environmental performance.
“2010 was marked by strong performance and the completion of major strategic operations” - Jean-Louis
Chaussade, Chief Executive SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
View the General Meeting presentation slides
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Jean-Louis Chaussade also underlined SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT’s Social and
Environmental Responsibility commitments, reinforced by the launch of its
―Equal opportunities, social progress, commitment‖ diversity and social
development programme.
This programme, which establishes targets to be achieved by 2012, will
allow the Group to make progress in the areas of diversity and inclusion, employment of senior
citizens and support for people with disabilities.
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The sustainable development actions undertaken by SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and its non-financial
communication led to the Group being included in the FTSE4Good index in April 2011, in recognition
of its environmental, social and governance performance.
Learn more about SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT’s sustainable development policy
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Jean-Marc Boursier, Chief Financial Officer of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, highlighted the Group’s good
financial performance and stated that all the objectives set for 2010 had been achieved.
KEY FIGURES
Revenue: €13,869M (+12.8%)*
Gross operating income: €2,339M (+13.6%)*
Free cash flow: €852M (+20%)**
Net income group share: €565M (+40.1%)
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.22 times
* gross
** Excluding non-recurring components in 2009
View the annual and half-year results
“SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT consists of 80,000 men and women of over 70 different nationalities. We believe that
the diversity of our teams enriches our water and waste treatment businesses” - Jean-Louis Chaussade, Chief
Executive of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
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Committees of the Board of Directors
In his opening address as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gérard Mestrallet presented the
Group’s governance, noting the composition and work of the Board in 2010. During the General
Meeting, the chairman of each Committee (Audit and Accounts Committee, Ethics and Sustainable
Development Committee, Appointments and Remuneration Committee) used video interviews to
present the composition of his committee, the frequency of meetings, the work carried out and the
self-assessment method used. Gérard Mestrallet concluded with a presentation of the Strategic
Committee, which he chairs.
Reappointment of directors
As part of the governance improvement process and in order to comply with the ―AFEP – MEDEF‖
recommendations, last year the Board of Directors established a plan for the staggered reappoint-
ment of directors one third at a time, in order to avoid the en-bloc
expiry of their terms.
Six directors therefore submitted their resignations once more this
year and were subsequently reappointed by the General Meeting
(Valérie Bernis, Nicolas Bazire, Jean-François Cirelli, Lorenz d’Este,
Gérard Lamarche and Olivier Pirotte).
Mrs Penelope Chalmers Small was appointed as director to replace
Dirk Beeuwsaert. With two women, the diversity rate of the Board
of Directors has now increased to 11.1%.
See the composition of the Board of Directors
GOVERNANCE
SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATING WITH PRIVATE SHAREHOLDERS
Gérard Mestrallet and Jean-Louis Chaussade warmly thanked the 300,000 private shareholders of
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT for their loyalty and confidence. In turn, the 700 shareholders present in the
hall praised the quality of the preparation of the General Meeting, which was described as
“dynamic” and “information rich”.
“Thank you for bringing colour and interest to this General Meeting” - Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board
of Directors of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
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DISTRIBUTION OF CAPITAL AS OF 31.12.2010
DIALOGUE WITH SHAREHOLDERS
Gérard Mestrallet and Jean-Louis Chaussade spent 45 minutes
answering the 23 questions asked by shareholders during the
debate. Many of the questions related to the businesses of
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and thus demonstrated the high level of
interest of shareholders in the Group’s activities.
See the letter to shareholders
MAIN TOPICS OF ORAL QUESTIONS
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Stock Exchange Results Trade Governance Sustainable Development
Others
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VOTING ON THE RESOLUTIONS (1/2)
All the resolutions submitted to the Group’s shareholders by the Board of Directors were adopted.
The General meeting thus approved the 2010 accounts and the allocation of income for the year,
and decided to pay a dividend of €0.65 per share.
For the first time, an option to be paid in shares will be offered for this payment.
The coupon was clipped on 24 May 2011 and the dividend
will be paid as of 27 June 2011. The issue price of the
new shares for shareholders wishing to exercise the
option to receive payment in shares was fixed at €13.03.
GDF SUEZ, the main shareholder, which owns 35.4% of
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, stated that it will opt for
payment in shares.
Finally the General Meeting authorised a resolution on employee share ownership and the Group will
launch its first employee share ownership plan by the end of 2011. This worldwide plan covering
20 countries and over 75,000 employees aims to develop loyalty and involve all employees in
improving the Group’s performance.
RESOLUTIONS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING VOTES FOR VOTES AGAINST ABSTENTION
FIRST RESOLUTION
Approval of the financial statements for 2010 Adopted 99,8% 0,1% <0,1%
SECONDE RESOLUTION
Approval of the consolidated financial statements for 2010
Adopted 99,9% 0,1% <0,1%
THIRD RESOLUTION
Allocation of profit for 2010 Adopted 99,4% 0,6% <0,1%
FOUR RESOLUTION
Approval of the option for payment of the dividend in shares
Adopted 99,8% 0,2% <0,1%
FIFTH RESOLUTION
Approval of the regulated agreements and undertakings referred to in articles L.225-38 et seq. and L.225-42-1 of the French Commercial Code
Adopted 99,1% 0,9% <0,1%
SIXTH RESOLUTION
Ratification of transfer of the registered office Adopted 99,9% 0,1% <0,1%
SEVENTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mrs Penelope Chalmers Small as Direc-tor
Adopted 87,1% 12,8% <0,1%
EIGHTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mrs Valérie Bernis as Director Adopted 87,5% 12,4% <0,1%
NINTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mr Nicolas Bazire as Director Adopted 91,5% 8,5% <0,1%
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VOTING ON THE RESOLUTIONS (2/2)
RESOLUTIONS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING VOTES FOR VOTES AGAINST ABSTENTION
FIFTEENTH RESOLUTION
Authorization for the Board of Directors to reduce the share capital by cancelling the treasury shares held by the company
Adopted 99,8% 0,1% <0,1%
SIXTEENTH RESOLUTION
Delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase the share capital, with cancellation of the preferential subscription right, in favor of one or more named categories of beneficiaries, in the context of the SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT Group’s international share ownership and savings plans
Adopted 99,6% 0,3% <0,1%
SEVENTEENTH RESOLUTION
Powers for formalities Adopted 99,8% 0,1% <0,1%
TENTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mr Jean-François Cirelli as Direc-tor
Adopted 88,0% 11,9% <0,1%
ELEVENTH RESOLUTION Appointment of Mr Lorenz d’Este as Director Adopted 99,7% 0,3% <0,1%
TWELFTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mr Gérard Lamarche as Director Adopted 87,7% 12,2% 0,1%
THIRTEENTH RESOLUTION
Appointment of Mr Olivier Pirotte as Director Adopted 86,2% 13,8% <0,1%
FOURTEENTH RESOLUTION
Authorization to operate on treasury shares Adopted 99,0% 1,0% <0,1%
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SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
TOUR CB21—16, PLACE DE L’IRIS
92040 PARIS LA DÉFENSE CEDEX - France
WWW.SUEZ-ENVIRONNEMENT.FR