So could begin eulogies. “A successful year 2022”, in which the Executive Board “held on to its well-chosen course” – this was confirmed by Ingo Speich from the Deka fund company of Deutsche Lufthansa at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday. Henrik Pontzen from Union Investment also says that Lufthansa has “benefited greatly” from the recovery in the travel market. But after that there is no more praise, but a lot of criticism: It is about a future strategy that is unclear from the shareholders’ point of view, about deficiencies in customer service, and according to investors, the sale of parts of the group is too slow. Lufthansa wants to give up a minority share of its maintenance division this year in order to get more money for strengthening and expanding the flight business.
The CEO Carsten Spohr tries to present the plan to soon join the Italian company ITA as the next milestone. Italy is already “our largest foreign market after the USA”. Lufthansa is becoming even more international. “From our point of view, this is necessary in global competition.” ITA is to become the tenth brand in the group – alongside Lufthansa, Eurowings, Swiss and others. Critics speak of a “general store” and a “brand jungle”. Spohr says diversity is not a weakness. “It is increasingly becoming our key strategic success factor.”
Shareholder meeting provides a bizarre picture
Pontzen sees it differently: “We do not believe that the takeover of the loss-making Italian ITA will pay off for the shareholders.” Speich says that the balance sheet from previous takeovers is “mixed”. Although the Swiss subsidiary shines, Lufthansa was never happy with the British Midland it once took over. Now it’s about ITA, until Friday there is an extended negotiation period. But for the possible next purchase object, TAP from Portugal, the warning from Union Investment comes at the same time: One cannot imagine how another takeover candidate can be successfully integrated.
The Lufthansa shareholders’ meeting paints a bizarre picture. Nobody complains about the business figures, after all Lufthansa made a profit again in 2022 after the Corona crisis, almost 800 million euros. And for 2023, Spohr has forecast the summer with the highest sales in the company’s history. There is still a lot of criticism. In addition, there is resentment about changes in the remuneration of the board of directors, which will allow Spohr a maximum income of 11 million euros a year in the future. And the management is attested to a lack of willingness to engage in dialogue – both by investors and by employees.
The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit and the flight attendants’ union Ufo complain about an “internal cultural crisis”. After the pandemic crisis, her impression is: “In times when employees wanted to move closer together, the employer decided to keep them at a distance.” Spohr said in his speech that the employees had put the group back on the road to success. UFO Vice President Anja Bronstert is not satisfied with this: “Offering maximum service with a minimum crew only works on the backs of the employees.”
Kley receives 90.3 percent
Shareholders complain more that Lufthansa also wants to hold virtual general meetings in the future, seeing this as an indication of a lack of willingness to engage in dialogue. One investor even demands that the chairman of the supervisory board, Karl-Ludwig Kley, be replaced as the chairman of the meeting, since he does not allow some questions that are not submitted in advance during the virtual shareholder meeting. The meeting is interrupted, the supervisory board votes to continue, especially since the questioning procedure was not a decision of Kley’s, but one of the board of directors. In the end, every seventh shareholder vote cast is against further virtual meetings, all other agenda items meet with more approval.
The elections to the supervisory board are also proving to be a critical issue. The Lufthansa major shareholder and logistician Klaus-Michael Kühne receives a post for his confidante Karl Gernandt. In the run-up discord had become known, as Kley was said to have reservations about pushing too hard. Gernandt introduces himself as a future “active member of the supervisory board” and is elected with 96.3 percent. Kley, who is up for re-election, received 90.3 percent fewer votes. Deka-Mann Speich had previously warned the two of them to work together: “Any confrontation not only harms the work of your supervisory board, but rather the entire company.”
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