Thank you. With me on the podium, we have the Vice Chairman of the Board, we have the Former CEO and the Current CEO, then we have the Chairman of the Meeting. I'll come back to that later. On the screen behind me, we have the Board of Directors, members elected by the employees. Here we have the employee-elected members of the Board. The other members of the Executive Management are the following: Anders Lonning-Skovgaard and Allan Rasmussen, they are both here, and Paul Marcun, who will join us in mid-January next year, so he's not present at today's meeting.
According to the articles of association, the Board will appoint a Chairman of the Meeting, once again, it's Mr. Meisling from law firm Bech-Bruun. He is seated on the podium next to me, and he will help us navigate through the agenda of today's meeting. I will hand over the meeting to him.
Thank you very much. I would like to start by thanking the Board for asking me to act as Chairman of the meeting once again this year. My first job as Chairman of the meeting is to establish that we are quorate and that we have been duly and legally convened. Item four on the agenda has one amendment to the Articles of Association, and if such amendments are to be able to be passed at the AGM, minimum half of the voting stock must be represented.
I checked this just before I came up here, and at that time, more than 60% of the capital was represented at the meeting, so I can establish already now that the meeting is quorate. With regard to having been lawfully and duly convened, I have looked at the requirements set out in Danish legislation and the articles of association, which stipulate what contents must be found in the agenda and the convening notice, and the measures made by the company in order to convene the meeting. I find that the company, in every respect, has met and complied with the requirements in Danish legislation and the articles of association. Unless I hear objections now, I take it that you all agree. Thank you very much. Before I turn to the agenda and go over the agenda, I've got a couple of practical details for you.
Please turn off or silence your mobile phones. The press is allowed to attend the meeting, and sound recording is allowed for editorial purposes, but nothing else. As the Chairman just said to us, this AGM is also cast via the web and is available also on the company's website as of tomorrow. According to Danish company law, votes must be held so that it is always possible to find out who is present in the room. If you leave the room during the proceedings, please de-register outside. Don't do it if you only pop out and come back again. If you decide to leave before it's over, please de-register. Danish company law has provisions stipulating how to explain a vote.
Subsequently, a couple of years ago, a provision was inserted in Danish legislation, according to which, for listed shares, any decision that may be made must reflect how many votes and how much capital voted in favor, the total number of valid votes, and where relevant, the number of attending people not voting, i.e., abstaining. There is a tradition in Denmark, according to which it is possible to merely establish the outcome of the vote to find out whether the required majority has been attained. If I hear no objections to this, that is what I'll do. As we have done in previous years, we will follow this procedure, but at any point in time, it's possible for a shareholder to change his or her mind, and we will then do it by the book. The agenda reflects that this is an annual general meeting.
First, we have the report from the Board of Directors, then we have adoption of the audited annual report. We have a resolution concerning the appropriation of profit. We have item four, two proposals from the board concerning amendments to the articles of association, and there's also a proposal concerning the acquisition by the board of treasury shares. We have five election of members. The board appointment of auditor, that's items 6 and 7, any other business. It's a tradition in this company that we deal with the first three items in one go, and we had actually the same plan for today. If you don't object, we will now deal with items one, two, and three in one go. Afterwards, when we have the general debate, you may, of course, address the three first items as you see fit. Now the Chairman of the Board.
Thank you very much, Mr. Meisling. Once again, a warm welcome to you all. It's a pleasure to see that so many people have taken the time to come and attend our AGM. I always look forward to presenting a report to the Coloplast AGM, in particular, when it's to report impressive results and solid growth. We have a clear strategy of profitable growth. In other words, our ambition is to outgrow the market and to deliver high earnings. We achieved that goal once again in the past financial year. In November last year, we changed our long-term guidance on the ambition of accelerating growth during the period to 2019- 2020, and to grow at the upper end of the 7%-9% range.
In the financial year in review, we delivered 8% in organic growth in a market growing by 4%-5%, and we reported an EBIT margin of 31%. I think it's worthwhile noticing here that revenue in 2017- 2018 grew at twice the market growth rate. This growth-oriented guidance mainly illustrates that the board and the executive management firmly believe that we have the ability to move further ahead of the competition and to take market share at a slightly accelerated pace during the strategy period to 2020. The purpose is simply to create more shareholder value going forward. With an EBIT margin of 31% and a return on the invested capital and ROIC of 44%, Coloplast is one of the world's most profitable medtech companies.
Once again, I'd like to conclude, and that today, for the last time as Chairman, we're in good shape in Coloplast. This brings me to the management change that I'm sure you have all noted. It doesn't form part of my report for the past year, but I would nevertheless like to briefly explain the changes that have been made to the top management of Coloplast. After 30 years with Coloplast, Lars Rasmussen has resigned as CEO, and his successor is Kristian Villumsen, who formally took over yesterday, Tuesday, sorry, the 4th of December. Kristian Villumsen has been with us for 10 years and has served as Executive Vice President of our Chronic Care business, and he's been a member of the executive management for the past 4 years. Paul Marcun was previously in charge of Coloplast Emerging Markets.
He will now join the executive management, he's been appointed Executive Vice President of our Chronic Care business, effective from mid-January 2019. I have decided not to stand for reelection as today, at today's AGM, the board has unanimously decided to recommend that Lars Rasmussen be elected new Chairman of the Board. That was a brief summary of the recently announced management changes, of course, I'll come back to this in detail when we get to item five on today's agenda, which is election of members to the board of directors. Let's turn to developments at Coloplast during the past financial year. Our company's strategy is called LEAD20, it's about delivering unparalleled innovation, service, leadership, and efficiency.
Coloplast is an innovative business. In order to provide a perfect framework for innovation and profitable growth, we must produce and operate as efficiently as at all possible. A lot has happened since we launched the LEAD20 strategy two years ago. I'd like to take some time here to share with you some of the highlights that occurred in the past year in the four themes of our strategy. We'll start from the top. Our unique products and innovation, the heart of our business. We had a declared target of delivering superior products and innovation. We have met it by making a number of major product launches in the past financial year. We launched SenSura Mio Concave, as well as specifically in the U.S., Coloplast SpeediCath Flex and Biatain silicone sizes and shapes.
SenSura Mio Concave was launched in January this year, and that was in response to a very strong demand for Ostomy Care products designed for an outward body profile. Flat, convex, or bowl-shaped products are quite common, but SenSura Mio Concave is the first Ostomy Care product that is designed specifically for people with hernia or curves. The product has been launched and it's received extremely favorable feedback. It's now eligible for reimbursement in 10 countries. The new products will contribute to driving growth in their respective business areas going forward. Aiming to offer users products that solve their difficult and, in many cases, intimate challenges, Coloplast has also launched a clinical performance program in Ostomy Care and Continence Care, intended to provide clinical documentation of the performance of a number of our new products.
The program is intended to document the quality of the products and the value they can generate, both for users and for healthcare systems. Coloplast is committed to working for higher reimbursement rates for the new products by increasing the clinical evidence. Coloplast has stepped up its research and development expenditure in recent years, in particular, because we intend to invest in clinically differentiated products for the benefit of our users. The clinical performance program, for instance, is intended to demonstrate that our ostomy care products reduce the risk of leakage and skin problems, and that our continence care products reduce the risk of infection. Initial studies have been commenced, and we expect the first products based on clinical studies to be launched in 2020.
As part of our clinical performance program, at the Capital Markets Day in September, Coloplast announced the goal of launching digital products in the chronic care business. Launching digitalized versions of chronic care products ties in with the company's ambition to lift the standard of care through clinically differentiated innovation. This brings me to the next part of our strategy, involving strong leadership development. We're a company that is growing, and we constantly need new managers. Recruiting new managers and developing the next generation of managers is essential for supporting the company's growth and ambitions. We aim to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities, regardless of gender, ethnic background, or religious beliefs. We have launched new in-house processes to make sure that there's room for everyone with ambition and the ability to create results.
The aim for Coloplast is to have a management culture and an organizational culture that support and enhance diversity in our senior management. The goal is to consistently improve on the distribution between men and women in management year by year. In the course of the financial year in review, the percentage of women in senior management positions at Coloplast has gone from 14% to 20%. Women still hold more than 40% of the company's general management positions. With regard to diversity, we've introduced a number of in-house role models. This is a way for us to draw attention to people in senior management, as well as other managers who represent diversity. Through both in-house and external activities, these role models will help show the way for women with an ambition to go further.
In 2017- 2018, the top management tier completed training in inclusive management behavior. The results of that training will now be implemented in the rest of the management tiers. Every two years, we measure employee engagement through a global survey of all employees. This year's survey was the third straight with a 93% response rate, which is testimony of a high commitment level in the upper quartile at 74%. We're a company experiencing growth. Considering the number of new employees, maintaining such a high engagement level is an achievement in itself. In 2017- 2018, Coloplast reviewed its Code of Ethics, the so-called Coloplast BEST, Business Ethical Standards. It is mandatory for all white-collar employees at Coloplast to train in Coloplast BEST. It was originally introduced through training, followed up by an online test and certification.
At the end of 2017- 2018, 99% of relevant employees had completed BEST training. The third theme of our strategy is unparalleled efficiency. We aim to deliver unparalleled efficiency through ambitious global operations plans. Coloplast is strongly committed to running its business efficiently, and as a global player in the healthcare industry, we must constantly improve in order to be competitive. As part of the LEAD20 strategy, we launched a new global operations plan, GOP 4, last year, and this is expected to lift the EBIT margin by 1.5 percentage points with full effect from the end of the 2021 financial year. GOP 4 involves enhancing efficiency at our high volume production facilities, improving our procurement processes, and shutting down the factory at Thisted, Denmark. The process to shut down the Thisted site will run until the summer of next year.
In 2017- 2018, we finished the expansion project at the factory in Hungary. It's a 26,000 sq m expansion that has been completed, and the facility is operational. In order to secure our future production capacity and the ability to supply products, we have acquired land in Costa Rica, where we will build the next high volume production facility, and we expect the first of these facilities to be ready in 2020. We're a development-driven company, and GOP 4 will provide us with a good platform from which to achieve strong results towards 2020. The fourth and final theme of our strategy is about unique user-focused market approach. We remain focused on building a user-oriented med tech company, and we do that by means of direct interaction with our users. For instance, through our Coloplast Care program.
Coloplast Care is a service providing support and knowledge to around 1.2 million users globally about living with incontinence or a stoma. In that connection, I feel I should mention that Coloplast was, of course, well prepared for the new European Data Protection Regulation, the GDPR, which took effect in May of this year. In 2017- 2018, we conducted more than 1 million consultations with users in the framework of Coloplast Care. Coloplast Care and Coloplast direct-to-consumer activities are now present in more than 30 countries. The acquisitions of the French direct-to-consumer home delivery company, Lilial, and the German distributor, IncoCare, in the spring, provided another component in our overall ambition of bringing innovative products and services to the market, and giving users access to innovative products. In China, we have built our own distribution network, and we also offer direct-to-consumer services there.
Combined with Comfort Medical in the United States and Coloplast Charter in the U.K., we are now able to deliver products directly to end users in our five largest markets. Those were the highlights of the second year with our strategy LEAD20. Now I'd like to spend a couple of minutes elaborating on our growth ambitions. The guidance for long-term organic growth is 7%-9% per year, and the ambition remains to reach the upper end of that range. The EBIT margin guidance is for more than 30% at constant exchange rates. The EBIT margin guidance reflects plans for incremental commercial investments each year of up to 2% of revenue. That will require solid investments in product development and in sales and marketing across the geographical regions, all for the purpose of accelerating growth.
I'd like now to review the financial highlights of the year in review. We released our full year financial results for the 2017- 2018 financial year on the first of November, alongside the annual report and the updated corporate responsibility report. Reporting positive growth in all business areas and in all regions, Coloplast expanded its position as a global market leader in the past financial year. Organic revenue growth came to 8% and reported in Danish kroner, revenue was up by 6% to DKK 16,449,000,000 . Reported in DKK, revenue growth was mainly adversely impacted by the depreciation of the U.S. dollar and the Argentine peso, measured against Danish kroner.
Relative to the 7% in organic growth rates that we've achieved in the past three years, the full year revenue growth marks a shift in momentum and an acceleration of growth in a market otherwise growing by 4%-5%. Accelerating growth was indeed our goal when we revised our long-term guidance in November last year on the ambition of stepping up investment, accelerating growth during the period to 2019- 2020, and growing at the upper end of the 7%-9% range. EBIT came to DKK 5,091,000,000 , up 1% or DKK 67 million from DKK 5,024,000,000 last year. However, at constant exchange rates and adjusted for the one-off revenue adjustment relating to Veterans Affairs, EBIT was up by 4%, equal to an EBIT margin of 31% against 33% last year.
The EBIT result also included restructuring costs of about DKK 50 million in relation to the reduction of production staff in Denmark. The EBIT performance is in line with our guidance and reflects an increase in innovation and sales and marketing investments across all areas and geographies. Net profit for the year came to DKK 3,845,000,000 , compared to DKK 3,797,000,000 last year, a 1% increase, or DKK 48 million. Diluted earnings per share, EPS, also rose by 1% to DKK 18.10. At the closing of the financial year, we had 11,738 employees, of whom 10,359 work outside Denmark. In the course of the financial year, the number of employees increased by 8%.
This is primarily in sales and production that we see growth. It reflects the fact that we are growing and are investing in growth. The Ostomy Care business delivered 9% in organic sales growth and 6% in reported sales growth. Revenue from acquisitions contributed 1% due to acquisitions in the distribution channel. The portfolio of SenSura Mio products and the Brava range of supporting products were the main drivers of Ostomy Care sales growth. Driving the sales performance were the European, Chinese, and U.S. markets. Revenue came to DKK 6,643,000,000 , or 40% of consolidated revenue. Coloplast retains its position as global market leader in Ostomy Care products, holding between 35% and 40% of the market. The annual market growth is estimated at between 4% and 5%.
The Continence Care business delivered 8% in organic sales growth and 7% in reported growth. Revenue from acquisitions contributed 2% due to acquisitions in the distribution channel. Sales of SpeediCath intermittent catheters and Peristeen continued to drive growth in the Continence Care business. Performance was driven mainly by the U.S., the U.K., France, and Germany. Revenue came to DKK 5, 926,000 ,000, or 36% of consolidated revenue. Coloplast remains global market leader in Continence Care, with a market share of about 40%. Market growth is estimated at between 5% and 6%. The Interventional Urology business delivered 10% in organic sales growth and 6% in reported growth. Growth was mainly driven by Titan penile implants in the U.S. market.
Sales growth of disposable surgical products, and in particular of kidney stone products, were driven by developments in the French and German markets. The U.S. market continued to drive growth in the Interventional Urology business, with France, Italy, and the Middle East also contributing. Revenue came to DKK 1,074,000,000 , or 11% of consolidated revenue. Market growth is estimated at between 3% and 5%. Coloplast holds about 15% of the combined global urology product market. Since 2011, we've been named in lawsuits in the United States involving product liability claims resulting from the use of transvaginal surgical mesh products designed to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. We've paid out a total of DKK 4.7 billion to date, including DKK 500,000 in the financial year in review.
It is estimated that more than 95% of the known cases have now been settled. The judge presiding in the case has issued a court order stating that plaintiffs may no longer direct claims against Coloplast in the ongoing MDL, and this means that the matter is currently in its final phase. In this connection, I'd like to briefly tell you about something that has attracted a lot of media attention during the past couple of weeks. On Monday, the 26th of November, DR, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, aired a critical documentary on the regulation of products produced by the med tech industry, and Coloplast was mentioned in reference to the company's transvaginal surgical mesh products and the MDL in the United States. The documentary and the general media coverage should be mentioned today because it threatens to damage our name and reputation.
We have been in contact with the Danish Broadcasting System since June. We proactively made available documents and sources to help explore the issue. Unfortunately, it was a very one-sided perspective that the Danish Broadcasting Service decided to take. For that reason, we decided not to take part in the documentary. Instead, we provided DR and a newspaper with a written statement. I'd like to say that our products live up to all requirements. Before a product is marketed, it must be approved by the authorities. We have, of course, supplied all the necessary data to the relevant national approval authorities. New E.U. rules will take effect in May 2020 concerning medical devices. Coloplast will continue to meet and comply with all relevant regulations.
We will continue to invest in surgeon training and clinical studies to ensure that we can offer quality products to users all over the world. We stay committed to the market for mesh products because we believe in our products. The company's products are safe and effective when used by qualified surgeons and for the appropriate patients. I'd like to move on to talk about Wound & Skin Care business, which delivered 3% in organic sales growth, with Biatain foam dressings continuing to drive the conform performance. Wound Care business alone delivered 5% in organic growth, driven by good momentum for the Biatain silicone portfolio in the European markets. The momentum improved in China during the year. A comprehensive pricing reform in Greece impacted the growth performance of the Wound Care business.
Sales of Wound & Skin Care products amounted to DKK 2, 140,000 , or 30% of consolidated revenue. Market growth is estimated at between 2%-4%. We hold a 7%-9% share of the global market for Wound & Skin Care. Now a look at our geographical markets. In Europe, organic growth came to 5%. Revenue was DKK 9, 941,000,000 , or 60% of consolidated revenue. Growth in the European market remains satisfactory across the region, backed by solid growth in the U.K. and French markets, in particular. In what we call other developed markets, organic growth came to 11%, revenue was DKK 3, 791,000,000 , or 23% of consolidated revenue.
The performance in the U.S. was driven by the ongoing upgrade to hydrophilic catheters, which is the same as ready-to-use catheters. This category of coated catheters now represents about 50% of total intermittent catheter sales in the U.S. market. Coloplast continues to expand the U.S. Ostomy Care business by way of new hospital contracts. For instance, the one signed with Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the leading hospitals in the country. In Emerging Markets, organic growth came to 14%, revenue grew to DKK 2,717,000,000 , or 17% of consolidated revenue. Growth in the region was mainly driven by accelerating growth rates in the Ostomy Care business in China and Brazil, and across a number of small markets, including in the Middle East, where sales were driven by positive developments in macroeconomic events.
A comprehensive pricing reform in Greece, however, impacted the growth performance. Now something about our distribution, administrative, and R&D costs. Distribution costs came to DKK 4, 721,000,000 , compared to DKK 4, 371,000,000 last year, an increase of DKK 350 million. The distribution costs include sales and marketing initiatives across a number of markets in Chronic Care, Wound Care, and Interventional Urology. Administrative expenses came to DKK 653 million, compared to DKK 623 million last year, an increase of DKK 30 million. Administrative expenses accounted to 4.44% of revenue, and this is in keeping with last year's level.
R&D costs were DKK 640 million, an increase of 11%, or DKK 66 million increase over last year, due to a general increase in business activity, which included the clinical performance program. R&D costs amounted to 4% of revenue, which was consistent with the last year's percentage. Now our balance sheet and cash flows. Total assets fell by DKK 281 million and came to DKK 11,769,000,000 . Equity increased by DKK 466 million relative to the 30th of September last year, to DKK 6,418,000,000 . The free cash flow for the year was an inflow of DKK 3,414,000,000 , against an inflow of DKK 1,632,000,000 last year.
Most of this increase was due to a reduction in cash flows for acquisitions and a decline in payments relative to 2016-2017 in connection with settlements and lawsuits in the United States, alleging injury resulting from the use of transvaginal surgical mesh products. Adjusted for payments made in connection with the above-mentioned lawsuits and company acquisitions, the free cash flow was an inflow of DKK 4,058,000,000 , against DKK 4 million and DKK 79 million in 2016-2017. We returned a part of the free cash flow to our shareholders by way of share buybacks and dividends. In 2017-2018, Coloplast launched a DKK 1 billion share buyback program, running until the end of the 2018-2019 financial year. The first part of the share buyback program of DKK 500 million was completed in May this year.
The board recommends that the AGM approve a year-end dividend of DKK 11 per share.
The Chairman misspoke and said DKK 11 million per share, triggering laughter in the auditorium.
This brings the dividend paid for the share to DKK 16 per share, as compared with 15 DKK per share last year. The total dividend payout for the 2017-2018 financial year amounts to DKK 3,395,000,000 , and the payout ratio is 88%. On the final business day of the 2016-2017 financial year, Coloplast was quoted on Nasdaq Copenhagen at a price of DKK 511 per share. On the final day of the financial year in review, the shares closed at DKK 656.8, corresponding to an increase of 28.5%.
For the period from the 1st of October 2017 to the 30th of September 2018, the Coloplast share produced a return on investment, including dividends, of 31.6%. By comparison, an investment in the C-25 index during the same period yielded a negative return of 4.6%. Now for our financial guidance. For 2018-2019, we expect organic revenue growth of about 8% at constant exchange rates and 8%-9% reported in DKK. We expect an EBIT margin between 30% and 31% at constant exchange rate, and the reported EBIT margin to be about 31% in DKK. The EBIT margin forecast reflects incremental investments of up to 2% of revenue for innovation and sales and marketing purposes.
Capital expenditure is expected to come to about DKK 750 million. The effective tax rate is expected at around 23%. Before I end my report, I would like to tell you that at last year's general meeting, we were recommended to include extracts of our corporate responsibility reports in our annual reports. We have heeded that advice. You can read about our corporate responsibility in the annual report recently presented. As market leader, it is only natural for Coloplast to assume a greater responsibility towards users, healthcare professionals, employees, society, the environment, and shareholders. You can read more about this in the annual report, which also describes how we implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This marks the end of my report today.
It's my last report as Chairman and Board Member of Coloplast, and I'd like to round off by thanking employees, managers, and the executive management for a competent, a contribution, for a job well done. My colleagues on the board, thank you for constructive and positive collaboration during my 13 years on the board, 12 of them as Chairman. It's been a pleasure. I will miss being in your good company, but I will, of course, look forward to following you from the sideline. We've talked about the value created during the year for Coloplast and for Coloplast shareholders. Why not take a look at some of the products that we expect will create value for users going forward, and in this case, the youngest ones, the toddlers. Thank you for your attention.
I'm Louise Laurel Allan, and I'm from Montreal, Canada, and I am a nurse working in pediatric.
My name is Jane Amley. I'm an advanced practice nurse at Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C.
We are the one caring for the children. We are in direct contact with them, so we know better about their needs.
I am seeing 10- 12 ostomates every day, and so obviously every child patient is different, and I can use my experience to share with you on what the ideal product should be like.
Having these products available, especially designed for children and babies, will ease the work of the NP nurses.
As we all know, the toddlers are a very active group, and whether they're crawling, scooting on their abdomens, or they're climbing a jungle gym, we need an ostomy appliance that's going to accommodate their activity level.
I think that the contour of the skin barrier will adjust more easily to the body profile of young children. Once they have found a product, they rely on it, so it is important that there's not too many changes in their lives.
Thank you.
Thank you very much to the Chairman of the Board for his presentation of the report and the proposal for dividend and a presentation of the annual report. It is now possible for the attending shareholders to come with comments and questions to the first three items on the agenda. I already have a list of speakers. The first speaker is Claus Berner Møller, who represents the Danish Labour Market Supplementary Pension Scheme, ATP. You have the floor, sir.
Thank you very much. I'm Claus Berner Møller. I represent ATP. I'd like to begin by thanking the Chairman for the report. This year, we take pleasure in the new growth initiatives, such as additional investments in sales and R&D, causing organic growth to go to 8%.
These additional and new investments have, of course, also boosted costs and also affected the EBIT margin, but that is not unexpected. Increased focus on top line is the right strategic move, and we can only be satisfied as shareholders to see this. Today, we will say goodbye to Mr. Michael Pram Rasmussen, the Chairman of the Board, and also Lars Rasmussen as CEO. Lars, I'd like to say to you that the revenue has grown from DKK 8 billion to DKK 16 billion, and the EBIT margin has gone from 12% to 31%. This is an achievement that has caused the share price to increase eightfold, and we are all very pleased as the shareholders. We'd like to thank you for that very much, Lars. Thank you.
Prior to this AGM, Mr. Pram Rasmussen has announced that he will not be available for reelection as Chairman of the Board, so we will also say goodbye to him. He has also been the reason, or one of the reasons, for the fantastic developments of Coloplast during his 13 years on the board. Michael, we've had many good discussions over the year, not least in relation to Coloplast. The most recent one had to do with whether a CEO should become Chairman of the Board, as has been proposed for Mr. Lars Rasmussen. In ATP, we take the view, and this corresponds to the good corporate practice recommendations, that it might be difficult to have a Chairman of the Board of a company that used to be the CEO, it's difficult for the new CEO.
It is very important to make sure that work and responsibilities are divided, very clearly between the two. I think you might have found a different and better solution, asking Mr. Rasmussen to postpone taking over as Chairman for one year or two. Perhaps Mr. Rasmussen, Michael, could have stayed on for another year or so. We will not be voting, on the item five on the agenda for the, election, by, of Mr. Lars Rasmussen as Chairman of the Board. Thank you very much, Mr. Rasmussen, and Mr. Lars Rasmussen, and thank you very much also to Mr. Michael Rasmussen for your efforts and achievements in relation to Coloplast. Thank you very much.
Before I give the floor to the Chairman, I would ask you that, to understand that as a Chairman, I think it would be wise to recommend that we postpone the discussion about the new Chairman of the board until we reach item five on the agenda. I'd like to give the floor now to the Chairman of the Board for a response.
Well, it's the last time I'm here, so I'm at liberty to say whatever I please. Wow! I'd like to explain why we've done the things the way we have, and I'll explain about this when we get to item five on the agenda. I know it's not in accordance with the recommendations under good corporate governance issued in this country. Thank you for the kind words about our achievements and our focus on growth.
I agree that this shows that we've chosen the right focus, and we are glad that it all turned out well. Thank you for the kind words. You spoke to me and the other Mr. Rasmussen, it's been a pleasure all the way through.
Thank you very much to the Chairman. The next speaker is Per Juul, who represents the Association of Danish Private Shareholders. You have the floor, sir.
Thank you very much. I am Per Juul. I represent the Danish Association of Private Shareholders. We work to protect the interests of private investors in Denmark. Thank you to the Chairman for a good and thorough report, thank you to ATP to appear as professional investors and explain your views. One year ago, it was decided that going forward, Coloplast would focus on growing revenue.
It's not a huge acceleration pace in view of what has happened in the past, but it is definitely higher than the general market growth rate. You are a clear market leader in several segments, and you already have 30%-42% of the market, so it is difficult indeed to achieve higher growth. Perhaps the new growth trail is the reason why, after a couple of lean years, once again, shareholders will be remunerated. One year ago, we talked about this, and now we see 31% in increase. The biggest issue here is that the former CEO will probably take over as new Chairman of the Board because the current Chairman of the Board doesn't wish to become re-elected. However, this is against the recommendations made in good corporate governance. Why is this problematic?
The thing is that it should be ensured that the incoming CEO should be able to act independently of the former CEO. It may be difficult for a new CEO to get enough room with the former CEO as Chairman of the Board of the same company. In the recommendations for good corporate governance, there's a principle that either you comply or you explain. I would like to ask, and I know this will then probably come later, this reply: Why cannot Mr. Michael Pram Rasmussen continue as Chairman? Which initiatives have been made or will be made in order to deal with the broad drawbacks that may occur because of this situation? Very strong achievements have occurred in, since Mr. Michael Pram Rasmussen took over about 10 years ago. The company has become increasingly profitable after cost and tax.
Last year, for every DKK 100 in revenue, as much as DKK 23 was profit. Going back a couple of years, it was only DKK 8. If that continues, and the same happens in relation to earnings over the next 10 years, you will have to have DKK 64 in profit for every DKK 100 in revenue. I'd like to hear whether the growth over the next 10 years can be compared with what you have achieved in the past 10 years? The transvaginal surgical mesh products, I see that no additional provisions have been made, but I'd like to hear, is it possible for similar lawsuits to be initiated in countries outside the U.S.? To round off, thank you to the two Mr. Rasmussens for excellent results. Mr. Jørgen Tang-Jensen, also, thanks to you.
You will resign from the board, and I think you should be commended for issuing a hard copy, complete annual report. Thank you very much, and all the best in the coming year.
Thank you very much, Mr. Juul. Yes, as I said just now, we will get back to a lot of things when we get to item five on the agenda. The Chairman for a response.
Thank you. I won't say anything until we get to item five concerning CEOs and Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Juul, for the kind words. Always good to hear. I'd like to go back to what you said about our development going forward. What will happen over the next 10-year period? Well, we haven't made any guidance, so I'm not going to talk about the next 10-year periods.
We have the strategy that runs until 2020. We talked about growth between 7%-9% and an EBIT margin upwards of 30%. That's all we can say today about our ambitions. It is interesting to see what we have succeeded in doing. Market growth is averaging at 4%-5%. We have achieved 7%-8%. It's interesting that despite our high market share, we have been able to grow our Ostomy Care products. It is because we have some darned good products. The ailments that we have produced our products for, well, people with these ailments know that we produce good products. That's also why we have the direct-to-consumer strategy.
We want users to see that using our products really makes life so much easier. We see that the growth rates that we achieve outside Europe is far higher. There's still a lot to win. We are going ahead, full throttle. We are taking lots of initiatives, and we are sure that we'll be able to keep up the level of fine achievements. With regard to the mesh products and the mesh case, well, whether we will see cases in other markets, well, you should never say never. It is highly unusual what we have been seeing in the U.S. The mesh lawsuits, I know I have to be careful. The U.S. court system is strange indeed, because the lawsuits over there are class actions.
One patient may have won a case against a producer, and in this situation, someone may have won a case. It's not our product that caused it all, but there was a problem, some infections with a mesh product. The thing is, in the U.S., lawyers make a living out of these class actions. These are jury trials, and the amounts in compensation awarded are huge, and that's why lawyers see the opportunity to achieve very high gains. You see commercials on television encouraging people to phone in to the lawyers if they have had problems, and then they can be persuaded to join a class action.
Perhaps they have to pay a commission of 25%-30% of what they get in compensation, people simply use this system and phone in the moment they see these commercials, if they have had some sort of surgical intervention causing a problem. Actually, none of them are required to have filed a complaint with the company itself, the producer itself. What they do is that they turn to a lawyer, and that lawyer will then approach a judge and say, "I have 30,000, 40,000 clients," perhaps. Then, of course, the judge, who cannot possibly deal with such a workload, says, "Settle the case." I can tell you, the costs of a lawsuit in the U.S. are extraordinarily high.
It is impossible for a company to handle such a caseload. As a producer, you settle the cases, although it is against everything you believe in and everything you know. You ask me: Could this happen outside the U.S.? Well, we don't see that kind of system in other countries, thank God. We are not present in other markets where the legal system is set up in that way. It is something you only see in the U.S. It is not a very positive comment, I know, and I don't really intend to make a positive comment about it.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Anyone else in the floor? Mr. Bjørn Hansen, you have the floor. Please approach. Please don't lower the rostrum any further.
Thank you. I'm Bjørn Hansen. I've talked at these AGMs for a number of years. I'd like to say thank you to the retiring Chairman of the Board. Thank you, Michael, for a job well done during your years with Coloplast. The former CEO also deserves to be commencement. I know he gets his bonuses, that's only what he's entitled to when the going is good, of course, and the going is good. Coloplast has a Code of Ethics, I've said this before, it continues adhering to that Code of Ethics. Just see what happened in the U.S. They pay for what they have produced or what they haven't produced, I must hand it to them, it is almost worse than what we've seen in relation to John D. Rockefeller. They are paying for products that are copies.
You said that we now see labeling of products, enabling tracing of the products, and I hope that this will make things differently in future. A product that is a copy can create a lot of problems. We know this from China, we know this from other countries, and also in the 16, we saw it in Japan. I also noticed that in the accounts, although I haven't had much time to read it, a provision of DKK 300 million has been made for additional compensation claims. I hope that we shall soon see the end of this. I have some questions. You have four pillars in your company. One of them are these Band-Aids.
I think it would be a good idea to develop this product in a different version, in 1 m or 2 m, batches, so that you can use them for veterans that have problems after returning home. There is a silver nitrate product that can actually absorb inflammatory substances from the skin. I know Lars is no longer the person to talk to about this, but perhaps you could say whether this is something that's in the pipeline. These absorbing Band-Aids can really save human lives, and this is a company that works to make things better for human beings. Produce these in batches of 60 m or 70 m and send it to hospitals. I called the company last year to ask for these Band-Aids.
The company employee said, "I'll make sure that it is sent to you from Hamburg." We really got the Band-Aid. A mistake had been committed by a Danish hospital, and it dealt with the inflammation issue. You have products that can really be used, and as Mr. Pram Rasmussen also says, "You have some high quality products," and that is true. The Danish population is increasingly aging, and that is why, perhaps going forward, it might be a good idea to develop some hotels and places where people can go to be trained and to come back after a surgical intervention. That is a small facility designed by an architect, a well-known Danish architect, and it's located on an island in the southern part of Denmark. There is a facility there, where I think it would be possible to develop such a facility for you.
I've sent a proposal to the board. I hope you received it. I know that Radisson Blu has done something similar. I think it's in London. They've really done well after doing this. I would like to conclude by saying that I hope that this company will remain thriving for the coming years and also for one generation after the other, because it's important for us to take account of the new generations. Once again, thank you to the retiring Chairman of the Board.
Thank you, Mr. Hansen, and the Chairman of the Board for a comment.
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Hansen. Thank you for your kind words. You touched upon a number of things. Let's deal with the mesh lawsuits first. We have paid our DKK 4.7 billion, and the DKK 500 million of that amount was paid out in the past year, and we also have a provision for the settlement of compensations to be paid in connection with the last lawsuits. Concerning new business areas, the three-meter long Band-Aids and a hotel, I will pass those ideas on to the new executive management so that they've got something to work on from day one.
Thank you very much, says the Chairman of the meeting. It is still possible to put questions or comments by shareholders in the room, please.
Nicole Andersson, you have the floor, Madam.
Thank you very much. I am Nicole Andersson, and today I speak on behalf of Best Women, an association of shareholders. We work in order to make sure that more women become board members in Danish companies.
I'd like to thank the Chairman of the Board for his report. I would like to congratulate Coloplast on the fine achievements in the past fiscal year. Now, questions and comments to the agenda items. The board has recommended that the former CEO become new Chairman of the Board. We think this is worrying, and we think that this should be criticized by the shareholders. We do not think that Mr. Rasmussen's appointment to Chairman of the Board makes sure that shareholders see the right kind of independence that ought to be in a modern, globalized company between Board of Directors and executive management.
ATP touched upon the problems, but the thing is also that Mr. Rasmussen will now be sitting at the other end of the table and put critical questions to some of the strategies and procedures and synergies that he himself helped develop and implement. That is not in accordance with the recommendations concerning good corporate governance. For the sake of good order, I wish to point out that this, of course, is not any kind of personal criticism. It is more criticism aimed at the lack of transparency that is so characteristic of Coloplast, as well as many other Danish listed companies. It is a culture, a company culture that is unfortunately, unfortunate because it does not give the right kind of environment that also enables women to become members of the boards. We would have preferred an international candidate, preferably a woman.
If the Board Chairman, in his reply, intends to mention Professor Steen Thomsen, who two days ago wrote in a newspaper about this case, where he actually defends Coloplast's choice. I just want to tell him that I don't really have high thoughts of Mr. or Professor Steen Thomsen. Two years ago, he wrote an article in a Danish newspaper, where he defended the management of Danske Bank in relation to its activities and money laundering. Also, he had problems with conflict of interest. I do not think that this professor is the right person to ask about the concept of independence. We have a question to the mesh product case, and women that have problems with pelvic organ prolapse.
Two weeks ago, as the Chairman of the Board said, a documentary revealed how several thousand women in the United States lead miserable lives, always have, ravaged by pain because they have Novasilk, Supris, or Restorelle from Coloplast. Despite this, Coloplast has not acknowledged its responsibility, and Mr. Lars Rasmussen said that patients should feel safe when using Coloplast's transvaginal surgical mesh products. I don't really know how to or what to think about this. Are you telling us that you still continue sales of these products, although you know about the huge risks and horrific costs that these women have had to pay in order to, Oh, after having been fitted with the mesh products? Other producers have withdrawn their mesh products from the market.
I'd like to hear if the Chairman of the Board can confirm that Coloplast is still selling one or more of these mesh products? If that is the case, how can you possibly defend this on the basis of ethical principles?
Yeah, talk to.
Thank you very much, Ms. Andersson. As I said before, please, let's have the discussion about the new Chairman of the Board later under item five on the agenda. Now the Chairman of the Board.
Yeah. Are you having.
I just want to say that this is a fine example of how fake news is issued, because what we just heard was so filled with incorrectness that it's almost impossible to start explaining about it. We still sell these products. They have been approved by the U.S. authorities. I think that this is extremely good because there are so many women that really need these products. I'd like to ask Lars Rasmussen now to take over. I understand that you may wonder at what we're doing in Coloplast after having seen the documentary on Danish television the other day, because how on earth can we just sit back and look at the sufferings of these people? I think that we need to go back to what the Chairman talked about earlier, the way that the legal system works in the U.S.
How come we only see cases there? We sell this product all over the world. I think you should realize that these mesh products are used after people have been to see their GP. It is used as a last resort. This is the last possible solution for women with pelvic organ prolapse. These people simply cannot function in their everyday lives. It's an immense problem. There is a risk with implants because not all can be helped by implants, and not all surgeons should do this. We make products available, products that have been approved under all the regulations and rules, and that should be carefully selected by the surgeons and the doctors on the basis of the individual patient, because there's always a risk. So many people have benefited from being fitted with our implants and mesh products.
You never hear about these cases, the good cases. We have referred to the associations that have been set up by people that are satisfied, but they were not included in the documentary. Have these products been thoroughly approved? Couldn't we find better ways of having them approved? If all producers have to invent a new approval system because they are not satisfied with what the authorities use, wouldn't really work. That's why we operate by what the public authorities use. Having said that, I know we might very easily get very technical here. People that have been through unsuccessful interventions, well, it's a tragedy, of course, but the products were approved under applicable rules. Why should we withdraw this product from the market? They have been approved. They are used every single day.
Even today, we see these products being used because people know that it is the last resort. If we withdraw the products from the market, we take away the possibility of a good life for people that suffer from a number of different ailments. This just shows how differently we respond to the situation, and I don't really think I can add much more.
Thank you to the Chairman of the Board and the former CEO, Mr. Rasmussen. Are there any other comments or questions? Mr. Bjørn Hansen, a short reply.
Just a Christmas present, a small one, to the retiring Chairman of the Board and also to the new Chairman of the Board. I think it's fine that Coloplast has decided to go for Mr. Lars Rasmussen, because he's very competent, and if he's very competent, he should be the one.
If a woman is out there who is more competent, then she should be the one. Birgitte Nielsen, she's competent, I am sure she's in the room today. Mr. Lars Rasmussen, well, in the long term, this makes sure that we have a Chairman of the Board with a lot of experience. I think it's a good idea. Congratulations.
Thank you, Mr. Hansen, for this initiative. Anyone else in the audience with a comment or a question? That is not the case. I find then, that we have ended the discussion concerning the first three items of the agenda. Before we proceed to vote, I just want to point out that the auditors appointed by the AGM on page 78 of the report, have not stated a blank audit report. It's PricewaterhouseCoopers we're talking about.
This means that I can now find, unless there is anything further from anyone, that we have made note of the report, we have approved the annual report, and we have approved also the proposal concerning distribution of profit. Thank you very much. We will now proceed to the next item on the agenda, item four, which contains two elements: a proposal concerning an amendment to the Company's Articles of Association, and also a proposal concerning granting authority to the Company's Board of Directors to acquire treasury shares. The first element is about Article 5 of the Articles of Association, and it a result of a new provision or a new setup in the Danish legislation. It has to do with preemptive rights for existing shareholders in relation to new stock issues.
I would point out that there is a specification saying that this proposal should run until December 2023. Actually, there's a sort of a deadline for the lifetime of this proposal. I'd like to hear whether there are any comments to this provision. Yes, there is one. Go ahead, please. The next speaker is Jens Frederik Demant.
Thank you very much. I asked for the floor because of this double provision, 5A and 5B, in the Articles of Association. I would like to have this proposal presented properly. What is the purpose? Why do we want to allow an increase in the share capital in this way? What I think is particularly special is 5B. Why should it be without preemptive rights for existing shareholders? What is the reason for this provision? I don't like.
Well, of course, it should be in connection with cash payment, but it says, "In other ways," other assets are also mentioned there. I feel, as the minority shareholder, that there is a risk of dilution for us, and that's why I don't like this proposal concerning 5B and 5A. I don't like the three words, "payment in cash," and then it says, "or otherwise." I'd like to hear what is the reason for these two amendments, and in particular, why are there no preemptive rights for existing shareholders? Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman of the meeting. First of all, these proposals are actually very similar to what is already written in the existing version of Article 5. Typically, when you have these amendments, is that.
Well, this is about giving authority, it is to enable the board to become more agile, and to be able to respond more quickly. 5A has to do with a requirement suddenly arising for the company. It needs new financing, in this way, it can then go ahead with an increase in the share capital. With regard to the preemptive rights, well, it's simply a question of the board being able to respond quickly. 5B, it is possible here to have a capital increase without preemptive rights. If the board suddenly wishes to acquire a company from a seller that wants to receive stock in payment. In that way, that seller will become a future co-owner of Coloplast, it is a standard provision. I hope that this was sufficient explanation.
It's what I can contribute right now.
Any other comments? If that is not the case, I find that we have concluded our debate about this item, and we have adopted this division of Article 5 into 5A and 5B. The next item on the agenda is for two, which is the proposal to grant authority to the company's board of directors in accordance with Section 198 of the Danish Companies Act. According to this, it is possible for the board of directors to allow the company to acquire treasury shares, representing up to 10% of the company's share capital. Again, it's a standard provision, and there's a proposal that it apply up to, and including the company's AGM in 2019. Any comments? That is not the case. I find then, that the AGM has adopted this proposal.
The next item on the agenda is item five. It's been mentioned a couple of times. This is where we have to deal with electing members to the board. I will now hand over to the current Chairman of the Board, Mr. Michael Pram Rasmussen.
Thank you very much. When we made the proposal, we knew that there would be some discussion about it. Our eyes were wide open. Why did we do it then, you may ask? Well, I don't mind giving you some background. It's not unusual for a Chairman of the Board and a CEO to discuss the future. Lars has been with the company for 30 years, 10 of them as CEO. He will turn 60 soon. I've been 13 years on the board. I've turned 63.
It is not a good idea for a Chairman of the Board and a CEO to retire at the same time. Actually, once you try to avoid that situation from happening. Personally, I find that after 13 years on a board, 12, which as Chairman, it's about time to resign. It's been a wonderful time, but you also need to know when to say goodbye. Lars, you will turn 60 next time. There is a keen demand for competent board members. Perhaps you have five more years to contribute on a board. When I talked to you about this, you said that might be a good idea. Then we discussed what is the right thing to do then? I don't mind assuming being the person who actually conceived the idea that Lars would be my successor as Chairman of the Board.
I wouldn't have minded staying on for another 12 months, as ATP suggested. I saw a good perspective in this. This is very much a question of personalities. I thought that this would work well. I discussed it with my Vice Chairman. He agreed with me in my analysis, and what also made things move forward was that the entire board endorsed it. We had a new CEO in the pipeline, a person who was really ready. If you have a person in the wings waiting, then you should seize the opportunity. If you leave people like that outside the door for too long, they might disappear. Kristian was ready to take over. We are not in a turnaround situation. We are in this for the long term. We invest in growth, we invest in innovation. This is not a turnaround situation.
We don't need new brooms in this company. We don't have any problems with a CEO having to defend what happened in the past, because there's nothing to defend. We are all very satisfied, and we also have a very ambitious strategy that really requires a steady hand. This company's success depends on a lot of small elements being successful. You need to understand it in depth. You need to have hands-on experience, and Kristian has this, and Lars, we all know. You might then ask, well, the independence that we would like to see between Board of Directors and CEO. Well, don't forget that we have a Board of Directors. It's not the Chairman that acts alone. We have a Vice Chairman, a major shareholder. We have a very active board with a lot of commitment and where people really say what they feel, and that's very important.
We feel that what we should do now is, of course, to be aware of the recommendations in relation to good corporate governance, and we have discussed this. We know that we are moving against the recommendations, but we are the Board of Directors, and we need to work in the best interest of the company and to make that take priority over what it says in the recommendations concerning good corporate governance. There are lots of recommendations, and we don't see it as our ambition to be able to tick off all the boxes. This is what is good for the company. Also, please note, it is a recommendation that we're talking about in relation to good corporate governance. Some people turn in this into a rule that is chiseled in stone. I think that is wrong.
Corporate governance is common sense most of the time, but not always, and not always in this specific situation. One thing, this AGM, I think it's five years ago, we discontinued the 70-year rule in our Articles of Association. It didn't make sense. It was discrimination on the basis of age. We assess board members individually and not on the basis of their age. I'd also just remind you that this 70-year rule recommendation no longer exists. It was struck off the list of recommendations. People tend to focus on risks and disadvantages. How about focusing on the positive sides and the benefits? Nicole Andersson said that I shouldn't refer to Professor Steen Thomsen. I will do this if I want to, because he is a professor at the Copenhagen Business School.
He is head of the Center for Corporate Governance at CBS. He actually wrote in Danish financial newspaper the other day. I just want to quote what he wrote: "It seems strange," he wrote, "that the Committee on Corporate Governance takes what is British practice and turns it into law without thinking about whether it is to the benefit of the company." He also says, "Many iconic examples of this practice can be found." Now we see what is proposed by Coloplast. We've had other prominent people and companies using the same process with good results. We wanted a unanimous board behind this proposal. You cannot become Chairman of the Board after having been CEO, unless you have the support of the full board. It was a unanimous board that supported this decision and this recommendation.
As I said, I... Rest assured that our board will speak its mind. It's so important to take personality into account here, and it's much more relevant to judge on the basis of personality than on what is written in recommendations concerning good corporate governance. Lars knows that if the leafage of a tree creates shadow on the ground, nothing will grow underneath that tree, and then you need to do something about it. Thank you very much.
Thank you, says the Chairman of the meeting.
The proposal is about the board recommending that Niels Peter Louis-Hansen, Birgitte Nielsen, Carsten Hellmann, Jette Nygaard-Andersen, and Jørgen Tang-Jensen be re-elected to the board. They also recommend that Lars Søren Rasmussen be elected as new board member. The full CVs or resumes are available on the company's website. Mr. Rasmussen's resume is also available as an annex to the convening notice.
Any other candidates? That doesn't seem to be the case. I find that these candidates have been re-elected, and as far as Mr. Rasmussen is concerned, elected. I'd like to give the floor now to Mr. Rasmussen.
Tak for det.
Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to thank you, Michael, for good cooperation. As a CEO, you cooperate with the Chairman's committee on the board. Michael is resigning, but Niels Peter is still there as Vice Chairman. We have changed this company in a lot of respects over the past 10 years. If you want new results, you need to launch new initiatives. We have done a lot of things that were entirely different from what we used to do. We've had to get the approval of the board for all of these things. Michael has been my primary point of contact. He has then made sure that the board gave the required support. It's really been things happening at a high pace here. Most of the time, we've all been in a good mood.
Thank you very much for your 12 years as Chairman of the Board. Thank you very much, and for our good cooperation over the past 10 years. I would like to welcome Kristian Villumsen as new CEO of the company. He's been with us for more than 10 years, and he has really seen all the nooks and crannies. I have a background in product development and sales and marketing. He comes from an entirely different part of the company. We are a commercial machine in this business. We started out as a production company, developing and producing products, and now we have contacts to more than 1 million users. We are a commercial organization now more than ever before, and Kristian Villumsen has a very good background for strengthening our position here.
Internal or in-house candidates, well, minimum 2/3 of all management positions, we want to be taken over by in-house candidates. We have more than 1,000 managers in our company, but finding a new CEO in-house isn't that easy. Sometimes you get lucky, and this time, too, we were lucky, and I'm so pleased. I'm handing over the baton now to a very competent person. I look forward to cooperating with you, Kristian. Let's give him a round of applause, shall we?
I'm gonna say.
To my new colleagues on the board of directors, I look forward to cooperating with you. I really look forward to taking over. People have been skeptically inclined. Will I be able to, well, do this in the right manner? Well, it's a question of cooperation, isn't it? On the board of directors and also on the executive management. I wouldn't have taken over the job if I hadn't known that it was a unanimous board that was behind the proposal. I recognize many of you from last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Many of you shareholders, we've seen each other so many times. I've been sitting up here, and Michael has been the one answering all the questions. I look forward to next year, where I will be the one answering all the questions.
I'm not Michael is not me, so things will be different, but I really look forward to it. Thank you very much for electing me. Thank you to Mr. Rasmussen.
The next item on the agenda is appointment of auditors. The proposal is for PricewaterhouseCoopers to be reappointed. This is in accordance with the recommendations made by the audit committee, without any external interference. There is a comment here, Mr. Demant.
Yeah, with Dr. Jens Frederik.
Jens Frederik Demant is my name. I just don't like the way that the Chairman of the meeting handles this. I was asked if I had other candidates. I knew if I said no, then we would hear immediately that this means that we have reappointed the auditors. You refused to give him, me the floor under the former item. You refused to give them the floor, and I want to speak, but it makes no sense to speak about it now, because I wanted to have my say before we elected the new board.
Thank you, Mr. Demant. Any other comments or requests for the floor? That doesn't seem to be the case. I find then, that PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed. The last item on the agenda is any other business. I'd like to hear if there are any requests for the floor.
We cannot make any resolutions, but comments may be made and views may be vented. The Vice Chairman of the Board.
Well, it's not every day that I go to the rostrum, because I have extremely competent colleagues on the board that will do that for me. We have had Michael Pram Rasmussen with us for the past 13 years. It's been a major pleasure to be the Vice Chairman for 12 years with such a competent Chairman of the Board. He is well-considered in his contributions. He is deeply committed to the operations of Coloplast, and he is open to discussions about problems or challenges or whatever issues are presented to the board, and we have also seen him cooperating extremely smoothly and well with the executive management. I've been on the sideline, and it's always been a pleasure to discuss things with Michael.
I wish you all the best in future, Michael, and thank you very much for the 13 years that you've been on the board in total. Thank you very much for all the good deeds and your high commitment. We can all see the visible results of your contribution on the board, thank you very much.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you very much to the Vice Chairman of the Board. Any other requests for the floor? That does not seem to be the case. I find that we have exhausted the list of items on the agenda. This also means that my job is over. All I have to do is to thank you for good order and discipline. I now hand over the meeting to the Chairman of the Board, about to retire.
Thank you very much, Peter, for your kind words. It's truly been a pleasure to cooperate with you, too. Other people will be resigning today. Pierre-Yves Mégroz retired a couple of months ago, but he's been with us for 33 years, a remarkable achievement. I'd like to thank you so much for your unique contribution. It's been a pleasure to have you on board.
We have 2 employee-elected board members that also resigned today, Torben Rasmussen, who is unfortunately not here today because he's been taken ill, he has the flu, and Martin Kurtz Møller, who is also resigning. I'd like to say thank you to you, too, for your good contributions, constructive cooperation on the board. Lars, congratulations! I am so pleased that this is the outcome. It's the right thing for Coloplast, Kristian, you are also the right replacement for Lars. Søren, thank you very much for helping us navigate through another AGM. To all of you, thank you very much for coming. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me to you.