It is now 4:00 P.M., and we are ready to start this year's annual general meeting. Dear shareholders, welcome to Novozymes' 2022 Annual Shareholders Meeting. The Board of Directors is thrilled to be able to host you here at the Ballerup Sports Arena after more than two years of many virtual events. We look forward to spending the afternoon with you, and I hope you will join us for some refreshments and an individual snack box when the meeting concludes. It's a pleasure for me to talk to you today and present the great work and progress we made in 2021 on our path to finding biological answers for better lives in a growing world with more and more people. I also look forward to presenting where we are.
Novozymes is headed in the coming years and how we plan to increase the positive impact of our work towards a healthier planet, all while creating strong, sustainable growth and an attractive return to our investors. I'm Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen. I'm Chairman of the Board of Novozymes, and the other members of the board are Kirsty Mackinlay is the Vice Chair. We have Heine Dalsgaard, Sharon James, Kasim Kutay, Kim Stratton, and Mathias Uhlén. Here they are, the seven members elected by the AGM. As announced in December, Mathias Uhlén will not seek re-election here at this AGM. To replace him, the board proposes to elect Morten Sommer as a new member of the board. With a PhD in biophysics from Harvard University and more than 10 years' experience in biotechnology research and as a professor at the Technical University of Denmark.
Technical University of Denmark, Morten brings extensive knowledge within the areas of biotechnology, the human microbiome, pipeline management, and intellectual property rights. Morten also has strong business acumen as a co-founder of several biotech businesses. I'll come back to all of that when we come to the election of board members a bit later. Then we have the employee representatives. They were elected on the second of February 2021, for a four-year term. Three of them were newly elected. Here we have them. Anne Breum, Laboratory Technician. Anders Hentze Knudsen, he is a Senior Operator. Preben Nielsen, he is a Science Manager. Jens Øbro, he is a Senior Quality Professional. These are the four employee representatives on the board, and here we have the full Board of Directors.
We have the following registered members of the executive leadership team. Ester Baiget, President and CEO, and Lars Green, he is the CFO. They're registered with the Danish Business Authority. Ester will talk to you a bit later about the business and the year under review in Novozymes. In addition to that, the other Executive Vice Presidents are Amy Byrick. She is the Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Transformation. We have Tina Sejersgård Fanø, Executive Vice President, Agriculture and Industrial Biosolutions. We have Claus Crone Fuglsang, Executive Vice President for Research and Development. We have Anders Lund, Executive Vice President for Consumer Biosolutions. We have Graziela Chaluppe dos Santos Malucelli, Executive Vice President, Operations, Supply, and Quality. Finally, Morten Enggaard Rasmussen, Executive Vice President for People, Sustainability, and Brand. In April 2021, we welcomed two of these executive vice presidents.
We welcomed two, and that was Amy Byrick and Morten Enggaard Rasmussen that we welcomed to the Executive Leadership Team. They've both contributed a lot, and they're a good match to the Executive Leadership Team. We look forward to seeing what this team can do together going forward. The company's auditor is PwC. In pursuance of Article 8.1 of the company's articles of association, the board of directors has once again appointed Niels Kornerup, Attorney at Law, to chair the annual shareholders' meeting. Over to you, Niels Kornerup.
Thank you very much for appointing me chair of today's meeting of Novozymes. I look forward to a good and smooth process and a good discussion. My first job is to make sure that the meeting has been legally and lawfully convened and is quorate. Pursuant to Article 7.5 of the Articles of Association, notice convening the meeting shall be published on the company's website, not more than five weeks and not less than three weeks before the meeting. This was done on February 11th, 2022. On that same date, the meeting notice was sent directly to shareholders registered by name who had asked for such meeting notice to be sent to them and with links to forms for registration, proxies, and postal votes.
Agenda, full proposals, and the audited annual report have also been available for shareholders on the company's website since February the 11th. I therefore find that this meeting has been lawfully and legally convened and in compliance with the company's articles of association, and therefore it is legally competent to transact the business on the agenda. With your agreement, I confirm this and will record it in the minutes. I would also point out that the entire meeting will be broadcast live via webcast on Novozymes website, so it's possible to follow proceedings or revisit them at a later date. I can explain that just before we started the meeting, it was found that 85.46% of the votes are represented at the meeting after deduction of treasury shares.
If we look at the share capital, it is 60% of the share capital that is represented of the total share capital, also after deduction of treasury shares. The Board of Directors has received proxies and votes all those corresponding to 99% of the votes represented, and there is already good support to the proposals contained in the agenda. Adoption of items 10A, 10B, 10E, and 10F require that shareholders representing at least 2/3 of the total number of votes in the company to be represented at the meeting. That's the case, as I just stated. However, at least 2/3 of both the votes cast and the share capital carrying voting rights represented at the meeting have to be in favor of the proposal.
I would refer you to Article 92 of the Articles of Association if you wish to see the details of all this. Approvals, adoptions, and elections are otherwise by simple majority. Also, as mentioned at previous annual shareholder meetings, I have referred to the provision section 101, paragraph five of the Danish Companies Act, which requires a full account of voting to be provided for each resolution at the meeting, even if the outcome of the voting is reasonably clear. I suggest that we follow the same procedure as in previous years, that we don't ask for a complete account. I hope that with your agreement, I can confirm that we will proceed as in previous years, and therefore dispense with the need to provide a full account of the voting result.
Any shareholders wishing to speak on the item for the agenda should approach me. You can then show me your access card, whether it is in hard copy or on your mobile phone. Please come up to the rostrum to speak from up here. We have some chairs reserved for people having asked for the floor up here. Please come up here well in time before your turn has come. In that way, we can have a more smooth process. Here we have the agenda, item one, report of the Board of Directors. Two, presentation and approval of the audited annual report. Three, resolution on the distribution of profit in accordance with the approved annual report. Four, approval of the Remuneration Report and also a vote that is only a guidance.
Approval of remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2022 is number five. Six, election of Chair. Seven, election of Vice Chair. Eight, election of other Board Members. Nine, election of Auditor. We have reached item 10, which includes proposals from the Board of Directors, and there are seven of them this year. Renewal of authorization to the Board of Directors to implement capital increases. B, share capital reduction. C, renewal of our authorization to acquire treasury shares. D, authorization to the board for distribution of extraordinary dividends. E, removal of the age limitation for board members contained in the Articles of Association. F, removal of Article 42 in the Articles of Association. It has to do with the shareholders register. G, authorization to the chairman of the meeting. Right. We can now embark on the business to be transacted today.
As always, we deal with items one, two, three, and four together. With these words, I will now hand over first to the Chairman of the Board, Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen. Then we will also hear the CEO, Ester Baiget, who will report on the financial results for 2021 and the outlook for 2022. Then the Chair will complete the report. We're looking at remuneration and corporate governance conditions. Mr. Chairman, you have the floor.
Before we get into all the great things that are happening at Novozymes, I'd like just to pause and reflect on the war in Ukraine. Citizens in Ukraine have our deepest empathy. It's a human tragedy that's unfolding right now. Naturally, we hope to see this war end as soon as possible. The war raises many concerns, humanitarian, geopolitical, and for Novozymes, it raises the question of how we can help and who we can help, and how we can help the best. Through the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novozymes has contributed to donations totaling DKK 55 million to emergency relief efforts in response to the war. Novozymes will donate an additional DKK 1 million to support refugees coming to Denmark. Many of the colleagues here at Novozymes have also expressed a strong desire to help.
We have a program called Inspire, one of our long-term initiatives, and employees are being mobilized globally to help via Inspire, to brainstorm, plan, and act on ways that can further support refugees from Ukraine. The war has also led to serious disruptions in the supply chains and trading conditions. Under these conditions of war, Novozymes will not sell or ship to these two countries, Russia and Belarus. We must never take peace for granted. It's only during times of peace that people and societies can thrive. Against this sad background, I'll now turn to Novozymes and our biotech business. This past year, the world was again greatly impacted by the COVID pandemic. In addition, businesses and global trade were impacted by supply chain disruptions and increasing raw material and energy costs. Novozymes has done very well during these tricky conditions.
We will make great strides in showing the endless potential that biotechnology holds in creating better lives in a world with more and more people. Novozymes has delivered very strong financial and non-financial results. We finished 2021 with 6% organic growth. That was at the upper end of our full year guidance when we entered the year. We also delivered strong earnings with an EBIT margin of 26.8%, and we are well on track to reach 12 out of 13 non-financial targets here in 2022. We launched a total of 14 new solutions in the year under review. We entered into strategic partnerships, completed important investments and acquisitions in line with our strategic direction.
We live in a dynamic world, a rapidly changing world with growing populations, increased interest in health, growing demand for chemical replacement, changes to nutritional needs, and alternative proteins and solutions that can reduce CO₂ emissions. Consumers increasingly have opinions about how products are made and the overall environmental and health impact of their purchasing decisions. These types of developments have led to an increase in demand for solutions like alternative proteins and probiotics, as well as more climate-friendly options that are less dependent on chemicals and fossil-based resources. This development supports nearly all business areas in Novozymes. It's in this global context that companies, customers, and nations navigate, shape their business and policies, and politics. This is where biotechnology plays a pivotal role.
It is Novozymes' responsibility to ensure that through our technology, we continue to provide solutions that meet the needs of consumers and the world. Novozymes' innovative solutions enable us to imagine a better future, where together we can achieve net zero emissions and sustainable growth while contributing to fair and equal societies. Let me give you a couple of examples of how such a world could look like. Imagine, just imagine if we could replace 10% of global animal protein with alternative proteins. This could mean saving about 2% of agricultural land. That will be 50% of the EU's agricultural area. Another example, if you imagine we all shift to bio-based detergents when cleaning our clothes, that could mean preventing 10 tons of chemicals from being poured down the drain every minute. That really could make a difference.
Even if sometimes things look bleak in this world, biotechnology can help create a brighter future. If there's anything we have learned in particular in recent years, it is this. Businesses must be focused, they must be agile, but we must stay true to our purpose. For Novozymes, our purpose is rooted in everything we do. Together, we find biological solutions for better lives in a growing world. This is our purpose. It is a purpose that gives us the right to dream, to imagine a world made better with biotechnology. Sustainability is part of our DNA here at Novozymes. Novozymes is in a unique position to drive change towards a healthier planet. As a company, we have a responsibility to make this happen. We are proud of the positive impact that the use of our products has in the world.
In more than 30 industries, in more than 130 countries, our enzymes, microbes, yeasts, and proteins help every day reduce consumption of energy, water, chemical substances, and raw materials. They help improve performance of our customer products and give people healthier, more sustainable choices for living better lives. Over the years, we have built an even stronger foundation. With our 60 years of experience in understanding biotechnology, we're committed to growing our business sustainably, thereby making a lasting difference to the world and all our stakeholders. In September 2021, we launched our strategy, Unlocking growth - powered by biotech. In this strategy, we focus on areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact. It's also these areas where we invest, use our growth potential.
The strategy guides the way towards 2025, and it's also a foundation for our ambition to double our sales in 2030, while creating a carbon neutral society, transforming food systems, and enabling healthier lifestyles. 2021 was a good year for Novozymes, very much because of the success with the implementation of our strategy. Based on our strong foundation, Ester and the executive leadership team and all Zymers are well underway in executing this strategy. As a growth company, Novozymes is investing heavily in the future. We focus our efforts where we see the greatest need and demand and where we know we can make the largest impact for Novozymes and the world. In 2021, we made significant investments to ensure future growth.
In August, for example, we announced that we are investing DKK 2 billion in a dedicated state-of-the-art production line for advanced protein solutions. That's in Blair, Nebraska, in the U.S. With this investment, we tap into the growing market need for alternative, healthier sources of protein in BioHealth. In the year under review, we acquired three companies, thereby expanding our portfolio of probiotic and microbiome solutions, and we accelerated our technological capacities. In emerging markets, we increased our reach, we got a better foothold, and we created good growth through existing platforms, like with our yeast platform in Latin America. In Southeast Asia, we are better able to support our customers in developing greener detergents through our global powder center in India. In 2021, we continued to build on our digital offering to customers.
In June, we launched a new digital program called Foresight, where we use real-time data and analysis to help our producers dose corn and enzymes. We help to dose corn and enzymes in production processes, thereby enabling higher production yields and improving the environmental footprint. We are a global leader. We are a responsible corporation, we want to do that in societies where we operate. Our solutions play an important role in helping our customers contribute to a healthier planet. It takes more than that. We must look beyond our own solutions. Novozymes does that by setting ambitious targets and by working together with others to drive a sustainable agenda, using our position as a leading global company to advance biotechnology as a key enabler of a healthier planet.
For the last 20 years, we've cooperated with the UN Global Compact, and we continue working with climate change, for instance, through the Science Based Targets initiative, the Climate Change platform, and the ambition to keep the temperature increase in the world below 1.5 degrees. At COP26 in Glasgow, Novozymes was awarded a Terra Carta Seal by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. This award recognizes international corporations that have made a serious action-oriented commitment towards a sustainable future. Now more than ever before, we are taking a lead in sustainability. With years of experience, we know we can create better results together than we can do alone. Companies, governments, global citizens, we all share the responsibility for a healthy planet.
Novozymes will continue to actively advocate change by engaging in dialogue and offering expertise when working with organizations like the UN Global Compact, the World Economic Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce, The B Team, and many other important organizations. We have a world, an ever-changing world. We must know our direction, but we must also be agile when necessary. That's how we generate value for our shareholders, and that's how we can best contribute. Novozymes has upheld our commitment of giving return to our shareholders through dividend and stock buybacks. In 2021, Novozymes paid out DKK 1.466 billion, and we bought back shares worth an additional DKK 1.5 billion, thereby completing the 2021 share buyback program. Today, we are proposing a dividend of DKK 1.524 billion. That's DKK 5.5 per share for the 2021 financial year.
This is 5% up, DKK 0.25 up compared with 2020, corresponds to a payout ratio of about 48.5% of the net profit. It's in line with our policy to have a payout ratio of around 50%. Today, the board is also seeking approval to distribute dividends more than once a year. The distribution of an interim dividend will not impact Novozymes' policy with an annual payout ratio target of around 50%. If approved, the board will subsequently decide whether it wishes to make use of this authorization. We have started a new share buyback program of DKK 500 million for 2022. This is all in keeping with the capital structure policy we announced at the Capital Markets Day. That was back in June 2019.
This policy sets to maintain interest-bearing debt at the EBITDA level and to return all free cash flow to shareholders after investments and possible acquisitions through a combination of dividends and stock buybacks. At the end of 2021, Novozymes' market capitalization reached DKK 151.5 billion. This was a strong increase compared to, which contributed to giving shareholders a return of 55%. This is satisfactory, but we recognize the high volatility of the share market, not least here as we see in the beginning of 2022. Global share markets are affected by macro-related events, so obviously, this is applied also to Novozymes' shares, obviously. Well, as I mentioned earlier, 2021 offered uncertainties in the world. Our employees, Enzymers, have handled this uncertainty with incredible spirit, dedication, and perseverance.
Enzymers continued to look out for one another, stayed focused on their work, and ensured we couldn't only deliver to customers, but we kept their trust. It is thanks to our enzymers that we can celebrate such a fine result today. On behalf of the full board of directors, I extend a sincere thanks to the enzymers and to the executive leadership team for your enduring passion, commitment, and contribution to our company. Let's carry this great momentum that we created in 2021 forward. Let's carry it on into 2022 and beyond. While global uncertainties and the tragic war persist, our strategy, Unlocking Growth powered by Biotechnology, builds on a strong foundation that has set a clear path for our journey going forward.
We will continue to invest in innovation and new ventures, in our people, in our partners, in our communities, and we will ensure that we live up to our purpose every day. I'm confident that Novozymes is in a strong position to spread out our bio-based solutions further to the benefit of our customers, but also to the benefit of the planet. With this, I'd like to say thank you for now. Now Ester will take you through the 2021 results and share insights into our expectations for 2022. Over to you, Ester.
Thank you, Jørgen, and thank you all for joining us today. It's truly a pleasure. It's truly a pleasure to be here and for us to share our 2021 achievements and offer a look into the coming year and also the forthcoming years ahead will hold for Novozymes. 2021 was a year of many things. It was a year of overcoming. It was a year of inspiring. It was a year of investing. It was a year of delivering. It was a year of learning. While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic lessened in the past year, the changes in consumer behavior and the supply chain issues continue to affect the industries that we live in many different ways.
Despite these challenges, Novozymes delivered a strong organic sales growth of 6%, ending the year in the high end of our guidance. Our growth was led by emerging markets delivering an impressive 18%, and developed markets increased by 1%. The reported EBIT margin came also at 26.8% for the year, also in line with the 2021 outlook. Net profit increased by 11%, and free cash flow before acquisitions was strong at DKK 2.9 billion. Finally, on the key parameters for 2021, return on invested capital, including goodwill, landed at a solid 19.3%, also in line with our outlook. I am proud.
I am proud to say that in 2021, we delivered double-digit growth in three of our five business areas: Food, Beverages & Human Health, Grain & Tech Processing, and Bioenergy. All are testimony to the strength of our well-diversified business and product portfolio. Household Care delivered soft performance, which came against a strong 2020 performance and was impacted by challenged European trading conditions, especially at the year-end. Agriculture, Animal Health & Nutrition delivered flat sales in line with our expectations. We wanted to reach more customers and aim to generate at least 50% of our sales leads digitally. This goal was also achieved as more than 60% of our new leads were generated digitally.
Overall, the innovation played a key role on our strong performance, with over 30% of our sales coming from solutions launched in the past five years. To drive the quarter and further growth, we launched a total of 14 innovative solutions in 2021. I invite all of you to learn more about the performance on the individual business areas and also to learn more about all the important solution launches in the Novonesis 2021 report. We continue to operate today in a world where, unfortunately, changes seems to be the new norm. I am proud of the results, but I am especially proud of how we achieved them. Zymers, I see many here in the room. You continue to amaze me.
You continue to amaze me with your dedication, with your resilience, the passion for finding biological solutions for better lives in a growing world. Not surprisingly, our employees are very engaged. Last year, we achieved a score of 82 on the Zymer Spirit Index, showing that our employees are engaged and committed to our purpose and to our strategy. To put this number in perspective, what does 82 mean? The average benchmark of the top 20 companies using the same measurement system was 79. We score higher in all parameters when we compare to the external benchmarks. Lots to be proud. Last year, we also focused on how to ensure the voice of Zymers could be heard and important dialogue continued, even when many continued to be restricted to home offices.
To keep the engagement high and to offer safe and accessible spaces where we can listen and continue to encourage a dialogue, we did several things. We hosted virtual town halls. We hosted regional and functional town halls. Considerable time of those town halls was allocated and set aside to answer, to listen and to answer the questions of the Zymers. We held a special session for the new Zymers, hosted by all the Executive Leadership Team. We appointed change agents to act as voice of the Zymers and ensure that we continued success with our strategy implementation. We enabled a hybrid workplace, and we launched an e-learning on anti-harassment and non-discrimination.
Despite an uncertain world, I genuinely hope that 2022 will give me the whole ExCo team the possibility to meet more Novozymes face to face. With our new strategy, Unlocking Growth Powered by Biotech, we have a clear roadmap to ensure our solutions can have maximum impact. Our strategy, it guides us on how to invest, it guides us on how to innovate, on how we interact with our customers and how we interact with our partners. I believe it's fair to say that when we look at Novozymes in the past, we have been known primarily as an enzyme company, as an enzyme supplier. Novozymes, we are much more than that. Our expertise reaches far beyond enzymes. We have world-class biotech toolbox, from fermented proteins to microorganism. We have unique scale-up capability.
We have an extraordinary innovation muscle where we master cutting-edge technologies. Novozymes is a biotech powerhouse. When we look at the world of what we are, a biotech powerhouse, then we're facing an addressable opportunity, addressable market size of at least DKK 1 billion. A space that will continue to grow as bio-based solutions continue to replace fossil-based solutions, and as we answer also the emerging needs of the society with solutions like biorecycling for plastics or carbon capture. This means a whole world of new opportunities is just there ahead of us. There's another side here. A world of opportunities, it requires attentive prioritization. With our new strategy, we boldly decide what we do more, but we also decide what to invest less to ensure that our resources are spent where they matter the most.
Our strategy is rooted on our unique, very unique ability to unlock growth for our customers, for investors, for the world with the power of biotechnology. It is on this solid foundation that we're now building on our future. We're guided by our commitments to a healthy planet and standing firmly on a solid foundation. We create sustainable growth for Novozymes by evolving our core business, by expanding BioHealth and human nutrition, and by exploring new options for growth. 2021 was also a year where we took steps to realize our 2030 ambition of doubling our sales sustainably.
I would like to mention, to share with you a few of those strategic examples that make us closer, that put us on the right path to reach our ambition of doubling our sales sustainably, and also in alignment, fully aligned with our commitments to a healthy planet. In 2021, 77% of our revenue was generated from products that contributed to lower CO₂ emissions by reducing the use of fossil-based resources and reducing waste. Last year, we added two new solutions to our ambition's yeast platform, the Innova Element and Innova Quantum. We also launched Fiberex F2.5. Our enzymes, our yeast, our digital solutions, our technical services all combine allow the ethanol producers to generate the highest level of ethanol, diversify their portfolio, lower input costs, and achieve significant productivity gains.
All that to the benefit also of the planet. With the launch of our new laundry solution Pristine, we took a significant step in delivering biological solutions that address the benefits of stain removal. Pristine addresses the malodor, the grime, the discoloring, and ultimately also improving the life of the fabric. We also announced a collaboration with Saipem for the development of innovative solutions for enzymatic carbon capture. Enzymatic carbon capture is answering a need, a precious need, a vital need in the society. In addition, it does it more sustainable, more cost-effective than other solutions, as enzymes enable lower heat input and more moderate use of chemicals. In 2021, 35% of our revenue came from products enabling our food production systems to produce more food with less, and in addition, improve the nutrition and the quality.
There is an increasing demand for sustainable nutrients, and consumers are embracing plant-based products. Jørgen mentioned it before, Novozymes is investing DKK 2 billion in a new state-of-the-art production line in Blair, Nebraska for high-value novel proteins. This facility allows us to capitalize on decades of experience on fermented catalytic proteins. In a parallel mode, we continue to invest in protein extraction enzymes that also support the trajectory and lead solutions to plant-based foods. Last year, we also entered a strategic collaboration with FMC, a leading global agricultural science company, to research, to co-develop, to commercialize new enzyme-based crop protection solutions for all the farmers around the world, and in turn, helping the agricultural business to move away from chemical solutions to bio-based solutions and helping the agricultural industry.
In 2021, at least 5% of our revenue came from solutions that enable better health for people around the world. After acquiring Microbiome Labs and purchasing the Biota Technology, we took another important step to advance, to move forward our BioHealth business with the acquisition of Synergia Life Sciences. Synergia is a leading developer and manufacturer of spore probiotics, but also of natural vitamin K2-7. It will play a key role for us in expanding our position in human health and in functional foods. Lots to be proud of. Last year, we were again restricted on how much we could travel and meet each other and our most important stakeholders face to face.
Many Zymers had the opportunity to return to the office, sometimes only for a little short time, when some others managed to do also and to enjoy rare business trips when the conditions were safe. Whether we met in person, where we met digitally, we still met. We share ideas. We successfully collaborated, and we successfully continued to move Novozymes forward. We did this both within Novozymes, but we also did it at the global stage. We continued to participate in COP26, the United Nations General Assembly, and interacted in the World Economic Forum. We see in these arenas a very active engagement from companies and other stakeholders. For Novozymes, many have shown real interest in the power of biology and encouraged to learn more about existing bio-based solutions that will enable, that will be part of the answers for transition to a more sustainable economy.
In 2002, Novozymes was the first company in the world to report and make ourselves accountable to the triple bottom line. Today, more than 20 years later, we continue to show sustainability leadership and constantly challenge ourselves how to be bolder, how to continue to be a leader. As global leaders we are, we must build trust and confidence by showing the path for others on how to move ahead. The best way to do that is to lead by action. When shaping our strategy, we took an honest look at the operational targets, and we ask ourselves how we could best embrace our leadership position in sustainability. We are proud, we are very proud of what we have accomplished with a 42% reduction in CO₂ emission reductions in scope 1 and 2. When you compare relative to the 2018 baseline.
We are very much on the right path towards our strong sustainability targets for a better planet and healthier people, like reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, operating with 100% renewable energy by 2030, and ensuring gender balance across all professionals and senior leadership also by 2030. If we turn our attention now in 2022. In 2022, we expect to increase sales organically by 3%-7%. The wide range reflects uncertainty related to the ongoing pandemic and the volatile market conditions. We also expect solid reported EBIT margin between 25%-26%. We're building off last year's great momentum, where we set a strong direction. We already have seen great progress, and we're walking the talk in our strategy.
Novozymes, we are on a good path of reaching our 2025 financial targets of average organic sales of 5% or higher, EBIT margin of 26% or higher, and ROC of 20% or higher. We are excited about our ambition to sustainably double our sales by 2030, and by doing that, also enabling a healthier planet. Novozymes is a company that embraces its obligation to dream. It embraces the right to be bold, the right to be ambitious. With that, we keep also a tight portfolio that carries great potential where we apply a venture logic. As we scout for tomorrow's growth, we only continue to invest if the milestones are met. This includes areas, exciting areas like nitrogen fixation, carbon capture, and biorecycling of plastics.
There's very few companies that can match the reach and the impact of Novozymes solutions. We translate the world's needs into biological sustainable answers, and we do that by using our unique technology and our innovation power. Our innovation is the result of the Zymer dedication. It's the result of the Zymer willingness to put their hearts and their souls together to find the best solutions. That means it's very simple. That means that our success relies on retaining and attracting the best and global talent. Part of that happens when you can offer an inclusive and a healthy workplace and a strong company culture. In Novozymes, we seek people with different educations, with different life experience, with different genders and perspectives to contribute, to challenge each other, and to live up to our ambition.
We continue to invest in Zymer development, fostering a culture where people can be themselves, and where they can have the space to thrive, where they can have the space to be inspired. It's only then, when we do that, when we master this space, then it's when the magic happens. We are on a journey, and while we have had a successful 2021, we're not done. We're not done by far. We can and we will be better. The world needs our solutions. Let's continue to rethink tomorrow together. I would like to thank all the Zymers for the hard work and the commitment to our purpose through 2021, and I would also like to thank our shareholders for continuing to see and continuing to believe in our potential.
Thank you for your time and your attention. Now I'll hand it back to Jørgen.
Thanks, Ester. We have come to the matter of remuneration to the Board and Management and corporate governance as it's called. The Executive Management fee is set by the Board of Directors within the framework set by the AGM. Novozymes remuneration policy for the Executive Management is designed to attract and retain qualified members of the Executive Management and to provide a simple performance-based remuneration package that supports sustainable value creation for our shareholders. The individual components of the policy are structured to strongly align the interests of executives and shareholders with focus on delivering on Novozymes' key strategic objectives. Executives receive a fixed remuneration consisting of a base salary, pension, and other benefits. In addition, significant proportions of their remuneration packages are based on performance related, paid through short and long-term incentives.
The majority of the variable remuneration is weighted towards long-term value creation. This is in line with Novozymes' strategic focus and mirrors the long-term nature of Novozymes' investments in the business. The goals for the short-term incentive program in 2021 was split. Financial performance of the company was 60% weight. That was composed of 45% EBIT and cash flow 15%, and targets for the individual executives at 40% weight. The financial performance of Novozymes in 2021 resulted in both the EBIT target and the cash flow target being exceeded. The payout related to this target was 100% and 77% respectively of the maximum. In accordance with the remuneration policy, we have established a new long-term incentive program for the executive management with a performance period covering the years 2022 to 2024.
Since 2020, the board has issued annual long-term incentive program grant with overlapping three year performance periods. This allows the Board of Directors to reassess targets for each annual grant cycle to ensure the targets are sufficiently demanding, incentivizing, and also aligned with the strategy. The new long-term incentive program for the executive leadership team, covering the performance period from 2022 to 2024, consists of 50% shares and 50% share options. The long-term incentive program reflects a 4% weight on organic sales growth, 20% weight on EBIT margin from primary operations, and 20% from the return on invested capital, and 20% weight on non-financial targets. These targets are aligned with the updated strategy and business success criteria for the period 2022 to 2024. The annual long-term incentive program cannot exceed 19 months' base salary, which is the value add conditional grant.
In addition, the program includes a maximum value that allows the board to limit the total allocation of stock options to stock if the intrinsic value exceeds twice the annual conditional grant. The Board of Directors received total remuneration in 2021 in the amount of DKK 9.8 million, compared with DKK 8.2 million in 2020. The increase is a result of the full year impact of the new innovation committee that was established in August 2020, plus the increase in employee representatives from 3% to 4%, and the 2% increase in the fixed base remuneration fee, which was last increased in 2015. The individual board members' fees and their shares can be found in the Novozymes Remuneration Report. The Novozymes Remuneration Report 2021 is the official title of that report.
In 2021, the Board of Directors commissioned an external consultant to conduct an evaluation of the Board in accordance with the recommendations from the Danish Committee on Corporate Governance. The Board of Directors was deemed to be a well-functioning board that has worked exceptionally well together. The operational board processes were in place, and the overall tone of the Board of Directors was positive, encouraging, challenging, and constructive. While the Board was perceived to be very well-functioning, the evaluation identified a few focus areas where the work of the board could be improved, such as the balance between meetings for the full board and meetings in committees, and also the balance between virtual meetings and physical meetings.
When laying down the management principles of Novozymes, the board of directors followed the recommendations on good corporate governance that form part of the disclosure requirements applicable to companies listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. A detailed review of Novozymes' position on each of the recommendations and a description of the internal controls and risk management system relating to financial reporting can be found in the statutory report on corporate governance prepared pursuant to Section 17B of the Danish Financial Statements Act. These recommendations require companies to comply or explain. That's the principle, comply or explain. The recommendations were revised, effective for the financial year 2021. Changes have then been implemented, and Novozymes follows 39 of the 40 recommendations. In 2021, Novozymes adopted a data ethics policy.
This policy sets the overall principles for ethical management of data by Novozymes and supplements our commitment to integrity and compliance. The basic principles identified to support the commitment to ethical data management are universal principles relevant for all categories of data processed in and by Novozymes. Hereby, I give the floor back to Niels Kornerup.
Thank you very much to Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen and Ester Baiget. We've now heard the verbal report on the past year and the outlook for 2022, and we have had a presentation of the audited annual report with proposals for the distribution of the profit. The company has also prepared a remuneration report for 2021. That's the one that the chairman explained about right now and which is pursuant to Section 139B of the Danish Companies Act. The Board of Directors recommends the remuneration report for adoption. I would refer you to the chair's review of the remuneration of the executive leadership team and of the Board of Directors and to the remuneration report, which has been available on the company's website since February this year.
Before I open the meeting, I should point out that the annual report has been signed by members of the Board of Directors and the executive leadership team and certified by the company's auditors without any qualifications or endorsements. The Board of Directors proposes the payment of a dividend for 2021 of five and a half Danish kroner per share of DKK 2 , which means a total payout of 48.5% of the profit for the year, or DKK 1,524 million. It is proposed that the remaining profit, DKK 1,621 million, be taken to retained earnings. It's now possible to put questions and give comments. There are some that have already signed up. If you wish to speak, you should make yourselves known to me.
The Danish Shareholders Association has announced that they had a presentation, but just before the meeting started, we heard that their representative has been taken ill. It is okay for us to read out their contribution. Usually, we have sort of a verbal discussion here in order to have some life to the whole thing. Under the given circumstances, we feel that it is okay to read it out. This is what they would have said if they had been present at the meeting.
My name is Jan Skauby. I represent the Danish Shareholders Association. We are an association with approximately 1,000 members, and we look after the interests of small and medium-sized private investors. We work to develop a healthy investment and share culture.
We participate every year in several annual general meetings all over the country in order to promote our core topics. I am not personally a shareholder of Novozymes, but it's been my pleasure to follow your developments in the past. In particular, the green aspect is interesting, I find. Thank you for the presentation of the annual report. It seems as if you have come through the restructuring well, EBITDA 27% and an increase in the share price, which is very fine. In view of the continued turbulence that we find in the market in 2021. Novozymes did really well in 2021. We do have a couple of questions.
First of all, total revenue reported in DKK has been more or less stagnant for the past four years, although it appears that there is a growth in volume of 6%. Could you explain what you expect will happen going forward? Because what will happen to the growth in revenue, and what is the connection to the new strategy? You have been very attractive as an object of investment, but that was last year. But now in January this year, the share price has fallen more than in the market in general. Could you please explain why? Are there any underlying reasons why, and how did it affect you? My third, and last question is what is most topical? COVID-19 and the crisis in Ukraine.
These two factors, do they cause you to review your strategy for Russia and the Asian markets, in particular China?
We are satisfied with the development in the share price in 2021, and the proposal of a dividend of DKK 5.5 per share reveals that the financial gearing is sensible. Only too bad that you have a problem with the pay level for women. We wish all shareholders a good 2022, and thank you for 2021. This was Jan Skauby. Now over to the chairman for a reply to the questions put in this document.
Thank you to the Danish Shareholders Association for these questions. I'd like to address them as best I can. The first one had to do with growth expectations, you could say. Can Novozymes grow? Because over the last few years, we haven't grown that much. I think, you know, it's important to say that Novozymes, by definition, is a growth company. We want to be, we must be a growth company. If we look back over the time when we've been a separate company since the year 2000, we've delivered on average 6% organic sales growth. There have been years when it's been more, years when it's been less. We have been a growth company for the 21 years of our existence as an independent company. We certainly have an ambition to continue being a growth company going forward.
You know, we delivered 6% in 2021. We are planning, as Ester showed you, to deliver between 3%-7% growth in 2022, and we have the ambition to be at the upper end of that range, not at the lower end. There's lots of uncertainties in the world. That's why we certainly need this range, wide range. We are a growth company. There will be years when it's more difficult to reach 6%+, but we believe in the strategy we have for Novozymes. We prioritize where we see underlying growth. With the trends that we see in the world, we can, and we will deliver on the growth journey and deliver on our ambition to double our revenue by 2030.
The next question had to do with the price of the share and what has happened in 2021 and what has happened in 2022. We do not generally comment on share prices. We cannot manage that as a company. Whatever we do at Novozymes is not driven by short-term developments in share prices, no. It's driven by what we believe to be the right strategic long-term decision. We are not managed by any short-term, you know, influence. That being said, I can give you a couple of sort of guidelines for what we think has happened in the market. We mustn't forget that the price of our share went up by 55% in 2021. That was really a strong increase. Novozymes is a growth company, a growth share.
That means when there's lots of speculation, lots of worries about inflation, interest increases, growth shares are hit harder than those that are not seen as growth shares. That's why it probably, I think, it hit Novozymes a bit harder here at the beginning of 2022 than companies that are not seen as growth companies. If you look at comparable companies, let's call them ingredient companies, we've developed very much in line with the other ingredient companies here, at the beginning of this year. We believe a lot of that has to do with worries about interest rate increases and inflation. The last question, had to do with COVID and what's happening in Ukraine and what else is happening in the world. Do we see that changing our strategy, changing the things we do?
Basically not, because we really believe we have the healthy strategy, the right strategy based on global trends that are in society. This tendency that we should all be more sustainable and we should be more responsible consumers, our entire business is based on that. Those trends are not going to change because things happen in the short run. But obviously we have a strategy. We operate in a way so that we can adapt and adjust if things happen in particular regions or countries, segments, we are able to adapt. That is certainly what our management is doing all the time, adapting to new situations. But underlying, we do not see any need to change our strategy. I hope that gave the Danish Shareholders Association a good reply.
Thank you to the chairman for answering the questions here from the Danish Shareholders Association. Does anyone else wish to speak? Oh, a person is coming up. Please come up here.
Dan Pilegaard is the name of the next speaker. You have the floor, sir. Thank you.
Good afternoon. I'd like to thank the chairman and the woman member of the executive leadership for what they said. I'm not very good at languages, unfortunately, but I'm very good at reading financials, but that's an entirely different matter. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if you had subtitled the U.K. or the English version, or the English text? That would be to the benefit of all shareholders. Now my question. We'll go back in history. In the notes, when Novozymes was separated off from Novo, the objective of the company was to reach DKK 10 billion by 2010. That didn't happen, but it was close. As far as I remember, the achievement was about DKK 9 billion. Now, 11 years later, we are seeing DKK 14 billion. So in 11 years, the figure has grown by DKK 5 billion. That's about DKK half a million per year.
Now, over a period of eight years, there are plans of going to 29 billion, sorry. I think I would like to know a bit more about how you intend to do that in view of the time it took to go from one step to the next in the past 20 years. Just for my own interest, does it mean that dividend will go up from DKK 5.5 to DKK 11 per share in 2030? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Dan Pilegaard, for your comments and question. I think it's the chairman who will give a reply.
First part of your question, this thing about Danish and having it in writing up here. I hope it was clear when you entered the room that if you wanted a headset to hear the Danish translation, you could just ask for it at the entrance, please. They are available to everyone if it was a problem with the English. We have tried to make sure that was okay. About growth and dividend, I really don't know what to answer to that question. Other than to say that, if I understood correctly what you've said, this is a growth company. We have delivered 6% growth on the top line over the 21 years. It's been a nice growth journey.
There have been years where we didn't deliver quite what we wanted, but there were other years where we delivered more. Whether that can be translated into the same growth in dividend, I don't know. It's a clear policy. We have a clear policy. About 50% of earnings will go back to shareholders. That's where we're at now. We were not there some years ago. What we are paying to shareholders today is a higher percentage of what we earn than what it used to be. I hope that answers your question. No, it didn't answer your question, it seems.
Thank you very much to the chairman, and there is an additional from Mr. Pilegaard. The chairman misunderstood my question entirely. What I said about the dividend was actually meant in fun. But now that it has taken 11 years to go to DKK 5 billion, how do you intend to go to DKK 14 billion in just eight years? That's what my question was aimed at.
Thank you very much to Mr. Pilegaard. I don't know whether this triggers any comments from the chairman.
Yes. Okay. I'm not quite sure I 100% understand where all this comes from, because again, what we have announced as being our ambition, that's top line sales growth when you talk DKK 14 billion and back to what it was. What we have announced is our ambition to double our sales from the current level and on by 2030.
We believe we can do that with the current strategy, with the investments we undertake, also long-term in new potential growth areas. I also said that the journey we have been on since 2021 has given us an average growth per year of 6%. We are a bit above 6% for the period until 2030. Not much, but a bit above. I hope this is sufficient to answer your question. Otherwise, come up to me after the meeting is over and we could deal with this on a bilateral basis.
Thank you. There's another speaker headed towards the rostrum. Please approach, and your name is?
Flemming Als. Thank you. Mr. Buhl, I'd like to give you a helping hand.
I've been involved in the company all the way back to the time we were located in the meat district in central Copenhagen. I think the name of the CEO was Ester Baiget, and the agreement was at the time that the first 10 years we wanted to reach 10%. I think that's where all this comes from. It was before your time. After he stopped, there may have been people who were not that skilled at causing growth, but with the current team, I'm sure that you will deliver on those promises.
Thank you for these comments from Flemming Als. Does anyone else wish to speak? That does not seem to be the case. I take it that we have finalized the debate and that shareholders have approved the annual report, the proposed distribution of profit and the remuneration report have been adopted. As I said, because of proxies and personal votes, this was already in place. That finalizes items one to four. Item five is the approval of the remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2022. The proposal is to increase the base fee from DKK 510,000 to DKK 522,000 for ordinary board members.
It is proposed that the fee for the chair and vice chair and supplementary fees for the chair and other members of the audit committee, the nomination committee, the remuneration committee, and the innovation committee will be set on the basis of the base fee as 3x, 2x, 1.5x the base fee, respectively. This is in line with previous years' principles. The chair and vice chair of the Board of Directors will not receive any supplementary payment if they are elected to the nomination and remuneration committee. Are there any comments on this? Does anyone wish to speak on this topic? It does not seem to be the case. I take it that this proposal has been duly adopted. Again, I can tell you it had the votes in advance. That brings us to the matter of election.
Item six is the election of the chairman. The board proposes reelection of Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen as chairman. His management positions, et cetera, are listed in the notice convening the meeting. Are there other candidates for the position of chairman of the board? Does not seem to be the case, so I hereby confirm that Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen has been re-elected for a one-year term. Congratulations. Next item is also an election. That's item seven, the election of a vice chairman. The proposal is to re-elect Kirsty Mackinlay. His management positions, et cetera, are listed in the notice convening the meeting. Are there other candidates for that position? This does not seem to be the case, so I hereby confirm that Kirsty Mackinlay has also been re-elected for a one-year term. Also, congratulations to you. Brings us to item eight. That's the election of other board members.
The thing is that, the board is proposing re-election of four, Heine Dalsgaard, Sharon James, Kasim Kutay, and Kim Stratton. The Board of Directors proposes to newly elect Morten Sommer. The candidates' management positions are listed in the notice convening the meeting. Are there other candidates for the board? That does not seem to be the case, so these five candidates have been duly re-elected and newly elected. Congratulations, and all the best wishes to you all. The members elected by the AGM are now Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen as Chairman, Kirsty Mackinlay as Vice Chair, and as ordinary members, Heine Dalsgaard, Sharon James, Kasim Kutay, Kim Stratton, and Morten Sommer. The employee-elected board members are Anne Breum, Anders Hentze Knudsen, Preben Nielsen, and Jens Øbro.
The employee-elected board members were elected in 2021 for, as you know, for a four-year term when it goes to employee-elected board members. We have here the new full Board of Directors, and this also means that Mathias Uhlén is retiring, and I give the floor to the Chairman to comment on that.
Yes, I just thought I'd take the opportunity here to say thank you. In front of all you shareholders, thank you very much to Mathias Uhlén. He's been a member of the board for 15 years and contributed significantly through his deep understanding of research and development, biotechnology, and intellectual property rights. We've really appreciated Mathias's dedication for the many years and the lasting impact he has left on Novozymes. Unfortunately, Mathias is unable to join us here today.
He was supposed to be here, but unfortunately, two days ago, he got COVID, so obviously he couldn't come. It's a big shame we can't say goodbye to him properly. I hope we will all give him a hand so he can hear it all the way to Stockholm. I hope he's feeling better. Thank you so much, Mathias Uhlén.
Thank you very much to the chairman. We have now dealt with item eight, so we have the last election item, which is election of auditor. The board proposes the re-election of PricewaterhouseCoopers and pursuant to the EU Audit Regulation, I am obliged to inform you that the proposal is based on a recommendation from the audit committee, and the committee has not been influenced by third parties in its recommendation or has not been subject to any agreement with a third party that restricts the election of auditor by the annual shareholders' meeting today. Are there any other candidates? That doesn't seem to be the case. With your support, I find that PricewaterhouseCoopers has been re-elected. This brings us to item seven, which is a proposal from the board. The chair now says 10. That's probably what he means. There are seven proposals in item 10.
The first proposal, 10A, concerns renewal of the authorization to implement capital increases. Article five of the Articles of Association contains several different authorizations to the Board of Directors to implement capital increases that all expire this year. Please refer to the notice convening the meeting, and the board proposes that these authorizations be renewed and extended for one year, which means until April 1, 2023. Article five of the Articles of Association will be amended as specified in the meeting notice. As mentioned in my introduction, adoption of a proposal requires a majority vote pursuant to Article 92 of the Articles of Association. Are there any comments to this proposal? I would like to hear if there are any comments or questions. That doesn't appear to be the case. I take that as a sign that the meeting has approved the proposal.
That seems to be the case. Thank you very much. The second proposal is 10B, has to do with the reduction of share capital by the cancellation of treasury shares. On the 8th of February 2021, Novozymes initiated a share buyback program that was first announced in company announcement number one of the 2nd of February 2021. In pursuance of the buyback program, Novozymes bought back a total of 3,401,975 B shares in 2021 with a transaction value of DKK 1.5 billion. In connection with the buyback, Novo announced that the shares would be used to reduce the share capital and to honor obligations relating to the company's various incentive programs. The Board of Directors therefore proposes that the company's share capital be reduced by the cancellation of a proportion of the company's holding of treasury B shares.
I've referred to the convening notice, but will briefly mention that the Board of Directors proposes the cancellation of 1 million B shares of DKK 2 each, i.e., an average price of DKK 440.8 per B share of DKK 2 , which means that a total of DKK 438.8 million have been paid out to shareholders in addition to the nominal capital reduction. Total share capital after this will be DKK 562 million. This requires a majority vote like the last item did. Are there any comments or questions to this? That does not appear to be the case. I take it to show that once again, we have adopted the proposal to reduce the share capital. I find that the proposal has been adopted.
I can also point out that a notice to creditors will subsequently be issued with a deadline of four weeks, after which the reduction of the share capital will be final. There will be a company announcement that shows when the share capital has been reduced. The next item on the agenda is 3C, has to do with authorization to acquire treasury shares. This is an issue that we are all familiar with from previous years' shareholders' meetings. Ongoing purchases and sales of treasury shares is a useful tool in a company's efforts to regulate or adjust its capital structure, so as to achieve the correct balance between the company's own resources and its loan capital. The current authorization, which was used in connection with the share buyback program last year, expires after this meeting.
Therefore, the Board of Directors would like to ask for authorization in the period until 1st of April 2023, for the company to acquire treasury shares on an ongoing basis up to a total nominal amount of DKK 56.2 million, corresponding to 10% of the share capital, subject to a holding limit of 10% of the total share capital. The purchase price must not deviate by more than 10% from the price listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. The authorization is required to complete the announced new share buyback program. This only requires a simple majority vote. Are there any comments or questions? That doesn't seem to be the case. Again, I take it to mean that the meeting has adopted this proposal. Thank you very much. The fourth proposal is 10D, has to do with authorization to the Board of Directors to distribute extraordinary dividends.
In the interest of financial planning and as a service to Novozymes shareholders, the Board of Directors proposes that until the next annual general meeting, in accordance with articles 182 and 83 of the Danish Companies Act, that it be authorized to adopt one or more decisions to distribute extraordinary dividends to the company shareholders to the extent possible under applicable legislation. Any comments? That doesn't seem to be the case. I take this to mean that the meeting has adopted this proposal. Number five.
[Take, Donna.
This is a change to article 12.2 of the Articles of Association regarding the age limitation for members of the board. It's proposed that it should be deleted. The current age limit of 70 years for members of the Board of Directors in article 12.2 of the Articles of Association should be deleted. This proposal amends article 12.2, as specified in the invitation to the general meeting. As also stated in the invitation to the AGM, the Board of Directors has a revised competency profile that describes the required qualifications of the Board of Directors, collectively and individually, and the desired diversity of the Board of Directors in order to carry out its task in the best possible way.
The Board of Directors does not believe that a certain age should automatically exclude persons from being elected to the company's Board of Directors if they're in compliance with the competency requirement. The revised competency profile does not contain an age limit. Does anyone wish to speak on that? Does not seem to be the case. I take it to mean that the motion has been duly adopted. Thank you. The sixth proposal
Concerns and amendment to Article 42 of the Articles of Association concerning the keeper of the company's shareholders register. The Board of Directors are proposed to delete Article 42, concerning the keeper of the company's shareholders register for increased flexibility in the choice of provider. At the same time, the numbering of the subsequent sections of Article four will be updated accordingly. As a result of this change, the Board of Directors will continue to be responsible for keeping the shareholders register, but will obviously continue to delegate the task to a professional service provider. Are there any comments to this item, this very interesting item? Does not seem to be the case. No, I'm not the keeper of the shareholders register, says the chair of the meeting. No, that's not the case. This proposal has been duly adopted.
The last item, that's 10 G, is the authorization to authorize the meeting chairperson, yours truly, to ensure that amendments to the Articles of Association just adopted are duly registered. More details are stated in the notice convening the meeting. Does anyone wish to speak on that? That is not the case. I take it that this has also been duly adopted. That brings us to the end of item 10, and we are now at item 11, any other business. This is where you can speak on the company, you can give comments, you can state whatever you want concerning the company, and, but you cannot make any proposals. You should have sent in proposals in advance. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Last possibility? No.
That completes the agenda, and all that is left for me is to thank you and to finish my work. I discontinue my work as chairman of the meeting and give the floor back to the chairman.
Well, that just leaves me with saying that the meeting is over, and on behalf of Novozymes, I'd like to thank all those who participated, and not least you to our chairman of the meeting, who once again helped us navigate safely through the agenda. The meeting is adjourned, and on behalf of the board of directors, I'd like to thank our shareholders for support and interest in 2022. We look forward to seeing you again, perhaps even a higher number of you, next year in 2023. Thank you for attending.