Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby open the 2026 AGM of E.ON SE and welcome you all on behalf of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board. Seated to my left are Ms. Jakobi and Mr. Birnbaum. Seated to my right is the Notary Public, Ulrich Irriger, who will record the proceedings and decisions today. The other members of the Board of Management are also present here at Brüsseler Platz Square in Essen. The members of the Supervisory Board are also here today, with the exception of Ms. Petit, Ms. Groth, and Mr. Luhar. Ms. Petit and Mr. Luhar are taking part in today's annual general meeting via video and audio link. Unfortunately, due to urgent commitments elsewhere, Ms. Groth is unable to attend our Annual General Meeting today. Over and above that, I'm also delighted to be able to welcome Dominik von Achten here with us in Essen today.
Mr. von Achten, like Helene von Roeder, is standing for election to the Supervisory Board of E.ON SE. Helene von Roeder regrets that she's unable to attend due to tomorrow's AGM of Merck. Ms. von Roeder and Mr. von Achten will introduce themselves to you later on. There were no changes to either the Supervisory Board or the Management Board of E.ON SE during the past financial year. Now it is my duty to first guide you through some matters of formality. The annual general meeting was convened in due time and form by announcement in the Federal Gazette on the 9th of March 2026. The agenda also included the Board of Management's proposed resolutions on Agenda Items two to seven. The company provided the recipients specified by law with the legally required notifications in a timely manner.
All information on the Annual General Meeting was, and still is, available on our company website. The list of participants is currently being compiled. As usual, I'm going to give you the attendance count later on. In addition, our shareholders have the opportunity to view the list of participants via the online service. In addition to the online broadcast of the entire Annual General Meeting on the company's online service, the AGM will also be broadcast on the internet until the start of the live contributions. We will provide simultaneous interpretation from German to English, both on the online service and during the internet broadcast. Recordings of the online broadcast of the AGM are not permitted. Now, in the run-up to the AGM, you were able to comment on the agenda items.
These comments will be available to all registered shareholders in the online service until the end of the Annual General Meeting. In addition, this year, for the first time, registered shareholders were able to select up to three topics of particular interest to them via the online service prior to the AGM. I'd like to thank you for making such active use of this opportunity. Mr. Birnbaum will address your feedback in his speech. In addition, this year for the first time, you will have the opportunity to provide us with feedback right after the AGM. A feature for this purpose will be activated in the online service right after the AGM has ended. We're looking forward to getting your feedback.
You can also register to speak via the online service, and after having done so, you will be able to speak directly at the Annual General Meeting or ask questions regarding the items on the agenda, and I'm going to explain the procedure in greater detail later on. If you wish to make a motion during your contribution, I'd like to ask you to please indicate so when registering to speak. For your motion to be considered tabled, I need to remind you that you must also present it orally, and I will give you the floor for this purpose. At today's virtual Annual General Meeting, you may exercise your voting rights directly by postal vote or by granting a proxy and issuing instructions to the proxies appointed by the company. In particular, you may use the online service to exercise your voting rights.
You may grant or amend your vote or voting instruction until the end of the voting period, and you may also use the online service for doing so. I'm going to announce the exact point in time in due time. However, I would like to ask you to cast your vote or to issue your instruction, as well as make any changes in good time before the deadline for voting. This is because, despite the excellent technical conditions, delays may occur during the live stream. Further information on exercising your voting rights are available in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting, which is published on our website. Ladies and gentlemen. Let me now move on to the agenda of today's AGM. First, I'd like to ask Mr. Birnbaum to provide an explanatory statement on the documents pertaining to Item one. Mr. Birnbaum, over to you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Clementi. Now for my speech. As I did last year, I've pre-recorded it in our film studio and our video studio to make it even more engaging for you. Dear shareholders, the world is going crazy. Nothing is secure anymore. It's hardly worth to follow the daily news. It just gives you a bad mood and is outdated after one day. This is going to stay the same. The world remains volatile and incalculable. We will have to live with this. We could despair in this situation. We could resign to this, but we can focus on what we can influence ourselves. We can make our contribution that even in these turbulent times, we are making progress. We can hope that others will do the same and that it gets a little better in many places.
This is exactly what we did last year in 2025 at E.ON. We delivered, and we are continuing to deliver. In spite of all of this, we will deliver to you, for you, our shareholders, financial results at the upper end of the guidance range, and at the same time, investments into the future. We deliver for our customers reliable energy and innovative products, as well as energy infrastructure, and at the same time, our contribution to shaping the second half of the energy transition. Ladies and gentlemen, you see, you can rely on your E.ON. Reliability is important to us because our company is not conceivable anymore without our business. We see this, especially in Ukraine. In Ukraine, the Russian army has basically failed, and Russia therefore tries to actually destroy the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. It's the attempt to actually bring the society there to their knees.
This is not successful. Therefore, this is not only sad, it also gives us courage. With all the tragedy, Ukraine is an inspiration for Europe. It shows us the willingness and the innovative strength can make impossible things possible. I admire the willingness to achieve freedom of the Ukrainian society and how they withstand the attack in the fifth year of the war. I wish this willingness for success also for Germany and Europe. With this willingness, we'll be able to achieve anything. I wish to support, to continue supporting Ukraine with all that's possible for us, because the people there do not only defend themselves, they also defend Europe, and they have our solidarity. They deserve it. Now let's return to your E.ON and now come back to my two simple messages for you. My first message, E.ON delivers for you as shareholders.
Our business has again grown stronger in fiscal 2025. Our adjusted consolidated EBITDA of EUR 9.8 billion was at the upper end of our guidance range. This is also true of our adjusted consolidated net income of EUR 3 billion. This means that we fully met our own expectations. You, as shareholders, benefit from our strong result. Today, we offer you a dividend of EUR 0.57 Per share. This is the 11th increase in a row, a plus of 4% versus the year before. We therefore keep and reaffirm our dividend promise, and we hold on to our plan to increase the dividend payout by up to 5% annually. At the same time, we are laying the basis today for the growth of tomorrow. This is because we haven't achieved our results at the expense of the future.
On the contrary, we achieved our results although we invested heavily in the future. We let you, our shareholders, participate in these results while our underlying assets keep growing. In other words, E.ON combines asset value and growth. This is reflected in the development of our share price. What is the reason for this? It's because the transformation of the energy system is a mega-trend and will remain a mega-trend. For this reason, we keep increasing our capital expenditure budget. In 2021, we had still budgeted about EUR 22 billion for five years. For the years 2026 to 2030, it's now EUR 48 billion. In the past fiscal year, E.ON invested EUR 8.5 billion in the future of the European energy system and hence in the future of this company.
We did not only invest in physical assets, we also invested massively in the continuing digitalization of all our assets and processes. After all, the energy system of the future will not work without digitalization. Let me give you a couple of examples. First example. Our current dispatching systems are not designed for millions of producers feeding into the system, especially at the lower voltage levels. They have not been created for the data volumes which have to be processed. Our system engineers are reaching IT limits more and more in their day-to-day business. This is why we launched a large-scale program in 2025 for the development of new network dispatching systems together with PSI. We intend to set a new standard to be rolled out all over Germany by 2030.
Second example, the complexity of the operating processes is also increasing because of the speed with which we are connecting new network customers. In order to manage them efficiently, we are digitalizing and harmonizing planning, construction, and maintenance all over Europe. Today, our enterprise asset management system is already productive in 12 group companies, with over inter alia, the entire German network business, with a lot of users. The implementation with the remaining international companies is due to be completed by the turn of the year. Third example. The energy transition requires simple, fast, and completely digital processes between customers, suppliers, and network operators. Our new process and IT platform is designed to enable highly automated processes. This is how we want to set standards in managing the heavily increasing volume and complexity of the market processes.
Starting with the statutory requirements, such as the 24-hour supplier change, right down to the permanently growing data volumes resulting from the smart meter expansion. Dear shareholders, you see that your E.ON has grown, and your E.ON delivers what we promised. At the same time, your E.ON has invested in the future. This brings me to my second message. E.ON delivers also for its customers. We turn your energy into reality, and I do not just want to talk about it, I want to show you. For this reason, we produced a brief video for you during my summer through the E.ON world in the past fiscal year. Let's start the video. Dear shareholders, as a playmaker of the energy transition, we make sure that new energy works also in our electricity networks.
A good example is behind me, the substation at Heinersdorf in the surroundings of Berlin, in the neighborhood of Berlin. Here we get together what makes the energy transition so challenging, rising demand, but especially the increasing feed-in from renewables. This substation, which actually can gather up to 600 MW of renewables, will in the final stage, be able to handle 2,400 MW of renewable energies. Our employees are always outdoors here in the bad weather, also in bad weather conditions to make this possible. With our energy infrastructure, we are laying the basis that other infrastructure keeps working. Here we are standing right in the middle of the energy center of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Without the energy, the terminal would be chaos and probably no aircraft would be able to leave the airport.
In parallel to this, we also tackle the next chapter of the energy transition, the heat transition, heating transition. Municipal heating energy planning is under full steam. Our first concepts are going to come in the summer. We will have the renovation, remonetization demand in our cities, I can see it. We can say in the future, there's not only going to be decentralized heat pumps. Here I'm standing in a classical cogeneration station in the supply area of our [Süwag]. Here also, we make sure that everything runs smoothly and securely. Also here, we are going to invest a lot in order to make this supply sustainable. To me, as CEO, industrial safety is extremely important. Our people have to travel home healthy every day.
In order for me to know what our colleagues have to do every day, I also take part in the exercises here. This is an exercise for rescue operations from heights. Another comment here, of course, you see me here with my personal PPE. Personal protective equipment, it's mandatory for everybody here. With the equipment that we have at E.ON, we meet the highest safety standards, and everybody has to use it all over the group. Of course, it's particularly good at this opportunity to thank our employees. Every day, they do their level best to make sure that energy is delivered securely to our customers, and they do it in a difficult environment with a great commitment. My heartfelt thank you goes to all of you. Thank you. Our regional companies, like Westenergie, also run the biogas cogeneration stations like this one.
Also, the big solutions for our heating supply can be sustainable therefore. This is what we are working for with E.ON. Much for this brief insight with a couple of examples from our day-to-day business that all show that E.ON is the playmaker of the energy transition. Right. E.ON is the playmaker of the energy transition. This is not just marketing talk, it's a reality. The energy transition takes place in our E.ON networks, in all our European markets, such as Sweden, the Czech Republic or Poland, for instance. Let me demonstrate this by the example of Germany, our largest market. Through its distribution grids, E.ON supplies only one fourth of Germany's end customers. However, this network supplies about 65% of Germany's geographical territory. It's obvious, we are the supplier of rural areas, large areas, few inhabitants.
However, the energy transition takes place, especially in these rural areas. This is also reflected in the figures. About 70% of German onshore wind is connected to our new networks, above all at the 110 kV level. The same goes for 50% of the PV plants, 50% of large batteries, and 40% of data centers. These are actual figures. Our requests also reflect how central E.ON is for the transformation of our energy infrastructure. In doing so, we are laying the foundation for other transformations. For example, in Germany, we have requests for data centers alone amounting to over 70 GW. In addition to the expansion of wind and solar, to requests for battery farms and new loads. Ladies and gentlemen, you see E.ON is the playmaker of the energy transition because we are creating the infrastructure for it. This is not enough for a playmaker.
On top of this, we have to enable our customers to participate themselves and directly in the energy transition. This is why we are developing corresponding products for our customers, flexibility solutions, for instance. Many people are talking about it. We are offering more than a dozen of such solutions in six European markets. This includes a German premiere together with BMW, the first offer for bi-directional charging. We are setting global standards with this. Everybody's talking about it. E.ON is the first company in Germany to translate this into operational practice. Drivers of a BMW iX3 with an E.ON contract for bi-directional charging benefit from every hour that their BMW, that their car, is connected in the form of a bonus of up to EUR 720 per year. This is equivalent up to 14,000 km free of charge annually.
The joint solution of E.ON UK and the innovative energy platform of Amber. The platform automates solar installations, battery storage facilities, and electric vehicles. The customers can buy or sell additional electricity based on real-time wholesale prices, depending on what is economically most efficient for them. They're not tied to any fixed tariff rate. They maximize savings and earnings in real time. Both offers go to show the energy system of the future does not have to be a one-way street, and this is where there is a key lever for affordability or rather for economic efficiency in the best interest of our customers. However, we safeguard our customers' interests also in totally different ways. A current survey shows for the majority of the Germans, the Iran war increases the urgency to drive the energy transition faster in Germany, and this is absolutely right.
After all, it's also clear that the next phase of the energy transition has to be made more effective and efficient, and this is what E.ON is fighting for. After all, it is the people and companies in Germany that will foot the bill, our customers. Germany needs different rules now so that the energy transition remains affordable. This is why we endorse the reform proposals of the federal government for sustainable but also secure and affordable energy. The second half of the energy transition will now be the system transformation. 58% of German electricity came from renewable energies last year. After 25 years of the German Renewable Energy Act, it is safe to say the first half, with its strong focus on the massive expansion of renewable generation and capacity, is complete now. The transformation of the energy system is now no longer primarily a volume issue.
It's a matter of efficiency and affordability. Affordability is now the key focus for industry and households, now more than ever before. However, affordability is also key for you, dear shareholders. This is what our online survey showed in the run-up to the General Meeting, and this is pushing open doors with me. In my opinion, it didn't go far enough to say wind and sun won't send you a bill. It has long since been more than obvious the energy system indeed comes at a price, and the bill gets higher and higher. This shifts the focus from the expansion of renewables to the expansion of the networks. The federal government already set the right course in this direction in the coalition agreement. We welcome this expressly. Now the next steps need to be taken, and that also goes for the Federal Network Agency.
The necessary network investments require competitive capital expenditure conditions. The regulatory return on equity and borrowed capital has to meet the requirements of the capital markets investors. This also goes for the entire revised regulatory framework, the so-called NEST specifications of the Federal Network Agency. Back to the federal government. A crucial step is the network package now, and let me demonstrate this by a misalignment of the current legislation by one example. It's currently completely irrelevant for the economic viability of a wind turbine, a PV panel, or large storage facility where they are being erected. However, it is by no means irrelevant for the economic efficiency of the overall system, because each of these facilities has to be integrated. In practice, this leads to situations in which new wind and solar facilities are also built into existing bottleneck network areas.
For instance, in the network territory of E.DIS, there are extreme cases in which wind power systems have to be throttled down for up to 1,500 hours per year. By the way, they run for a maximum of 3,000 hours per year. The operators receive compensation for this throttled mode. The facilities continue to generate the planned revenues, although they're not running. The compensation is spread via the grid charges across the electricity customers. That's a waste of money. Wind turbines that are idle produce no electricity, and the same goes for solar panels because they don't save a single ton of CO2. It cannot go on like this. The site risk needs a price tag, and this is what the network package is all about. There are many details to be discussed, as usual, when it comes to important decisions setting the course for the future.
Much more important is that the cornerstones of the act are more or less undisputed. They concern the realization that a network without bottlenecks at any time cannot be a target picture, because this copper plate approach cannot be justified from a cost perspective. Undisputed is also the turning away from the first-come, first-served principle. It does not make sense if network operators can prioritize grid access requests only by the order in which they are received. Also undisputed is the necessity to identify bottleneck areas in the network transparently in the future, and to price the risk of building in such an area. Finally, of course, everybody agrees that the existing capacities have to be used in the best possible manner. Here are the levers for cost reduction.
If we use them, we will create a positive vision for the future again, for an affordable and successful energy transition. E.ON assumes responsibility when it comes to this new beginning. We deliver focus and speed. We integrated the 2 millionth renewable energy system into our German network territory a few months ago. The first million took about 15 years, the second only about two and a half years. The third one will take less than two years from now. We deliver constructive cost-saving proposals. Maybe you remember our Energy Playbook. Key message there, an optimized electrification is now the strategic opportunity for Europe. I covered this in detail last year. Meanwhile, the European Union also shares the assessment of the Playbook on required investments. Our proposals for cost savings of up to EUR 1.5 trillion are still on the table. We deliver innovations for more efficient grid access procedures.
E.ON has developed a broad range of solutions. All of them help to make better use of network capacities and to connect plants more quickly. For instance, by superstructures, feed-in sockets, or flexible connection concepts, we deliver a comprehensive digitalization of the energy system. Our smart meter rollout clearly exceeded the mandatory quotas, even in the legally difficult German market environment. E.ON has meanwhile installed 1 million smart meters. In addition, we meanwhile erected about 30,000 smart secondary substations in the German network territory. Meanwhile, a Digital Twin, maps our entire electricity network in Germany in digital format, like in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, and largely in Hungary. However, we also provide discourse contributions and dialogue offers. For instance, in the heart of the federal capital in the former TACHELES. In a few days, we will open there the House of New Energy.
It is more than our new representative office in the capital. This is where we demonstrate to the public which potential can be unleashed if the generation transition turns into a true system transformation. New energy means progress, a better future, and gives us confidence. In light of the currently prevailing news, this is a rare sequence of words these days, but it is not wishful thinking. It is a vision which we can achieve. Dear shareholders, in a nutshell, we deliver for you the results which we promised and the investments in future growth. We give our customers the infrastructure which makes the difference for the success of the energy transition. We give our customers the products with which they can participate in a successful energy transition, and you can count on us that we will keep going from here.
We are doing whatever we can in all the chaos around us, and this is quite a lot. Thank you very much. Back to you, Mr. Clementi. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Birnbaum, for your speech. Ladies and gentlemen, as a complement to the report on pages 15 to 19 of the Integrated Annual Report, I'd now like to give you a brief overview of the activities of the Supervisory Board in the past fiscal year. The 2025 financial year was marked by ongoing geopolitical tensions, the global reorganization of energy and raw material flows, and the continuing climate crisis as well. Against the backdrop of these challenges, the transformation of the European energy system remains a key task of our time. The German federal government and the European Commission have made a clear commitment to the energy transition, to strengthening security of supply, and to promoting innovation and competitiveness. E.ON continues to drive the expansion and the digitization of energy networks as a backbone of a secure, decarbonized, and increasingly decentralized energy supply, as it were.
In doing so, we are making a significant contribution to the achievement of the European energy and climate targets, as well as for the stability of electricity and heating systems. With the rising cost of living, the affordability of the energy transition is becoming a greater focus of public attention, and this is why we believe it's E.ON's responsibility to help make it affordable for everyone. Over and above that, we are actively expanding our business in integrated, sustainable energy solutions for cities, local authorities, and industry. Smart, digital, and connected solutions that combine efficiency with climate protection, they are becoming increasingly important, not only in terms of competition, but also as an imperative in society. E.ON plays a leading role in this field, drawing on its own technological expertise and strong local presence. The Supervisory Board deliberated on and monitored the company's strategic direction.
It discussed this in depth with the Board of Management, particularly in light of the changing geopolitical and regulatory environment. Other key areas of focus during the 2025 financial year included the ongoing challenges in terms of security and the economic policy in Germany and in Europe, with a particular focus on those countries in which E.ON operates. The Supervisory Board also discussed E.ON's position on the capital markets, its financial position, financial performance and profitability, its dividend policy, employment trends, the opportunities and risks affecting E.ON's results, as well as cybersecurity and business continuity management. A particular focus at every meeting was on the area of health and safety. That is protection of health, industrial and occupational safety, and accident prevention.
Now, this range of topics was discussed in depth during four regular meetings, which were attended by all members of the Supervisory Board, and it was also discussed in depth in additional committee meetings. In total, the Supervisory Board and its committees in 2025 met 20 times. Now, through this comprehensive committee work, the Supervisory Board ensured that E.ON pursue their objectives effectively and respond appropriately to challenges. In addition, the Supervisory Board reviewed and updated its diversity profile and competence profile. This happened during the past financial year as well. In the declaration of compliance, which was issued at the end of the year, the Supervisory Board, together with the Board of Management, stated that the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code had been fully complied with ever since the last declaration was issued in December 2024.
The Supervisory Board reviewed the annual financial statements prepared in accordance with German commercial law, the consolidated financial statements, and the combined management report of E.ON SE for the fiscal year 2025, as well as the Board's proposal for the appropriation of the 2025 retained earnings, and discussed this in detail at the Supervisory Board's financial statements meeting on the 24th of February 2026. In addition, the Supervisory Board also reviewed the sustainability report, which is integrated into the annual report. The Supervisory Board has approved the annual financial statement of E.ON SE and the consolidated financial statements prepared by the Board of Management. The 2025 Annual Financial Statement has thus been adopted. The Supervisory Board approved the consolidated management report, in particular, any statements regarding the company's future development.
The Supervisory Board has endorsed the Management Board's proposal for the appropriation of profits, which provides for a dividend of EUR 0.57 per dividend-bearing share. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank all E.ON employees for their work over the past year. Your dedication and your outstanding achievements ensure that E.ON remains a reliable partner in Europe's energy transition, even in challenging circumstances. Your passion and your willingness to always go the extra mile deserve the highest recognition. I'm full of confidence that E.ON will continue to successfully pursue its growth trajectory in the future as well, together with you, dear fellow members of staff. Now, I would also like to extend a special thanks to the Works Council representatives for their tireless dedication and their valuable and constructive cooperation. Your contribution has played a key role in our company's success.
Agenda Items two to six form part of the regular formalities, and they do not require any further explanation. Let me thus briefly touch upon the elections to the Supervisory Board, which will take place under Agenda Item seven. The terms of office of Anke Groth, Klaus Fröhlich, and Ulrich Grillo will end at the close of today's Annual General Meeting. This is why new elections are required. As you can see from the Supervisory Board's proposed resolution, we are proposing Mr. Grillo for re-election. Ms. Groth and Mr. Fröhlich are not available for a further term of office, though. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks to Ms. Groth and to Mr. Fröhlich for their dedicated and consistently reliable service.
Through their expertise, through their commitment and dedication, you both have made a decisive contribution to strengthening the work of the Supervisory Board and to keep driving forward the development of E.ON. Mr. Fröhlich, you have been a member of the E.ON Supervisory Board ever since May 2018, and you've played an active role in many areas. Since 2018, you've also been a member of the Investment Innovation Committee, which we expanded to form the Innovation and Sustainability Committee in 2019. In 2023, you took over as Chair of the Committee. Your high level of personal commitment has had a decisive influence on the work of this Committee. In doing so, through your advice and critical guidance, you have provided important impetus for our new business areas, for innovation, for digital transformation, and for sustainability issues as well. Thank you very much for your commitment.
As I mentioned before, Ms. Groth is unable to be with us here today. She joined the Supervisory Board in 2022. Ms. Groth, with her industry and financial expertise, has greatly enriched the Supervisory Board and as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, she has supported and monitored the development of E.ON with great dedication, thereby strengthening the overall quality of the Supervisory Board's work. She too deserves our collective thanks. Mr. Grillo is standing for re-election, and you already know him. New candidates to the election to the Supervisory Board are Helene von Roeder and Dominik von Achten. Ms. von Roeder and Mr. von Achten will now introduce themselves in short videos.
Millions of people switch it on several times a day at home, in companies and cities. They charge their mobile phones. They run companies. They supply their municipalities, and nobody has to think about what decisions have to be made to make sure electricity is available wherever it is needed. The situation today forces all of us to think about it. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Helene von Roeder, Member of the Board of Managing Directors and CFO of Merck. For over 30 years, the one question that has been driving me, how financial flows influence the world in which we live. The energy world is currently going through a far-reaching transformation. We all know that Europe's energy mix poses a strategic risk, but also, at the same time, opportunity.
This is why I'm extremely happy to shed light on these questions together with a team of E.ON's board of management, and it is an honor for me to contribute my expertise in the best interest of the shareholders. In my professional career, I've been involved in many difficult decisions, be it in the banking sector, in the real estate sector, or now in science and technology. As CFO at Vonovia, I've come to understand the way in which the urban energy infrastructure works, how supply networks are funded, modernized, and integrated into the lives of millions of people. With this experience, I can contribute to making E.ON fit for the challenges of tomorrow. As a member of Merck Supervisory Board, that is, before I became CFO, I learned that good corporate governance is always about asking the right questions at the right point in time.
I'm very happy about my nomination for E.ON Supervisory Board. Your investments as shareholders is more than just money. It stands for your trust in reliable, clean, and of course, affordable energy. What can be my contribution? Three decades of financial experience gathered in capital markets, right down to strategic corporate governance, combined with sound digital knowhow and a good instinct for where exactly artificial intelligence can unfold a company's potential. My intention is clear. To contribute this knowledge and to justify your trust in every decision so as to create sustainable added value together.
Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for giving me the opportunity for a brief introduction today. I'm Dominik von Achten, and I am 60 years old, married, and a father of four children. I studied law and economics with a Doctorate in economic policy. After almost 10 years in consulting, I joined the Executive Board of Heidelberg Materials in 2007, where I have been responsible as CEO for the strategic alignment and development of one of the world's leading construction materials companies since 2020. As a globally operating DAX-listed group with 50,000 employees, we have since then been driving the largest transformation of our corporate history. At the center of this is one key question. How do we combine our energy and CO2 intensity with profitable growth and sustainability in a strong business model? We opted for a clear answer.
Turning these key challenges into a unique opportunity and positioning Heidelberg Materials as a global pioneer when it comes to energy and CO2-intensive industries. It is with the great passion of the global team that we have profitably grown continuously at Heidelberg Materials under my responsibility and have expanded the pioneering role in our industry with significant progress when it comes to decarbonization and digitalization. In so doing, we set new standards for technology and product innovation. An important milestone was the successful market launch of the world's first near-zero cement based on the first CO2 capture and storage facility on a large industrial scale last year. Such pioneering achievements clearly demonstrate that technological progress and decarbonization are inextricably intertwined. However, transformation also means for us to consistently use the potential of digitalization from network production through data-driven decision-making, on to new digital business models.
To me personally, such far-reaching transformation processes are unique opportunities to make a real contribution, and they are fun and give me energy. I'm firmly convinced that economic success, competitive energy costs, fast digitalization, climate protection, and social responsibility can only be conceived and designed together. It is precisely this approach that I would like to contribute to the work of E.ON Supervisory Board with a clear strategic alignment, a responsible appraisal of opportunities and risks, the experience from the customer's point of view, and an open, constructive dialogue. With this in mind, I would be very happy about your trust so that I can make my contribution to E.ON's successful development. Thank you very much.
Ms. von Roeder, Mr. Grillo, Mr. von Achten are ideally suited for membership on the supervisory board given their professional background. Mr. Grillo has demonstrated this impressively in recent years, particularly through his work as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board at E.ON SE. The election proposals take particularly into account the objectives for the Supervisory Board's composition adopted by the Supervisory Board, and they also meet the competence profile for the full board drawn up by the Supervisory Board. Further details are available in the invitation to the AGM and in the CVs of Ms. von Roeder, Mr. Grillo, and Mr. von Achten . Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to give you the attendance figures at today's Annual General Meeting. Currently, 53.64% of the company's share capital are represented at this AGM.
We've also received postal votes in the amount of 408,588,963. Postal votes at this AGM, together with the shares represented at this AGM, amount to 69.11% of the company's share capital. These proceedings are also followed by more than 200,000 guests, and I would like to thank you for your interest already now. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the point where we start the debate on items one to seven . The live stream for our shareholders will continue on our online service. At the same time, the public live stream on the internet is now ending. I'd like to say goodbye to our viewers there, and I'd like to thank you for your interest in E.ON.