Good morning. Ladies and gentlemen, Gerd my name Krik. As the chairman of the Supervisory Board, I am opening this year's AGM twenty twenty one of Fresenius S. A. And Koch AG Limited by shares.
And according to the article of I take over the chairmanship. This AGM is taking place in the Fresenius headquarters in Bad Hamburg, Else Kronerstrasse No. 1. On behalf of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board, I would like to warmly welcome you, our shareholders as well as the shareholders' representatives and the representatives of the media. Just like last year, our AGM is taking place in a virtual form via the Internet, that is no personal presence and attendance of our shareholders.
This is due again to the special circumstances of the COVID-nineteen pandemic in the best interest and for the protection of our health and against the background of the regulations for the pandemic. The management board of the Personal Liable Partner, the Fresenius Management and the Supervisory Board of Fresenius SE and CoKG Limited shares decided to hold this year's AGM again as a virtual meeting. Unfortunately, this virtual type, this AGM, virtual AGM only offers a restricted opportunity to talk to you, to have a dialogue with you, dear shareholders. In order to have a more lively dialogue, this year, we opened up the opportunity to upload video messages in our shareholders' portal on the Internet so you can offer a contribution to the discussion in a video or audio form. And we are going to discuss it in our Q and A general debate later on.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am I think it really is a pity that we are having this virtual event only and not a real event after many years as the chairman of the Supervisory Board. It's almost forty five years to the day intensive work for our company Fresenius. It would have been nice to say goodbye personally to you. Unfortunately, this time, this only happens via the screen, the Internet. In 1975, I've started working for Fresenius.
At the time, a small SME company with a sales level of €60,000,000 120,000,000 DMARK, Deutsche Mark at the time. At the beginning, I was head of R and D, manufacturing and project business. Today, as you all know, Fresenius is a company that is known around the world as a public health company. This incredible and great development
was only possible due to the great employees who are at the beginning of this
work chain, the decision making processes in the company and my companions over those years, over those forty five years who worked with me for Fresenius. I would like to say thank you to Hans Gruner. He gave me the entrepreneurial leeway and freedom. I would also like to thank Doctor. Alfred Stiefenhofer and Doctor.
Carl Schneider as well as the foundation Else Gruner Fresenius Stiftung. All of you helped me, supported me, supported my decisions, decisions that sometimes entailed a high entrepreneurial risk. The formative entrepreneurial decisions in my long time at were, first of all, building up the dialysis department and acquiring the service business of N and C in The United States. Afterwards, we have founded Fresenius Medical Care as a stock listed company in close cooperation with Doctor. Ben Lipps.
Secondly, the safeguarding of the survival of this business within Fusion Solution that was restricted to Germany only. We bought Farmacia Acton back in 1998 and the foundation of this strong growth driving Fresenius Kabi, now one of the growth drivers in our company. Number three, we started working in the hospital activities in the year 02/2001. With the acquisition of the Helios Hospitals by Doctor. Ulf Mark Schneider and number four, the acquisition of Vamed in Austria, our project business for health institutions worldwide.
These four company areas are the basis of the development of Fresenius Fresenius as a worldwide active and successful health company. After the end of today's AGM, I'm handing over the responsibility for the future development to my designated successor in office, Mr. Wolfgang Kirsch. Wolfgang Kirsch is a very experienced personality. He is very has a high know how in the field of finance, finance expert, really.
And if he is elected, the chairmanship of the Supervisory Board will be in the best hands, and there will be
a
seamless takeover because we have been cooperating closely since the beginning of the year 2020 in a cooperation based on trust. He, Mr. Kirsch and his colleagues in the Supervisory Board and the Management Board headed by Mr. Stefan Strom, I wish you all the best a lot of success for your future and for the future of our company. I have no doubt that Fresenius as a company in the service of health, in the service of human beings worldwide will remain successful in the future.
I myself will always be emotionally close to this company and its employees. Dear ladies and gentlemen, after these very personal remarks, I would now like to continue with the formal aspects of our virtual AGM. First of all, I would like to state and declare the invitation of today's AGM was published in the Federal Gazette in due formant time on 04/07/2021. All required documents and information have been accessible on the website of Fresenius SE and Kokka GAA, and they are still available today during and after this virtual AGM, open for inspection. One copy of all documents are available for inspection in the hands of the notary public, doctor Carsten von Schenck, who keeps the records of this AGM as he has already done in the past years.
Her doctor Carsten von Schenck is here in this room, keeps his required distance, of course. And I would like to warmly welcome Doctor. Carlsten Fonschenk. Also for Carlsten Fonschenk, this is the last AGM for Fresenius. He will resign from office as a public notary after reaching the age limit for his profession in notary public.
I would like to thank you for the many years where you worked for Fresenius AGM as a notary public with great prudence and expertise, and you also notarized our AGM and kept the minutes. From the Supervisory Board of FreseniusSA and Kokkg Limited by shares, we have Frau Krit Gensder and Hermichel Dieckmann and the two Vice Chairman. So I would like to warmly welcome both of you. As you know, Mr. Wolfgang Kirsch will stand for election under item number eight as the shareholder representative for the Supervisory Board of Fresenius SA and KOR KGA.
As already mentioned, if elected, he shall also be proposed as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Furthermore, we have planned that he shall also be the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fresenius Management. Has been a member of the Supervisory Board for about one year. Mr. Kirsch is personally present here in the meeting room.
A very warm welcome and cordial welcome to you, Mr. Kirsch. Mr. Kirsch will present himself personally during this AGM, and he will also explain and present the proposed new remuneration systems for the management board and the supervisory board. From the management board of Fresenius Management AG, management SE, Fresenius Management SE, we have three representatives here on stage.
The CEO, Mr. Stefan Storm, Board Member responsible for finances, Mrs. Rachel Empey and Doctor. Sebastian Biedenkop. Doctor.
Biedenkop is responsible for the department's legal, compliance, insurances and human resources. He has been a member of the Board since the December 1. It is thus the first AGM from Fresenius as a member of the Board. I would also like to warmly welcome all the members of the Board very cordially. At this moment, I would like to inform you about a further change in the management board that has occurred since the last AGM with effect from April 12.
Mr. Michael Zen was appointed as a board member of Fresenius management SE. His responsibility is the department of Fresenius Kabi. We are very happy that Mr. Michael Zinn is a very qualified manager in the area of health and public health, a highly qualified manager who's now working for Fresenius.
He is succeeding Max Henriksson, who resigned from office on 03/16/2021. And I would like to thank Mr. Mats Henriksson on behalf of the Supervisory Board for his entrepreneurial contributions in the past years. We would like to wish him all the best for his future. The members of the management board of Fresenius Management SA and the Supervisory Board of Fresenius SA and Co KGAA are tuned into this AGM via audio and video, so they logged in.
This is also due to the special circumstances of the COVID-nineteen pandemic and serves the purpose to reduce the number of direct contacts in this room, in this meeting room. I would also like to warmly welcome Doctor. Bernd Roese from PricewaterhouseCoopersGmvH, Wirchaff Spufungsgeselshaft auditing company who acted as the auditors for the business year 2020 as our company auditors. And this and in their function, Doctor. Bernd Roze is also taking part at this AGM.
Mr. Roze is in one of our adjacent rooms here in this building. Ladies and gentlemen, for this virtual AGM, we are also having a list of attendants according to the German law. All the present proxies for the company, Doctor. Thomas Richter and Mr.
Sebastian Schlagwein are mentioned with the shares they are representing as proxies. In this context, I would like to mention that the equity capital of the company has changed slightly since the invitation to this AGM. The equity is now EUR 5 and $57,665.000509. List of attendance is as follows right now. Following list of attendance for this virtual AGM, These are the latest figures.
Of the equity capital amounting to EUR $557,000,005 and 56,509, split into five fifty seven million five and fifty six thousand five hundred and nine ordinary shares, euros $4.00 4,000,009 and 97,845 shares with the exact number of votes are represented. This represents to 72.64% of the share capital. Going beyond that, we have received proxy votes in writing for 571,130 ordinary shares. They received by mail as a postal vote. 405,000,005 and 68,975 ordinary shares are present as voting shares, 72.74% of our share capital is represented for the vote.
The list of attendants is open for inspection in the meeting room and is continuously updated if required. Shareholders who registered in due time and form were able to hand in questions before and prior to this virtual meeting up to the 05/19/2021. Questions could be handed in via the shareholder portal via the Internet. These questions will be answered today after Mr. Storm's presentation and after my presentation on the activities of the Supervisory Board in the past business year.
We will answer these questions as exhaustively as you would do this in a classical AGM with everybody present. Repetitive questions will be answered in summary whenever this makes sense. So we'll we'll pull the answers for questions that are repeating themselves. On top of that, shareholders who were registered in due time and form could exercise their voting rights electronically or via a proxy vote or a postal vote before the AGM by giving instructions to the proxy voting staff of the AGM or via a coastal or electronic vote. Both options are still open for vote via proxy or via electronic vote, and this opportunity is open during the Q and A session before we start the official vote.
So you may still vote electronically or via a proxy vote as long as the AGM is going on before we call for the vote. And before we will close the vote or granting the proxies, I will tell you when this option ends. But if you have the opportunity, please vote as early on as possible. Otherwise, it can lead to delays of the transfer of your vote. I would like to state and declare that we have a notifiable counter motion.
You can find it, including our personal statement, on the website, on the Internet of our companies. You can read the counter motion and our statement. So much for the formalities. Dear ladies and gentlemen, we would like to start dealing with our agenda today, and we would like to start with item number one on our agenda. Item number one deals with the presentation of the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements approved by the Supervisory Board and the Management Report for Fresenius SE and Kolk AGA and the Group and the Report of the Supervisory Board of Fresenius SE and Kolk AG Limited by shares for the fiscal year 2020.
It also comprises the resolution on the approval of the annual financial statements of Fresenius SE and Kokkeg for the fiscal year 2020. As I have already mentioned, the aforementioned documents are available since the invitation of the AGM via the website of this company. Of course, you can read and download the document during and after this virtual AGM. You can read and download during and after the AGM. You can also find the explanatory report of the personally liable partner according to Section 289A Paragraph one and Section 350A Paragraph one of the German Commercial Code Handelsgezeitsburg.
I assume that all documents are known and available. As I have said, Notary public, Doctor. Karsten von Schenck, has received one copy of each document. And now I kindly ask Mr. Strom to explain all the resolutions for item number one and also discuss the prospects for the current financial year.
So Mr. Strom, the floor is yours.
Thank you very much, Doctor. Kwik. Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, before I begin with my statements concerning this item on our agenda, you, Doctor. Kwik, have already said this at the beginning of this meeting. We are experiencing our last Fresenius annual general meeting under your leadership.
Once this meeting comes to an end, your term of office will end. And I believe I am not emphasizing this enough if I say that this also is the end of an era at Fresenius. A special moment like this is something that I do not alone wish to comment on. The virtual format does not allow any personal words of greeting. Nevertheless, we have two video contributions that I would like to show you.
And the first contribution comes from Klaus Needing, who is the vice president of the Deutsche Chutz, Vaenigung Fjerwet, pa pa pa zits at DSW.
Dear doctor Craig, this is the last AGM from Fresenius headed by your chairmanship, and it is a special honor that the company has asked me on behalf of all the shareholders to send you a greeting. We both met on the occasion of the prior meeting for Fresenius AGM in 1995. At the time in the headquarter, I was a young guy, 30 years old, and I talked to you, the experienced manager. And I was very impressed by the clarity and precision of your statements. Some something that engineers and lawyers just like.
In the following twenty six years, Fresenius just knew one direction upwards, upwards. And I was convinced of convinced of the manager and the personality get quick. I recommended the Fresenius share to all my friends. And be assured, I still kept my friends. The friendships are continued.
Over all these years, we have now this relation with place and confidence and trust. I'm proud of it. I would like to thank you. So in the year 2019, it was just very logical to recommend you as for the award for good management for Deutsche Schutzkemacher for Vijeppe Pebersitz. And I was very, very happy that DSW followed my suggestion.
This award is more than reserved because you are head of not only one DAX 30 index company, but two. So you really deserve these awards. On behalf of Deutsche Schottsvaer Energung fur Wirtz, DSW, I would like to say thank you for your great, great work, for your lifetime achievement. Now I would like to wish you all the best, a lot of health. We can all need a good health.
Please enjoy your great wine and enjoy nature. And to have a good basis for a good glass of wine, I'm sending you this present. So my wife and I have produced this sausage specialties from our own butchery. So mister Trick, your sharp, laser sharp analysis is something we are missing already, and I hope that you will give statements in the future. Warm greetings, Claus Nieding.
Thank you very much for this video. The second video comes from Dieter Tasler. Mister Tasler is the speaker, spokesman of SDK, the Schutz Gemeinschaft der Kapital Amdaga. Mr. Tasler?
Hello,
and good morning. My name is Dita Tasler. I am speaking on behalf of SDK Schutz Gemeinschaft der Kapital Amdaga. We, as SDK, normally ask questions concerning the financial statements in order to get answers that serve as an information basis for the vote on the agenda. But today, I have a special point.
Doctor. Krick is not open for reelection is not standing for reelection for the Supervisory Board. Our Chairman of the Supervisory Board is resigning from office after many, many successful years in our company. Doctor. Krik, we have met many years ago.
First, via the subsidiary Fresenius Medical Care. Many years ago, I was able to vote for you as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, as the representative of STK. And if you think whom am I going to vote for? You have this great experience. It's such a plethora of experiences.
I cannot mention all your merits. But let me mention some milestones. Back in 1975, you entered in the company. It would it had 1,000 employees, management director, R and D, founding the site in Schweinfurt, changing of the legal form to an AG member of the board, later chairman of the board of FMC and FSE, foundation of Kabi, starting work to work with hospital chains, chairman of the supervisory board of FMC and FSE. These are just some of the few some of the many, many highlights.
You've been a member of this company for four to six years. For more than twenty one years, you have been the CEO, Fresenius, did not only grow with you, but because of you by operational growth and acquisitions. Over the last eighteen years, you have been the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and I know that this means a lot of hard and dedicated work. You have seen people come and go. You paved the way.
You asked the CEOs about the background of their decisions, and your goal was always to do the best for this company. Talking to you, one always has the impression that you have always enjoyed your work. I have always been impressed by your knowledge, your know how, your calm and quiet when it came to taking the right decisions here in the AGMs. You were a competent, matter of fact, Chairman of the AGM, who really was a very good Chairman for this AGM. In my role as a critical shareholder, I sometimes ask critical questions for employees, for shareholders and for the patients.
You were always had an open ear and listened to patients and shareholders. It was very important for you to safeguard patients' health with affordable health services. And over all those many years, you have been very, very successful. This is a company worth 36,000,000 sales and 311,000 employees. That's your legacy.
So I would like to thank you on a very personal note for your commitment, for your work, for our company. It's a sad day normally. I would shake your hand to say goodbye. Because of this virtual form of the meeting, we cannot do this today, unfortunately. But I wish you all the best.
Enjoy the time you're taking off from work and I hope that you have a lot of hobbies to enjoy. And stay healthy and fit, dear Doctor. Krik.
Thank you very much, mister Tassela. And I would also like to thank you, mister Nieding, for your two video contributions. And mister Michael Diegmann, who was also the deputy chairman of our Supervisory Board, would also like to address a few words. Okay? Bill?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, dear Doctor. Krik, as one of your two Vice Chairman, I would also like to say thank you on behalf of the Supervisory Board and say this with a lot of respect. Your legacy is incredible and extraordinary. You have formed Fresenius like no other person. Fresenius really has to say thank you.
Not many entrepreneurs start as an SME and now it's a global company. But you did so successfully. Apart from visions and strategy, you need determination, discipline, passion and the courage to take great decisions and to consistently implement it. That shows that you are a great entrepreneur that also led to a lot of awards The media calls you a pioneer, a solitary icon of one of the most successful leaders of the German economic history.
The human being Gaelt Krik has been has always been a person who is down to earth and true to himself. So, doctor Krik, you don't have to reorganize your life. You have always been true to yourself. Today is your last day as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fresenius SE. One has to say 82 years of age, and you don't look your age, I have to say.
That is quite extraordinary. But that's really the way you are. That's your extraordinary commitment, your extraordinary CV for Fresenius. So we are very happy to see that you will stay close to us with your competence and your know how and expertise. Today, on behalf of the Supervisory Board and on behalf of customers and shareholders, I would like to sincerely say thank you and wish you all the very best for your future and good health.
Everything else, you will organize with your dear wife. And we would also say thank you to dear Mrs. Trick that you shared your husband with us for such a long time. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to work with you. Thank you so much and all the very best to you dear doctor Krik.
Thank you, doctor Dietmann. And and of course, there's not much more that I could add, doctor Krik, to what has been already said.
I
can only agree with what has been stated and once again formally ascertain the long term success of Fresenius is very closely related to your achievements doctor Crick. You were a full blooded entrepreneur. You were courageous. You were willing to make decisions. You were four sided.
You were an outstanding engineer with visions. What you are not, doctor Krik, and what you never were, I believe, is a very comfortable boss. That's something we cannot say, but that's okay. We have have run into some frictions. I can remember many very intensive discussions that we have had in the past.
But due to this friction, we generated a lot of energy and that brought us forward. Thank you. Personally, but also on behalf of Fresenius, I would like to say with this, that, doctor Krik, that you've turned a medium sized enterprise into a global health care company is your is due to your efforts for the most part, and I wish you all the best. Thank you very much to for all of these words of the various speakers that have been said about me. I can only say thank you.
And after all these words, there's not much more I can say. I would like to thank you for the good assessment of my work and, of course, the good assessment about me personally. A very cordial thanks to everyone, and in particular, to all those who have accompanied me on my journey of forty five years with Fresenius. So now we're going to come back to our Annual General Meeting of today. Ladies and gentlemen, we now wish to continue with the dealing with the agenda.
We are still in item number one of the agenda with the presentation of the approved annual financial statements. And for this, we still need the report of the management board. Mr. Straum, I would like to ask you to now give us your explanations as Chairman of the Board for fiscal year twenty twenty and also say a few words about the outlook for the ongoing fiscal year. The floor is yours.
Thank you. Dear shareholders, and again, I would also like to extend a very cordial welcome to this Annual General Meeting of Fresenius. Again, we have to hold it online instead of on location in Frankfurt. And again, we cannot be together with you in the same room. This is something we have gotten used to.
Well, almost. This is our new corona routine. Nevertheless, it still feels a bit strange, at least for me. The photograph on the slide shows our AGM from two years ago. That's not all that long ago.
And nevertheless, it almost seems like another world. Even today, we are continuing to perceive that these are extraordinary times that applies to the whole world, but it also applies to us as a company. We are looking back on a very special year, a year unlike any that we've ever experienced before, a year with great challenges, both medical and economic, challenges that for the most part are still with us. How did we deal with these challenges? How are we going to cope with these challenges in the future?
What have we achieved? And what are we going to do in order to remain successful in the future? And this is what I would like to tell you about. What is most important to me at this point is our contribution to the fight against the coronavirus. It was very clear very early on.
We are needed, and more urgently than ever, health care systems have to work, especially in a crisis like this. And we are doing our part. We are committed, active, focused worldwide. We are doing everything to ensure that people are receiving the best care possible. This is our responsibility, and this is what we stand for, and this is Fresenius.
The coronavirus is challenging us everywhere in our hospitals. Just last year, we treated more than forty two thousand coronavirus patients. In dialysis, we are making sure that patients suffering from kidney disease continue to receive their life giving dialysis with our products, be they solutions for use in acute dialysis or anesthetics for use during artificial respiration. The coronavirus has dramatically increased demand for our products. We have done everything possible to maintain their production and distribution.
Where necessary and possible, we even increased our production rapidly and flexibly, and of course, without raising our prices. This was and is possible for one reason only, the unparalleled commitment on the part of our employees. You've already heard, we now have more than 310,000 employees worldwide. Day after day, they accomplished tremendous things, especially now in the middle of a global pandemic. They are there for their patients.
And again, today, it will not be possible to have you join me in applauding their achievements due to our virtual meeting, but I'm confident that I'm speaking on behalf of all of you when I say our heartfelt thanks to our employees. You save lives. You are Fresenius.
Of
course, there was more to twenty twenty than the coronavirus. Independent of the pandemic, we achieved important successes. We set our course for the future. We established the basis for continued growth. Here are just a few examples.
Acquiring the Eugene Group. At the end of last year, we signed the contracts. In the meantime, this acquisition has been successfully concluded. What does Eugene do? It helps people who are unable to have a child in the normal way.
Eugen is one of the leading international providers in this area with a network of 31 clinics. And there are another 34 locations on top of that. Eugen is represented in nine countries on three continents. Their most important markets are The United States, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Sweden. Eugen is a perfect fit with Fresenius Helios.
It is a highly profitable company. It is well positioned in a number of attractive markets, and we share the same commitment and promise, patient well-being and cutting edge medicine. With this takeover, we are creating a sound basis for continued growth organically and through additional acquisitions. Already, about seventy thousand babies are born annually in our hospitals, almost 200 every day. With Eugen, we will be even stronger in the future.
Together, we will be able to help many more people realize their great wish, namely the wish for a child of their own. I believe this is a wonderful motivator for everyone. So how do things look in our hospital business? Here too, we continue to expand in 2020. In Germany, we acquired four hospitals from the Maltese Humanitarian Aid Group in Bonn, Dusburg and Krefeld.
Together, they have about 1,300 beds. One of our strategies at Helios is to build centers, bundling specialist expertise and knowledge for region at one location and thus increasing medical quality. These four hospitals are a great fit into this concept. We also expanded our network in Colombia with the Clinica de la Mujer in Bogota, a maternal hospital. Prior to that, we were only present in Medellin and Cali, and now we are also present in the capital of Colombia.
Another important growth area, home dialysis. Here, Fresenius Medical Care has made a great deal of progress. The next stage portfolio has now also been successfully integrated in Europe. And this means that our European patients also have a greater selection of treatment modalities so that they best fit into our patients' lives. And if it's suitable, then their blood is cleaned at home.
In The United States, fourteen percent of our dialysis treatments are already performed this way. Home dialysis is not for everyone, but it can offer many advantages. It can means flexibility, more frequent gentle treatments together with improved safety. And this is certainly a factor during the pandemic. And therefore, this has further boosted the already growing demand for home dialysis.
Another important step taken last year was that Fresenius Kabi applied for approval for a second biosimilar both in The United States and in Europe, a biosimilar for pegfilgrastim, a medication used to treat cancer. We expect approval to be granted later this year. And we have additional biosimilars in our pipeline. As you know, biosimilars represent a fairly new business area for us, but it is one in which we have high hopes. To date, we've been very satisfied with the development, but the year 2023 will be an important year.
This is when we expect to launch our product, Idacio, in The United States. This is our biosimilar for adalimumab. It reduces inflammation, for example, with rheumatic disorders. This will further significantly increase our revenue for biosimilars. Our expectations then an amount in the high triple digit millions of years.
And we've also made further progress in the area of sustainability. Although it is true that the pandemic has stolen the limelight for now, and it is the most urgent problem, nevertheless, sustainability is the great issue of our times. Short term impact is no longer the only thing that counts. The same holds for quick successes. What is becoming more and more important is how do our decisions and measures stand up in the long run?
What is their impact on people, on the economy, on the planet? Thinking and acting like this is deeply ingrained in Fresenius. And it has been that way throughout the past one hundred years of Fresenius. And it will continue to be that way in the future. Sustainability applies at all levels.
We offer medicine that is of high quality and yet affordable. And right now, you can see how important both of these aspects are. We are a reliable partner in the health care system worldwide. We're also a good employer for more than 310,000 employees. We have a long term oriented growth strategy.
And of course, we want to handle this planet's resources as carefully as we can. But as I already made clear at last year's Annual General Meeting, presumably, we did not talk enough about our contributions to sustainability in the past. We took them for granted perhaps, and perhaps our various actions may not have been coordinated as well as they could have been. But we are in the process of changing that now. As previously announced, we have set up a sustainability body at the corporate level in 2020.
This body reports to sustainable growth company. Company. Are going also to be sustainable ecological and social concerns in in our business strategies, We and we want to adapt the remuneration system for the management board. In the future, nonfinancial aspects are made are to be made part of this, and you will have the opportunity to vote on that today. So you can see, we have successfully continued to develop in many areas during 2020.
We have laid the basis for continued profitable growth, sustainable growth, and we have played our important role in a global health crisis. But let there be no doubt about this. The coronavirus was and is a heavy burden. Despite our best efforts, we have to realize that the pandemic has caused us economic losses, substantial losses. This may come as a surprise for many at first.
I mean, a company like ours. Shouldn't we be doing particularly well in a time like this in a global health crisis? No. This is not the case. The pandemic has disrupted many economic activities, and this has also negatively affected us.
Particularly, Fresenius is much more than just intensive care medicine. We experienced and are experiencing substantial burdens due to the coronavirus, and this applies to all of our business units, all four. For example, the so called elective operations, I. E, operations that are not acute, that can be delayed, at least for a while. These account for the bulk of operations in hospitals, and they have been declining substantially almost everywhere in the world.
And, of course, this has had an impact on Fresenius Helios. But it also means less demand for many products made by Fresenius Kabi because these products are used precisely in such operations from intravenous solutions to anesthetics. Fresenius Vamed has also been hit hard by the pandemic. Fewer elective operations mean less demand for rehabilitation. Our thermal spas have had to stay closed for extended periods.
And ongoing restrictions on travel have also cut significantly into our project business. And on top of that, many hospital projects in developing countries have been interrupted, delayed or even canceled. And last but not least, there is dialysis. Kidney patients, in particular, are at risk from the coronavirus. Very sadly, this has been confirmed.
Since last fall, substantially more dialysis patients have died than normally. Above all, this is a great human tragedy and one that has affected me deeply. However, it has also impacted us economically because these treatments were planned and now they are missing. This means lower revenues, but our costs still continue to rise. If you look at everything and take it all together, then I believe that in 2020, we have performed well as a business.
We were able to increase our revenues once again despite the pandemic, despite the impediments I've described. Our revenues totaled €36,300,000,000 At constant currency, this is an increase of 5%. However, our earnings, that is our net income, has declined for the first time in many years. Nevertheless, it still totaled €1,800,000,000 Nonetheless, in current currency adjusted terms, it represents a decrease of 3%. This much is clear.
Given the circumstances, it was a successful business year. However, it was not a year of dynamic growth, not what you have come to expect from us and now what we we would have liked and not what we would have expected before the coronavirus hit. Nevertheless, we have shown that our business model is stable. It is resilient precisely because our suite of products and services is so wide. If the estimated COVID nineteen effects were to be excluded, we would have met our original targets in full, and we would also have significantly increased our earnings.
And that is why I also have some good news about the dividend. Good news for you. Why? Because, again, this year, we would like to further increase the dividend despite the ongoing burdens, despite the small decrease in earnings, because we are looking at our continuing and sustainable growth drivers and they remain intact. The coronavirus has slowed our growth, that is true.
But our core business, it is proving to be very healthy. It is growing continuously. This is a solid operational development, and we want you, dear shareholders, to participate fairly in the success. Our proposal to you is a dividend of €0.88 This is €04 more than last year. That means 5% more, And it would be the twenty eighth consecutive increase.
If you approve should you approve this proposal in a good conscience? After all, we did receive payments from the government last year. Nevertheless, the answer is yes. Definitely. If we'd had any reservations about this, our dividend proposal would have been different.
First and foremost, these government payments were compensation because we kept our hospitals free for COVID nineteen patients by order of the authorities. Therefore, we've had to waive many other treatments at the cost to our revenues and earnings. And of course, we are paying tax on this compensation. And if we were to deduct them, they we would still have made a decent profit, which is several times the amount that we propose to pay out in dividends. Because it is a fact.
Most of our earnings flow into ever better medicine, into our sustainable healthy growth and to put it short, into our future. Dear shareholders, let us now take a look into this future, the future of Fresenius. What are our expectations? Let us start with the short term outlook, our forecast for the ongoing fiscal year. Here too, we have to acknowledge the coronavirus still has the world firmly in its grip.
Here in Germany, the third wave is slowly receding, And this also appears to be happening in many other countries, but the situation remains dramatic in India and also in Latin America. At the same time, there is grounds for hope. The vaccines appear to work well, and they are protecting more and more people every day. So what does this mean for our company? As of today, I'm assuming that we will have to deal with corona related burdens for quite some time.
Probably until at least the middle of this year, that is the second half of this year, will the situation be better. Then we expect significant relief step by step. The speed of vaccinations in our most important markets will be crucial here. In specific numbers, we are projecting sales growth in the low to mid single digit percentage range, and net income will increase broadly at the same level as 2020, at least. Both measures are in constant currency, and you can see.
Even in the short term, we want to continue to grow, and we want to remain very profitable despite the ongoing burdens. Currently, all the indications are that we will be able to reach these targets. We started the new year off well. In the first quarter, we increased sales by 3%. Our net income showed a decrease of 2%.
These figures, too, are in constant currency. But please keep in mind that this comparison with the 2020 is which means that it was far less impacted by the coronavirus. Yet, nevertheless, we were able to increase our sales, and our earnings were only marginally lower. This makes us very optimistic for the full year. And what does it look like beyond 2021?
What about our medium term guidance? After all, we have set very ambitious targets there. You will recall that we forecast average annual growth of 4% to 7% in sales through 2023, and the net income is expected to rise from 5% to 9%. We are sticking to these targets. Even though they were defined in early twenty nine, long before the coronavirus emerged.
At that time, no one foresaw a pandemic like this. So the situation has changed drastically. But as I said earlier, our core growth drivers are largely intact. And for this reason, we are convinced that we can still continue to meet our midterm targets. Last year, we grew more slowly than we expected in 2029 due to the pandemic.
That will also be true this year. This means that in the next two years, we will have to significantly accelerate our growth. To ensure this, we have embarked upon a series of strategic initiatives, an entire package of measures that we are taking to increase our efficiency and profitability. All business segments are included. This program will run over several years, and the interim goal is set for 2023, but the measures will continue to have an impact well beyond that time.
It's a little too early today for specific details. The targets have been defined, but not the precise route. Essentially, we will have to examine our existing structures and business models. Is there a good reason for everything that we are doing and the way we're doing it? Are we duplicating or even triplicating anything?
Where are synergies feasible and can be leveraged? So here are a few examples. Our purchasing processes can still be optimized, and we can also bundle certain service functions even more. In our hospitals, as already mentioned, we are building stronger regional networks. Our hospitals and clinics will specialize even more.
In some areas, we're also going to adjust our capacities. We're going to adjust our capacities to the changes in demand. In our German hospitals, for example, where some medical positions will be eliminated. The reason for this is that people's needs are changing. There is an ongoing trend towards more outpatient procedures, and this has to be taken into account.
But while ensuring that we are not making any reductions to the type and quality of care that we are providing, We are proceeding very carefully in a targeted way, site by site. In some hospitals, this will mean eight or nine fewer medical positions. In other hospitals, two or three. In some hospitals, there will be reductions in the medical staff In or one or more positions may even be added. Specifically, this means that we plan to reduce our overall medical service staff by about 3%.
At the same time, we're expanding our outpatient and digital offerings to provide seamless care across sectors. That is good for patients, and it is good for our health care system. And of course, it will also help to secure our success as a company and thus to sustain tens of thousands of jobs at Helios. These are only a few of the approaches that we are taking. And as I've already said, this is still the beginning.
We are still reviewing and things and planning. But I hope this gives you an idea of where we are headed. Of course, we also want to reduce costs as part of this. And as of 2023, we expect sustainable savings. These will involve at least 100,000,000 annually after tax and minority interest.
And I do not want to rule out that this will mean that we might divest ourselves of some areas of our portfolio or of some size. But that is neither certain nor is it the focus of these efforts. We're not talking about streamlining our company or cutting back just for the sake of making the company leaner. It is about making our company more efficient and stronger. Our first goal will be to free up the means to do better and more important things, things that will help us to expand our business and to grow further, for example, in our new areas of growth.
I've already mentioned three of them: biosimilars, home dialysis and fertility medicine. We are also going to significantly expand our digital offerings. A coronavirus, in particular, has provided a huge boost in this field. Consider telemedicine. This is an area to which the pandemic has opened many people's eyes.
Generally speaking, much of what is now being done for inpatients will be done on an outpatient basis in the future. And a lot of what is now being done for outpatients will be able to be done at home in the future. Networking will play an ever increasingly important role as will artificial intelligence. We see clear confirmation of our approach, and we are working at full speed to expand our offering. And what about our group structure?
Is that also up for review? The fact here is we are almost always looking at our structure. This is a perfectly normal process and aren't any taboos. There is nothing that cannot be questioned. If we conclude that structural changes are necessary and this can help us to achieve our goals faster, then we will look at our options very, very carefully.
But as things stand now, I think our existing structure is the right one. It has served us very well over the years, and it continues to have us considerable advantages. With this structure, we are well positioned for the tasks that lie ahead. Dear shareholders, I am coming to the end of my speech. I hope that you have now obtained a very good view of where we stand and where we're going.
To recap, we have had a challenging year behind us and the challenges persist. We at Fresenius have played a role and made our contribution. Even in a pandemic, we have ensured the care of our patients. And beyond the pandemic, we have also received we have also reached milestones. Although the virus and the pandemic has burdened our business, we have still performed well for the year.
We reached our targets, and we are proposing our twenty eighth consecutive dividend increase. We have launched a number of initiatives to become even more efficient and more profitable, and we have set down a plan for accelerated growth through 2023. And we are here with confirming our ambitious medium term targets. I am very confident that our strategy will work. Our future continues to look good.
We will continue to be needed. We will be able to provide ever more people with ever better medicine. In the coming years, we are again going to grow dynamically. And in doing so, we will make Fresenius even more valuable. And I'm also confident that we will soon turn the corner on the pandemic.
Fresenius will continue to play a role here. Just recently, we entered into an agreement with CureVac. We are planning the supply of salt solutions for infusions for for more than 100,000,000 doses of vaccines in the next two years. Nevertheless, the situation is very serious. We have to
remain
vigilant. The virus has shown us how adaptable it is. Mutations pose a great risk, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We have a chance to get the virus under control and to bring an end to the suffering and death and gradually to return to normality step by step. And that will bring a tremendous relief to many, many people because then it will make it possible for us to meet in person again, as you saw in our photo from 2019.
And I'm really looking forward to that. Now, however, I'm looking forward to taking your questions. Thank you very much.
Thank you, mister Strom for your very detailed and exhaustive statements and for your very positive outlook for the future developments. I wish you also on behalf of the Supervisory Board all the best, a lot of success to you and your colleagues in the Management Board and Supervisory Board. And we hope all the best for the long term entrepreneurial development of Fresenius. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I also speak on your behalf. If I would like to say thank you to the management board of Management at the end, all employees who are working for Fresenius worldwide for their challenging and successful work in this very challenging time of a global pandemic.
Thank you so much. We would also like to thank all employees
who worked
closely with human beings in the nurse like the nursing staff who helped people in a risky working environment closely with people as a nursing staff in this COVID nineteen pandemic and those people who were affected by COVID nineteen pandemic. Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to say goodbye to all our participants who listen in and who did not log in to the password protected area of this AGM. For all those who have not logged in in the password protected area, we would like to say goodbye. The broadcast will end.