Dear shareholders and shareholder representatives, Dear media representatives follow us, I should like to open this year's Annual General Meeting Henkel AG and Kolk AGAA and would like to welcome you on behalf of the Supervisory Board, the Shareholder Committee and the Management Board. Last year, I said goodbye to you, and I expressed my hope that we would be able to see each other in person in 2021. Unfortunately, against the backdrop of the development of the corona pandemics and the associated restrictions. It is not possible this year either. Therefore, the management board, In cooperation with the Supervisory Board and Shareholder Committee decided to also conduct this year's Annual General Meeting of Henkel AGM Kokeh GAA as a virtual AGM without personal attendance by shareholders or the representatives with the exception of proxy holders appointed by the company.
We invited you by adhering to the usual notice of convocation of 30 days, including ample time or ample period for registration. The notice The notice of on the same way via the media and also published on the company's website. The required disclosures, in particular those to the financial institutes And shareholder associations to be forwarded to our shareholders has been done in due time. I, therefore, would like to state that the convocation of the Annual General Meeting has been done in line with the Law and the Articles of Association in new form and time. Ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned, this AGM is conducted as a virtual AGM, which means without physical attendance by shareholders or their representatives.
For our registered shareholders and the representatives, the AGM can be can actually be followed in terms of audio and video transmission on the web or the Henkel Investor portal. In case you're following the AGM on the public webpage, but if you want to follow until the end of The meeting, you have to log into our investor portal. The transmission or the live Broadcast the live feed to the public will actually terminate after the speech of the CEO. You will find the link to log into the investor portal on our website under the tab Investor Relations and the tab AGM 2021. You will find the required access data on your access card.
As mentioned in the notice of convocation, votes can only be cast by postal vote or by issuing proxies and instructions to the proxy holders appointed by the company. You may use the investor portal to cast votes or give instructions or change or revoke them until I will officially announced that the voting process will be closed. Today, we have Mrs. Helton Kindline as the Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory President for the Supervisory Board and Professor Kaskar, who is the Chairman of the Audit Committee and also the Deputy Chair of the AGM as elected by the shareholder committee. From the management board, we have Mr.
Knobel as the CEO and Mr. Schoboda as the CFO all present physically present here. All the other members of the supervisory board, the management board and the shareholder committee are logged on to the meeting and are able to follow audio and video transmission. Our notary, Doctor. Hauschildt, is also present in person.
He will Actually, take the minutes of this agent. To him, there is to him available is a copy of the notice of convocation as published in the Federal Gazette and the proposed resolution. The proxy holders appointed by the companies are also attending in person. Ladies and gentlemen, we are certainly aware of the fact that this format of the virtual AGM is also associated with Restrictions. In order to facilitate the proceedings of this virtual meeting for you, we have also provided The following options for you that go beyond the legal requirements.
The manuscript of Mr. Knobel's speech in this capacity as CEO was published on our website on 8th April. Shareholders or their representatives or proxy holders who have actually submitted questions to the Henkel Investor Portal until 14th April will have the possibility to ask follow-up questions during this virtual meeting. Shareholders who had registered properly were able to also submit general input or comments until 12th April as well as video messages submitted a video message, and it is available on the portal, and we will also broadcast it in the course of the Q and A session for the shareholders and their representatives. Prior to this AGM, 6 shareholders or shareholder Following Mr.
Knobel's speech as well as my contribution on the activity of the Supervisory Board and the special items on this year's agenda. Following the Q and A session, I will start the voting process. And you will have a few minutes to provide postal votes or to issue change or revoke any proxies or instructions to the proxy holders appointed by the company. I will actually announce when we will close the portal for casting the votes in due time. We will then cast The votes by the proxy holders appointed by the company.
The postal votes submitted will be added to the votes cast by the proxy holders appointed by the company. After determining the results of the vote, I will announce it in public. As in previous years, we will have a live broadcast of this year's AGM until the end of Mr. Knobel's speech. This is for the general public.
Shareholders who have registered and or their representatives who have registered are able to follow the entire AGM through the portal. Accredited media representatives are also able to follow proceedings. Any motions or counter motions and alternative candidates, which require disclosure, have not been submitted. Any objections may be raised through the portal and will be recorded by our notary. The notary has actually made sure that the system itself is proper functioning and reliable.
At this point, I should like to ask you for your understanding for these restrictions, which are associated with the virtual format of the AGM. Ladies and gentlemen, regarding the composition of our executive bodies, there have been a few changes since the last AGM or there are some upcoming changes. Mr. Martin Spertflar, who had been in charge of the business unit Beauty Care since November 2017, will no longer be available for a new term of office after 28 years working for Henkel, and he will resign from We are very pleased to announce that Wolfgang Konig will become a new member of the management board as of 1st June and Be responsible for the Beauty Care Business Unit. Mr.
Konisch will introduce himself in a short video message. But let me summarize the most important highlights of his CV. Mr. Kony has more than 25 years of international management Experience in some leading consumer goods companies in saturated as well as emerging markets. He has Valuable experience in marketing, sales and innovations.
Mr. Koenig started his career in 1996 at Beiersdorf, and in 20 2005, he actually changed to Colgate Palmolive to become Marketing Director for the region of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. He was working for Kellogg Company in 2012, where he was a category president in North America, where he was in of a business volume for all categories, which exceeded USD6,000,000,000 and he had a central function for research and development and marketing. We're very pleased to be able to welcome Mr. Konig on the management board and wish him the best of success.
Mr. Konig? So much on Mr. Konig. Ladies and gentlemen, at this point, I should like to thank Mr.
Schwarzler on behalf of the Supervisory Board the shareholder committee for his many years of successful activity at Henkel and the in the field of consumer business in our business unit of Laundry and Home Care and Beauty Care. Mr. Schwarzlever started his career at Henkel in 1992 and first became had some management positions in the Laundry and Home Care Business Unit. He was actually in charge of body, Skin and Mouse Care in the Beauty Care Business Division from 2,008 to 2014. He was also in charge of the cosmetic retail business in Western Europe and international sales of Beauty Care.
In 2015, he became responsible the consumer goods business of Henkel in North America. It was under his leadership that important brands such as Persol or Schwarzkopf that were introduced to the North American market. After acquiring Sun Products Corporation in 2016, he became in charge of the integration process and managed the business for Laundry and Home Care and Beauty Care at our new location at the U. S. East Coast.
In November 2017, he was appointed as a member to the management board of Henkel and became responsible for the Beauty Care Business Unit. Our Hair Salon business has been tendered and enlarged successfully since. He was also in charge of the branded goods business through innovations and positions, and he achieved progress in the retail business, thanks to very strong innovations, targeted acquisitions and a clear focus on e commerce and digital business model. We wish Mr. Schwerzler the best of success for his future.
So much on the changes. On the management board, ladies and gentlemen, there has also been a change in the supervisory board. Sadly, our colleague Peter Emerich passed away in December last year. He will be replaced by Michael Baumschaiper from to represent the employees. There will also be an upcoming change on the shareholder committee.
Professor Ulrich Lehner, who has been a member of the shareholder committee since 2008, will resign from the shareholder committee upon Closing of this AGM. According to Item 7 of the agenda, Mr. James Rowan is proposed as new member in the shareholder committee. I'm very pleased that Mr. Rowan brings his expertise in the field of digital transformation and new business model and therefore, is an excellent candidate to the shareholder committee.
As he cannot attend in person, he will also send you his video message. I would like to briefly introduce him. Mr. Ron was born in Scotland in 1965. He's With a focus on supply chain and logistics.
From 2,007 to 2012, he was Chief Operation Officer at BlackBerry and then changed to work for the Dyson Group, where he managed the company as CEO between 2017 and 2020 from Asia. With his entrepreneurial spirit, his international experience in the field of technical innovations, Business to business, business to customer and new digital business models. Mr. Rowan's expertise is particularly valuable for Henkel strategic terms and is an excellent supplement to the competence profile of the shareholder committee. Mr.
Rowan has the floor.
Good morning. I'm delighted to join you today, albeit via videoconference. As a manufacturing engineer, I've had multiple opportunities to use Henkel products across the years in various geographies, various industries and various applications, But I've always been impressed by the quality and reliability of the products and the value that they bring to the manufacturing process, perhaps more importantly, to the final product itself. Most of my career has been spent in technology, more specifically, the technology that enables consumer products. Many of those consumer products that we use every day and take for granted.
I've been incredibly fortunate to have worked with some of the world's most innovative companies and some of the world's most inspiring and visionary leaders founders. From my early days at Digital Equipment Corporation, one of the pioneers of the computer industry to Flextronics, an early adopter of contract manufacturing and of course, to BlackBerry, who many credit with the invention of the smartphone industry itself and of course, More recently was Dyson, where we brought together iconic design and leading technology to build differentiated products. I spent 8 years at Dyson, 5 as the Chief Operating Officer and 3 as the Chief Executive Officer, And during that time, I was involved in all aspects of product development, manufacturing and the marketing of the products themselves. I traveled extensively, but especially in Asia. At Dyson, we focused on bringing differentiated technology to products that would work across multiple geographies, bringing global team together of over 4,000 engineers and scientists.
However, in parallel, we completely reinvented the entire commercial engine of the company. We were early adopters in using data and data analytics to better understand our markets and our customer needs. We pivoted very, very quickly to the new digital economy, learning how to work effectively with the large high street retailers as well as the large online e tailers such as JD, Tmall and of course, Amazon. This allowed us to grow the business Very, very quickly, especially in Asia, China, Korea, India and the Middle East. I'm hopeful that I can bring some of these learnings and experience to the role at Henkel, specifically around the aspects of technology, Digital Commerce, Innovation and How TO Grow Businesses Quickly in Asia.
I hope that this role will allow me to contribute and learn and equal measures. Today, we are forced to meet by a video conference, but I have great faith in science and technology, And it gives me the confidence that with increased vaccines, better contact tracing and rapid test capability, We will be able to put this awful pandemic behind us and once more focus on the future. I look forward to the day
So much on Mr. Ron's introduction. You may take further details from his CV, which was attached to the notice of convocation to the AGM. Ladies and gentlemen, Professor Lena has been a member of Henkel's Management Board between 1995 to 2008 and was CEO as from 2000. He then became a member of the shareholder committee in 2000 and 8.
We have expressed our gratitude to Mr. Lena for his many years of successful commitment to Henkel and his Important contributions to discussion on the shareholder committee at the last meeting of the shareholder committee, and I would like to It reiterate these words of gratitude for all of us on the shareholder committee as well as for the members of the management board. Mr. Lena was an extremely valuable adviser with his experience and knowledge that went beyond Henkel. He actually showed great commitment in terms of time and content, and he was always available and was an Important pillar of support for me.
Mr. Lina, thank you so much. So much on the changes in our executive bodies. Before we get down to the agenda, I should like to make some organizational announcements. We have summarized some organizational information in a virtual leaflet.
It has been available since publication of the notice of convocation. Please take note of this leaflet, and I would like to repeat the most important points. Upon registration, you received a code with your access card, which makes it possible to follow the AGM on the Henkel Investor portal. In case you own ordinary shares, you can exercise your voting rights on the portal either by casting postal votes or by issuing, changing or revoking your votes and instructions to the proxy holders appointed by the company. This will be possible until we officially close the vote, and I will repeat this later.
In case you have several access cards for your ordinary shares, you would have to cast your votes for each access cards because this is the only way to cast all your votes fully. Please bear in mind that this may require some time. If you haven't done it already, please cast your votes as early as possible. We will also draw up an attendance register directory for this virtual meeting. And before we continue, I should like to announce that The following number of shareholders are logged in.
I have a first directory. The shareholders and the representatives have 218,600,000,000,000 1,993 ordinary shares and 4,000,000 373,248 individual shares, which are present at this AGM, which accounts for 50.78 percent of the capital stock. We also have postal boats for 13,991 per shares. This accounts for 50.78 percent of the capital stock. 339 followers are actually viewing this virtual baby AGM.
This attendance directory may actually change in case of any proxies issued or instructions issued or changed or revoked in the course of these meetings. And I will always announce the respective presence or attendance. We will make the directory of attendance available on the Henkel Invest portal, and it is not permitted to take photographs of that to disseminate or archive this directory of attendance or abuse it in any form. So much on the formalities, and we will now deal with the agenda. The agenda contains 11 items.
The proposed resolutions have been published in the notice of convocation. The full wording of the agenda has actually been published on the federal in the Federal Gazette and has been published on our homepage. And I take it that you are familiar with the agenda. Regarding agenda items 12, I may first of all announce that following documents have been available since the notice of convocation on our website: the annual financial statements And the consolidated financial statements, the combined management report of the individual company and the group, the report on corporate governance And the remuneration report as well as the disclosures in line with Section 289A, Subsection 1 and Section 315 Subsection 1 of the HGB as well as the proposed appropriation of the annual profit as well as the report of the Supervisory Board for fiscal 2020. Other documents relevant for this GM have been and are still available on the web.
Our sustainable report is also available on our website. It also contains a separate non financial statement. As you see from our agenda, we have So the usual items on the agenda as well as the election to the shareholder committee, but there are some other special items. The resolution on the approval of the system the remuneration system for the management board the proposed resolution to adapt the remuneration for the Supervisory Board and Shareholder Committee and the associated changes of the article associations and the proposed resolution on amendments to articles 15, 23 and 31 of the articles of association. But I will come back to these agenda items later.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Knobel, when I present his report on fiscal 2020 and also comment on other matters that are relevant for the company. The manuscript of his speech has been available on our website since 8th of April, and his speech will still be available after this year's AGM. Mr. Knobel, you have the floor.
Shareholders, friends of the Henkel Company, I would also like to welcome you to our On behalf of the management board and our employees around the world, we would have loved to welcome you personally in Dusseldorf today, But unfortunately, that's not possible. The current COVID situation doesn't allow for this. So once again, We're holding our Annual General Meeting online. We published my statement a week ago so that you could submit your questions about it in advance. We have received 51 questions.
We'll be happy to comment on them later. Today, I'd like to address 3 topics: 1st, the impact of the COVID-nineteen pandemic on our company secondly, Our performance and developments during fiscal 2020, we looked at our results and the implementation of our strategy. And thirdly, I'm going to speak about how we intend to further pursue our agenda for purposeful growth. Let us start with the COVID-nineteen pandemic. This was the dominant theme of 2020 for all of us, and it still is today.
Last year, more than 75,000,000 people were infected with virus. Over £1,500,000 died from it. Many people lost their jobs, others their businesses. We will only see the full extent of this crisis later. Much has changed fundamentally of COVID-nineteen.
In our daily lives, in our work, the impact of the pandemic varied from industry to industry. Some were badly hit, for example, the automotive industry. Others saw an increase in demand, for example, online services or hygiene products. Overall, we've been able to successfully steer Henkel through this global crisis. Thanks to our crisis management, our balanced portfolio and our financial strength.
But above all, Thanks to our outstanding employees. We've protected our people, kept up our production, Supplied customers and households with a robust crisis management. Right from the outset, as early as last spring, we ruled out pandemic related layoffs and short time working or a furlough scheme, but we're still not clear Which impact the crisis would have? On the contrary, we continue to hire in 2020 and filled vacancies. We continued apprentice trainings As in the previous year.
And we're doing the same this year because especially for young people, this crisis means a major cut, A hiatus. We must stand by them because they are our future. We have guaranteed our employees a large part of the variable compensation as a token of trust and recognition and for their dedication in these times of crisis. We've also assumed responsibility towards society with financial support, for example, to the World Health Organization to fight the pandemic. And we've donated more than 6,000,000 products to those in need around the world.
We manufacture disinfectants and sanitizers in our production sites, more than 100,000 120,000 liters As a donation to hospitals and health authorities, additionally, the volunteering activities by many of our employees in their own social environments. Unfortunately, despite all the measures taken, more than 2,000 Henkel colleagues worldwide became infected in 2020. Fortunately, the large majority recovered from the infection. Nevertheless, Some of our colleagues died in connection with the COVID-nineteen infection. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones.
To them, we send our deepest sympathy and our heartfelt condolences. We are in the 3rd wave. We continue to do everything we can to protect our employees as best we can. Whenever possible, our people work from home in Germany currently over 90%. Strict rules remain in place at all our sites for the protection of our colleagues.
We've sent rapid test kits to all our employees, and our company's medical staff is ready to vaccinate our people As soon as this will be possible, the fight against the virus will continue to keep us busy this year. I'm particularly proud of how our colleagues have mastered the situation over the past year and are still mastering it today around the globe With entrepreneurial spirit, with courage, creativity and on the basis of our shared values. And shaped by a strong vital corporate culture, that's what makes Henkel so special. I'd like to show you in a short video how we dealt with this big challenge as a strong team worldwide. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you'll agree with me this was a great achievement by our employees in extraordinary times.
So I'd like to thank them on behalf of the entire management board. And I'm sure that in doing so, I'll also speak on behalf of you, our shareholders. I've been with Henkel for over 25 years, I've always been proud to be part of this company. However, the performance and the cohesion of all Henkel's people have strengthened me in this once again, Which brings me to the review of fiscal 2020. We published our results back at the beginning of March.
In a challenging year and despite the sharp decline of the global economy, we delivered an overall robust We achieved sales of €19,300,000,000 In organic terms, that's a slight decrease by 8.7% compared to previous year. That's before currency effects and acquisitions and divestments. Our operating profit amounted to €2,600,000,000 Adjusted EBIT margin was at 13.4%. This might be a significant decrease compared to 2019, but it means we're still highly profitable. Free cash flow amounted to €2,300,000,000 just below the record figure of the previous year.
In June, we paid out the full dividend for 2019 around €800,000,000 Overall, we invested €200,000,000 more in brands, innovations and digitalization than in the previous year. We further strengthened our businesses through acquisitions, for which we invested around €500,000,000 We significantly reduced our net debt by more than half, and we kept our costs under control continually. So as you see, Henkel is and remains financially strong even in times of crisis. Overall, This is a very robust development and that's in a particularly difficult year. The coronavirus Spread to Asia in the Q1 of 2020 mainly affected our Adhesive Technologies business unit.
There were far reaching restrictions in many countries in the Q2. In Asia, Europe and North America, this led to a decline in demand, particularly in certain industrial segments such as the automotive sector, which affected adhesive technologies. In addition, hair salons had to close. This had a negative impact on our Beauty Care Hair Salon business. On the other hand, our Laundry and Home Care business unit recorded very strong growth, mainly due to the increase in demand for household and cleaning products.
Our businesses recovered in Q3 with positive organic sales growth in all three business units, partially due to catch up effects The second quarter but mainly due to the strength of our businesses and thanks to our successful innovations. This Positive trend continued in Q4 despite a second wave of COVID-nineteen infections and the associated lockdowns in many countries and markets. So how did sales develop in the business units in the different business units? I'll start with Adhesive Technologies, our largest business unit. Its portfolio is far more than adhesives.
It's also about innovative sealants and coatings. Our top brands are Loctite, Bondrite and Techno Melt. We are the worldwide market leader. We have a global footprint with all our technologies, extensive competencies and experience. Billions of people use our products every day, often without even knowing.
Our technologies protect processes from overheating in cell phones or laptops or in new 5 gs networks and transmitters. They also serve to bond advanced materials, thus making automobiles lighter, for example. Innovations are used in batteries to increase their performance levels, making an important contribution to eMobility. They also make food packaging safer, and they're used in medical products. In short, with our innovations, we'll help our customers improve their products and make them more sustainable.
But for many of our customers, 2020 wasn't an easy year. Business was down in many industry segments. Sales of Adhesive Technologies for 2020 were below the previous year's level by 4.2% Organically speaking, primarily due to weak demand in Q2. In Q3 and Q4, all business areas and regions returned to positive organic growth again. The performance of the individual business areas varied considerably over the full year.
In Automotive and Metals, We closed 2020 below the previous year's level with a decline in the low double digit percentage range. However, we were back to very strong growth in the 4th quarter. In the Packaging and Consumer Goods business area, we achieved positive sales growth in the full year. Here, we were impacted the pandemic, particularly in the Q2. We returned to positive growth in the 3rd Q4, enabling us to offset our losses.
The Electronics and Industrials business area remained below the prior year level in 2020, mainly due to weaker demand in our Industrials business. By contrast, the Electronics business recorded significant sales growth. Sales in Craftsman, Construction and Professional remained below the level of the previous year despite a strong recovery in the second half of the year. So overall, Adhesive Technologies delivered a robust performance in an exceptional difficult year. That takes me to our Beauty Care business unit, our business with Hair and Body Care.
Our biggest brands are Schwarzkopf Size and Dial. On average, we sell 25 hair colorants every second. At Beauty Care, We have 2 major business areas: retail business with branded consumer products and the business with our house selling customers. At our Beauty Care business, Unit 2, sales were somewhat lower year on year with an organic decrease of 2.8%. This is primarily due To the hair salon business, many hairdressers had to close their salons due to the pandemic.
After a difficult start, business recovered in the 3rd quarter, But infection rates rose again during Q4 and many silents had to close again. As a result, the house silents business weakened again in Q4. Sales for the full year decreased significantly by more than 10%. The branded consumer goods business of Beauty Care recorded good sales growth for the year. In the first half of the year, sales remained stable overall.
Then in the second half of the year, we achieved very strong sales growth. Fabulous products were less in demand during the pandemic, particularly styling products, deodorants and skincare. On the other hand, the demand for hair colorations increased. And in Body Care, we achieved significant growth. This was also increased induced by the increase in demand for hygiene products.
The growth drivers for Beauty Care were online business and direct to consumer sales. Here, growth accelerated in the course of the year, not least because of acquisitions in this area. For example, the acquisition of a majority stake in Invincible Brands in mid-twenty 20 with brands such as Hello Body, Bonarla Beauty and Mermaid and Me. We were able to significantly increase digital sales by more than 70%. At this point, I'd like to join in Simone Bachelle trial thanks to my long time colleague, Jens Martin Schraffler.
He's led Henkel Beauty Care since 2017 and stayed through a difficult year, 2020, with great commitment and passion. For that, Jens, I'd like to thank you very, very much. I wish you all the best for the future. In June, we're going to welcome Wolfgang Konig as the new management board member for Beauty Care. I'm looking forward to working with him in future.
Let's move on to the 3rd business unit, Laundry and Home Care, with many well known innovative and successful brands from Persil to Priol to Somat. We're also present around the world with this business. On average, we sell laundry detergents for 40,000,000,000 washloads each year. In 2020, we achieved strong organic sales growth in this business unit, amounted to 5.6% in total. This was the strongest increase since 2013.
The growth was, on one hand, thanks to high demand for hygiene products And on the other, to many successful innovations in our new products. In the Home Care business, we achieved double digit sales growth. This was the main driver of the business unit's very strong sales performance. Our global top brands, Prill, Braff and Somat, each recorded double digit growth. With Love Nature, a new brand was successfully launched.
It appeals above all to consumers who for whom sustainability is of utmost importance. We achieved good sales growth in the Laundry Care business, mainly thanks to the very strong performance by our heavy duty detergents. In addition, there was significant growth of our mega brand, Persil. Here, we've successfully launched further variants of the innovative 4 in-one discs. In Lawn and Home Care, we also expanded sales via e commerce activities.
Online trading has increased in the course of the pandemic. Digital sales rose by around 50%. Let us take a brief look at Henkel's regional development. Sales in the emerging markets rose by 3% Well, sales amounting to approximately €7,600,000,000 which is tantamount to approximately 40% of group sales. In the mature markets, Sales were at around €11,500,000,000 That was a decrease by 3.2% compared to the previous year, Which takes me to our earnings performance.
First of
all, let me say We remained profitable in 2020 despite the burden of the pandemic and despite increased investments in brands and digitalization. At group level, adjusted operating profit was at €2,600,000,000 which is around 20% less year on year. On the one hand, due to higher investments, particularly in our consumer goods businesses, but on the other because of the sharp decline in demand. Adjusted return on sales reached 13.4%. Adjusted earnings per preferred share amount to €4.26 That's a decrease by 17.9% at constant exchange rates.
Again, in 2020, we had our costs well under control, enabling us to mitigate the impact of the crisis on our earnings. Despite the pandemic, we achieved significant improvements in net working capital in 2020. Free cash flow reached €2,300,000,000 That's very close to the record level of the previous year. We were also able to substantially reduce our net debt by more than half. At the end of year, it was around €890,000,000 compared to around €2,800,000,000 at the end of year of 2019.
As these figures show, Henke is in very good financial shape. Especially during the crisis, this strength has once again paid off. Thanks to our good financial position, we were able to implement our investments as planned and navigate our company safely through these difficult times. Ladies and gentlemen, You're obviously also interested in the development of the share price. The performance of our stock reflects the impact of the COVID-nineteen crisis on the stock markets.
At year end 2020, Henka preferred shares closed at €92.30 This is a slight increase by 0.1% over the previous year. And taking into account the reinvestment of the dividend, total return was 2.3%. By comparison, the performance for the DAX was at 3.5%. While this doesn't yet meet our own standards, neither our expectations or yours, we are well aware of this, but dividend payout is also very important to you. Over the past 35 years, since we went public, we've always paid out a dividend above or at the previous year's level.
We want to stick to this in spite of exceptional developments in the past year. Therefore, we are proposing to you today a stable dividend payout of €1.85 per preferred share and €1.83 per ordinary share. This proposal of a stable dividend is possible, thanks to our strong financial position. With it, We're taking into account the exceptional situation in fiscal 2020. The proposed payout ratio would then be 43.7%.
This is slightly above our target range of 30% to 40%. Going forward, We intend to adhere to our existing dividend policy. We will continue to target a range of 30% to 40% of adjusted net income After non controlling interests. So much for our finance. I will now talk about the 2nd major topic of the fiscal year, the implementation of our growth agenda.
We presented this agenda about a year ago. 2020 has shown us the fragility of the world we live in. We've seen how the world has been seeking new ideas, New initiatives and a deeper sense of direction.
Our strategic agenda sets the right priorities for this. Of this, I am convinced. We're aiming at purposeful growth. For us, this means creating superior value for customers and consumers to grow faster than our markets, reinforcing our leadership in sustainability and making a contribution to society and the environment And strengthening the sense of belonging and cohesion of our employees and opening up new opportunities to them for their personal development and shaping their work. Today, about 1 year after the launch, I'm sure We're well on track.
We have a clear road map, and we're pursuing the right priorities for the success of Henkel in this decade. This was particularly evident in the past year. We have achieved a lot despite the crisis. We have further developed our business and Brands portfolio by divesting selected businesses and through targeted acquisitions. We further improved our competitiveness through accelerated innovation processes, our focus on sustainability and progress in digital transformation.
We've adapted our business processes and made our operating models future ready. And we started to strengthen our culture, our Henkel spirit. This is particularly important to me. Now I'd like to explain to you in more detail what we have achieved. 1st, in shaping our portfolio.
Here, we have identified brands and categories with whose Developments we were not satisfied, especially in our consumer goods businesses. Together, they account for an annual sales volume of more than €1,000,000,000 Half of these operations have been marked for divestment or discontinuation by the end of this year. The other half will be expected to return to better results. We define clear measures to achieve this. In 2020, we've already completed 1st divestments with volume of more than 100 euros in total.
In addition, the brands and businesses that are expected to perform better have started to make progress. More than half have already shown an improvement in their sales performance. Targeted acquisitions are a key component of our strategy. In 2020, we strengthened our portfolio with 2 major acquisitions, 1 in Beauty Care and 1 in Adhesive Technologies for around a total of €500,000,000 With that, let me now talk about a key element of of our agenda, strengthening our competitive edge. For this, innovations are crucial in all three business units.
Let us first take a look at the consumer goods businesses. This is also a focus of our additional investments in 2020. In Beauty Care, we relaunched a number of important brands and products such as Gliscus, Size and Nature Box. This contributed to the growth achieved within our hair retail hair care retail business. We want to develop and launch new products more quickly.
To this end, We've established a so called incubator team at Beauty Care, which is developing new business models and new brands. For instance, M. I. D, a personalized care product for men. M.
I. D. Was launched onto the market within only just 6 months and is primarily marketed through digital channels. Innovations have also been crucial to our success in Laundry and Home Care. For example, our new Perseus 4 in-one discs, they make laundry washing easier by making product dosing effortless with Outstanding washing performance even at low temperatures.
Thus, they also help to save energy. Persil Discs are already available in 24 countries. We provided time and support for their marketing by investing more in marketing and advertising. With success, we've been able to gain significant market share in the Detergent Caps segment. We've also established our own incubator team at Laundry and Home Care to develop new ideas and concepts.
For instance, Love Nature, a new laundry and home care brand, certified with the eco label of the EU, completely vegan With bottles made of 100% recycled plastic, Glove Nature is now available at all major retailers in Germany. There's also been a general increase in agility at Laundry and Home Care. We have been able to noticeably reduce the average From our year to market launch, this gives us clear a clear edge over our competitors. Innovations are also the focus of the Adhesive Technologies business unit. This year, we will open our new innovation center here in Dusseldorf.
We've been investing around €130,000,000 and around 500 colleagues will be conducting their research there and develop new solutions for the needs of our customers across a wide range of different applications. Here we're also scaling artificial intelligence, for example, with digital platform, which is called ALBERT. This will connect the knowledge and of our researchers around the world. Aldrich will provide them with access to all our research highlights and results, enabling them better integration, accelerated the development of individual products for our customers. With our innovations, we again made better and more sustainable products possible in 2020 in many areas of everyday life.
For example, camera modules and sensors for smartphones all solutions for the protection of wireless headphones, tablets and laptops. We've also developed numerous innovations aligned to e mobility, for example, for the electrification of the drivetrain. We're strengthening our innovation power in all three business units With new processes, modern technology and above all, thanks to our creative employees with many new ideas and the will to make the world a little better for our customers each and every day. The following video will give you an overview of our innovations in the past year. Another important success factor in our growth agenda is sustainability.
Our commitment in this area is integral to our corporate culture and has been for many decades, a strong foundation for our growth agenda. We're setting new accents, breaking new ground. Want to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and make sustainability a real success driver. To this end, we are pursuing ambitious targets. We defined a long term sustainability strategy back in 2010.
With a simple basic idea, We want to deliver more value for our customers and consumers, for society and for our employees and shareholders and use onethree less resources in the process. With this in mind, we have set clear targets through to 2,030. 2020 was an important milestone on this journey. We were able to significantly reduce our carbon footprint in all three dimensions: carbon emissions, waste and daughter. Our target was 30% relative to the base year of 2010, and we've achieved almost 40%, We're all very proud of it.
We made good progress in all areas in 2020. For example, avoiding plastic waste, boosting recycling and enabling a circular economy. For example, we've significantly increased the proportion of recycled plastic in our packaging by 50% compared to the previous year. And by 2025, 100% of all our consumer goods packaging should be recyclable. We also want to reduce the use of plastics from fossil sources by at least half.
We're also using more and more so called social plastic in our packaging. We've been a partner of Plastic Bank for several years. Its goal is to combat plastic waste in the oceans while at the same time creating opportunities for people living in poverty by opening plastic collection centers where locals can deposit plastic waste they have collected and exchange it for money or social benefits. We started first with projects in Haiti. Now we're expanding our collaboration to Egypt.
We use social plastic as a packaging material, for example, for all the bottles of our brand NatureBox. We are the first to do this in the beauty market. In June, we placed a bond to reduce plastic waste as the first company worldwide with a volume of around €100,000,000 Here, we're combining attractive financing instruments with specific progress, Tangible progress and sustainability. We're also using less plastic. For example, the packaging Our new personal eco power bars is made of recycled and recyclable, cardboard.
This allows for 95% less plastic compared to conventional packaging. And Love Nature is the 1st laundry and home care brand to offer a refill service across all major German retailers participating. Sustainability is also an important driver of innovation in the Adhesive Technologies business unit across the entire spectrum of the business. We are systematically evaluating our portfolio at Adhesive Technologies to this end. How can we make a clear contribution to greater sustainability with our products?
In what areas can we help our customers to become more sustainable in their operations? These are questions that drive us forward. For example, We can cut the consumption of plastic film with our thesis for the packaging industry by up to 90%. We also develop a novel and sustainable solutions for the sports and fashion industry, for example, for shoes. Our latest solutions make it possible reduce energy consumption during Adhesive Bonding by up to 30%.
Thus, we're helping to avoid carbon emissions and to protect the climate. And that brings us to a particularly important issue, climate change management. Here too, we took deliberate steps last year to become even better. For example, we concluded a virtual power purchasing agreement for wind Energy in the United States. The grid capacity is equivalent to 100% of the annual electricity demand of Henkel's operations in the United States.
And we want to do more. We have to do more. This is our responsibility for tomorrow, for future generations, And this is why we're working at full speed to achieve our ambitious sustainability targets for the coming years. We want to become climate positive company by 2,040. As a first step by 2025, our aim is to reduce the covered footprint of our Operations by a total of 65%, I want to say 1,000,000 metric tonnes of carbon working together with customers, consumers and suppliers.
As you can see, we act sustainably in all areas. If you'd like to find out more about this, I recommend our sustainability report. We published our 1st sustainability report back in 1992 as one of the first companies in Germany. And this year, We published our 30th annual edition full of data facts and specific examples. You will find it on our website.
As part of our growth agenda, we also are driving forward the digital transformation With success, we want to deepen and expand direct interaction with our consumers via digital channels. Digital sales have grown significantly. We increased our digital sales share to around 15% of total group sales. Growth rates were particularly high in our consumer goods businesses with an increase of more than 60% overall. New business models and brands contributed to this.
For example, E Salon within the Beauty Care business unit allows people to create personalized hair colorations with a personalized Consultation service included line 2, the individual's own choice of hair color and all that done online with the coloration delivered directly to the consumer store. In Laundry and Home Care, we further developed the Ask Team Clean service. It's our online platform dealing with all aspects of washing and cleaning. Service provides consumers with many parts many pieces of advice plus the opportunity to get to know products and to test them. This is an example of how we communicate directly with end consumers online, how we introduce them to our brands and how we nurture their loyalty.
Adhesive Technologies has already exceeded €2,000,000,000 in annual digital sales. Business Unit thus makes the strongest contribution to digital revenues in the group. With our own digital platform having been successfully expanded to this end, It's now used by individual customer industrial customers in more than 60 countries. To drive our digital transformation forward, We created a new unit in mid last year. Henkel DX combines our IT and digital experts in one Global organization.
In 2020, we also opened our 1st innovation hub located in Berlin. There, we are working on new platforms to further expand our digital businesses, and we made significant progress with our digital transformation last year paving the way to the future, but there are still major challenges ahead. We are aware of this, and we're working on them. Innovation, sustainability and digitization. These are the 3 areas in which we are focusing to extend our competitive edge as part of our growth agenda.
In 2020, we also made our operating models future ready, making them even more efficient, faster and more agile. And in the Adhesive Technologies business unit, we are now successfully working in a new structure. It comprises 4 business areas with a total of 11 strategic units. This improved structure enables us to serve markets and customers even more effectively. And we also made some important changes in our consumer businesses in order to align our innovations and decision making process more closely to the needs of our customers to be able to act faster and more flexibly.
We also organized our global purchasing organization with improved alignment to our business areas and procurement markets. We continue to work on improving all our operating models and on adapting our structures. This is vital in a globally competitive environment. We've set ourselves an ambitious set of goals to achieve To actively adapt our portfolio and to extend our competitive edge through innovation, sustainability and digitalization and to optimize are operating models. To be successful, we need motivated and committed employees and above all, the right culture.
This is why corporate culture is the foundation of our growth agenda With shared values and a clear framework for collaborating as a team, a shared understanding of leadership is at the heart of cultural change. We've therefore clearly defined what we mean by good leadership. These principles are integrated into our HR processes and systems. But we also wanted to know how we can become even better. Therefore, we conducted a global organizational health survey among More than 10,000 employees achieved good results, but we can still get better.
And that is what we are working on now with clear, simple and tangible changes, systematic feedback and with tangible for instance, in the form of targeted coaching for managers. So much for the implementation of our growth agenda in the past to fiscal year. This leads me to our outlook for 2021. We expect industrial demand to recover In some areas significantly. So also applies to the consumer segments, which are relevant to our company, in particular, the hair salon business.
At the same time, we believe consumer demand will return to normal levels in those categories which saw higher demand due to the pandemic in 2020. We also assume that there will be no widespread shutdowns or production closures in our core regions. However, there are still many uncertainties. How will infection rates develop? What impact will this have on restrictions in everyday life and on demand in specific markets?
Despite these uncertainties, we're aiming to return to sales and earnings growth in 2021. And we've already had a good start to the year. Based on preliminary figures, we expect organic sales growth of around 7% in the Q1, significantly above market expectations, and we already reported on this at the end of March, and We'll be publishing further details at the beginning of May. Well, so much for the figures. What are our strategic priorities for this year?
Let's first of all look at the business units. We'll ramp up growth in the Adhesive Technologies business unit with our leading portfolio, global presence and innovative applications. Within the Beauty Care business, we want to see our Hair Salon business return to growth after the prices and to continue the positive developments in our retail business from 2020. At Modern Home Care, our full attention is on North America. Change a lot in this region.
And with this new basis, we want to strengthen our business once again. It's our priority for this year. And we want to continue the good development in the other regions. In implementing our growth agenda, we intend to focus on 2 major areas. First, we want to create competitive advantages by further strengthening innovation, sustainability and digitalization.
And secondly, we want to continue to further develop our corporate culture, Encouraging more collaboration and empowering our employees. At the beginning, I spoke about how we at Henkel have grown closer together during the crisis. And I described to you What we've already done in the past year to strengthen our corporate culture. Overall, we feel a Stronger connection and cohesion among the entire employees, all the employees of our company, more transparency, more trust, more individual responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit. That's what we want to build on.
Aside from having the right team and the right strategy, it's above all the right culture that is crucial to successfully managing crises like the current pandemic and to being successful in the long term. We want to give our employees more freedom and scope for new ideas to learn and to develop. We want to change the way we lead. This is also the benchmark against which each and every one of us should be measured. And we want to do whatever we can to ensure that employees are always at 1 with Henkel Hart and Sewell as a team as Henkelama.
We're well positioned with our agenda for purposeful growth. We'll make this decade one of success For Henkel, that is what we stand for. That is what I stand for. I'd like to conclude by once again saying thank you To all my colleagues on the management board, for your team spirit and your outstanding commitment to our company. My gratitude also goes to our core bodies, the Supervisory Board, the valuable support and the constructive discussions about the future of our company.
And of course, My thanks goes to you, our shareholders, for your continued support even in these difficult times. I thank all of you for your trust in your in our company and in the people that made up Henkel, who are doing their best for our customers,
Thank you, Mr. Knobel. Ladies and gentlemen, like in previous years, we will conclude the transmission of the AGM for the general public shareholders who have registered properly will be able to follow the AGM on our investor portal. Likewise, Accredited Media representatives who received the corresponding link. I would like to say Goodbye to all other followers who have joined us up to this point, and I would like to thank you for your interest.