Dear shareholders, dear investors, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Gunter Erfurt. I'm the Chief Executive Officer of Meyer Burger Technology, and I have the pleasure to welcome you to our virtual fiscal year 2020 presentation. Today, we will present to you the fiscal year results, but will moreover focus on the transformation of our business, of our company, and the milestones achieved, and will also give you an outlook of the coming period and the coming years. Please let us go through the milestones of last year, of this year of enormous transformation of Meyer Burger. Exactly a year ago, we presented to you our results of the year 2019, and the company was at a very, very critical point. The board of directors had decided to evaluate an option of Meyer Burger entering into our own solar cell and solar module business.
A year later, we are standing here with many, many milestones achieved and with two factories being currently equipped with new tools in order to start the production ramp of our new business in the second quarter of this year. Before we go into the fiscal year results and the details of our business model transformation, let us review the last year together. We started in March with the decision to evaluate this new option and worked very hard on a share capital increase, which was only possible because of your trust in our company and in our new business model. With the CHF 165 million gross proceeds, we can now do this transformation, and we have done more than this. We have also strengthened our team.
We have identified and hired our new Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Jürgen Schiffer, who will speak to you today, and we have as well hired our Managing Director, Moritz Borgmann, who is responsible for the commercial and sales side in our new business. We have also continued restructuring the company and concluded the sale of our PiXDRO business in April 2020 and of our plasma technology business, Muegge, and also were able to repay the bond of the company. Before we go into the detailed discussion of our new business, I would like to hand over to our Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Jürgen Schiffer, for the publication of the fiscal year results 2020.
Hello, I'm Jürgen Schiffer. I'm the new Chief Financial Officer of Meyer Burger. I am presenting you now the financial statement 2020 of Meyer Burger Group. 2020 is the year of the transformation. Transformation means the transition from the old business model to the new business model. All activities and events are reflected in these financial statements. The figures results are as expected. Please, let's step in the presentation of the key figures, the balance sheet, the income statements, and of course, to the result. Comparing to the last year, we see the sales at CHF 19 million, reduced to CHF 90 million, which is not a surprise. The EBITDA, of course, comes from CHF 1 million to CHF -45 million. Now the net result declines from CHF -23 million to CHF -64 million. Let's have some good news.
We will see the cash equivalents in 2020 at CHF 150 million. If you take a closer look to the financial liabilities, current and non-current, it is near zero. The liability ratio is about 12.5%, which is quite good news. In the balance sheet, let's start from below at the equity. Equity with about CHF 260 million. We have an equity ratio of 88%. Last autumn, we repaid our convertible bond of about CHF 26 million. This results to a financial liability, nearly zero, as already mentioned. We have a net debt of about CHF 157 million, which is a quite good message. I mean. Let's take a look to the asset side. We step in the cash and cash equivalents with an amount of about CHF 140 million. I'll show you here, the cash bridge.
We started end of 2019 at CHF 36. Have a deeper look into operating cash flow, CHF -35 million. Of course, we sold business, got some cash, CHF 23 million. Also restricted cash we got free out of the running business. Of course, the already mentioned convertible bond, CHF -27. We have, of course, a capital increase of CHF 155. Here is a CHF -21. You see as investments in the new business, which results to our CHF 150 million. With this CHF 17 million restricted cash, we have already in cash CHF 157 million. We focus already on the asset side to the working capital management. Out of the business flow, reduction of production and sales of the old business model. We have also reduction in the working capital management, into trade receivables, inventories, and of course, the trade payables.
Another important slide would be the property, plant, and equipment. We started 2019 at CHF 33 million. Also see here, please, the investments in the project Indium, sees CHF 18 million. Of course, some disinvestments we did last year. The result 2020 is CHF 33 million. Let's go to the income statement, please. We have, as already mentioned, CHF 19 million net sales. If you take a closer look to the order backlog from last year, you see that fits to the business from last year. Our operating income results to CHF 37 million, which gave us some buffer, but it's not enough. Minus operating expenses, we see a result of the EBITDA is CHF -45 million. Minus depreciation and amortization, we have a net result at the end of CHF 64 million. Here we close the cycle to some of my words at the beginning.
That is the result of the financial statement 2020. Thank you.
Thank you, Jürgen, for presenting our financial figures of the year 2020, which obviously reflect our transformation of our business model. Speaking about transformation, I have now the pleasure and honor to unveil Meyer Burger's new brand and corporate identity. We've been working very, very hard in the last weeks and months, together with a great team of Jung von Matt and our sales and marketing people in Meyer Burger to create something new, something really fresh, that also shows the transformation and the big steps that Meyer Burger is currently taking. Of course, we are a company of almost 70 years history, and we have a very, very strong and great tradition. We will, of course, take all our good characteristics of our company into the new era and leave the elements behind which are no longer needed.
With this, I have the pleasure to launch our new brand. Here we go. The new Meyer Burger was born, and I hope it is as exciting for you as it is for us. Now with this new company, I would like to give you an update on the company transformation. Let me start with a few impressions of our new sites. This is the still empty solar cell manufacturing hall in Thalheim, in Germany. Please don't be afraid, building a solar cell factory is like building a house or refurbishing a house. There's a lot to do before you move in on the last weekend, usually, your furniture. It is pretty similar also in our case.
It doesn't take us only a weekend to move in our equipment, but please be assured the equipment were already built or are currently in the works at Meyer Burger and at our partners, and we will move them in beginning middle of April. In Freiberg, we have already in January, moved in the first SmartWire production line and started already producing prototype and certification modules, which are currently in the works of certification with our certification body partner. We expect the certification to be ready at the end of May, beginning of June. Of course, while we are building our factories, we are not standing still in our R&D. We have continued working in our IBC laboratory at Meyer Burger Research in Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and have also continued developing new high quality and high performance products, solar modules in Thun in Switzerland.
The heterojunction solar cell factory in Thalheim was leased with an effective start date of September 2020. We have since then started and done the refurbishment of the building. Much had to be done and is still to be done in terms of introducing and implementing our facility utility systems before we can move in and hook up our equipment. In March 2021, we finally received our building permits, which is not too late. I can assure you this is coming at the right time, and we are now doing all the building work that is needed in order to get this factory started. We will also, in March, with the receipt of the building permit, continue doing the permitting work for our envisioned expansion of 1.4 GW.
We have, of course, also commissioned all our suppliers and partners, and they are working now on their contribution to our success. In April 2021, we, as I said, will start the move-in of our equipment, and we will by then also have the critical elements of the supply chain secured. Much of it is already done, but we have still some work that needs further focus. In May, we will have the grand opening ceremony, when we officially open our factory and start the ramp of the production. Also the hiring process is going to be completed in June. That's our expectation. We are well on track there.
With a great team on board and all the equipment installed, we will look forward to closing and finalizing the ramp of the first 0.4 GW or 400 MW of solar cell manufacturing in July, August timeframe of this year. In our solar module factory in Freiberg, the timeline looks pretty much exactly the same. Of course, it has to, with the solar cells being shipped from Thalheim in our factory and then completed into our leading SmartWire heterojunction modules. We have done the transfer of title in August, and took possession of the building, and then also started refurbishing the line. The project there runs a little bit different because it's an existing line with all the automation systems and equipment in place, which need to be rearranged in many ways and upgraded.
The way we do this work is a little bit different than what has to be done in Thalheim, but we are on the same good track there as well. With the move-in of the first line already in January, we were able to produce the first modules in February and continue to build further test modules. The factory opening, of course, will as well be at the end of May, and we'll start the ramp and complete the hiring, and we'll complete the ramp-up of the 400 MW in the same time period as the solar cell line. The CapEx project, all our capital committed and spent, with regards to the 400-MW project is well on track.
It's more than well on track, because we were able to already do some work which is required for a fast-track implementation of the next expansion step, reaching 1.4 GW in nameplate capacity as soon as we have closed the financing for this next project. If you look at the split of our CapEx committed, then the majority, as expected, goes into the cell line because the equipment is all brand new, the facility utility systems are brand new, whereas in the module, we can refurbish the existing line. We have spent a little bit more than 20%, as I said already, on the potential fast-track implementation for our 1.4 GW factory. We have a very strict supplier management in place to control both schedule and cost.
Any factory and any great equipment is not good if you don't have a great team, and our team is already there or waiting in the wings to start working on our vision. We were able to identify and to hire very senior and seasoned PV experts in many, many fields, especially in the areas where Meyer Burger did not have a team in place in our old business model. Namely speaking about marketing, speaking about sales, speaking about the sales also in the U.S. We have been able to hire already 90% of the leadership team that is needed for the implementation of the new business model. This is a great success, and I can only be very grateful and thankful to our HR team, who did a brilliant job.
The other positions for, especially blue-collar workers, operators, maintenance people, is planned to happen in the second quarter because we do this aligned with our production ramp plan and, of course, also aligned with our business plan. With this, I would like to hand over to Moritz Borgmann to give us an update on the sales and marketing side.
Thank you very much, Gunter. My name is Moritz Borgmann. I'm the new Managing Director of Meyer Burger, responsible for all the commercial aspects, including sales and marketing. Today, I would like to give you an update on the sales and marketing preparations that we have been making over the past few months in preparation of the market entry with our new Meyer Burger PV module. I'm really excited to now be here and to be working on introducing the new Meyer Burger product to the market. It could really not be at a better time. When we look at the renewable energy markets and PV markets specifically, the markets are booming. We're seeing a lot of policy tailwinds, among them the EU Green Deal.
The Biden administration has been elected in the U.S., we expect them to enact a lot of very favorable policies for renewables and solar energy. Against this backdrop of a truly booming solar market, now Meyer Burger is entering the market also with a unique product. The product is unique because we have a unique technology, the heterojunction SmartWire technology. For the first time in the history of the solar industry, we will be able to offer a high-performance product that offers the highest performance available on the market, but at the same time can manufacture these products at a very low cost that is, in fact, comparable to the manufacturing cost of the standard PERC technology.
This offers us a great basis to really serve all market segments, namely the premium part of the residential and small commercial rooftop sector, but also over time, gradually, more and more, we can also serve the large-scale, utility-scale sector. In that sense, the technology enables a unique business model. We can offer this high-performance product, but at the same time quite easily scale to multi-gigawatts because we can serve the utility-scale, large-scale markets. However, of course, we know that at the beginning we will start the market entry with the capacity of 400 MW, and so it is quite natural that we will thereby enter the market in the residential and small commercial rooftop sector. We will enter the sector with a product that we believe is very differentiated and has a number of unique features that will make it very compelling to our customers.
First of all, of course, due to the technology, the product offers among the highest performance PV panels that can be bought today in the market. The panels that we will make will also offer highest production quality. The lifetime of the panels will be exceptional. The product will offer very low degradation over time. Again, this is due to the unique features of our technology. The panel will also offer appealing aesthetics, and you see a glimpse of our product here on the left side. It will look quite uniformly black, and this is really no comparison to many of the sort of older traditional solar modules that don't necessarily offer the high aesthetics that we will. Of course, this is really quite a new feature.
We will manufacture our cells and the modules in Europe, in Germany, at our sites in Freiberg in Sachsen and in Saxony-Anhalt in Bitterfeld. This is the revival of the European solar industry. Now truly with a deep value chain, we will make our cells with our proprietary technology, the technology featuring, of course, Swiss innovation that has been developed over the past 10+ years. What's also very close to our hearts and very important for us is that our product is not simply a sustainable product because it is a solar panel, but also because the solar panel is being made in a sustainable fashion. We will adhere to the highest environmental and social standards when we make our panels, and we'll also differentiate that way.
We are very aware and are looking very closely into what our suppliers are doing so that we can also ensure that our suppliers are adhering to the same high standards that we have. This is also a first in the solar industry. We will be able to offer a solar panel that, for the first time, is actually free of the highly toxic lead, which so far is a standard ingredient of solar panels. Last but not least, I also generally think that we will be able to tell a totally different story to what our competitors are telling. This is, of course, a factor due to the fact that we are manufacturing here in Europe, but also a function of the people that are behind Meyer Burger and the great team.
You may have read about us in the media in the past couple of months, and we truly stand for the revival of the European solar industry. This great product, of course, also needs great marketing and with the help of our partners, among them foremost, of course, the renowned marketing agency, Jung von Matt, we have been working over the past few months on totally reinventing Meyer Burger. Meyer Burger's business model has been reinvented, and so will be the appearance. What you're seeing here today, and Gunter has just unveiled the new logo and the new corporate identity, is a new identity that stands for our new product, which is now a solar panel, and that is a premium solar panel. We quite deliberately chose to keep Meyer Burger as the brand.
We think that Meyer Burger has a great heritage. We totally want to keep that heritage. This rebranding will, of course, be the basis for a marketing campaign that we will launch starting later in Q2. Coming to our sales strategy. We will be entering the market in the residential and small commercial sector, starting at the end of Q2, beginning of Q3. Our sales approach is a three-stage approach. That means that we will sell to wholesalers, distributors, who in turn sell the product to installers. They then sell the PV module together with the entire kit that it takes to assemble a PV system to the end customers. We're currently in discussions with many of our future customers, the distributors, and are selecting a strategic portfolio of distributors, approximately 50 in Europe, which will then distribute our product in the future.
We have also, in the course of these discussions, confirmed the price assumptions for our product in the business plan. Coming to our time plan. Today, we're launching the new brand. In about a month from now, in April, we will launch the PV panel. We'll launch the product, and the panel will then be for sale, and installers will be able to purchase the Meyer Burger PV module and sell it to end customers. Of course, last but not least, we will be presenting the product at Intersolar EU in Munich in July. At the same time, as I said, the marketing campaign will also be launched in April. One more thing. As I mentioned, we're very pleased to see the policy developments and the general market dynamics in the U.S.
We think the dynamics are very favorable, and this is why we have decided to accelerate our market entry in the U.S. So far, we had only planned to enter the U.S. in 2022. Now, given the market environment, we will already enter the U.S. this year. To this end, we have made a great hire. Mr. Ardes Johnson has already come on board at the beginning of March, and he will serve as the President of Meyer Burger Americas and will be responsible for the sales in the U.S. and the Americas in general. For that purpose, we will reuse the existing Meyer Burger sales and service organization. With this background, we expect substantial first sales already in 2021. With this update, I would like to thank you and hand over back again to Gunter.
Moritz, thank you for this update on our sales and marketing efforts. I believe we have made great progress in our project, and we are now ready to enter the market with our differentiated product in April, and shipments starting from the end of second quarter of this year. Dear shareholders, let me now close this presentation with an outlook. There's no business without risks. While these risks remain, we can confirm our communicated guidance, and we do our level best to keep the risks at a low profile and manage them carefully. Some of the initial risks we had identified, we have already completely under control. There is one element, for instance, which is the hiring of a top team, as we explained, is already almost closed for the 400 MW and well prepared for the upcoming expansions.
Speaking about the upcoming expansions, we believe the solar market is just growing and the sun is shining bright on Meyer Burger. As we have explained, we see a forecasted annual growth rate of more than what Meyer Burger has originally assumed in our own planning, and we are now ready to enter the market with this great tailwind. We have also prepared our factories for the next expansion. We are doing our best to have a ready for equipment factory. That means as soon as we have the financing closed for the next expansion, we are ready to move the additional equipments in and start the ramp as soon as possible. With this next expansion, we are entering the gigawatt scale of manufacturing.
This is needed for us and welcome, because we can, with this capacity, enter into the utility market as a second strong pillar of our new business. We hope that our presentation answered already most of your questions, if not so, then we are now open for a Q&A. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, this was our presentation part, now we are entering into a Q&A session. Before we do this, I can firmly assure you that this morning the three of us did a COVID-19 test and it was negative. Otherwise, we wouldn't sit here so closely together without wearing a mask. This is all okay and tested. Let's start with the questions that we received via the chat function.
I will be reading them for everyone to hear them, and then we will, among the team, share the answers. One question we received is, since last summer, there have been huge price increases in energy for energy-intense wafer production, for solar glass production. Will this result in higher prices? Will these changes lead to increases in manufacturing costs of your PV modules compared to your plan? I think we can answer it or split the answers, focusing on the sales side and on the other hand, on the COGS side. It's true that currently we are in a seller's market situation for at least some components currently affecting the industry. One is PV glass, whose prices have increased in the last weeks and months. The same also for wafers. On the other hand, this is also reflected in the ASPs.
We have to speak about the cost side and the materials. We have secured as much material as we could for our ramp. This is not yet fully done, but to an extent where we believe we can start our production without interruptions, and also pretty much meeting our cost targets according to the business plan. For the other part of the answer, I would like to refer to Moritz to walk us through the effects on the sales side, on the ASPs.
Obviously the changes in the global supply chain are also affecting our competitors quite negatively. In fact, we are benefiting from that on a relative basis because the transport costs have been increasing quite drastically over the past couple of months.
Another question refers to our REC project, where we have delivered a solar cell and module line. The question is, if there are still any outstanding money from REC, and if so, what amount? We cannot disclose the amount, but the answer is yes, there is still some outstanding money. The project is not entirely closed, and we are currently working on it. The line itself, however, is running at full speed to the extent we can tell. We expect closure of this project pretty soon. Another question refers to the next or further finance growth. When does Meyer Burger intend to raise further equity to finance growth? For the time being, we do not have firm plans to raise further equity. We are currently working on a debt financing to finance the next expansion step, and we are in very close discussions with the respective partners.
According to our communication, we are expecting the closure of this financing at the end of the year, beginning of next year at the latest, and of course, do our level best to pull the schedule in as much as possible. For the time being, there are no firm plans with regards to raising further equity. Does Meyer Burger have sufficient cash reserves? Is another question. If the announced debt financing does not materialize, that fits perfectly fine to the previous question. Will Meyer Burger still be cash positive in the 400 MW business case according to today's knowledge? I would like to answer the last part of the question and then hand over to Jürgen for the first part.
As we have communicated back in June 2020, we, according to today's assumptions and the business plan, believe that already with the 400 MW fully loaded factor, so this will not be relevant for this year, but for next year, we expect to reach break even at the EBITDA level. We believe that we are well-financed for this first initial capacity. Regarding the cash reserves, I would like to hand over to Jürgen.
Thank you, Gunter. I would support that statement from Gunter. We have sufficient cash reserves. It was planned for the first step, the 400 MW, the CapEx and of course, the operating cost, to finance the operating cost. We are safe for that phase, and we are planning, of course, for the second phase. Debt financing for the further steps. It is fine for us.
Thank you, Jürgen. Another question relates to a sales topic, sales forecast topic. Is there a reliable sales forecast for Q3 2021 to Q2 2022 already available, Moritz?
Yes. Given the advanced stage of discussions with our customers and the generally very positive feedback that we're getting, our current assumption is that we will not be limited by demand, and that we will be able to sell the product that our factory will be producing.
Thank you. Another question is, how secure and volatile do you expect your raw material supply and costs to be? What approximative percentage of revenues shall they be? We will not provide the detailed numbers, and I think I already answered the volatility or at least the current challenges we see in the market. We have, this is probably also worth mentioning, we have also included some contingency in our business plan, knowing that the initial capacity will not be enough to give us the firepower or procurement power that a company has reaching the beyond gigawatt scale. That is implemented in some way in the business plan. As of today, I believe we can manage these uncertainties that are currently in the market.
Another effect that's worth mentioning is, of course, given or because of the COVID-19 crisis, we see an increase in shipment costs and freight costs, which is most affecting module shipments from our competitors from Asia to Europe or to the U.S. Not so much the raw materials as such. This is definitely playing in our favor. We have the comparable or the comparison available between oversea freight versus pan-European shipment, if you will, and we believe that some cost savings on our end will also come from lower logistics costs. There's another question for Moritz Borgmann. How many framework agreements have been signed as of today? How many of the previously announced LOIs of 2 GW have been converted into binding customer orders?
Yes. First of all, the LOIs that we had already closed as early as last summer are, of course, referring to a mix of different geographies and also a mix of customer segments. They refer to both residential and utility scale customers. Now we have been prioritizing, of course, given the limited capacity that we have in the beginning and the focus on the residential sector. We have then, of course, also focused on converting the LOIs with respect to the residential sector and will then, of course, tackle the other customer relationships, which are still in patent, where the LOIs are still in place at a later stage when we are ready to scale to gigawatt scale. I do not want to go into much more detail regarding our framework agreements.
I'm very happy to report that first framework agreements have been signed, and we are in advanced negotiations with many others of our prospective customers.
Next question is, are there any plans yet regarding the partnership with Oxford PV? Can Meyer Burger compete with more efficient perovskite cells? There is a partnership already in place since two years. Meyer Burger is the largest shareholder of Oxford PV, and we are also a strategic and exclusive technology development partner to Oxford PV, currently equipping their pilot line in Brandenburg in Germany, an hour west of Berlin. The technology itself is not yet ready and was never planned to be ready this year for commercial production. Making good progress there. Meyer Burger has a technology in between today's technology, we are going to roll out in our factories and we'll use also for the expansions in the upcoming planned expansions, which is a so-called IBC technology, stands for Interdigitated Back Contact.
It's a very beautiful high power solar cell we are currently developing in our research center in Switzerland, in Neuchâtel, reaching module efficiencies of between 23% and 24% module efficiencies, not cell efficiencies. This is between 3 and 4.5 percentage points higher than what we currently see from Asia for mainstream products. This is going to be used when the time is ripe, not now, but in the upcoming years. There is also no necessity for the time being, also from a pure market demand to introduce perovskite modules already today. We're working on it. We have this partnership in place already and we'll report accordingly if there are any news. There's another question which I believe we have at least partly answered. Can you provide more details on the current status of your supply chain? Which material supplies have been secured?
How much is based in Europe? If there are any challenges? It's a very good question. We commented already on supply chain issues. With the anticipated or forecasted growth of PV, there are some hurdles in the way. This is definitely true, but it's an advantage for us that we are also small, at least still. It's a disadvantage on the one hand, speaking of procurement power, but an advantage when it comes to securing the volumes needed. We have secured already the critical components, and we are now working on refining stuff in the supply chain in order to make sure that we have an uninterrupted, not only ramp, but full-blown 24/7, 365 days production. I believe from what we know today, this can all be managed and it has to be done very carefully.
We have also, in respect to our supply chain team, hired great professionals who know the industry in and out, and they help us tackling these challenges. Another question is a pretty interesting one. Unfortunately, I neither can't give you an answer, nor do I have an answer. It's too early or I don't have a mirror ball in front of me. Does a listing in the U.S. make sense, as U.S. might become your largest market? No comment. It's currently not on the table, so we are not even thinking about it. Another question probably goes to Moritz. Can you please talk a bit more around your pricing strategy? If you cannot disclose too much, at least can you give some sort of reference with comparison to REC pricing and Panasonic pricing? Would be very helpful to have some visibility on the pricing. Please, Moritz.
Thank you. We are, of course, positioning our product clearly in the premium segment of the residential and small commercial rooftop sector of the PV market. Of course, in this market segment, we see the well-known competitors, LG, Panasonic, REC, and of course, also SunPower at the very high end, already playing in a niche a bit. I do not want to be too specific at this point. However, what I can say is that we are pricing the product such that relative to our competitors, relative to what we are offering to our customers in terms of a unique selling proposition, it is priced very attractively. We truly have a quite unique package.
Probably most importantly, next, of course, to the superior performance, the product is being made in Europe, in Germany, and we're not only assembling the module, but we are actually making the heart of the solar module, namely the cell, with our own proprietary technology in Europe. This, we believe is going to be, of course quite an important criterion for our customers. With that in mind, again, we're pricing adequately relative to our competition.
Maybe, another question for you, Moritz. Since last year, PV modules have become cheaper at all efficiency levels. Do you expect a reduction in gross margins for PV modules 2021 and 2022?
Well, this is probably a statement that has been true for the past 10, 20, or 30 years in the PV industry. Of course, this trend will continue to some extent. However, we believe that now we are in relatively sort of stable waters. Of course, there's always going to be constant progress in the industry, and there's always short-term disruptions such as we're currently seeing with disruptions in the supply chain and in transport that are even leading to increased module prices. I can only say that we have anticipated these developments. It's nothing new, and we are also working on continuously optimizing our technology. This is all well-factored into our business plan.
Thank you. I don't let you off the hook. There's another one for you. Thank you for the presentation. The new brand looks very promising. Could you give us an estimate about how many pre-orders do you have for 2021 right now, and what is the predicted revenue for 2021?
Yeah. I think I can only repeat first of all, of course, thanks for the compliment on the brand. I can only repeat myself on the status of the commercial discussions. We are in very advanced discussions with many of our future customers and have already signed first framework agreements. Currently, given the very positive resonance in the market, we expect to be supply limited this year.
Thank you. Now we are coming to the last question. We indeed answered 100% of your questions. I'm very happy that we could do that in a timely manner within this conference. The last question is, can you please tell us what kind of target Meyer Burger has for the board size and corporate governance? Any ESG responsible person planned? What about gender diversity? I will answer some of it and then, Jürgen, you can also. The board size, as you could read today, we have one board member who does not stand for re-election at the next AGM in May. According to the company statutes, we have to have four individuals on the board. The board of directors also in our press release today informed that we will inform the market about a candidate or candidates in due course.
Gender diversity is definitely a topic for us. We have to improve. About a third of our employees are women, so we have still some room for improvement. Clearly, we do. This is also implemented in our hiring processes. I think the ESG question, Jürgen, goes to you.
Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for the question. ESG, we are at the moment establishing a ESG department. No question about that. Also we are, maybe I say too much, we are hiring and staffing this department. It is actually an ongoing process.
Thank you. Thanks to the team for answering the questions, thanks to you for asking the questions and for being with us today in that press conference. I hope you enjoyed it and could take many new information or confirmations also out of it. We enjoyed the virtual format. It's been great for us as well. We hope to see you soon and speak to you soon. Thank you for joining us today.