Esteemed shareholders, my name is Torbjörn Lööf, and as Chairman of the Board of Electrolux AB, I would like to greet you all a warm welcome to the Electrolux Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2026, and I hereby declare the meeting opened. Next to me, up here on the podium, I have President and CEO and a member of the board, Yannick Fierling, and the Secretary of the Board of Directors, Ulrika Elfving. The board has asked Ulrika Elfving to keep the minutes at today's meeting. Up here, we also have Solicitor at Law, Eva Hägg, who has been proposed to be the meeting chair for today.
In addition, we have directors Geert Follens, Petra Hedengran, Ulla Litzén, Karin Overbeck, David Porter, Michael Rauterkus, and employee representatives Viveca Brinkenfeldt-Lever, Peter Ferm, Wilson Quispe, and their deputy, Ulrik Danestad, present here at the meeting right in front of the podium. I'd also like to mention that the nomination committee is represented by its chair, Christian Cederholm, who is also present here at today's meeting. The nominees for new directors, Lena Glader and Anko van der Werff, are also equally present here today. This meeting will be conducted in Swedish with simultaneous interpretation into English. The President and CEO's address will be given in English with simultaneous interpretation into Swedish.
The board of directors has resolved to permit site participation at the meeting and to simplify for all those shareholders who are not present here at the meeting, the board has opted to live broadcast on a web stream on the website of the group. Now it's time to elect the chair for the meeting. The Nomination Committee has nominated Eva Hägg to chair the meeting. Are there any other proposals? Does the meeting resolve in accordance with the Nomination Committee's proposal? I find that the meeting has elected Eva Hägg to chair today's meeting, and I'm going to hand the gavel over to Eva.
Thank you very much, and thank you for the trust. Before we proceed with the other items on today's agenda, I have a few practical points of information and instructions for you. First of all, security. Should a fire alarm or another alarm go off, we will abide by the instructions of staff. Exits are clearly marked, and evacuation officials here in the room will show us the way out. The assembly point is outside at the customer car park of Electrolux, and should we need to evacuate, we ask everyone to leave the meeting room in an orderly manner. If anyone should need medical assistance, please contact one of the hosts and officials, and they will help you.
As Torbjörn Lööf mentioned, the Board has decided to welcome guests at today's meeting. We have some employees of Electrolux and officials present, among other things. Today's meeting will also be web streamed in real time via the website of the group. Video recordings will be made only of the podium, not the shareholders. Shareholders who would like to ask questions will not be on video, but they will be heard by those who listen to the live web stream. There is both a Swedish and an English version on the group website. If you have opted to go to the website in Swedish, you will hear the meeting in Swedish, and vice versa in English.
We have officials present here in the room with microphones, and we ask you to please use one of the microphones when you ask a question. Raise your hand if you'd like to ask a question and wait for the microphone and remember to introduce yourself. In addition to the live stream the board has resolved to offer, there is no permitted video or audio recordings. Can we resolve accordingly? Thank you.
Now it's time to deal with item two on the agenda, which is the preparation and approval of the voting list. You may partake in today's meeting in different ways. You can be present here today, but some shareholders have also opted for postal voting. We have a list of attendance, and we have compiled the postal votes ahead of time, and we can see that they constitute just over 90% of the votes and 32% of the shares. For shareholders who've submitted a postal vote and who've also registered to be present and who have arrived here today, the postal vote remains valid unless the shareholder informs me that they would like to cancel their postal vote.
A list of the shareholders who've registered to attend have been distributed, and shareholders who've arrived here today have been ticked off against this list, and those who did not arrive register have been deleted. In addition, the list also covers the shareholders who have already voted by postal voting. It is proposed that this list, with the adjustments mentioned, is adopted to serve as the voting list for today's meeting. We have received the adjusted list of attendance, and I'm going to give the floor to Ulrika Elfving to hear the numbers.
I can tell you that the number of shares and votes, according to the now adjusted voting list, are the following: 7,904,226 Class A shares and 169,888,697 Class B shares. That means that all in all, total number of shares represented at the meeting is 177,792,923, corresponding to 24,893,095 votes.
Thank you very much, Ulrika. Does the meeting adopt the thus adjusted voting list to be the voting list for the meeting? Thank you. That's carried. We continue with agenda item three, where the meeting is to approve the agenda. The proposed agenda is included in notice and also in the documentation that has been distributed at the AGM. Can the meeting approve that agenda? It has been approved. We continue with agenda item four, election of two minutes checkers. We have Johannes Finnbor representing Länsförsäkringar and Frontförvaltning, and Felix Wilke representing SEB Funds that have been proposed and also said that they're willing to take on this task. Perhaps I could ask you to show that you're here. Thank you. Are there other proposals?
If not, can the meeting elect these two individuals to check the minutes? Thank you. That takes us to agenda item five, determination as to whether the annual general meeting has been properly convened. The notice was introduced in the Swedish Gazette on the eighteenth of February, 2026, and has been available at the company website as of the thirteenth of February, and advertisement about the notice has been included in the Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter on the eighteenth of February. That notice has been sent out five weeks in advance, as is prescribed. Can the meeting determine that it has been duly convened? Thank you.
That takes us to item six on the agenda, where we have presentation of the annual report, the auditor's report, the consolidated accounts, and the group audit report, and also the assurance report relating to the group sustainability report. These documents have been available at the company's website and at the company premises as of the nineteenth of February and has been sent out via mail to those who have requested to receive them. There is also printed versions here at the AGM. The auditor's opinion regarding senior executives remunerations have been available at the company's website and the premises of the company as of nineteenth of February, and has been mailed to those who have requested to receive them. The documents have been duly presented. With that being said, I would like to hand over to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Torbjörn Lööf.
Thank you very much, Eva. Esteemed shareholders, first of all, thank you for the confidence you showed me last year in my capacity as Chairman of the Board to lead the work of the Board of Directors of Electrolux during the past year. I'd like to begin by telling you a little bit about the work of the board of the past year. In addition to board meetings, the three committees of the board meet regularly. In 2025, the board and its committees met a total of 35 times. The presence was more or less complete, a very good level of attendance. There are articles of association and procedures which clearly outline which items on the agenda need to be dealt with.
Regularly, we deal with finances, market situations, success, succession issues, sustainability investments, remuneration, and financial reports that need to be adopted. The board also determines and evaluates the overall targets within the company and its strategy, and decides on internal rules of procedure. Continuously throughout the year, we also deal with reports from the audit and remuneration committee and reports from internal auditors, internal controls, and financial activities. The auditor of the company attends regularly to present audit related issues, and those issues are also discussed in detail in the board, and we have the option of asking questions to the auditors without the participation of senior management.
The work of the Board, just as the work of the Chairman of the Board, are evaluated on an annual basis through a systematic and structured process with the aim of having good decision-making, information for the development work within the Board and give the Nomination Committee valuable information for their task. We look at the working forms of the Board, the Board's efficiency, competence, and the work throughout the year. Feedback to the Board was provided after a compilation of the results, and the Nomination Committee has been informed of the results of the evaluation. The Board evaluation suggests that we have a well-functioning Board of Directors with requisite competence and time to allocate to this assignment. In June, the Board of Directors spent a number of days in China and in Thailand.
In China, we paid visits to leading companies in the technology sector to gain more insight into how Chinese players rapidly have been strengthening and enhancing their global competitiveness. We also made a number of market visits in our own sales organizations in both China and Thailand, and parts of the board also visited our factory in Thailand. A few words on the priorities and focus of the board in 2025. 2025 was a continued turbulent year with geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and currency changes and fluctuations, creating challenges for the company, more higher complexity costs in doing business, and a general uncertainty amongst consumers with a continued weak demand as a result.
To face all these challenges presented by the world around us, throughout the year, the board has focused more on the updated strategic focus of the company, including the adoption of the company's financial targets. The results of this work was informed, something we informed the market of by our CEO and senior management at the Capital Market Day in December. Our CEO, Yannick Fierling, will in a few moments tell you more about our strategic focus and direction. Let me also mention two important areas that we focused on in particular in 2025 in the board. One important component is to ensure that we have profitable growth in North America.
The situation in the U.S. has been characterized by a lack of balance in the cost structure in our own production and greater complexity with the trade barriers which have been launched at various times by the U.S. administration. In 2025, several steps were taken in the right direction in our North American operations. We grew our organic sales by 6.1%. We reduced losses considerably, but there is a great deal of work still remaining to ensure that we see stable profitability over time from the operations in North America. This remains a highly prioritized issue for senior management and for the board of directors moving forward. Another focus area has been to try and enhance our global competitiveness. We want to strengthen our position in the market with a strong and clear focus on customers and an attractive product offering.
We also want to reduce our structural costs to lay the foundation for more competitiveness and higher margins thereby. In 2025, the company was awarded a number of awards for best products, and I'd like to mention the fact that we received as many as seven awards in the category of laundry in the well-renowned German test institute, Stiftung Warentest. It's completely unique in the industry, and it is a testament to our development efforts. We've also implemented a number of efforts and measures to reduce cost and improve efficiency, and savings to the tune of SEK 4 billion were delivered upon in 2025. In 2025, the company grew its organic sales by 3.9%, delivered SEK 4 billion in cost efficiencies, and reported an operating profit of SEK 3.7 billion.
However, we still have a strained balance sheet and a clear goal to reduce our indebtedness. Therefore, the board has proposed to request that the AGM resolves to pay out no dividend for the financial year 2025. We want to assure that we have a long-term value creation, and this is one of the measures needed. By way of conclusion, I'd like to thank senior management, the approximately 39,000 employees of the company, and the rest of the board of directors for excellent cooperation during the past year. A lot of work remains ahead of us, and should the meeting so wish, I look forward to the opportunity to work together with the board of directors and senior management, to continue the work to strengthen Electrolux's market position and create ever greater value for our customers, our employees, and our shareholders alike. Thank you.
Thank you to Torbjörn Lööf. I will hand over to the CEO, President Yannick Fierling, and we're now under agenda item seven. This presentation will be held in English, but will be simultaneously interpreted into Swedish, please.
Thanks, Torbjörn, and very warm welcome to all of you to this general assembly. Very glad to be in front of you. If you allow me, I will start by looking in the back mirror. I mean, 2025 has been a year of progress, a year of building a new strategy for the company. Let me just give you some figures. We have been delivering in 2025, SEK 131 billion in terms of turnover, which represents an organic growth of 3.9%. Yes, we have been growing again, and we're very close to our midterm target, which is 4% growth a year.
We've been delivering SEK 3.7 billion in terms of EBIT, which represents 2.8% on net sales, 9.4% in terms of RONA, and we have been delivering a positive cash flow of SEK 2 billion. Let me take you through the EBIT bridge. We started 2024 with SEK 1.7 billion, and we're proud to say that we have been growing organically in 2025, and this organic growth has been generating SEK 4.8 billion in terms of profit. We invested in marketing, which has been fueling the innovation we have been launching last year, and you can see how important cost saving has been in 2025. We have been delivering SEK 4 billion.
We targeted between SEK 3.5 billion and SEK 4 billion, and we're proud to say that we have been delivering SEK 4 billion in terms of cost efficiency. As Torbjörn said, we had to face last year quite a high level of external factors, one of them being tariff in North America, but it was not the only one. We had headwinds as well coming mainly from currency, SEK 2.3 billion headwind in 2025, and that has been bringing us to an EBIT of SEK 3.7 billion. We met for many of you during the MCU beginning of December, and we have been disclosing our long-term targets. We want to keep on growing by 4% in organic growth year-over-year, and that's a big change versus the past. We truly believe that the profit target can only be reached if we start growing again in Electrolux.
Long term, we want to deliver 6% EBIT. In terms of capital turnover rate, we want to deliver four times and a run of 20%. That's the midterm targets we have been placing in front of us. Sustainability is part of our DNA, and we are leading as a home appliance industry leader. We are leading in terms of sustainability. Just for everybody in the room, Scope 1 and 2 is the carbon emission you're generating while producing and moving the appliances. While Scope 3 is the carbon footprint you're generating while using the appliance. Between 2021 and 2030, we have been putting the very ambitious target of reducing this carbon footprint by 85% for Scope 1 and 2, and by 42% for Scope 3.
By 2030, we want our appliances to have 35% of recycled material, and there is nothing more important for us than safety of our people. We have a total case incident rate of zero point three as a target for the coming years. We made tremendous progress in 2025, and year to date, we have been reducing between 2021 and 2025 by 45% Scope 1 and 2, 33% Scope 3, and our products contain 23% of recycled material today, and we are best in class in terms of total case incident rate with 0.33. You probably heard me saying that I have been spending 25 years of my life in home appliances, and I have seen more changes in the last five years than I have seen in the first 20. First, I mean, COVID.
We have been facing COVID. People were staying at home. Many of them decided to change their appliances. In 2021 was a year where we were not able to manufacture enough appliances. As a consequence, because the demand was so high, we had a high strong inflation in terms of raw material. We were begging to find microchips. If that was not enough, a war has been starting in Ukraine with very high geopolitical tension. As a consequence, again, an explosion in terms of energy cost, at least in Europe. Suddenly, the demand has been weakening very significantly. Today, in 2026, in Europe, we're sitting on a 10-year low volume. Digital transformation has been accelerating. We had a very high level of consolidation in the industry with many Chinese company buying European companies, but not only.
The retail landscape has been changing quite a lot as well worldwide. 2025 has been marked by a high level of protectionism, mainly coming from North America, but not only. We have CBAM as well in Europe. We have to move. We have to change. We are in an environment which is extremely volatile and uncertain, and that's why we have been defining together as a team, as a company, our new vision moving forward. Our vision is to become the home appliance industry leader in consumer satisfaction, delivering outstanding lifetime experiences with solutions that always get better. We should not fight on cost. Cost is not our battlefield. Our bread and butter as Electrolux is consumer satisfaction. We're very proud to say today that we have a best consumer star rating in every single region around the world. Consumers love our product, and that's why we're successful.
We have been building this vision on four main pillars in terms of strategy. The first one is consumer preference, the second one is lifetime value creation, the third one is cost leadership, and the last one is cash generation. Let me take you through these four pillars. The first one is about consumer preference, and we spent a lot of time and energy in 2025 understanding exactly who our customers are, who our target competitors are, what are the needs of these customers. We spent a lot of money in the last years investing, and rightly so, in our industrial tool. We decided in 2025 to invest once again in marketing, boosting our three main brands, which are Electrolux, AEG, and Zanussi. Very strong brands, which for some of them have more than 100 years of history.
Let me show you an example of commercials we have been publishing in 2025, which is giving a new and modern image about Electrolux. Please.
We Swedes are more than just one thing. I like sitting here. We're beautiful, of course. We're also tough. Dangerous. We're cool. Sit down. Practical, just like the beautiful scratch-resistant SaphirMatt. It's the Electrolux Hob for better living. Designed in Sweden. I like sitting here.
The SaphirMatt product is a great example on what we're doing on Electrolux. It's a consumer relevant innovation we have been placing in the market here, which has been very successful in the three regions. Many achievements. Torbjörn has been mentioning some of them, in his speech. I just want to underline some more. I will start with North America. One of our main customer is called Home Depot. We have been getting in 2025 two major awards from Home Depot. The first one being the Supplier of the Year, and the second one was about Innovation of the Year with Pizza. Never ever a supplier has been getting these two awards at the same time. Latin America, I think I would invite you to read the list we have on the table.
Electrolux has been placed among the 12 most preferred brands from the Generation Z. We are next to another Swedish company, Spotify, on place number 13 here. What is really remarkable is that we are next to a lot of digital, very modern companies, high brand recognition in Latam. We are absolutely a magnetic brand and a magnetic employer in Latam. In Europe, Tom mentioned it. For anybody who has been working with Germany, they know how important StiWa, it's a consumer test institute, is in Germany. A lot of customers are still referring to StiWa before buying an appliance. In the last two years, we got seven top StiWa award for our laundry products. Never, ever, a company has been getting even close to these numbers.
Finally, very recently, one of the main retailer in Europe has been placing us as the most reliable and durable company or brand on the market. Lots of recognitions which are speaking to consumer preference. The second pillar in our strategy is about lifetime value creation. What we're intending is to be next to the end consumer from the purchase stage until when he dispose of the product. We want to reach out to him through direct to consumers, through connectivity. We want to engage him in the process, in the consumer journey, and certainly we want to monetize this relationship moving forward. We are creating right now an ecosystem around the product to generate additional revenue and profit. Cost takeout. Even if we're focusing on core plus and premium segments in the free markets, cost takeout is fundamental to deliver our results.
We have been delivering SEK 4.7 billion in 2023, SEK 4 billion in 2024, and SEK 4 billion again in 2025. However, the way we have been delivering these numbers are very different. 2023 and 2024 were mainly delivered through restructuring. 2025 was solely delivered through product cost takeout. We have been better engineered, engineering our products. We have been sourcing our components in a better manner. We have been becoming more efficient in our factories. We saved money in terms of logistics, SEK 4 billion. Our target was between SEK 3.5 billion and SEK 4 billion. We delivered SEK 4 billion. We are reiterating this target for 2026. Once again, the objective is to deliver between SEK 3.5 billion and SEK 4 billion. In terms of cash, we delivered SEK 2 billion positive operating cash flow.
We have SEK 32.7 billion in liquidity per December 31st, end of the year here. We have no covenant in any of our loan agreements here. S&P has been rating us BB-, but with a stable outlook during this summer. We are certainly aiming at consolidating our balance sheet. We have been reaching a leverage of three at the end of 2025, and certainly our mid- to long-term target is to reach a leverage below two. One year ago, I've been presenting these five priorities to you, and these five priorities are still valid today. We want to improve North America. We want to grow in a profitable manner. We want to strengthen our market position.
We want to keep on reducing cost, and we want an organization which has to react in a very agile and fast manner. We believe that we have been making progress in these five major strategic drivers. We have been increasing our market share in North America. We have been penetrating channels like the contract channels. We have been increasing the number of shop floor spaces we had in North America through the innovation we have been launching. We have been growing again profitably at a level of 3.9%, on an organic side of equation. We have been improving our earnings. We strengthened our market positions in every single region. We have been increasing our market share with Electrolux and AEG, fully compensating the ramp down of the Zanussi brand in Europe.
We have been gaining market share in North America, and we have been consolidating our position in Latam in the premium segment. We have been strengthening our position in the three regions in 2025. Cost reduction, we discussed about it. SEK 4 billion were delivered, and we have been fine-tuning the organization in order to be faster and more agile in the three regions. That's a very important slide. I've been telling you, 2025 was about progress, but was also about strategic building. We have been building the strategy for the future. What we have been paying a lot of attention on is that when you change your strategy, you need to make sure that your operating model and the organization you have next to it are following. That's why we have been customizing, adapting the operating model and the organization throughout the year.
We announced at year-end that we will be refocusing on APAC, Asia. We announced the creation of a commercial area dedicated to Asia moving forward. We have been as well streamlining the organization by giving a very clear P&L accountability at regional level, creating a strong product organization which mission is purely to support the four regions. Finally, we have been carving out wellbeing and SDA, giving them more independence because we truly believe that there is a very high potential in this product category moving forward. Let me conclude. Once again, we have been making progress in 2025. We're certainly not where we wish to be. However, we have been building as well the path moving forward. We have a clear strategy, and we want to be more than any other company in home appliances customer-centric in the future. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you. Thank you. Now we're going to open up for questions from the shareholders. Well, if you have a question or a comment, you're welcome to ask for the floor. If you raise your hand, we'll make sure that we'll bring a microphone for you. Please introduce yourselves. The floor is open.
Thank you. I will be asking my question in English. Alexandra Frenander, and I'm representing Folksam and KPA Pension here today. We usually ask a sustainability related question, and this year we have chosen to once again focus on climate and the environment. As we know, Electrolux holds a strong position in the field of sustainability and received several recognitions for your work last year. At the same time, the financial results show that North America remains a challenge, both in terms of profitability and a general decline in interest in climate and environmental issues in the region. My question is therefore, how do you plan to strengthen sales in North America without compromising your sustainability focus? Thank you.
No, thank you very much for your question. I mean, first of all, I think it's a lot of people are opposing sustainability with business and profit. It's exactly the opposite. I mean, not only North America, but globally, the most energy efficient appliances are also the one driving the highest level of margin, and that's exactly the case in North America as well. If you look at North America, the level of inflation you had in this region has been extremely high in the last month, not to say in the last years, and energy cost has increased pretty significantly. It's exactly the opposite. What we have seen in 2025 is actually an increased appetite for high efficient appliances and appliances which are performing well as well in terms of sustainability.
Just to give you some numbers, more than one appliance out of two in North America are sold with the ENERGY STAR rating. Leading with ENERGY STAR has been a big advantage for us in the market. When you go into energy, you can as well go into features like food preservation. The best appliances we had in terms of food preservation were the ones as well we have been increasing the most in terms of sales. I don't think we should be opposing actually sustainability and sales especially, I mean, in North America in 2025 where we had a high level of inflation, it's quite the opposite. ENERGY STAR was probably more important than ever in this market. Thank you very much for your question.
Thank you very much. There's a question over there.
I'm Dan Kristiansen, and I represent Alecta. Many thanks for the update on the strategy. I read in your annual report about your Strategic Planning Committee and which also was very active during the year. I was just wondering if you could give a little bit more color on the focus of the Strategic Planning Committee and how it interacts with the rest of the board. I guess it's a question for you too.
Thank you for that question. The committee called Strategic Planning Committee is one of the board's committees, of course. It was set up two years ago, and it is a committee with the intention, which we intend to keep on a temporary basis only. It's not a permanent committee. We've made the assessment that the committee might need perhaps one more year or so within the company structure. The purpose and aim of this committee is to support senior management in the strategic focus we've reviewed and continue to move through. We've put extra effort into this considering the company situation and the starting point and the current position. Even though we are seeing progress in 2025, as we've just heard from Yannick, we're far from satisfied, however.
We all agree on this, and we need more work from the board, more effort, within the board and to convene the entire board of directors is difficult from a practical perspective on such a regular basis. We set up this committee instead, and we've had a number of meetings in the committee. That's basically it. Thank you very much.
Are there additional questions? It's a bit difficult to tell from up here. Do we have someone? There might be a question over there.
Hi. Gun Zettersten is my name. I'm a bit surprised by the ash that we see now and then in the kitchen, and I'm wondering what is being done, what is scraped off and thrown on the stove.
A question for you.
Yeah.
I think on the ad, I mean, first of all, I mean, we want certainly to give a Swedish image. I think Sweden has an amazing image outside, and I think it's not only in Sweden. I mean, having a Swedish design and taste is actually quite positive outside. We have been researching the commercial you just saw here, and it has been very successful outside of Sweden. It's much more an image. We wanted as well to give a modern view on it. Of course, you can question the ad and view of the ad is here. I mean, I can tell you that overall, I mean, this commercial has been pretty appreciated and viewed many times in Europe.
It is about durability, because the axe was thrown on the cooktop, and the cooktop is an anti-scratch cooktop. It is really to show that, I mean, it is even resisting to scratches coming from an axe. It's more about the image we wanted to give here.
the scratch-
[Foreign language]
Yes, precisely, that's the problem. Something is being scraped off the hob. What is it? Or is it on the edge? Or I just want to get to the point of what is actually being scraped off.
[Foreign language]
'Cause otherwise it could be perceived as false, incorrect information otherwise. That first you're scraping something off, and then you just wipe it off. That could give an erroneous picture of what we're really trying to convey in an ad. That's what I'm worried about.
Yeah, I think it's a good comment. I think what we want really to convey here is that, I mean, you cannot scratch this cooktop, which is the main feature. It's an anti-scratch cooktop. I think the demonstration we're doing quite often is we're taking salt, and we're scratching salt on the cooktop here, really showing that, I mean, you will not see any defect on the cooktop afterwards. It's really about durability and scratch resistance. That's the image we wanted to give out of this commercial.
Comment without microphone, unfortunately. Somebody is speaking in the room without using a microphone. The interpreters apologize.
[Foreign language]
Thank you very much. Any further questions or comments? I don't see any further requests for the floor. Therefore, I conclude that we've completed the Q&A session and completed the item number seven on today's agenda.
[Foreign language]
The floor is yours. We hand over to the auditor.
[Foreign language]
Thank you. I'm not going to talk about axes, but I'm going to talk about the audit. My name is Johan Rippe, and I'm from the auditing company PwC. Together with my colleagues Alexander Lyckow that is here with me in this premise, well, we have on your mandate this privilege of leading the audit of Electrolux. I have been the lead auditor since the AGM 2022. Being external auditors, we are to audit, evaluate, and express our opinion on the annual report of the company and certain management issues, so that you shareholders and other interested parties should feel confidence in the company reporting and the management of the company, of the board, and CEO president. The audit is something that is ongoing on a continuous basis throughout the year.
We have planning activities, mainly in the spring, and then a review of the interim report for the first six months. We report to the Audit Committee about our audit on internal controls. For the full year, we also report on the audit of the annual report, sustainability reporting, and remuneration to senior executives. This audit is carried out by a big number of auditors, so some 650 people in some 60 countries, including specialists. In 2025, we have had a combination of on-site visits and remote auditing. In 2025, we have been reporting to management and the Audit Committee on an ongoing basis, and for the full year also to the Board of Directors, as the Chair of the Board has already talked about.
In that reporting, we have found that our comments have been well received by management. During also before the audit, we look at our independence, and we meet all those requirements that we have in rules and regulations in Sweden and abroad. We also report on this to the board of Electrolux when presenting our auditor's report. The focus of the audit when it comes to the key audit matters, we have reported on two such areas, and they are also addressed in the auditor's report. The first is revenue recognition in the correct period.
What we do is that we have a combination of tests of internal controls that we've selected when it comes to financial reporting, and we also look at analytics, and we have a detailed sampling as well of various customer contracts. Different contracts can have different conditions, and they have to be taken into consideration when determining revenue recognition. We also look at the supplier's notes to confirm that the risk has been transferred to the customer. We also have data analyses that are being done to ensure that we have correctness in the reporting when it comes to customer bonuses and discounts. The second area is inventory.
Obsolescence is something where we have estimates that are being made by management, and we have looked at inventory routines for valuations and evaluations of obsolescence as well to understand risks and internal controls. We have system support, inventories, etc. that we have looked at, where we have tested that those models for obsolescence and subsidiaries against accounting principles. We have looked at the information that we have in note 15 about inventories, and we have checked that they can be reconciled with the requirements that are there. In addition to that financial reporting, I would like to comment on a couple of other areas that we have reviewed as well as part of our audit. The first area is the Electrolux sustainability report. We feel that it's of a high quality.
2025 is the first year where it has been established entirely in accordance with the reporting requirements from the E.U., the so-called CSRD directive. As you can tell from the annual report, this is an extensive reporting, and we make a review of that reporting. You can find our report in the annual report as well. The second area has to do with the remuneration. We have looked at the remuneration guidelines that have been established by previous AGMs, and that they have been adhered to, too, by the board and the CEO president. You have that opinion as well included in the documentation. We also looked at discharge. We have looked at whether there have been any negligence that could lead to liabilities against the company.
We have checked that requirements have been met when it comes to accounting, the Companies Act, etc. Finally, we also look at the proposal for allocation of profit. That takes me to the conclusions of the audit. These conclusions you have in our auditor's report that you have on pages 174 through 176 in the annual report. We recommend that the general meeting adopt the income statement and balance sheet for the parent company and the group, and we recommend that the directors and the CEO and President be granted the discharge and that the profit be allocated as proposed by the board of directors. That is my account of the auditor's report.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone who has a question for the auditor? You're welcome to do so at this point. I don't see any requests for the floor. Thank you very much for that presentation. Moving on to the resolution under item eight on the agenda and deal with the adoption of the income statements and balance sheets. We have heard from the auditor that they recommend adoption of these documents. Is the meeting in favor of adopting these documents? Thank you. That's carried. Now we have item nine, the matter of discharge from liability of the Directors and the President and CEO for the administration of the company in 2025.
For the sake of good order, we will include in the minutes that members of the Board of Directors and the CEO representing their own or other shares will not take part in the resolution regarding a discharge for their on their own account. We've heard recommendations from the auditor to grant discharge, and I ask if the meeting would like to grant discharge from liability for the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO. Carried. That brings us to item 10 on our agenda and the matter of the disposition of the earnings of the company. We heard from the Chairman of the Board. The Board is proposing that no dividend be paid out to shareholders for the financial year 2025, and that means, therefore, that the earnings for this year and the retained earnings from previous years be carried forward.
Are there any questions or comments on this proposal? Does the meeting resolve in accordance with the board's proposal? That is carried. That brings us to a number of items on the agenda where the nomination committee has tabled proposals to the meeting. They've all been included in a convening notice, and the reasoned opinion from the nomination committee has been available to shareholders since the thirteenth of February. It's also available in the material distributed here today and has been sent out to shareholders who have requested to receive it. I'm now going to give the floor to Christian Cederholm, the chair of the nomination committee. You have the floor, Christian.
Thank you, Chair. Esteemed shareholders, my name is Christian Cederholm, and I have chaired the Electrolux nomination committee over the past year. I was nominated by Investor.
Other members were Erik Durhem of Lannebo Kapitalförvaltning, Alexandra Frenander of Folksam, Pia Gisgård representing Swedbank Robur Funds, and the Chairman of the Board, Torbjörn Lööf, was also a member of the nomination committee. In the material distributed here today, you can see the proposals from the nomination committee and the reasoned opinion in its entirety, and you can read more about the work of the nomination committee coming up to today's meeting. In the material, there's also an introduction, a presentation of the proposed nominees for board directors. The nomination committee proposals that 10 members of the board and no deputies be appointed by the annual meeting. Board Member, David Porter, has notified the committee that he's not available for re-election at today's AGM.
There's a proposal to re-elect the following members of the board: Torbjörn Lööf, Yannick Fierling, Geert Follens, Petra Hedengran, Ulla Litzén, Daniel Nodhäll, Karin Overbeck, and Michael Rauterkus, and new election of Lena Glader and Anko van der Werff. Lena Glader is CFO of Storskogen. She has solid skills, competence, and knowledge both in the financial area and capital markets and will provide valuable contributions to the board. Lena, can I please ask you to stand up for a moment so we see that you are here. Perhaps you can wave. Thank you. Anko van der Werff is the CEO of SAS. With extensive international experience to lead complex activities in competitive industries and with his strategic competence and experience of transformation will be making very important contributions with important perspectives on the board. Anko, may I ask you to stand up as well? Thank you.
Furthermore, the nomination committee has proposal that Torbjörn Lööf be re-elected Chairman of the Board. It is the assessment of the nomination committee that the nominees for a board of directors has the appropriate composition and size and that they have the competence and experience which is important against the backdrop of the size of this group and its operations to be able to comply with the requirements and targets and objectives, including sustainability and the strategic focus expected of the board. The nomination committee has made the assessment that there is sufficient breadth and diversity in the amongst the nominees, made an assessment on the remuneration level and structure.
A guiding principle has been that it should be at market level, the remuneration and competitive, and designed in such a way that it is possible to recruit and retain individuals with the best possible competence and experience. Electrolux operates globally in a competitive market, a number of different geographic markets with great requirements therefore on the composition and competence of the board. In its assessment, the nomination committee has also looked at board remuneration in other listed European companies of similar size. Against this backdrop, the committee has determined that a structural increase of the remuneration to the chairman of the board and the directors of the board is reasonable and can be justified.
The nomination committee, furthermore, proposes unchanged meeting fee be paid for each board meeting where a member of the board based outside of the Nordics takes part on-site in Stockholm. The opinion, furthermore, of the committee is that it is beneficial to the company and its shareholders that directors of the board of directors hold shares in the company. Similarly to previous years, we recommend that the shareholding of a member of the board after five years in the company should correspond to at least one full year's remuneration pre-tax.
With the purpose of simplifying such a shareholding, the Nomination Committee is proposing that the board members shall have the possible ability of opting to receive 50% of the value of the proposed board fee pre-tax, excluding committee fees and meeting fees in the form of synthetic shares, and the remaining 50% in a cash payment instead of receiving 100% in cash remuneration. In the material distributed here today, there's an extensive and detailed description of the terms and conditions for the synthetic shares. In accordance with the recommendation from the Audit Committee, the Nomination Committee is proposing re-election of audit company Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company auditor for the period until the conclusion of the 2027 AGM. Fees to the auditor shall be paid according to approved invoice.
By way of conclusion, I would like to express a warm thank you to my colleagues on the nomination committee for excellent cooperation over the past year. Thank you very much. Are there any questions to the nomination committee? Over here.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We truly appreciate the fact that management and the board of directors own shares, and most of them do. We think that speaks highly of them. We also like the proposal that you have about synthetic shares as a possibility to get part of your remuneration that way. Unfortunately, it's not everyone on the board that owns shares, and that is the reason why we will vote against thirteen B.
Are there more comments or questions? Thank you. We say thank you to you. We are going to continue with the determinations, and we continue with item 11, where we have the number of directors. The Nomination Committee has proposed 10 directors. Can the meeting resolve accordingly? Thank you. That is carried. We continue with item 12, where we have determination of fees to the Board of Directors and the auditor.
The Nomination Committee proposes remuneration for directors that are not employed as follows: SEK 2.92 million to the Chair, SEK 850,000 to other directors, and for committee works, SEK 410,000 to the Chair of the Audit Committee, SEK 260,000 to each of the other directors of that committee, SEK 220,000 to the Chair of the People Committee, and SEK 150,000 to the other directors on that committee.
SEK 375,000 to the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, and SEK 212,000 to the other directors of that committee. In addition, the Nomination Committee also proposes a fee for meetings in Sweden that you have to participate in on site. For directors that reside in the Nordics, no such remuneration. For directors that are in Europe, but outside the Nordics, EUR 1,500. For those who have a residence outside of Europe, $3,000. We have also heard from the Nomination Committee that they propose that the directors should have this possibility to get part of the remuneration as synthetic shares.
The Nomination Committee also proposes that auditors be paid as per approved invoice on an ongoing basis. I ask the meeting if the meeting can resolve as proposed. That is carried. Can the meeting also resolve as proposed when it comes to the auditor? Thank you. That is also carried. That takes us to item 13, where we have election of a Board of Directors and the Chair of the Board of Directors. We've heard from the Nomination Committee that proposes re-election of Yannick Fierling, Geert Follens, Petra Hedengran, Ulla Litzén, Torbjörn Lööf, Daniel Nodhäll, Karin Overbeck, Michael Rauterkus, and election of Lena Glader and Anko van der Werff up until the end of the AGM 2027.
The proposal from the Nomination Committee is also that Torbjörn Lööf be re-elected as the chairman of the board of directors. Since February 13th, the presentations of all the proposed directors have been available, and they also have information about other assignments they have in other companies, and that documentation has also been provided here today. I find that that information about the proposed directors thereby have been duly presented. It's time for election. The meeting has already resolved on having 10 directors, and I'm going to ask you about the candidates one by one. Does the meeting wish to elect Yannick Fierling, Geert Follens, Petra Hedengran, Ulla Litzén, Torbjörn Lööf, Daniel Nodhäll, Karin Overbeck, Michael Rauterkus, Lena Glader, and Anko van der Werff?
I find that the meeting has elected the ten candidates that were proposed by the Nominations Committee. Can the meeting also resolve to elect Torbjörn Lööf to chair the board of directors? That is also carried. Let me also mention that we have employee representatives that are not elected by the AGM. They are Viveca Brinkenfeldt-Lever, Peter Ferm, Wilson Quispe, and Ulrik Danestad being a deputy. That brings us to item 14 on the agenda. This is the election of auditor. In accordance with the Audit Committee recommendation, the Nomination Committee has proposed to re-elect Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB as the auditor for the period until the end of the 2027 annual general meeting of shareholders. That the meeting resolve in accordance with the committee's proposal? That is carried.
Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB have informed us that chartered public accountant Johan Rippe will remain lead auditor for the audit. Item 15, the resolution on approval of the remuneration report for the financial year 2025. The remuneration report and the statement from the auditors on compliance with remuneration guidelines have been available at the group website and with the company from the February 19th, 2026. Are there any questions or comments under this item? Floor is open. We proceed with the resolution. Does the meeting adopt the remuneration report from the board? That is carried. Now, we continue with item 16, which is split into two sub-items to give the possibility to the board for the next year to transfer repurchased Electrolux shares that the company holds to fund corporate acquisitions.
The board furthermore proposes that the meeting resolves on the transfer of repurchased own shares at the stock exchange with the purpose of covering cost in connection with the previously approved share owning program from 2024. The complete proposal in all its details is part of the convening notice and in the material distributed here. For a valid decision under item 16a and b, we need the support of shareholders representing at least two-thirds of shares represented and votes cast here at the meeting. We will start with the resolution on the board's proposal under 16a , transferring repurchased shares in connection with corporate acquisitions. Any comments or questions here? Does the meeting resolve in accordance with the proposal on an authorization for the board to resolve on such a transfer?
We need to ensure that we have obtained the requisite majority of two-thirds. Based on the compilation of postal votes, I find that the requisite majority has been achieved, and the meeting therefore has resolved in accordance with the board's proposal under this sub-item. We will deal with the board's proposal under 16b, furthermore, the transfer of own shares on account of the share program for 2024. Any questions or comments here? Does the meeting resolve to give the company the right to transfer its own shares? We need to determine whether we have the requisite two-thirds majority for this to be a valid decision. Based on the compilation of postal votes, I find that the requisite majority has been achieved, and the meeting has resolved in accordance with the board's proposal. Thank you.
We continue with the next agenda item where we have a proposal on an implementation of a performance-based long-term share program for 2026. That the proposal for a performance program for 2026 in all the relevant aspects is the same as the share program for 2025, with the exception of an adjustment to the measurement period for the financial performance target and the reduction of person maximum number of participants in the program. The previous one-year measurement period will be retained for 50% of the total weighting of the earnings per share target, while 50% will be measured over a three-year performance period. The existing 3-tier performance period for other performance target, the CO2 reduction, will remain unchanged.
The maximum number of participants in the program will be reduced from 800 in 2025 to 500 in 2026 to reflect a reduced number of employees within the group. The complete proposal, including the reasoning presented by the board of directors, has been included in the notice and has been distributed here today, and it's also been available at the company website since the February 13th. Are there questions or comments before we continue with the resolution? We are to resolve on the board's proposal under 17, and we have three sub-items where we are to resolve. 17a is conditional on the AGM determining on either 17b or 17c .
The decision about setting up such a performance program that we have under 17a , there we need a simple majority. For 17b , where we have the transfer of own shares, we have a requirement of nine-tenths. The votes are cast and shares represented. 17c , the share swap agreements, if we do not get the necessary majority for 17b , that will come into play. We will begin with 17a , where the meeting is to resolve on the proposal on setting up a performance-based long-term share program for 2026. I ask the meeting if the meeting wants to vote in favor of that proposal. It is carried. We continue with 17b , transfer of own shares to the participants in the long-term share program for 2026.
I ask the meeting if the meeting can vote in favor of the board's proposal. Here we need to determine that we have the necessary majority, nine-tenths. Looking at the advanced votes, the postal votes, I see that we do not have the necessary majority for 17b , so that has been rejected. The board has then in case one would not reach the necessary majority for 17b , a proposal for entering into an equity swap agreement, and for 2026 by way of hedging. Here we need a simple majority. I ask the meeting if the meeting can resolve as proposed under 17c , and that is carried. That brings us to the final item on today's agenda. Before we close today's meetings, I'd like to give the floor to the Chairman of the board.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I would just like to say thank you to David Porter. David, could you join me here? [Foreign language]
I will be speaking in English.
You have to face the shareholders. David has served as a board member in Electrolux for 10 years, being elected in 2016. I think it's fair to say that a lot of things has happened during those 10 years, both in the world we live in, of course, but also with and within Electrolux. You have made a significant contribution to the company over this 10-year period. I think with your broad experience and your deep knowledge, you have brought very important perspectives to the boardroom. But also, for me, even more important, I think with your positive attitude and your mindset of nothing is impossible, you have also inspired many of us, and especially in times when we had tough decisions to make. I just wanna express from myself and from the entire board a sincere thank you, David, for your 10 years serving the company.
Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. That means that we've dealt with all the items on today's agenda, and I would like to thank you all for your participation, and I hereby declare the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2026 closed.