Good morning and welcome to the PPG Industries Inc. annual meeting of shareholders. This webcast is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Tim Knavish. Please go ahead, sir.
Good morning. The 2024 annual meeting of shareholders of PPG Industries Inc. is called to order. I'm Tim Knavish, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. On behalf of PPG Associates Worldwide and the Board of Directors, I welcome the shareholders of PPG to our 141st annual meeting, which is being held virtually this year. I would like to begin this morning by introducing the PPG Board of Directors who are in attendance via electronic means. There are four current directors who are standing for election at this meeting: Michael Lamach, retired Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Trane Technologies plc; Martin Richenhagen, retired Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of AGCO Corporation; Christopher Roberts, Executive Vice President and General Manager Global Food and Beverage Ecolab Incorporated; and Catherine Smith, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Nordstrom Inc.
Other than myself, the current PPG directors whose terms are continuing are Melanie Healey, former Group President North America the Procter & Gamble Company; Gary Heminger, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Kathleen Ligocki, former Chief Executive Officer of Agility Fuel Solutions LLC; Michael Nally, Chief Executive Officer of Generate Biomedicines Inc. and CEO Partner of Flagship Pioneering; and Guillermo Novo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Inc. Also with us for this meeting are Anne Foulkes, Senior Vice President and General Counsel; Vince Morales, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Diane Kappas, Vice President, Global Sustainability; Robert Massy, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer; and Joe Gette, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary. Many members of PPG's operating committee and management team are also attending virtually.
An agenda for the meeting was posted on PPG's investor relations website, and it's also being shown on the slide presentation. I would also like to call your attention to our disclaimer of forward-looking statements included on the agenda and in the slides. Please note that later in the agenda there will be an opportunity for questions from our shareholders to be answered. If you pre-registered for the meeting using your control number, you should now submit your questions through the internet portal, and we will try to answer your questions during the time allotted later in the meeting. Mr. Gette will now report on certain official business matters.
Mr. Chairman, a notice of this meeting was made available on a timely basis, commencing March 7, 2024, to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 16, 2024. I am pleased to report that a quorum is present, with approximately 86% of the issued and outstanding common stock being represented at the meeting by proxy, in addition to the stock represented by shareholders attending this meeting through virtual means. Mr. Chairman and shareholders of PPG, this year we again took advantage of Securities and Exchange Commission rules that permitted us to post our proxy materials on the internet. As part of this e-proxy process, shareholders received a notice informing them that the proxy materials were available on the internet. Hard copies of materials were provided upon request. Voting was made available online and by telephone again this year.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gette. Before the meeting, the Board of Directors appointed three judges of election to act on the matters to come before the meeting. The judges of election are in attendance and have signed the oath of office. They are Jonathan Edwards, who will act as Chair, Greg Gordon, and Heidi Zabel. The proxies received from shareholders have been inspected and counted by Corporate Election Services, an independent proxy inspection and tabulation firm. A representative of the firm is in attendance and has certified the results of the proxy vote. We will now proceed with the matters to come before this meeting. First item is the election of directors to serve in a class whose term expires in 2025. Nominations are in order.
Mr. Chairman, I nominate the following to serve as directors, each to serve for a term of one year and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier retirement or resignation: Michael Lamach, Martin Richenhagen, Christopher Roberts, and Catherine Smith. Further, no written notice was received by the company that any other nomination would be made at this meeting pursuant to the nomination procedures provided for in the company's bylaws.
Thank you. Because no other nominations are in order, the nominations are closed. The second matter to come before the meeting is a proposal to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers on an advisory basis. The third matter to come before the meeting is a proposal to amend the company's articles of incorporation to provide shareholders with the right to call a special meeting. The fourth matter to come before the meeting is a proposal to amend the company's articles of incorporation to provide for the exculpation of officers of the company. The fifth matter to come before the meeting is a proposal to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2024.
Mr. Chairman, I move that each of these proposals be submitted to the shareholders for a vote.
Is there a second?
I second the motion.
Thank you. These proposals will be voted on by the shareholders. The Board of Directors has recommended that shareholders vote for all proposals. The polls are now open. If you have already voted online, by phone, or by mail, your vote has been registered, and you do not need to vote again unless you want to change your vote. If you have not voted or wish to change your vote and you registered for the meeting using a control number, you may vote now by clicking on the link on the meeting website, following the instructions, and submitting your vote. While shareholders have the opportunity to vote, I will highlight a few of our key achievements in 2023 and discuss our strategy to deliver shareholder value in the near and long term. You may follow the slides electronically on the internet portal.
I first want to thank and recognize our more than 50,000 PPG team members who delivered excellent results for the company in 2023, our 140th year. The resiliency of our global business portfolio, combined with the efforts and determination of our people to make it happen for our customers, were key factors in our ability to overcome a challenging macro environment and deliver on our purpose to protect and beautify the world. Throughout last year, we remained focused every day on keeping our people safe and healthy. As we look at our 2023 safety performance, our injury and illness rates did not meet our expectations. So there's more work to do here as we continue to focus on protecting each other every day. Now I'll take a few minutes to review our business highlights from 2023.
PPG reported full-year net sales of approximately $18.2 billion, up 3% versus the prior year. Organic sales were higher by 3%, driven by higher selling prices, and we delivered on our commitment to execute strong margin improvement. We also generated full-year operating cash flow of $2.4 billion. Thanks goes to the global team who helped PPG achieve records in sales, adjusted earnings per diluted share, and operating cash flow while supporting our customers' productivity and sustainability needs. I encourage you to read about our 2023 performance results and highlights in our recently launched 2023 digital annual report, which can be found on ppg.com. The success of the team's work throughout the year has enabled PPG to continue to reward our shareholders as we paid about $600 million in dividends and completed about $100 million of share repurchases in 2023.
PPG has raised its annual dividend payout for 52 consecutive years and has paid uninterrupted annual dividends for 124 years. We remain among a very small number of companies that have achieved these results and milestones, so we're proud to continue this legacy for our shareholders. PPG also continued to take actions to further advance our sustainability commitments. In 2023, we became the first U.S.-based coatings manufacturer to receive validation from the Science-Based Targets initiative for scope 1 , 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. In addition, PPG announced 2030 sustainability goals that focus on driving sales of sustainably advantaged products that help our customers achieve their sustainability objectives while reducing the environmental impact of our products.
In 2023, 44% of our sales were from products and processes that address multiple sustainability benefits, including lower volatile organic compound emissions, enhanced energy efficiency, improved durability, or the use of renewable raw materials. I am proud of our continued progress in these important areas. Our latest all-digital sustainability report is scheduled to be published next month. In 2023, PPG and the PPG Foundation also continued to support communities around the world by investing more than $17.5 million in numerous nonprofit organizations in nearly 40 countries. In addition, we completed our 500 Colorful Communities project. Over the course of 500 projects, PPG employee volunteers have reached diverse communities in important spaces in need of bright and colorful transformations, positively impacting more than 9.2 million people in 50 countries.
After the stock market closes today, we will be announcing our Q1 2024 results, followed by our quarterly investor call tomorrow morning. I want to thank all of our global employees who continue to manage through the many challenges, serve our customers, and support our communities in need. I could not be more proud of how our employees have remained focused on looking out for one another and for our stakeholders. As we continue to execute our growth strategy, we remain focused on creating additional value for our shareholders, customers, and employees. I'm confident that our team will deliver by focusing on our customers, our growth initiatives, cash generation, continued margin improvement, and earnings growth. In addition to executing our growth strategy, we're also committed to continuing to reward shareholders.
To that end, I am pleased to announce that today our Board of Directors authorized a per-share dividend of $0.65. We are eager to build on the progress we've achieved in 2023, deliver positive sales volume in 2024, and leverage key share gains in several businesses. The team is focused on further executing our growth strategy and continuing to deliver on several key growth initiatives, including powder coatings, electric vehicle products, customer productivity solutions, and customer-facing digital solutions. Lastly, we entered 2024 with a strong balance sheet, which provides us with flexibility for further shareholder value creation going forward. I want to thank our customers for selecting PPG as their supplier of choice, our shareholders for their confidence and continued investments, and the global PPG team for making it happen every day. In 2024, we look forward to continuing to fulfill our purpose to protect and beautify the world.
Thank you again, and we hope you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy. The shareholders have now voted. Accordingly, I declare that the polls are closed. We will now have a report from the judges of election on this year's voting matters. Mr. Edwards, please.
Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the judges of election, I present our preliminary voting results, showing that the following have been elected as directors, each having received a majority of the votes cast: Michael Lamach, Martin Richenhagen, Christopher Roberts, and Catherine Smith. The proposal to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers on an advisory basis has been approved with 96% of the shares present in person or by proxy voting for the proposal. The proposal to amend the company's articles of incorporation to provide shareholders with the right to call a special meeting has been approved with 99% of the shares present in person or by proxy voting for the proposal.
The proposal to amend the company's articles of incorporation to provide for the exculpation of officers of the company has been approved with 86% of the shares present in person or by proxy voting for the proposal. The proposal to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2024 has been approved with 99% of the shares present in person or by proxy voting for the proposal. Final voting results will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days.
Because there is no other formal business scheduled to come before the meeting, the meeting will now be adjourned. After adjournment, I will lead the question-and-answer session. May I have a motion to adjourn?
Mr. Chairman, I move that this meeting be adjourned.
Is there a second?
I second the motion.
All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed? The meeting stands adjourned, and I will now lead the question-and-answer session based on questions submitted by shareholders through the virtual meeting website. We will try to answer as many questions as possible but may not have time to get to all of them. So that we may respond to as many shareholders as possible, we ask that each shareholder submit no more than two questions. Ms. Foulkes, please read the first question.
Question comes from Michael Ruggeri. The question reads, "Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. This question is probably for Vince. During either the 2021 or 2022 meeting, I asked if PPG had applied for benefits under the Paycheck Protection Program. Vince answered no, PPG had not applied for benefits. Additional pandemic relief legislation was subsequently enacted, which included the Employee Retention Credit, ERC program. Did any of the PPG facilities apply for benefits under this program prior to the January 31, 2024 deadline?
Hey, Mike. This is Vince. Glad to hear from you. We did not apply for any Employee Retention Credit program benefits.
Ms. Foulkes, are there any other questions?
There's no other questions, Mr. Knavish, currently.
This concludes the business of this meeting. Thank you for attending, and more importantly, thank you for your continued interest in and support of PPG.
This concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.