Siemens 2012 Annual Report Download - page 108

1 A. To our Shareholders 49 C. Combined Management Report 21 B. Corporate Governance
1 A. Letter to our Shareholders
10 A. Managing Board of Siemens AG
12 A. Report of the Supervisory Board
18 A. The Siemens share / Investor relations

The Siemens share price developed positively over the course
of fiscal 2012. However, the markets were volatile during this
period due to ongoing uncertainty in the eurozone. After in-
creasing at the beginning of the fiscal year, stock markets in
general and the Siemens share price in particular declined for
several months. Then, in June 2012, a positive stock market
trend began. This trend continued until the end of fiscal 2012 . In
August 2012, the Company launched a share buyback program.
From the start of the buyback program until the end of the
fiscal year, the Siemens share price gained more than 13%.
In the last few years, we have increased our dividend several
times – in some cases substantially – from €. per share in
fiscal  to €. per share in fiscal . In line with the div-
idend policy of the One Siemens framework, we intend for our
shareholders to profit significantly from Siemens’ financial
success again this year. As a result, the Managing Board and
Supervisory Board will propose a dividend payment of €.
per share for fiscal , representing a payout ratio of %.
Siemens AG continues to have a very sound financial basis. In
an environment in which the ratings of many countries have
come under pressure, the Company continues to enjoy good
investment-grade credit ratings. In the course of the above-
mentioned share buyback program, we repurchased shares up
to the end of November  with a value of about €. billion.
In September , the Company also retired some . million
of its own shares, thereby reducing its capital stock from about
 million shares to  million.
.. Stock markets –
Siemens share price increases
Reflecting economic developments, the stock market envi-
ronment was characterized by continuously increasing share
prices during the first four months of fiscal  (October ,
 to January , ). These gains were then lost in the
following months, with prices bottoming out in June .
The markets subsequently recovered steadily from this
trough, again reaching their previous high for the year toward
the end of fiscal .
Over the entire fiscal year, Siemens stock performed compara-
tively well in this market environment, closing at €. per
share on September , . For shareholders who reinvested
their dividends, this amounted to a gain of .% (fiscal :
a loss of .%) compared to the closing price a year earlier. The
Siemens share performed somewhat more weakly than the
leading international index, MSCI World (which rose .%),
and remained noticeably behind the leading index of the
German stock market, the DAX (which advanced .%).
-    
   
(     )
Ten-year period FY  – FY 
Siemens 11.3%
DAX® 10.1%
MSCI World 8.0%
A long-term comparison illustrates the strength of the Siemens
share: the assets of an investor who acquired Siemens stock
worth €, at the beginning of fiscal  and reinvested
the dividends in additional Siemens shares would have in-
creased to €, by the end of fiscal . This annual return
of .% is noticeably above the corresponding results for the
DAX  (+.%) and MSCI World (+.%).
.. Stable dividend proposed
At the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Managing Board and
the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend payment of
€.. After the substantial dividend increases in fiscal 
.    /  
             (  ; )
in % September ,  September , 
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
Siemens DAX® MSCI World