Frequently asked questions

Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) is a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. We pursue to be the preferred supplier for our steel wire products and solutions by continuously delivering superior value to our customers worldwide. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with 30 000 employees worldwide, headquarters in Belgium and € 4 billion in annual revenue.   

• In which sectors is Bekaert present?    

Bekaert is present in:

The automotive sector (mainly a replacement market)	41%
Construction sector  (mainly project and infrastructure)	24%
Energy and utilities	11%
Consumer products	7%
Agriculture (mainly in the America’s)	7%
Basic materials	6%
Machinery	4%

Bekaert has a worldwide activity platform in almost 40 countries 

• How many people are employed by Bekaert? 

Bekaert employs about 29 000 people 

Bekaert worldwide	29 000
Of which in consolidated companies	25 800
Of which in joint ventures	3 200	(mainly Latin America)
Geographic
Europe	7 350	of which 1 733 in Belgium
North America	1 300
Latin America	7 140
Asia	10 700
BBRG	2 510

• How much does Bekaert invest in R&D?

In 2015, Bekaert invested about 65 million euro in R&D.

Bekaert has an international R&D team in Belgium, a development team in China and several technical centers worldwide.

Bekaert is also outward oriented by co-development with customers and through a network of universities.

It is the policy of the Board of Directors to propose a profit appropriation to the Annual General Meeting which, insofar as the profit permits, provides a stable or growing dividend while maintaining an adequate level of cash flow in the company for investment and self-financing in order to support growth. In practice, this means that the company seeks to maintain a pay-out ratio of around 40% of the result for the period attributable to the Group over the longer term.  

• What are the important dates of the dividend?    

	Ex-date	Record date	Payable date
2017	11 May	12 May	15 May
2018	11 May	14 May	15 May

The principal shareholder is Stichting Administratiekantoor Bekaert (SAK) and holds 36.21% of the shares.

34.01% are institutionals. 

21.90% are Belgian retail and Private banking

07.07% are treasury shares

The remainder is unidentified.  
            

December 1972

Bekaert discloses its long term guidance on growth, returns, cash flow, EBIT, working capital, dividend policy, tax and on debt indicators.

• When will the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders take place?

The General Meeting of Shareholders takes place every second Wednesday of May.  

2018: 09 May

• What is the composition of the Board of Directors?

The Board of Directors consists of 15 members, who are appointed by the General Meeting of Shareholders. The Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer are never the same individual. The Chief Executive Officer is the only Board member with an executive function. All other members are non-executive Directors.

Composition Board of Directors as from the General Meeting of Shareholders of 11 May 2016: 

• Mr. Bert De Graeve, Chairman
• Mr. Matthew Taylor, CEO
• Ms. Celia Baxter ^(*) 
• Mr. Alan Begg (*) 
• Mr. Leon Bekaert
• Mr. Grégory Dalle
• Mr. Charles de Liedekerke
• Mr. Christophe Jacobs van Merlen
• Mr. Maxime Jadot
• Ms. Pamela Knapp (*) 
• Ms. Martina Merz (*) 
• Ms. Emilie van de Walle de Ghelcke
• Mr. Henri Jean Velge
• Ms. Mei Ye (*) 

(*) Independent Directors

• Which are the committees of the Board of Directors?
  

The Board of Directors has established three advisory Committees.

• the Audit and Finance Committee, chaired by Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, independent Director
• the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, chaired by the Chairman of the Board
• and the Strategic Committee, chaired by the Chairman of the Board.  

• How is the Executive Management operating?

The Bekaert Group Executive (BGE) has the collective responsibility to deliver the long-term and short-term objectives of the Group. It is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer and has the following balanced composition:

• members representing the global Business Platforms, who are accountable for customers and strategy and for the delivery of the long-term margin and growth objectives of their platforms;
• members representing the Regional Operations, who are accountable for the execution and delivery of the annual objectives in their regions; and
• members representing the Global Functions, with responsibility for functional excellence and compliance in their functional areas.

Mr Stijn Vanneste joined the BGE effective 1 April 2016.

Ms Beatríz García-Cos joined Bekaert as Chief Financial Officer and became member of the BGE effective 1 July 2016. She succeeded Bruno Humblet who became Chief Executive Officer of Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group.

Name	Position	Appointed
Matthew Taylor	Chief Executive Officer	2013
Lieven Larmuseau	Executive Vice President Rubber Reinforcement Business Platforms	2014
Piet Van Riet	Executive Vice President Industrial Products and Specialty Products Business Platforms	2014
Stijn Vanneste	Executive Vice President Europe, South Asia and South East Asia	2016
Frank Vromant	Executive Vice President Americas	2011
Curd Vandekerckhove	Executive Vice President North Asia and Global Operations	2012
Beatríz García-Cos	Chief Financial Officer	2016
Geert Van Haver	Chief Technology and Engineering Officer and Executive Vice President	2014
Bart Wille	Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President	2013

The composition of the BGE will change in 2017. After having served Bekaert over the past 8 years, Bart Wille, Chief Human Resources Officer, has decided to leave the company. The name of his successor will be announced in due course.

• Who is the Statutory Auditor?

The company’s Statutory Auditor is Deloitte Bedrijfsrevisoren.