Questions & Answers

On September 26,1876 Fritz Henkel and two partners founded the company Henkel & Cie in Aachen, Germany.

Henkel's head office is in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The number of people employed by the Henkel Group at the end of 2021 was 52,450¹.

¹ Basis: permanent employees excluding apprentices.

Henkel is organized into three business units:

Adhesive Technologies
Henkel is the leading solution provider for adhesives, sealants and functional coatings worldwide.

Beauty Care
Henkel Beauty Care holds leading market positions worldwide, and its brand-name products business is continuously expanding.

Laundry & Home Care
The Laundry & Home Care business unit is the cornerstone of Henkel’s success story: It all started with a product from this business sector.

^{Note: Figures commercially rounded; addition may result in deviations from the totals indicated.}

Henkel is a Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien or KGaA (partnership limited by shares). Because the sole personally liable partner of the corporation is a joint stock entity, Henkel Management AG, and according the provisions of German company law this must be apparent from the corporation’s name, Henkel trades as “Henkel AG & Co. KGaA”.

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA holds all the shares in Henkel Management AG. Such a structure in which a KGaA is itself the sole shareholder of the joint stock entity which, in turn, is the sole personally liable partner of the KGaA, is referred to as a “Unified Company”.

The other legally prescribed corporate bodies are the Supervisory Board and the General Meeting. In addition, Henkel has a Shareholders’ Committee as required by its Articles of Association. The overall structure therefore looks like this:

The Henkel preferred shares were first listed on October 2, 1985. The shares were issued at EUR 145.72 ‏(equals DM 285) and first traded on October 11, 1985, at EUR 199.4 ‏(equals DM 390).

On July 2, 1996 the par value of Henkel shares was reduced to a tenth from DM 50 to DM 5 each.

On June 18, 2007 the shares were split 1:3. The newly issued shares have no par value. Each share represents an amount 1 € out of the total share capital.

In 1996 all holders of preferred shares were given the opportunity to convert 10 percent of their preferred shares into ordinary shares. Next all ordinary shares were admitted to trading on the stock exchange on July 2, 1996. In conjunction with the conversion, the par value of Henkel shares was reduced to a tenth from DM 50 to DM 5 each.

In 2007 the shares were split 1:3. The new par value is 1€.

Henkel shares are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, predominantly on the Xetra electronic trading platform. Henkel is also listed on all regional stock exchanges in Germany.

The international importance of Henkel preferred shares derives not least from their inclusion in many leading indices that serve as important indicators for capital markets, and as benchmarks for fund managers. Particularly noteworthy in this respect are the STOXX^® Europe 600, MSCI World and FTSE World Europe indices. Henkel’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Titans 30 Personal & Household Goods Index also makes it one of the most important corporations in the personal and household goods sector worldwide. As a DAX stock, Henkel is one of the most significant exchange-listed companies in Germany.

61.82 percent of our ordinary shares (as of April 4, 2022) are held by members of the Henkel family share-pooling agreement. In addition, Henkel holds 2,183,875 ordinary shares (as of September 30, 2022) as treasury stock; this corresponds to around 0.84 percent of the ordinary shares and around 0.50 percent of the total capital stock. Compared to the ordinary shares, our preferred shares are the significantly more liquid class of Henkel stock. Apart from the 11,083,997 treasury shares (as of September 30, 2022) – corresponding to around 6.22 percent of the preferred shares and around 2.53 percent of total capital stock – they are entirely in free float. A large majority is owned by institutional investors whose portfolios are usually broadly distributed internationally. Due to the ongoing share buyback program, the number of treasury shares held by the company increases continuously. Detailed and latest information on the ongoing share buyback program is available here.

Preferred shares carry the same rights as ordinary shares, with the exception of the generally excluded voting right. To compensate for the restriction in voting rights, preferred shares take precedence in the distribution of profit, usually reflected in a higher dividend payout.

In the event that this “preferential dividend” is not paid, or is not fully paid in a year, followed by failure to pay the balance in addition to the full preferential dividend for the following year, the latent voting rights of the preferred shares are revived.

Information about the historical and current share price can be found here.

¹ Average turnover of shares per trading day (Xetra).

Detailled Information on share buybacks you will find here.

Ordinary shares

Preferred shares

Due to the ongoing share buyback program, the number of treasury shares held by the company increases continuously. Detailed and latest information on the ongoing share buyback program is available here.

A “Sponsored Level I ADR ‏(American Depositary Receipt) Program” was introduced in 1996 for the preferred and ordinary shares. American Depositary Receipts are certificates of ownership of shares in a non-US company, which are placed and traded instead of shares in the USA.

For further information on our ADR program please click here.

Since 2001, Henkel has provided its employees with the opportunity of acquiring Henkel preferred shares within the framework of its Employee Share Plan ‏(ESP), thus enabling them to participate in the fortunes of the corporation.

Further information about the employee share program can be found here.

According to our Articles of Association ‏(Art. 6 ‏(4), Sentence 2) there is no right to claim issuance of share certificates evidencing single shares.

In case you still own physical share certificates and you would like to switch them please contact your custodian bank.

Henkel does not keep or offer cancelled or ancient shares as collectibles.

You can find all release dates in our Financial Calendar.

You can download the Annual Report as well as other financial publications on our Financial Publication page.

The most important Key figures you will find here.

Since 1997, Henkel has drawn up its annual and interim financial statements according to  “International Financial Reporting Standards” ‏(IFRS).

The next dividend payment will be approved by the Annual General Meeting and the dividend will be distributed on the third business day following the Annual General Meeting.

You can find detailled information on taxation of dividends here.

You will find all relevant information on our upcoming AGM here.

Where notifiable motions by shareholders (countermotions) pertaining to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting have been received, you will be able to read their wording on the internet.

The origin of Corporate Governance, its declaration and implementation goes back to 1930 and is rooted in the separation of ownership and control.

Corporate Governance deals with the specification and compliance of rules and procedures by which a company should be managed. The term Corporate Governance stands for responsible corporate management and control geared to long-term value creation. In Germany, the principles of Corporate Governance are laid down in the German Corporate Governance Code.

Further information about Corporate Governance at Henkel can be found here.

The Management Board, the Shareholders’ Committee and the Supervisory Board are committed to ensuring that the management and stewardship of the corporation are conducted in a responsible and transparent manner aligned to achieving a long-term increase in shareholder value. With this in mind, they have pledged allegiance to the following three principles:

• Value creation as the foundation of our management approach
• Sustainability achieved through the application of socially responsible management principles
• Transparency supported by an active and open information policy

Further information about Corporate Governance at Henkel can be found here.

The "German Corporate Governance Code“ aims to make the German Corporate Governance system transparent and understandable and therefore to strengthen the confidence of international and national investors in the management and supervision of listed German corporations. The Code was ratified on February 26, 2002.

Subject to the specific regulations governing companies with the legal form of a German partnership limited by shares ‏(“KGaA”) and to the pertinent provisions of its Articles of Association, Henkel basically complies with the recommendations ‏(“shall” clauses) and suggestions ‏(“may” clauses) of the German Corporate Governance Code.

Henkel’s Declaration provides more specific details and the recommendations and suggestions implemented. 

Composition
The Shareholders’ Committee has a minimum of five and a maximum of ten members. The members are elected by the AGM of the Henkel AG & Co. KGaA . The tenure of office is five years unless otherwise stipulated at the time of election.

Responsibility
The Shareholders’ Committee carries out the tasks and functions delegated to it by the General Meeting or by dint of the Articles of Association. In particular, the Shareholders’ Committee participates in the management of the corporation in lieu and as an agent of the General Meeting. It is involved in the formulation of the corporate guidelines, the corporate objectives and long-term planning objectives, and supervises and advises the Henkel Management AG/Management Board regularly on the stewardship of the corporation. It participates in the drafting of important corporate decisions, offers suggestions as to business development and monitors compliance with the planning goals.

It is also responsible for resolving on the appointment and dismissal of Personally Liable Partners and holds both the power of representation and executive powers over the legal relationships prevailing between the Corporation and Henkel Management AG as the Personally Liable Partner.  Moreover, it is also the responsibility of the Shareholders’ Committee to exercise the voting rights of the Corporation in the Annual General Meeting of Henkel Management AG.  Consequently, it appoints the members of the Supervisory Board of Henkel Management AG and is therefore involved in the appointment of the members of the Management Board.  It may also issue Rules of Procedure incumbent upon Henkel Management AG.

The members of the Shareholders’ Committee you can find here.

The Management Board, Shareholders’ Committee and Supervisory Board of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA cooperate closely for the benefit of the corporation.

The Management Board agrees the strategic alignment of the corporation with the Shareholders’ Committee and discusses the status of implementation.

For transactions of fundamental significance, the Shareholders’ Committee has established a right of veto in the procedural rules governing the actions of Henkel Management AG in its function as sole personally liable partner. This covers, in particular, decisions or measures that materially change the net assets, financial position or results of operations of the Corporation. The Management Board complies with these rights of consent and also the spheres of authority of the General Meeting in matters subject to statutory control.

In keeping with good corporate management practice, Management Board informs the Shareholders’ Committee and the Supervisory Board regularly, and in a timely and comprehensive fashion, of all issues of relevance to the Corporation concerning business policy, corporate planning, profitability, the business development of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and of major Group companies, and also the risk situation and risk management structures and activities.

Further information about the corporate bodies can be found here.

You can view and download the current and historic declarations here.

Please find further information in our latest Sustainability Report ‏(p.56).

We are convinced that our continued focus on sustainability will help to grow the long-term value of our company and to realize our strategic priorities. Our insistence that each new product must combine excellent performance with responsibility toward people and the environment results in increasingly efficient products and improved technical solutions. Thereby sustainability becomes an important driver of economic growth and the generation of competitive advantage in the market. By sharing our decades of experience in sustainability we can offer effective solutions to our customers for improving their own sustainability performance. With our brands and technologies, which combine top quality with responsibility toward people and the environment, we can position Henkel as a leading sustainability partner for our industrial customers, for retailers, and for consumers. In addition, corporate social responsibility strengthens the motivation of our employees and their identification with the company.