STOCK MARKETS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRESENIUS SHARE
In 2018, the weak stock market year was marked by nervous-ness and uncertainty among investors. The trade conflict between China and the United States, the Brexit negotiations, the sharp rise in interest rates, especially in the United States, and concerns about Italy’s budget were the dominant issues in 2018.
The DAX decreased by 18%; the EURO STOXX 50 lost 14% for the year. The STOXX Europe 600 index ended the year down by 13%. In this index, the subsector STOXX Europe 600 Health Care decreased by 3%. The leading
U.S. indices performed as follows: the S & P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both decreased by 6%.
The closing price for the Fresenius share on December 31, 2018, was € 42.38 and thus 35% below the closing price of 2017.
The market capitalization of Fresenius was € 23.6 billion as of December 31, 2018, a decrease of 35% compared to the previous year. The average daily trading volume on Xetra increased by 42% to 1,648,837 Fresenius shares compared to the previous year (2017: 1,164,824). DAX trading volume increased by 14% in the same comparison time period.
FRESENIUS SHARE. We propose the 26th con
secutive dividend increase. The financial markets
are currently in a highly sensitive phase. In this
market environment, the Group’s outlook for 2018
and the adjustment of the mediumterm targets
have significantly impacted the Fresenius share
price.
Fresenius Share
Despite the share price decline in 2018, Fresenius shares remain an attractive investment. Anyone who invested
€ 1,000 ten years ago and reinvested the dividends would have increased their capital to € 3,938 as of December 31, 2018. That is an average annual return of 13% (before expenses and taxes).
In the United States, Fresenius has a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program. In this program, four Fresenius ADRs correspond to one Fresenius share. The ADRs are traded in the OTCQX International Premier market segment.
KEY DATA OF THE FRESENIUS SHARE
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Number of shares 556,225,154 554,710,473 547,208,371 545,727,950 541,532,600
Stock exchange quotation 1 in €
High 70.94 79.65 74.26 69.75 44.12
Low 38.99 60.58 53.05 42.41 35.00
Year-end quotation 42.38 65.07 74.26 65.97 43.16
Market capitalization 2 in million € 23,573 36,095 40,636 36,002 23,373
Total dividend distribution in million € 445.0 3 416.0 343.1 300.2 238.3
Dividend per share in € 0.80 3 0.75 0.62 0.55 0.44
Earnings per share in € 4 3.37 3.28 2.85 2.64 2.01
1 Xetra closing price on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
2 Total number of ordinary shares multiplied by the respective Xetra year-end quotation on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
3 Proposal
4 Net income attributable to shareholders of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA; before special items
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
The total number of issued shares at the end of 2018 was 556,225,154 (December 31, 2017: 554,710,473 shares). The increase is due to the exercise of options in accordance with stock option plans. Information on stock option plans can be found on pages 250 to 258 of the Notes to this Annual Report.
Fresenius share Monthly price range
ABSOLUTE SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE 2018 FRESENIUS SHARE IN €
RELATIVE SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE 2014 – 2018 FRESENIUS SHARE VS. DAX
Fresenius share in % DAX in % Fresenius high and low in €
80.00 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00 55.00 50.00 45.00 40.00 35.00 30.00
Dec. 17 Feb. 18 Apr. 18 Jun. 18 Aug. 18 Oct. 18 Dec. 18
300
250
200
150
100
50
%
112
93
74
56
37
19
€
Dec. 2013 Dec. 2014 Dec. 2015 Dec. 2016 Dec. 2017 Dec. 2018
Fresenius Share
DIVIDEND
In 2018, Fresenius again delivered solid financial results.
For the 26th consecutive year, we are proposing to our shareholders to increase the dividend – by 7% per share, to
€ 0.80 (2017: € 0.75). The proposed dividend distribution to the shareholders of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA will be € 445 mil-lion, equivalent to 24% of Group net income. Based on the proposed dividend and the closing price at the end of 2018, the dividend yield is 1.9%.
SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE
The charts below show the shareholder structure at the end of 2018. The Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung was the largest shareholder of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, with 26.3% of the shares. According to notifications pursuant to the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), Allianz Global Investors GmbH and BlackRock, Inc. held about 5% of the shares, each. For further information on notifications, please visit www.fresenius.com/shareholder-structure.
As of December 31, 2018, a shareholder survey identified the ownership of about 94% of our subscribed capital. The shareholder base of Fresenius is solid: a total of approximately 620 institutional investors held about 350 million shares or 63% of the subscribed capital; 28.8 million shares were
iden-tified as retail holdings. The 10 largest investors held about 22% of the share capital. Our shares were mostly held by investors in Germany, the United States, and the United King-dom.
SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE BY REGION
Other regions 3%
United Kingdom 10%
USA 18%
Rest of Europe 19%
Not identified 6%
Germany 44%
SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE BY INVESTORS
Retail holdings 5%
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung 26%
Not identified 6%
Institutional investors 63%
DEVELOPMENT OF DIVIDENDS IN €
1 Proposal
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1
0.25
0.29 0.32 0.37
0.42 0.44
0.62 0.55
0.75 0.80
Fresenius Share
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS
The recommendations published by financial analysts are an important guide for institutional and private investors when making investment decisions. According to our survey, as of February 12, 2019, we were rated with 11 “buy”, 8 “hold”, and no “sell” recommendations.
The list of banks that provide regular analyst coverage of Fresenius and their latest recommendations can be found at www.fresenius.com/analysts-and-consensus.
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Our investor relations activities are in accordance with the transparency rules of the German Corporate Governance Code.
We communicate comprehensively, promptly, and openly with private and institutional investors, as well as financial ana-lysts. The equal treatment of all market actors is very impor-tant to us.
We intensified our dialog with the capital markets in 2018. In addition to its conference calls and webcasts, Fresenius gave presentations in major European, U.S., Cana-dian, and Asian financial markets. We expanded our contacts with insti tutional investors and analysts at 21 international investor conferences, 26 roadshows, and in numerous one-on-one meetings. We also organized field trips with banks, giv-ing investors and analysts the opportunity to discuss matters with the Management Board.
The Fresenius investor relations team and the manage-ment team were recognized in the results of the Extel Survey, a broad survey conducted by the company Thomson Reuters, which annually surveys some 15,000 investors and analysts on various aspects of good investor relations. On this occasion, the Fresenius investor relations team was honored as the best in the MedTech sector in Europe.
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition, “Institutional Investor” honored Fresenius for the best investor relations work in the health care sector in Europe.
Furthermore, the management and investor relations team received the “Investor Darling” award for the best financial communication of DAX companies from “Manager Magazin”.
We also continued the dialog with our private investors, especially via the Internet. In addition, we participate in private shareholder events. At www.fresenius.com/events-and-pre-sentations our private shareholders can follow live webcasts of the conference calls and can use our continuously increased information offer on our website and social media channels.
If you would like to contact us or find out about our 2019 financial calendar, please take a look at the last page of this Annual Report. For additional information visit us at www.fresenius.com/investors.
Equal-weight / Hold / Neutral 42%
Accumulate / Add / Buy / Outperform / Overweight 58%
Management Report
37 Fundamental information about the Group 37 The Group’s business model
38 Important markets and competitive position 38 External factors
39 Management and control
39 Capital, shareholders, articles of association 40 Goals and strategies
42 Corporate performance criteria 43 Research and development 46 Employees
47 Procurement 47 Quality management
47 Responsibility, environmental management, sustainability
48 Economic report 48 Health care industry
49 The dialysis market
50 The market for generic IV drugs, biopharmaceuticals, clinical nutrition, infusion therapy,
and medical devices / transfusion technology 51 The hospital market
52 The market for projects and services for hospitals and other health care facilities
52 Overall business development
52 The Management Board’s assessment of the effect of general economic developments and those in the health care sector for Fresenius
52 The Management Board’s assessment of the business results and significant factors affecting operating performance
53 Comparison of the actual business results with the forecasts
54 Results of operations, financial position, assets and liabilities 54 Results of operations
62 Financial position 67 Assets and liabilities 69 Corporate rating
70 Overall assessment of the business situation
70 Outlook
70 General and mid-term outlook 71 Future markets
72 Health care sector and markets 74 Group sales and earnings
75 Sales and earnings by business segment 76 Financing
76 Investments 76 Organization 76 Dividend
77 Opportunities and risk report 77 Opportunities management 77 Risk management 79 Risk areas
90 Assessment of overall risk