BMW 2005 Annual Report Download - page 40

39
in place to buy back shares via the stock exchange.
Under this programme, up to 20,232,722 shares of
common stock (i.e. 3% of the share capital) have
been subsequently acquired. The shares have
been acquired with the purpose of withdrawing
them from circulation and reducing share capital.
By the end of 2005, 13,488,480 shares of com-
mon stock, equivalent to 2% of the Company’s
share capital, had been acquired under the pro-
gramme. The average price paid was euro 37.49.
Including ancillary purchase costs, approximately
euro 506 million was used in 2005 to buy back
shares. Further information about the share buy-
back programme can be found on the investor rela-
tions homepage: www.bmwgroup.com/ir, coverage
of which was expanded in 2005.
Buy-back of shares of preferred stock for
employee stock plan
For more than 30 years now, BMW AG has allowed
employees to participate in the success of the
Company; since 1989 this has taken the form of an
employee stock participation plan.The Management
Board of BMW AG has decided to continue the
plan in 2006. Up to 1.5 million shares of preferred
stock will be bought back via the stock exchange
for
subsequent issue to employees. As with pre-
vious plans, the buy-back will be handled by a secu-
rities house or bank. It will decide the timing of pur-
chases independently and without influence from
BMW AG. Further information will be notified under
www.bmwgroup.com/ir; the progress of the buy-back
programme will be reported there at regular intervals.
Comprehensive range of information via the
Internet
From the third quarter 2005 onwards, in addition
to live and recorded transmissions, the telephone
conferences accessible via the investor relations
heading in the BMW Group website have also been
available for download free of charge as audio pod-
casts. A comprehensive range of information, with
even greater coverage in 2005, is also available
at www.bmwgroup.com/ir. As well as annual and
quarterly reports, the site also contains up-to-date
analyst forecasts, speeches and presentations and
offers the opportunity to obtain stock prices and
comparative information. On top of this, information
is also available relating to the share buy-back pro-
gramme, corporate governance and shareholder
structure.
Sustainability as a success factor
In September 2005, the BMW Group was included,
as sector leader, in the Dow Jones Sustainability
Indexes. The BMW Group is therefore the only en-
terprise in the sector to have been included in this
important group of indices for sustainable invest-
ment for the seventh time in succession. Over the
past four years, the BMW Group has also been a
member of various FTSE4Good Indices, including
the FTSE4Good Europe 50 Index in which it is the
only car manufacturer. It also won the “best-in-class”
award in the Carbon Disclosure Project, an initiative
started by institutional investors which assesses
enterprises in terms of how they deal with risks and
opportunities relating to climate change. These
Development in the value of a BMW stock investment in euro thousand
Investment of euro 10,000 at 1.1.1996, including dividends and proceeds from subscription rights, values at end of year
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
96 97 98 99 05
14.7
19.0
23.0
28.0
00
32.4
01
37.4
02
27.7
03
35.8
04
32.9
37.4