Mercedes 2010 Annual Report Download - page 28

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Launch of American depositary receipt (ADR) program in
the United States. In September 2010, we started a sponsored
Level 1 ADR program in the United States. The ADRs are traded
over the counter in the USA under the symbol DDAIY. The ratio
of the ADRs to the underlying ordinary shares is 1:1, i. e. one
Daimler ADR represents one Daimler share. Deutsche Bank Trust
Company is acting as the depositary bank for the ADR program.
International shareholder structure with stable major
shareholders. Daimler continues to have a broad shareholder
base of approximately 1.0 million shareholders. Shareholder
numbers are still decreasing because private investors in particular
are reducing their portfolios. The proportion of institutional
investors increased again in 2010. Aabar Investments PJSC,
Abu Dhabi, holds 9.0% of Daimler’s stock and is thus still our
biggest investor. The second-largest shareholder is still the Kuwait
Investment Authority with 6.9% of our shares. In April 2010,
Daimler AG and the Renault-Nissan Alliance agreed not only on
wide-ranging strategic cooperation but also on a cross-share-
holding. The Renault-Nissan Alliance received a 3.1% equity inter-
est in Daimler, served from our treasury shares. As a result,
the proportion of treasury shares held by Daimler fell below the
disclosure threshold of 3%. At the end of the year, we held
221,418 treasury shares (0.02%).
Capital Research and Management Company, Los Angeles, noti-
fied us that it held 3.1% of Daimler’s shares as of May 26, 2010.
BlackRock Inc., New York, informed us that it held 3.9% of our
shares as of December 2009 and is still above the 3% notification
threshold for large shareholders as defined by Germany’s Securi-
ties Trading Act (WpHG).
In total, institutional investors held 62% of our share capital
at the end of 2010 and private investors held 19%. Approximately
65% of our equity was in the hands of European investors and
approximately 15% was held by U S investors.
The weighting of Daimler shares in major indices increased
during 2010 due to the positive development of our share price.
In the German DAX 30 index, our stock was ranked in 3rd
position with a weighting of 7.51% at the end of the year (end of
2009: 5.98%). In the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 index, Daimler
shares were represented with a weighting of 2.88% (end of 2009:
2.05%). Daimler shares are listed in Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
Stock-exchange trading in Germany in the year 2010 amounted
to 1,492 million shares (2009: 1,830 million). In addition,
Daimler shares were increasingly traded on newly created multi-
lateral trading platforms and in the over-the-counter market.
Resumption of employee share program. In May 2010, eligible
members of the workforce were once again able to acquire
employee shares and make use of the newly increased tax-exempt
amount. As a result, 19,400 employees acquired a total of
350,700 shares.
Annual Shareholders’ Meeting affirms management’s
proposals with large majorities. Our Annual Shareholders’
Meeting held on April 14, 2010 at the Berlin International
Congress Centrum (ICC) was visited by approximately 4,700 share -
holders (2009: 7,000). With 40.3% of the share capital repre-
sented at the Annual Meeting, shareholder representation was
close to the level of the prior year (2009: 41.6%). In the voting
on the items of the agenda, the shareholders adopted the recom-
mendations of the management with large majorities.
The shareholders are able to exercise their voting rights at the
Annual Meeting either in person or through a proxy of their own
choice or through a proxy appointed by Daimler who is bound
by their voting instructions. For Annual Shareholders’ Meeting 2011,
we intend to offer the possibility of absentee voting for the first time.
All documents and information on the Annual Meeting are available
at www.daimler.com/ir/am.
Daimler once again utilized the exhibition space at the ICC
to demonstrate to the shareholders the Group’s broad spectrum
of products and technological expertise, especially in the area
of sustainable mobility.
Key figures
End of 2010 End of 2009 10/09
% change
Share capital (in millions of €) 3,058 3,045 +0
Number of shares
(in millions)
1,065.6
1,061.2 +0
thereof treasury shares 0.2 37.1 -99
Market capitalization
(in billions of euros)
54.0
38.1 +42
Number of shareholders
(in millions)
1.0
1.2 -20
Weighting in share indices
DAX 30 7.51% 5.98%
Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 2.88% 2.05%
Long-term credit ratings
Standard & Poor’s BBB+ BBB+
Moody’s A3 A3
Fitch BBB+ BBB+
DBRS A (low) A (low)
Stock-exchange data for Daimler shares
ISIN DE0007100000
German securities identification number 710000
Stock-exchange symbol DAI
Reuters ticker symbol DAIGn.DE
Bloomberg ticker symbol DAI:GR