Yesterday, the Lindex annual general meeting was held. Initially, I planned not to write anything, but feeling quite energetic this morning, I’ll allow myself a few words.
Perhaps the most interesting point was when the dividend taps would open. The Chair of the Board, Sari Pohjonen, immediately stated in her opening remarks that the secured bonds from 2021 prevent dividend payment, but she did not mention that they mature this year. When asked later during the discussion section whether redeeming them this year would enable dividend payment later in the autumn, the response was a blunt “this (referring to the Board’s proposal not to pay dividends) is our proposal,” essentially an attempt to cut the discussion short. She did, however, confirm that they mature this year. Support came from another shareholder who asked if there were reasons other than the bonds for not paying dividends. The answer was easy to guess: “this is our proposal” 
. It looks very much like Lindex’s Chair of the Board lacks the competence to engage in discussion with shareholders at the AGM. A mere CFO background (she did serve as interim CEO at Fiskars, but her work as Oriola’s CFO was not convincing) is not necessarily the best background for chairing a nearly 400 million stock exchange company; it might be a compromise to prevent the Konstsamfundet alliance from wielding the chairman’s gavel.
It was also notable that the new board member, Matti Piri, did not bother to introduce himself to the annual general meeting with a few words, contrary to common practice. He did at least get up from his chair and turned to nod to the meeting representatives. All the above speaks volumes about the conservatism of the company’s board; they are stuck in the last century.
As late as the 2010s, Konstsamfundet struggled with other major owners for control of the company, and I am not convinced that there isn’t still infighting on the board due to differing interests, even though, after postponements, a unanimous decision was finally reached that separating the department stores would be the most value-creating solution.
CEO Susan Ehnbågen’s review was a recap of old news; weak consumer confidence remains the core problem affecting the entire retail sector.
Credit is due to the CEO for shaking hands with all the meeting representatives at the door of the meeting hall. In general, she makes a dynamic impression, a stark contrast to the board. The refreshments after the meeting were good; there seemed to be four kinds of sweet and savory snacks with coffee. Unfortunately, I had to rush to Espoo for DeeTee’s AGM and couldn’t stay long to discuss with other shareholders and, ideally, the company’s management.