Business News
Ernst Baumann is the new Chairman of Krones Supervisory Board
Friday 19. June 2009 - On 17 June 2009, the 29th regular AGM of Krones AG was held in Neutraubling, Germany. Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Lorenz M. Raith (70) laid down his office on expiry of the 2009 AGM.
Dr. Raith had been a member of the Krones Supervisory Board since 1996, and its Chairman since May 1997. It was during his term of office that Krones initiated its strategic refocus under the aegis of its “Impulse” programme. The “Growth Programme” launched a decade ago has borne invaluable fruit during this time: sales revenues rose 2.6-fold to reach their most recent figure of 2.38 billion euros, net income for the year improved 4.3-fold to its most recent figure of 106.5 million euros, shareholders equity grew 2.3-fold, the market capitalisation tripled, and the workforce increased 1.6-fold to reach more than 10,000 people. Dr. Raiths final year in office was crowned by glittering success: for the ninth time in succession, the company achieved a record year in terms of order bookings, sales and net income.
After what was meanwhile around 13 years as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Lorenz M. Raith stepped down from this office at his own request for reasons of age. The Executive Board of Krones AG thanked Dr. Raith for his invariably constructive and successful contributions.
In the subsequent constitutive meeting of the Supervisory Board, Dipl.-Ing. Ernst Baumann (60) was unanimously elected as his successor.
Ernst Baumann was first elected to Krones Supervisory Board in 2001, when he was a director of BMW AG, responsible for human resources and staff welfare, as well as being Labour Director; he had joined BMW in 1973, after gaining a degree in mechanical engineering. During his career there, Ernst Baumann was responsible for numerous remits. Before being appointed to the Managing Board, as Technical Director of the BMW plant in South Africa, of the BMW plant in Regensburg and as overall project manager he had been responsible for the large and medium-sized series at BMW AG.
Upon reaching the age limit, Ernst Baumann left BMW AG on 30 November 2008, after a good ten years on its Managing Board.
State Parliament MP Dipl.-Ing. agr. Philipp Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld (57) was newly elected to the Supervisory Board as a representative of the shareholders. An agricultural engineering graduate, and a qualified tax consultant and auditor, he has been a member of the Bavarian State Parliament since 2003. Following his re-election as an MP in 2008, Count Lerchenfeld has been a member of the Committee for State Budgeting and Finance.
There was also a change among the representatives of the workforce. With the departure of Herbert Gerstner (58), an active member of the Supervisory Board since 1997, Krones Employees Council member Johann Robold (52) stepped up to the Krones Supervisory Board.