Results of Marel’s AGM
"The only reliable way to produce more food is to create better technology, and this is creating a high demand for advanced solutions in poultry, meat and fish," said Arni Oddur Thordarson, Chairman of the Board of Marel, in his address to the company's Annual General Meeting, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Marel.
The meeting, held at Marel's headquarters in Gardabaer, Iceland, was attended by close to 100 Marel shareholders and guests. 
Aligning strategy and execution
Thordarson highlighted how crucial it had been that the two-phase growth strategy laid out by the Board of Directors in 2006 had been backed up by strong execution. The key 5-year targets set in 2006 had all been met:
The goal had been to increase revenues to EUR 400-500 million. In 2010, revenues totalled EUR 582 million.
The EBIT target was set at 10-12%. In 2010, the EBIT margin was 11% of revenues.
The objective had been to become the market leader in equipment for fish, poultry and meat processing. Today, Marel has a market share of 15% and is the clear global leader in a EUR 4 billion market.
"In the second phase of the strategy, our target is to achieve a 20% market share by 2015, along with revenues of €1 billion and increased profitability," said Thordarson. "This year starts with a record order book and continued momentum. I would like to thank the team at Marel for making this possible."
Marel on the move
At the beginning of his address, CEO Theo Hoen highlighted Marel's ambition to be perceived by customers as the best company in the industry. This motivation is reflected in the vision statement adopted by the company in 2010, "to be the customers' choice in supplying integrated systems, products and services to the fish, meat and poultry industries."
Hoen reviewed the company's performance and key developments during the year. "We are now moving into a new phase in the company," he remarked, referring to the formal conclusion of the integration of the entities in the group into one strong company. "Being a single company means three things to us: increased market penetration, where we use our combined networks to reach as many customers as possible; a continuing devotion to innovation, on which we spent €35 million last year; and operational excellence, where we can use our size to buy less expensive products and in turn reduce our manufacturing costs."
Looking ahead, Hoen said that the outlook was positive. "We are operating in an attractive market, with annual growth of 5-6%. We have a strong position in the market. And we have passionate and committed employees."
Decisions of the meeting
The Consolidated Financial Statement and the Report of the Board of Directors were approved unanimously by the meeting and all the proposals presented by the Board were passed. The number of Board members was reduced from nine to eight with the retirement of Lars Grundtvig, who had served on the Board since 2007. The other eight directors were all re-elected.