freenet AG: Annual General Meeting approves dividend of 1.50 euros per share and special dividend of 0.15 euros per share for financial year 2020

- AGM approves distribution of a dividend of 1.50 euros and a special dividend of 0.15 euros per eligible non-par-value share

- Discharge of Executive Board and Supervisory Board

- No majority for the proposed Executive Board remuneration system

- Other agenda items adopted

Büdelsdorf, 18 June 2021 - At the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the shareholders of freenet AG [ISIN DE000A0Z2ZZ5] followed the proposal of the Management Board and Supervisory Board and resolved with a majority of 99.50 percent to pay a dividend of 1.50 euros for the 2020 financial year (previous year: 0.04 euros per share) and a special dividend of 0.15 euros per eligible no-par-value share. The dividend payment thus amounts to a total of 203.7 million euros (previous year: 5.1 million euros). A total of 35.18 percent (initial presence including postal votes) of freenet AG's registered share capital was represented at the Company's virtual AGM.

The distribution of a special dividend of 0.15 euros per eligible no-par-value share resolved today by the AGM, together with the already completed 2020 share buy-back program and the 2021 share buy-back program still running until the end of the year, represents a retrospective catch-up on the dividend suspended in the past financial year. In spring 2020, freenet AG had only distributed the legally required minimum dividend of 0.04 euros per share to its shareholders due to the great uncertainty surrounding the effects of the Corona pandemic. At this year's AGM, the Executive Board reconfirmed its sustainable dividend policy, which provides for an annual distribution of 80 percent of the free cash flow in the following financial years.

The resolutions on the discharge of the members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2020 financial year were approved by a majority of the shareholders. The approval rates for the members of the Executive Board ranged from 95.36 to 95.46 percent; the members of the Supervisory Board were discharged with approval rates between 80.51 and 94.76 percent. In the vote on the approval of the Executive Board remuneration system, the required majority was not reached. Overall, 65.58 percent of the share capital represented voted against the draft resolved by the Supervisory Board. All other agenda items were adopted by a large majority of shareholders.

Prof. Dr. Helmut Thoma, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of freenet AG, on the results:

"We are pleased that this year we are again able to let our shareholders participate in the success of our company and can compensate them for the dividend suspended in the past financial year. On behalf of the entire Executive and Supervisory Board, I would like to express my gratitude for the trust placed in us.

Nevertheless, we take the shareholders' vote against the proposed Executive Board remuneration system seriously and will take our shareholders' concerns into account when revising the draft. We will submit an adjusted proposal to the shareholders of freenet AG for a vote at the next AGM in 2022 at the latest."

Further information on the 2021 AGM with the detailed voting results will be available shortly at www.freenet-group.de/investor/annual-general-meeting.

Contact:
freenet Group
Investor Relations & ESG
Tel.: +49 (0)40/ 513 06 778
E-Mail: [email protected]
https://www.freenet-group.de/en/