FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Despite some criticism of the Executive Board reorganization a few weeks ago, the shareholders of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved all of the management's proposals at the Annual General Meeting. This also included the first distribution of a dividend of 30 cents per share. For the four previous financial years, the owners had gone away empty-handed due to the corona burdens. The lowest approval rate of 73.21% was recorded on Tuesday in Frankfurt for the report on Executive Board remuneration.

Shareholder representatives were particularly dissatisfied with Lufthansa's continued weak share price in the MDax. "The fact that four Executive Board members are leaving the company in one fell swoop has caused us great astonishment. The quake in the Executive Board had also shaken the share price," criticized Ingo Speich from the savings bank investment company Deka. Like other speakers, he regretted the departure of CFO Remco Steenbergen to pharmaceutical giant Sandoz. Steenbergen's successor, Till Streichert, had been appointed the previous day from September of this year.

Supervisory Board Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley defended himself against the impression of a hasty restructuring of the Executive Board. Two contracts had expired and Steenbergen had wanted to leave the company. The personnel decisions had been made "calmly and carefully" and the new board members were now expected to do a good job. Fresenius CFO Sara Hennicken is a new member of the Supervisory Board.

In a personal statement, Kley sharply criticized the trade unions represented on the Supervisory Board. He said that the industrial disputes in the spring had lost their sense of proportion. He once again put the cost to Lufthansa of the industrial action at 350 million euros in the first quarter and around 100 million euros in the second quarter.

Kley recalled the great cohesion he had observed within the Group during the coronavirus crisis. Now the long-successful model of social partnership is in danger if maximum confrontation is sought. Kley said in a statement: "The company is all of us. We should therefore struggle to find solutions, but not fight each other." The company's ground staff and cabin crews had walked off the job in collective bargaining disputes. In addition, hundreds of flights had to be canceled on several days due to warning strikes by private airport security staff. The wage disputes have since been settled./ceb/DP/he