The GESCO share

The aim of GESCO SE’s investor relations activities is to pursue a fair and transparent communication policy characterised by equal treatment of all stakeholders. This is intended to enhance the Company’s reputation as an attractive investment and further increase awareness of GESCO on the capital market. Communication of business developments and corporate strategy is continuous, timely and reliable. This is intended to further strengthen investor confidence in GESCO and contribute to an adequate valuation of our share on the capital market.

Personal contact with capital market participants was also of great importance in 2024. The Executive Board and Investor Relations were in continuous dialogue with investors and analysts worldwide. The Company’s performance was discussed in detail in numerous talks during roadshows and investor conferences, at the Annual General Meeting and in one-on-one meetings. Investor Relations made use of a variety of formats to address investors, both virtually and in person.

Our goal is to expand the GESCO shareholder base to include new investors abroad. To this end, roadshows were held in non-German-speaking countries for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak. We plan to ramp up these activities in the future because we are convinced that there are many investors in these countries who would find an investment in the (German) SME sector attractive.

In addition to the aforementioned activities, the Executive Board and Investor Relations regularly provided information on GESCO SE to investors, analysts and private investors in numerous discussions.

We will continue to present the company at numerous roadshows and capital market events in the current year 2025. The dates can be found in the financial calendar in the Investor Relations section of the GESCO website at  www.gesco.de/en/investor-relations/financial-calendar

Annual reports, half-yearly reports and quarterly statements, capital market releases, analyst assessments and information on the Annual General Meeting can be accessed via the newly designed investor relations homepage (www.gesco.de/en/investor-relations). GESCO ensures that up-to-date and comprehensive information is available and that the Company can be contacted at any time.  

We have been promoting the culture of shareholding in Germany through our membership of the Deutsches Aktieninstitut e. V. (DAI) since 1999.

GESCO SE has been a member of the Deutscher Investor Relations Verband e. V. (DIRK) since 2000 and is committed to its principles of open and continuous communication.

For many years, we have supported the (private) shareholders’ interest groups DSW and SdK, which are committed to improving shareholder culture in Germany.

Baader Bank, GSC Research, Pareto Securities and SMC Research prepared regular research on the GESCO share in the reporting year.

All current research reports can be found on the GESCO website at: www.gesco.de/en/investor-relations/shares

Baader Bank and Pareto Securities AS are obliged to act as designated sponsors.

Until financial year 2023, GESCO SE pursued a dividend policy that provided for a payout ratio of Group net income after minority interest within the range of 20 % to 60 %. The dividend payout range was intended to enable GESCO SE to retain cash in the Company, particularly in the event of pending acquisitions or major investments, by means of a lower payout ratio.

In financial year 2024, GESCO SE allowed its shareholders to participate in the Company’s success for the first time through a share buyback. Almost 500,000 shares were acquired at a price of € 17.80 as part of a voluntary public share buyback offer. There is currently no resolution on the utilisation of the repurchased shares.

On 24 March 2025, GESCO presented its future strategy for the appropriation of profits. According to this, the previously applicable range for dividend payments has been limited to the lower range of 20 % – 40 %. The company should be able to deviate from this range if appropriate opportunities arise. The Executive Board defined the priorities for the future appropriation of profits as follows:

1.  Organic and inorganic growth
2. Share buyback, if economically reasonable and value-enhancing
3. Dividend distribution

At the Annual General Meeting on 25 June 2025, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of € 0.10 per share for the 2024 financial year. At the time of the resolution, this dividend proposal resulted in a dividend yield of approximately 0.7 %.

Since the IPO in 1998, GESCO SE has offered the domestic employees of the GESCO Group the opportunity to purchase employee shares at a discount as part of an annual employee share scheme. The programme offers employees the opportunity to build up a not inconsiderable asset position over time with a manageable annual financial investment, based on the share price development and dividend payments, and thus contribute to their own retirement provision. In addition, as shareholders, employees become co-entrepreneurs, and the participation is therefore intended to promote an entrepreneurial attitude. Last but not least, this programme enables us to contribute to promoting the equity culture in Germany.

At the end of 2024, GESCO successfully completed the 26th employee stock ownership programme.