2015 Annual General Meeting

Commenting on the 2014 fiscal year and the Group’s growth outlook, Benoît Potier, Chairman and CEO, said:
“In 2014, the Group achieved a solid performance, which was in line with our objectives. In a mixed environment, Air Liquide continued to improve its competitiveness, as attested to by the increase in the operating margin, while investing in growing markets and innovating in new technologies.
Thanks to solid fundamentals, the commitment and entrepreneurial spirit of our employees, the trust of our customers, and the loyalty of our shareholders, we are confident in the Group’s ability to pursue with success its development over the long term by creating value for all of its stakeholders.”

The Combined Shareholders’ Meeting of Air Liquide, chaired by Benoît Potier, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in the presence of the members of the Board of Directors, was attended by 3,814 people on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The Shareholders, who represented 47.3% of the voting rights, i.e. 124,907 shareholders present or duly represented, approved all of the resolutions submitted.

The proposed dividend, with an ex-date of May 18 and a payment date of May 20, 2015, was approved: it has been set at € 2.55 per share, which is an increase in shareholder return of +10.3% taking into account the attribution of one free share for every 10 existing shares in 2014.

The Shareholders renewed the term of office of Ms. Siân Herbert-Jones as Director and appointed Ms. Geneviève Berger as Director, both for a four-year period. A French national, Ms. Geneviève Berger is a physicist and a professor of medicine who served as Chief Science/ Research & Development Officer at Unilever until 2014. Effective July 1, 2015, she will serve as Chief Research Officer for the Swiss company Firmenich.
The Board, duly noting that the terms of office of Mr. Gérard de la Martinière and Mr. Cornelis Van Lede were expiring, sincerely thanked them for their contributions to the Board’s discussions.
On the recommendation of the Appointments and Governance Committee, the Board of Directors appointed Ms. Siân Herbert-Jones to serve as Chair of the Audit and Accounts Committee and appointed Mr. Jean-Paul Agon to serve as Chair of the Remuneration Committee and as a member of the Appointments and Governance Committee. Ms. Sin Leng Low was appointed to serve as a member of the Audit and Accounts Committee and Ms. Annette Winkler to serve on the Remuneration Committee.
The Board of Directors is now composed of 12 members, including 5 women, and 6 foreign nationals. 9 of the 11 members elected by the Shareholders are independent. The current composition of the Board offers a complementary mix of experience, nationalities and cultures, and reflects the diversity policy conducted by the Group.

In addition, the Shareholders expressed a favorable opinion on the remuneration of the Company’s Executive Officers for the 2014 fiscal year under two specific resolutions (“Say on Pay”).

Lastly, the Shareholders approved an amendment of the articles of association seeking to deactivate the double voting right introduced by the French Act of March 29, 2014 – the so-called “Loi Florange”, reiterating their attachment to the principle of one share - one vote.