Message of Nayla Hayek, Chair of the Swatch Group Board of Directors, on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of May 12, 2026, in Biel (BE), Switzerland.

The original spoken text (in German) is valid.

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders,

I will keep this brief today, as we will need some time at today’s Annual General Meeting to deal with the various motions.

You have all seen – and have probably read – my foreword to our 2025 Annual Report. Accordingly, I do not wish to dwell too long on 2025; it was a difficult year, just as the beginning of 2026 has been. We all hope that the world’s many political and geopolitical complications will be resolved this year and that a more stable life will become possible.

I would like once again to thank our long-standing and forward-thinking shareholders who have been with us for years and who support our long-term strategy.

As we will only be connected electronically again at this year’s Annual General Meeting, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that this year, Nimbus, our long-standing partner in organizing our Annual General Meetings, introduced a new accreditation system for admission and registration to the in-person Annual General Meeting. We have reviewed and tested this system, which will now enable us to accredit the very large number of shareholders at the entrance to a physical Annual General Meeting within an acceptable and reasonable timeframe. This means that we can once again consider holding a physical Annual General Meeting next year. As you can see in the image, this year’s AGM watch already features the motto “WE, YOU, TOGETHER.”

Now a word about today’s Annual General Meeting and the proposals under consideration.

The Board of Director’s long-term strategy is clear. Our production – understandably Swiss Made, our employees, and our customers are the priority, not our share price and dividends, as some investors have demanded. We all welcome and benefit from higher share prices and dividends, but they must not be our primary strategy. As my father used to say, we sell watches, not shares.

Now an activist investor is demanding to be appointed to our Board of Directors. Why? Because his priority is to increase the share price and dividends. In other words, a classic short-term strategy aimed solely at maximizing profits, with the goal of transforming our long-term strategy into a short-term one. He does not meet any of our criteria to be nominated to our Board of Directors, while our candidate, Mr. Rickenbacher, does so in every respect. But if that weren’t enough, he is also suing the very body he intends to work with in the future. 

Therefore, the Board of Directors firmly supports our proposal to elect Mr. Rickenbacher to the Board and opposes the election of Mr. Wood.

And to solidify this for the future, he is also proposing amendments to the Articles of Association intended to break the so-called power of the Hayek Pool.

I am very proud of my father and of our family. And when I say family, I mean our Swatch Group, our employees, our long-term shareholders, and our customers. Our Board of Directors is under attack because it pursues a long-term strategy. A strategy that is independent of pure greed for profit.

The Hayek Pool is a guarantee that Swatch Group and the Swiss watch industry will remain in Switzerland.

Our company is a jewel, not only because of the many brands across all segments – and not only in luxury – but also because our company has a very strong consolidated balance sheet, with a very high equity ratio of 87.1%, and this without any capitalized goodwill or the capitalization of brands or patents on the balance sheet. And together we will not allow this jewel to be destroyed by a few activist investors who are only out for short-term profit. 

That is why I am counting on you, our long-standing and forward-thinking shareholders, to reject these proposed amendments to the Articles of Association.

Thank you very much, and with that, I give the floor to my brother Nick Hayek, CEO of Swatch Group.

Nayla Hayek
Chair of the Swatch Group Board of Directors