23. Retained Earnings
Retained earnings comprise the net profit for the financial year and undistributed profits generated in prior periods by companies included in the consolidated financial statements. In addition, this item contains the actuarial gains and losses on remeasurements of defined benefit obligations in previous years. The retained earnings are reduced by the cost of the treasury shares held by Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft.
As of December 31, 2024, the number of treasury shares amounted to 24,785,620 shares (approximately 9.99% of the share capital). The development of treasury shares during the reporting year was as follows:
On February 26, 2025, the Executive Board of Beiersdorf AG, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, announced the launch of a new share buyback program. The program was implemented on the basis of the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting of Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft on April 17, 2025, which authorizes the Company to acquire treasury shares of up to 10% of the share capital until April 16, 2030.
In connection with the share buyback program, Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft cancelled treasury shares in several steps (prior to the start of the share buyback program, with effect as of May 27, 2025: 2,604,604 treasury shares, corresponding to around 1.05% of the then prevailing share capital; with effect as of July 3, 2025: 2,000,000 treasury shares, corresponding to around 0.82% of the then prevailing share capital; with effect as of August 12, 2025: 795,396 treasury shares, corresponding to around 0.33% of the then prevailing share capital). The share repurchases were executed by a credit institution engaged by Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft.
The total number of shares repurchased between May 28, 2025, and August 18, 2025 (inclusive) amounted to 4,690,621 shares, with an aggregate purchase price of €499,999,929.38 (excluding transaction costs). As of December 31, 2025, the number of treasury shares totaled 24,076,241 shares (approximately 9.92% of the share capital). Detailed information on each individual transaction is published on the website of Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft: https://www.beiersdorf.com/investor-relations/shares/share-buyback-2025.