Zeal confirms Gräfin von Schmettow as new chairwoman
Zeal Network has appointed Carola Gräfin von Schmettow, former CEO of HSBC Germany, as its new chairwoman to replace the outgoing Peter Steiner.
Gräfin von Schmettow was elected to the position at the Zeal annual general meeting. She has been a member of the company’s supervisory board since November 2024.
An experienced executive, Gräfin von Schmettow worked at HSBC Germany throughout her entire professional career. She spent 29 years with the company, including six as its CEO between 2015 and 2021.
Gräfin von Schmettow will take the place of the long-serving Steiner, who has stepped down after 12 years as chair. His departure was announced in May last year and he officially exited the role after this week’s AGM.
As well as serving as chair, Steiner has been a member of the Zeal supervisory board since June 2013. He has also now stepped down from these responsibilities.
Zeal CEO praises ‘inspirational’ Steiner
Paying tribute to the outgoing Steiner, Zeal CEO Helmut Becker said he has been a “valuable source of inspiration”.
“We would like to thank Peter for his many years of dedicated and responsible work,” Becker said. “During this time, he was not only a reliable companion and valuable source of inspiration for the management board, he was a strategic compass, an anchor of integrity and a person who accompanied Zeal with foresight and passion.
“Under his leadership, the supervisory board has accompanied key developments such as Zeal’s return to Germany and the strategic expansion of our business. I would like to sincerely thank Peter Steiner for his valuable work and wish him all the best for the future.”
The AGM also saw all proposed resolutions approved by a large majority of shareholders. These included a basic dividend of €1.30 per share and special dividend of €1.10 per share for FY24.
On the subject of finance, Zeal recently published its Q1 results. Revenue was up 42% year-on-year at €51.1 million, largely due to lottery performance. However, Zeal also reported a revenue increase within its games division.
EBITDA was also up 88.3% to €17.7 million but net profit dropped 53.6% to €9.8 million. This was due to the previous year benefiting from the Lotto24 squeeze-out.