BASEL, Switzerland, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Annual General Meeting of Syngenta AG on 19 April 2011, the shareholders approved all the motions proposed by the Board of Directors.

Shareholders approved a dividend of CHF 7.00 per share for the business year 2010, an increase of 17% over the previous year. The dividend will be paid out of reserves from capital contributions; it is exempt from Swiss withholding tax of 35% and tax-free for individuals domiciled in Switzerland.

Shareholders also approved a reduction of share capital to CHF 9,376,289.90 through the cancellation of the 836,950 shares repurchased by the Company in 2010 within the scope of the approved repurchase program.

Martin Taylor, Peter Thompson and Felix A. Weber were re-elected to the Board each for a two-year term of office; Rolf Watter was re-elected for a one-year term of office.

Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 26,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life.  Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life.  For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.

Note to the editor:

The speech of the Chairman, the presentation of the CEO and images of the Annual General Meeting can be found at www.syngenta.com/agm2011.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as ‘expect’, ‘would’, ‘will’, ‘potential’, ‘plans’, ‘prospects’, ‘estimated’, ‘aiming’, ‘on track’ and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. We refer you to Syngenta's publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks and uncertainties. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. This document does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer, to purchase or subscribe for any ordinary shares in Syngenta AG, or Syngenta ADSs, nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor.

SOURCE Syngenta