- Directors re-elected
- Shareholders support board's recommendation against proposal
- Board committees to include additional directors
CINCINNATI, Apr 21, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Cincinnati Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CINF) -- At the annual shareholders' meeting on April 19, 2003, Cincinnati Financial shareholders re-elected six directors to the board and turned down a shareholder proposal to expense the cost of stock options on the income statement.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John J. Schiff, Jr., CPCU, commented: "I want to thank shareholders for the privilege of working with the accomplished executives who serve on our board. They each bring high standards of integrity and valued expertise, including strong leadership and seasoned management experience with helpful combinations of finance and accounting, operations, insurance or investing responsibilities."
Each director nominee received at least 95 percent of the votes cast. Re- elected for three-year terms on the board were William F. Bahl, CFA, chairman of Bahl & Gaynor, Inc.; James E. Benoski, vice chairman, chief insurance officer and senior vice president of The Cincinnati Insurance Company; Gretchen W. Price, vice president, finance and accounting, Global Market Development Organization, Procter & Gamble; John J. Schiff, Jr., CPCU, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati Financial; and E. Anthony Woods, chairman of Deaconess Associations, Inc. Re-elected for a two-year term was Kenneth C. Lichtendahl, president and chief executive officer of Tradewinds Beverage Company.
"Further, more than 70 percent of shareholders who cast votes agreed with the board's recommendation against a proposal to change the way the company reflects stock option expense in its financial statements," Schiff added. "While we are willing to make a future accounting change, our shareholders agreed to wait for an accounting regulatory body to introduce planned new rules and mandate a standard methodology for all companies to follow. We believe investors deserve to have the benefit of reliable and comparable information calculated more uniformly than current conditions allow."
At the regular meeting of the board of directors, also held on April 19, membership of each board committee was expanded with the appointment of additional directors: audit committee-Gretchen W. Price; compensation committee-W. Rodney McMullen, executive vice president, The Kroger Co.; executive committee-James E. Benoski; investment committee-James E. Benoski and E. Anthony Woods; nominating committee-John M. Shepherd, chairman and chief executive officer of The Shepherd Chemical Company.
Schiff noted, "With additional regulations set to expand the duties of board committees, these additions will be welcome and active participants. On the audit committee, all of the members have backgrounds and positions with executive responsibility for financial matters. Bill Bahl, Gretchen Price and Tony Woods help us exceed the financial expert requirement for this committee."
Cincinnati Financial Corporation offers property and casualty insurance, our main business, through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, The Cincinnati Indemnity Company and The Cincinnati Casualty Company. The Cincinnati Life Insurance Company markets life, disability income and long-term care insurance and annuities. CFC Investment Company supports the insurance subsidiaries and their independent agent representatives through commercial leasing and financing activities. CinFin Capital Management provides asset management services to institutions, corporations and individuals. For additional information, please visit our Web site at www.cinfin.com .
SOURCE Cincinnati Financial Corporation
Kenneth W. Stecher, Chief Financial Officer of Cincinnati Financial Corporation, +1-513-603-5236
http://www.cinfin.com