After yet another record year in 2023, the AutoWallis Group plans continued dynamic growth under the strategic leadership of a renewed Board of Directors, which will be continued to be guided by management following the annual general meeting.

AutoWallis Plc. will hold its annual general meeting on April 26, where, among others, shareholders will pass decisions on the use of the record profit achieved in 2023 and the restructuring of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board. AutoWallis was listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange five years ago and the company has since experienced enormous growth despite a continuously changing industrial and economic environment. During the half a decade that has elapsed since, AutoWallis’s revenue has increased by a factor of four and its profits by a factor of ten thanks to its consistently implemented growth strategy, in which expansion was supported by both acquisitions and organic development. During the course of its presence on the stock market, the car sales and mobility service provider, which is fulfilling an increasingly important role on the regional scene and is now present in 16 countries, has raised HUF 48 billion from the capital market, has carried out more than 10 acquisitions, and the number of brands it represents has grown from 9 to 24. In the course of this expansion, the number of the Group’s employees grew from 270 to almost 1400, which was accompanied by a substantial increase in the company’s management as well. As the AutoWallis Group intends to continue down the path of growth in the coming years, the plans are for the tried and true management to continue leading the company alongside the strategic leadership of a renewed Board of Directors that better reflects the prominent position attained by AutoWallis within the Wallis Group. At the annual general meeting, shareholders may decide to appoint new Members of the Board to join Chairman Zsolt Müllner and CEO Gábor Ormosy, who have gained significant domestic and international experience in past decades at other listed companies, in corporate management and acquisitions, among other areas. Based on proposals to the general meeting, the Board of Directors may be joined by Ferenc Vaczlavik, AutoWallis’s CFO, Tibor Veres, Chairman of the Wallis Group, AutoWallis’s principal owner, CEO Gyula Mező in representation of the Wallis Group, Deputy CEO Bence Buday, and Deputy CEO for Strategy Ferenc Karvalits. The General Meeting may elect to appoint Géza Deme, President and CEO of AutoWallis’s largest institutional investor, Széchenyi Alapok Zrt., to the position of member of the Supervisory Board. “The Wallis Group considers its investment in AutoWallis Plc. to be a long-term strategic investment, and in recognition of the successful work of its management it is supporting its plans for expansion by nominating new members to the Board of Directors” explained Tibor Veres, principal owner of the Wallis Group.

AutoWallis’s shareholders will also decide on the company’s accounts for the previous year and on the use of profits at the general meeting. As made public in the quick report published February 29, AutoWallis continued to post record revenue and profits in 2023: in addition to organic growth, growth was also supported by acquisitions last year, as the company, which already has a predominantly regional presence, achieved revenue of HUF 366 billion and EBITDA of HUF 20 billion, with earnings per share rising to over HUF 21. AutoWallis’s Board of Directors proposal is to place the results in reserve and using them to finance continued growth together with the cash capital increase of HUF 5.7 billion carried out by the Wallis Group on January 26, 2024. As a number of AutoWallis’s financial indicators previously set for 2025 were surpassed by last year as it continues down the path of growth, the company plans to present its updated strategy and targets and its dividend policy in May. In line with the expected main direction of growth –international expansion – the company is creating the position of Vice President of International Business Development, and has asked Andrew Prest to fill the post starting from May 1 in recognition of his exceptional results achieved in the Group’s development and growth. Pál Bihari, current AutoWallis Managing Director for Distribution, will be taking over Andrew Prest’s former position as Director of the Distribution Business Unit. Péter Antal will continue his successful work as head of the Retail & Services Business Unit, allowing him to focus only on the business unit’s international expansion and on internal projects to improve effectiveness. Gábor Székely will continue to devote his attention to his tasks as Director of Investor Relations (IR) and ESG, where he has achieved significant success in the organization of capital market presence, the fulfilment of ESG-related challenges, and green financing.

Candidates for AutoWallis’s Board of Directors

Tibor Veres

Tibor Veres graduated from the Moscow State University as an economist in 1986 and established the Wallis Group in 1989, where he continues to be principal owner and Chairman. In the course of the past 35 years, the Wallis Group has developed a prominent regional position in a number of commercial and industrial areas thanks to its domestic and international activities. In his career as an entrepreneur, executive, and investor, Tibor Veres has participated in the foundation and success of a number of renowned companies. This includes, among others, the WING Group, Praktiker, Graboplast, Pannon GSM, Milton Bank, Market Zrt., Index, Danubius Rádió, as well as AutoWallis and Alteo, both of which are listed in the Prime Category on the Budapest Stock Exchange. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at the WING Group and Graboplast and of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian UNICEF.

Gyula Mező

Gyula Mező obtained an electrical engineering degree at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Faculty of Electrical Engineering in 1989, followed by an engineering economist degree at the Corvinus University of Budapest in 1993. He started his professional career in 1990 at DuPont de Nemours Hungary Kft., where he held senior positions in customer, IT, and marketing services. From 1994, he was Finance Director of Leo Burnett Kft. for four years, and from 1998 he held the position of Controlling Director and then CFO of Citibank Zrt. for eight years. From 2007 to 2008, he worked as the Economic Director of EnergoSolar Magyarország Kft. Over the course of the past 15 years, he has been the Deputy CFO of Wallis Asset Management Zrt., a Member of the Board of Directors at Alteo Nyrt. from 2015 to 2023, and Chairman of its Board of Directors starting from 2018. He is currently the CEO of Wallis Asset Management and a Member of the Board of Directors at Graboplast Zrt. and FoxPost Zrt. and of the Supervisory Board at Praktiker Kft.

Ferenc Karvalits

Ferenc Karvalits obtained his degree from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration followed by an MSc in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York. He started his career in banking in 1990, was Head of the Department of the National Bank of Hungary from 1996 and its Managing Director and member of the Board of Directors from 1998 to 2001. He then held the position of Deputy CEO of Wallis Zrt. until 2002, and from 2002 to 2005 he was a member of its Board of Directors as well as co-CEO of CIB Bank. He joined FHB Bank as a Member of the Board of Directors in 2005 and went on to become the Bank’s President. Between 2007 and 2013, he was Vice President for Monetary Policy of the National Bank of Hungary and a member of the Monetary Council. From 2013 he was the Strategic Director of Wallis Asset Management Zrt., and from 2014 he was involved in the work of Venturio Kockázati Tőkealap-kezelő Zrt. and PERION Kockázati Tőkealap-kezelő Zrt. as a strategic advisor and company director. He has worked as the Deputy CEO for Strategy at Wallis Asset Management since the end of 2023. In addition to his current position, he is also a member of the Board of Directors at WING and of the Supervisory Board at Graboplast.

Bence Buday

Bence Buday graduated as an economist from the Corvinus University of Budapest’s Department of Management and Organization and then completed the INSEAD MBA program in Singapore and France with honors. He started his professional career in the Budapest office of McKinsey & Company, where he helped large corporations in Hungary and several other European countries to strategize and transform their businesses in a variety of industries, including banking, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals. Between 2016 and 2019, he filled various directorial positions at Vodafone Magyarország and went on to direct the planning of the acquisition and company integration of UPC Magyarország. He was CEO of Wallis Autómegosztó Zrt. from 2020 to 2023 and then joined Wallis Asset Management Zrt. in March 2023 as Director for Transformation, and is currently serving as the company’s Deputy CEO. He is a member of the Board of Directors at WING Zrt. and Graboplast Zrt. Bence Buday is currently a member of AutoWallis’s Supervisory Board and its Audit Committee, though he will be stepping down from these positions when appointed member of the Board of Directors.

Ferenc Vaczlavik

Ferenc Vaczlavik graduated as an Economist from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration. His career started at Magyar Telekom (Matáv) in 1998, and he then transitioned to one of the Group’s subsidiaries to perform management tasks both in Hungary and abroad. Between 2010 and 2014, he worked at the Hungarian subsidiary of Liberty Global, Chello Central Europe, where he was responsible for the region as Financial Director. He then worked in a similar position at the Central European subsidiary of AMC Networks Inc., AMC Networks Central Europe, between 2014 and 2018. He has been the CFO of AutoWallis Plc. since 2021.

Candidate for AutoWallis’s Supervisory Board/Audit Committee

Géza Deme

Géza Deme graduated as an Economist from the University of Miskolc’s Department of Economic Sciences. He started his career in 1995 at K&H Bank, obtaining experience in corporate financing. In 2000, as a member of the CEO team, he worked on the renewal of the bank’s corporate processes. Between 2001 and 2002, he was a senior manager at Magyar Factor Zrt., after which he managed a successful consultancy company for 4 years as owner-manager of a trade finance and credit insurance solutions company. From 2007, he was Deputy CEO and then President and CEO of CIB Faktor Zrt., and in 2021 he became CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Start Garancia Zrt. The company built up its operations to serve its new strategy under his leadership. He has been the CEO of Széchenyi Alapok Zrt. since February 2023 and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since April.

 The AutoWallis Group continues its growth story after an extraordinarily successful year