Auditors

The term of the auditor shall end at the end of the next Annual General Meeting following the election. Furthermore, the Company shall have a sustainability reporting assurance provider elected by the Annual General Meeting for the same term as the auditor, to assure the Group’s sustainability reporting.

The Board of Directors has the duty to make a proposal to the Annual General Meeting as to the election and fees of the auditor. A proposal to the Annual General Meeting on the election of the auditor that has been made known to the Board of Directors prior to the Annual General Meeting will be made public if it is supported by shareholders holding a minimum of 10% of all the Company’s shares and voting rights and the person or company proposed has consented to such nominations.

The Company’s auditors submit the statutory auditor’s report to the company’s shareholders in connection with the company’s financial statements. The auditors also report their findings to the Board Audit Committee on a regular basis and at least once a year to the full Board of Directors. The parent company, Outokumpu Corporation, was audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Oy, and the responsible auditor was Samuli Perälä, Authorized Public Accountant. PriceWaterhouseCoopers Oy was also responsible for overseeing and coordinating the auditing of Group companies, and for providing assurance on the Company’s sustainability reporting.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy was elected as the Company’s auditor in the Annual General Meeting held on April 3, 2024 and has been the auditor of Outokumpu for eight consecutive terms. Both Outokumpu and PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy emphasize the requirement stipulating that the auditor be independent of the company being audited. The PwC Network Independence policy is based on the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.

Outokumpu’s Board Audit Committee continuously monitored the non-audit services purchased by the Group from PriceWaterhouseCoopers on a global level. In 2024, the auditors were paid fees totalling EUR 3.2 million, of which the non-auditing services accounted for EUR 0.3 million. The non-audit services fees include EUR 0.2 million relating to assurance of sustainability reporting.