AGM Information • May 26, 2023
AGM Information
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JD Sports Fashion Plc
(incorporated in England and Wales under company number 01888425)
NOTICE OF THE 2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Notice of the 2023 Annual General Meeting of JD Sports Fashion Plc, to be held at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, One St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE on Tuesday 27 June 2023 at 9.00am, is set out on pages 4 and 5 of this document.
Whether or not you propose to attend the meeting, please complete and submit a proxy appointment in accordance with the notes to the Notice of the Annual General Meeting set out on pages 6 and 7. To be valid, your proxy appointment must be received at the address for delivery specified in the notes by no later than 9.00am on Friday 23 June 2023.
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Letter from the Non-Executive Chair of JD Sports Fashion Plc to the holders of ordinary shares in JD Sports Fashion Plc (registered in England and Wales with number 01888425)
Directors:
Regis Schultz (Chief Executive Officer), Neil James Greenhalgh (Chief Financial Officer), Andrew Higginson (Independent Non-Executive Chair), Kathryn Louise Smith (Independent Non-Executive Director, Senior Independent Director, Workforce Engagement Director), Helen Ashton (Independent Non-Executive Director and Audit Chair), Suzi Williams (Independent Non-Executive Director and Remuneration Committee Chair), Mahbobeh Sabetnia (Independent Non-Executive Director and Consumer Duty Director), Andrew Michael Long (Non-Executive Director), Hubertus Georg Hoyt (Independent Non-Executive Director), Ian Dyson (Independent Non-Executive Director).
Dear Shareholder
I am pleased to be writing to you with details of the 2023 Annual General Meeting (the 'AGM') of JD Sports Fashion Plc (the 'Company'), which we will be holding at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, One St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE on Tuesday 27 June 2023 at 9.00am.
The business to be transacted at the AGM is set out in the formal notice of AGM (the 'Notice'), as set out on pages 4 and 5 of this document which contains the proposed resolutions on which you are invited to vote. Explanatory notes to the business to be considered are set out in the Appendix to this document.
If you are unable, or would prefer not, to attend the AGM in person, you can still be represented at the meeting by appointing a proxy to act on your behalf and by giving instructions on how you wish your proxy to vote on the proposed resolutions.
Irrespective of whether or not you propose to attend the meeting, we would encourage you to appoint the Chair of the meeting as your proxy. This will ensure that your vote will be counted if ultimately you are (or any proxy you might otherwise appoint is) not able to attend on the day for any reason. If you appoint the Chair of the meeting as your proxy, the Chair will vote in accordance with your instructions. If the Chair is given discretion as to how to vote, he or she will vote in favour of each of the proposed resolutions set out in the Notice. Appointing a proxy will not prevent you from attending and voting in person if you wish to do so.
All proposed resolutions will be put to a vote on a poll. This is in line with practice adopted by many UK public companies. This means that any shareholder present in person or by proxy shall have one vote for every share held.
Details of how to appoint a proxy are set out in the notes to the Notice on page 6. To be valid, your proxy appointment form or instruction must be received at the address specified in the notes by no later than 9.00am on Friday 23 June 2023.
The board recognises the importance of the AGM to shareholders and is keen to ensure that you are able to engage with the business of the meeting whether or not you are able to attend.
Shareholders or their appointed proxies or representatives who attend the AGM on the day will be able to ask questions on the business of the meeting. All shareholders (irrespective of whether or not they propose to attend the AGM) are also invited to ask their questions on the business of the meeting in advance by sending an email to [email protected]. Shareholders wishing to receive a response to a question in advance of the proxy voting deadline for the AGM should submit their questions by email by no later than 9.00am on Tuesday 20 June 2023.
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The board of directors considers that the proposed resolutions set out in the Notice are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommends shareholders to vote in favour of them as the directors intend to do in respect of their own beneficial shareholdings (save in respect of those resolutions in which they are interested).
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Yours faithfully
Andrew Higginson Non-Executive Chair
Notice is hereby given that the 2023 Annual General Meeting of the members of JD Sports Fashion Plc (the 'Company') will be held at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, One St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE on Tuesday 27 June 2023 at 9.00am for the purposes set out below.
Resolutions 1 to 6 (inclusive) and Resolutions 16 to 19 (inclusive) will be proposed as ordinary resolutions. Resolutions 7 to 15 (inclusive) will also be proposed as ordinary resolutions, but will be conditional on separate approval by Independent Shareholders or by further ordinary resolution as specified in the explanatory notes to this Notice. Resolutions 20 to 22 will be proposed as special resolutions.
up to an aggregate total amount of £100,000 with the amount authorised for each of the heads (a) to (c) above being limited to the same total. Any such amounts may comprise sums paid or incurred in one or more currencies. Any sum paid or incurred in a currency other than sterling shall be converted into sterling at such rate as the directors may decide is appropriate. Terms used in this resolution have, where applicable, the meanings that they have in Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 on "Control of political donations and expenditure".
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and shall expire on the revocation or expiry (unless renewed) of the authority conferred on the directors by resolution 19 in this Notice, save that, before the expiry of this power, the Company may make any offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may allot equity securities under any such offer or agreement as if the power had not expired.
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JD Sports Fashion Plc, Edinburgh House, Hollinsbrook Way, Pilsworth, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 8RR
By order of the Board
Neil Greenhalgh Chief Financial Officer
By completing and returning a hard copy proxy form – A member may appoint a proxy by completing and returning the enclosed hard copy proxy form. To be valid, the proxy form must be completed in accordance with the instructions that accompany it and then delivered to the Company's Registrar, Equiniti at Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing BN99 6DA so as to be received by no later than 9.00am on Friday 23 June 2023.
By submitting a proxy appointment online – A member may appoint a proxy online by visiting the Company Registrar's online portfolio service portal, at www.shareview.co.uk and following the instructions. A member that has not already done so will first need to register to use the site. To register, a member will need his or her Shareholder Reference Number which can be found on the member's share certificate (or which is otherwise available from the Registrar). To be a valid proxy appointment, the member's electronic message confirming the details of the appointment completed in accordance with the relevant online instructions must be transmitted so as to be received by no later than 9.00am on Friday 23 June 2023.
By submitting a proxy appointment via CREST – Members who hold their shares in uncertificated form may use the "CREST electronic proxy appointment service" to appoint a proxy electronically by following the procedures set out in note 5 below.
Any power of attorney or other authority under which a proxy appointment is signed or made (or a certified copy of such power or authority) must be received at the relevant address specified in these notes for receipt of such proxy appointment (or at the Company's registered office) by the latest time indicated for receipt of such proxy appointment. Appointing a proxy will not prevent a member from attending and voting in person at the meeting should he or she so wish.
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Members wishing to receive a response to a question in advance of the proxy voting deadline for the AGM should submit their questions by email by no later than 9:00am on 20 June 2023.
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The Companies Act 2006 (the 'Act') requires the directors of a public company to lay before the company in a general meeting, copies of the directors' reports, the independent auditor's report and the audited financial statements of the company in respect of each financial period. In accordance with best practice, the Company proposes an ordinary resolution to receive its annual report and accounts for the financial period ended 28 January 2023 (the '2023 Annual Report').
In accordance with the Act, shareholders are invited to approve the directors' remuneration report for the financial period ended 28 January 2023.
The directors' remuneration report is set out on pages 132 to 154 of the 2023 Annual Report. For the purposes of this resolution, the directors' remuneration report does not include the directors' remuneration policy on pages 137 to 140. The vote on the directors' remuneration report is advisory only and the directors' entitlement to remuneration is not conditional on its being passed.
The Act requires that the directors' remuneration policy must be put to shareholders for approval whenever a new policy, or an amendment to an existing approved policy, is proposed. The directors' remuneration policy must in any event be put to shareholders for approval at least every three years. The Company is not proposing any changes to the directors' remuneration policy approved at the EGM in December 2022.
The directors are recommending a final dividend for the financial period ended 28 January 2023 of 0.67 pence per ordinary share. If approved by ordinary resolution of the shareholders, the dividend will be paid on 4 August 2023 to shareholders on the register of members as at the close of business on 7 July 2023.
Resolutions 4 to 15 relate to the retirement and the election or re-election (as the case may be) of the Company's directors. The Company's articles of association provide that a director who has been appointed by the board of directors during the period shall hold office only until the end of the annual general meeting next following his or her appointment.
Regis Schultz, Andrew Higginson, Ian Dyson, Angela Luger and Darren Shapland were each appointed as directors of the Company since the last annual general meeting. At the AGM, therefore, each intends to stand for election by the shareholders for the first time.
The Company's articles of association also require one-third of the Company's directors to retire from office at each annual general meeting. Additionally, any director who has not been elected or re-elected by the Company's shareholders at either of the two preceding annual general meetings is required to retire. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Company's articles of association, the board of directors has determined that each of the other directors shall retire from office at the AGM in line with best practice recommendations of the Financial Reporting Council's UK Corporate Governance Code. Each of the other existing directors, being Neil Greenhalgh, Andrew Long, Kath Smith, Bert Hoyt, Helen Ashton, Mahbobeh Sabetnia and Suzi Williams, intends to stand for re-election by the shareholders.
Resolutions 7 to 15 (inclusive) relate specifically to the election or re-election of those directors that the board has determined to be independent for the purposes of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the 'Independent Directors'). The Independent Directors are Kath Smith, Bert Hoyt, Helen Ashton, Mahbobeh Sabetnia, Suzi Williams, Andrew Higginson, Ian Dyson, Angela Luger and Darren Shapland.
The Company is required to comply with certain provisions of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules (the 'Listing Rules') that apply to the election or re-election of independent non-executive directors of premium listed companies with a controlling shareholder, being a shareholder that exercises or controls, on their own or together with any person with whom they are acting in concert, 30% or more of the votes able to be cast on all or substantially all matters at a general meeting. For the purposes of the Listing Rules, Pentland Group Plc ('Pentland') is a controlling shareholder of the Company. As at the close of business on 22 May 2023, Pentland held 2,676,391,195 shares, representing 51.64% of the Company's issued share capital as at that date. Therefore, at the AGM, the election or re-election (as the case may be) of the Company's Independent Directors must be approved in each case by a majority vote of both: (a) the Company's shareholders as a whole; and (b) the Company's shareholders entitled to vote on the election or re-election of directors other than Pentland or any of Pentland's associates (the 'Independent Shareholders').
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Resolutions 7 to 15 (inclusive) are therefore being proposed as ordinary resolutions on which all shareholders may vote, but in addition the Company will separately count the number of votes cast by Independent Shareholders in favour of each resolution (as a proportion of the total votes of Independent Shareholders cast on the resolution) to determine whether the majority approval of Independent Shareholders as referred to above has been achieved. The Company will announce the results of Resolutions 7 to 15 (inclusive) on this basis as well as announcing the results of the ordinary resolutions of all shareholders.
Under the Listing Rules, if a resolution to elect or re-elect an independent non-executive director is not approved by majority vote of both the shareholders as a whole and the independent shareholders at the annual general meeting, a further ordinary resolution may be put forward to be approved by the shareholders as a whole at a general meeting which must be held more than 90 days after the date of the first vote but within 120 days of that first vote. Accordingly, if any of Resolutions 7 to 15 (inclusive) is not approved by a majority vote of both the shareholders as a whole and the Independent Shareholders at the AGM, the relevant Independent Director will be treated as having been elected or re-elected (as the case may be) only for the period from the date of the AGM until the earlier of: (i) the close of any general meeting of the Company, convened for a date more than 90 days after the AGM but within 120 days of the AGM, to propose a further ordinary resolution to elect or re-elect him or her, (ii) the date which is 120 days after the AGM, and (iii) the date of any announcement by the board of directors that it does not intend to hold a second vote.
In the event that the Independent Director's election or re-election is approved by majority vote of all shareholders at a second meeting, the Independent Director in question will be elected or re-elected (as the case may be) until the Company's next annual general meeting.
As required by the Listing Rules, the Company confirms the following:
The Company is required to appoint or reappoint auditors at each annual general meeting at which its annual accounts and reports are presented to shareholders. As previously announced, the Group concluded its tender process on the appointment of a new external auditor. As a result of the tender process and on the recommendation of the audit and risk committee, the board is proposing to shareholders the appointment of Deloitte LLP as the Company's auditors for the financial period ending 3 February 2024. Resolution 16, therefore, proposes Deloitte's appointment as auditors to hold office until the Company's next annual general meeting at which its accounts are laid before shareholders.
Resolution 17 authorises the audit and risk committee to agree Deloitte's remuneration. The audit and risk committee has confirmed to the board that its recommendation is free from third party influence and that no restrictive contractual provisions have been imposed on the Company limiting its choice of auditors.
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Subject to limited exceptions, Part 14 of the Act imposes restrictions on companies making political donations to any political party or other political organisation or to any independent election candidate or incurring political expenditure unless they have been authorised to do so by shareholders at a general meeting. It has always been the Company's policy that it does not make political donations nor incur political expenditure. This remains the case. Nevertheless, the Act includes broad and ambiguous definitions of the terms "political donation" and "political expenditure" which may apply to some normal business activities which would not generally be considered to be political in nature.
As in previous years and as is common practice among many UK public companies, the board of directors considers that it would be prudent to obtain shareholder approval to make donations to political parties, political organisations and independent election candidates and to incur political expenditure up to the limit specified in the resolution.
In seeking shareholder approval, the board wishes to emphasise that the proposed resolution is a precautionary measure to guard against any inadvertent breach of the statutory restrictions and that the board has no intention of making any political donations, incurring political expenditure nor entering into party political activities. The board intends to seek renewal of this approval at future annual general meetings.
The directors currently have a general authority to allot new shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any securities into, shares. This authority is, however, due to expire at the AGM and the board would like to seek a new authority to provide the directors with flexibility to allot new shares and grant rights up until the Company's next annual general meeting.
The proposed authority, if granted, will provide the directors with the flexibility to allot (and grant rights over) new shares in the Company in any circumstances up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of £32,318. This amount represents approximately 1.25% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital as at 22 May 2023 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document). The Company did not hold any shares in treasury as at that date.
The directors do not have any present intention to exercise this authority, however the board considers it prudent to have the flexibility that it provides to enable the directors to respond to any appropriate opportunities that may arise. If granted, this authority will expire at the close of business on 27 June 2024 or, if earlier, on the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting.
Resolution 20 is a special resolution which, if passed by shareholders, will enable the directors to allot equity securities (which means ordinary shares, or rights to subscribe for, or to convert securities into, ordinary shares) in the Company, or to sell any ordinary shares out of treasury, for cash, without first offering those equity securities to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings.
If passed by shareholders, this resolution will permit the board to allot ordinary shares for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis both in connection with a rights issue or similar pre-emptive issue and, otherwise than in connection with any such issue, up to a maximum nominal amount of £32,318. This amount represents approximately 1.25% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital as at 22 May 2023 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document). This resolution will permit the board to allot ordinary shares for cash, up to the specified level, in any circumstances.
The directors do not have any present intention of exercising this power but believe that it is in the best interests of shareholders to have the flexibility, in those limited circumstances, to allot shares or to sell treasury shares for cash.
Resolution 21 is a special resolution to allow the Company to call general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on not less than 14 clear days' notice.
The Company is currently able to call a general meeting (other than an annual general meeting) on at least 14 days' notice and would like to preserve this ability. In order to do so, shareholders must first approve the calling of meetings on at least 14 days' notice. This resolution seeks such approval. The approval will be effective until the Company's annual general meeting to be held in 2024. The shorter notice period would not be used as a matter of routine for such meetings, but only where it is merited by the business of the meeting and is considered to be in the interests of shareholders as a whole.
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This resolution, which will be proposed as a special resolution, authorises the Company to make market purchases of its own ordinary shares as permitted by the Act. The authority limits the number of shares that could be purchased to a maximum of 10% of the issued share capital of the Company as at 22 May 2023 and sets minimum and maximum prices. This authority will expire at the conclusion of next year's AGM.
The directors have no present intention of exercising this authority but will keep the matter under review. The authority will be exercised only if the directors believe that to do so would result in an increase in earnings per share and would be likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its shareholders as a whole.
Any purchases of ordinary shares would be by means of market purchases through the London Stock Exchange. Any shares purchased under this authority may either be cancelled or held as treasury shares. Treasury shares may subsequently be cancelled, sold for cash or used to satisfy options issued to employees pursuant to the employees' share schemes. As at 22 May 2023 there were options over 53,225 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company which represent 0.00% of the issued ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares) at that date. If the authority to purchase ordinary shares was exercised in full, these options would represent 0.00% of the issued ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares).
There were 0 warrants and 53,225 options to subscribe for ordinary shares outstanding as at 22 May 2023 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice), representing 0.00% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares). If the full authority to buy back shares (existing and being sought) was exercised in full, these warrants and options would represent 0.00% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital.
The authority will only be valid until the conclusion of the next AGM in 2024 or, if earlier, 18 months from the date of the resolution.
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