Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Mar 26, 2015
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you should immediately consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent professional adviser duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares in Greggs plc, please send this document, together with the accompanying documents, as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for delivery to the purchaser or transferee.
(Registered in England and Wales with registered number 502851)
Registered office:
Fernwood House Clayton Road Jesmond Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1TL
26 March 2015
Dear Shareholder
I enclose a formal notice of our Annual General Meeting, which is to be held at The Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 5HN at 11:30 am on Thursday 30 April 2015.
I hope to see as many of you as possible at the AGM, which is the main opportunity each year for the Board to engage with individual shareholders, answer your questions and to listen to your views.
We are again proposing that all resolutions will be determined by poll vote, rather than on a show of hands. This is in accordance with best practice, and will result in a more accurate reflection of the views of shareholders by ensuring that every vote is recognised, including those of shareholders who are unable to attend the meeting but who appoint a proxy. On a poll, every shareholder has one vote for every share held.
The Company's auditor, KPMG Audit Plc, has advised that, due to an internal reorganisation, it has instigated an orderly wind down of its audit business and transfer to KPMG LLP. The Board has decided to put KPMG LLP forward to be appointed as auditor and resolutions concerning its appointment and to authorise the Directors to agree its remuneration will be put to the AGM. Further information is provided in the Explanatory Notes on page 7.
In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, save in respect of Sandra Turner all of the Directors will, in turn, resign as a Director and offer themselves for re-election. Ms Sandra Turner was appointed by the Board since the last AGM and therefore she will resign and offer herself for election by shareholders.
I am pleased to confirm that, following a recommendation from the Nominations Committee, we are satisfied that each of the Directors seeking election or re-election at the meeting makes a valuable contribution to our discussions and has the best interests of the Company at heart.
If you are unable to attend the AGM, a proxy form is enclosed for you to complete (according to the instructions printed on it) and send to the Company's Registrars, Capita Asset Services, PXS, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4TU to be received by 11:30 am on Tuesday 28 April 2015. Completion and submission of the proxy form will not prevent you from attending and voting at the meeting if you subsequently find that you are able to do so. CREST Members can cast their votes using CREST electronic proxy voting (further details of which are set out in note 9 on page 5 of this document).
Your Directors believe that all the resolutions in the enclosed notice of Annual General Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and are most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, they unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of each resolution, as they intend to do in respect of their own shareholdings in the Company.
Yours faithfully
Ian Durant Chairman
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Greggs plc ("the Company") will be held at The Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 5HN on Thursday 30 April 2015 at 11:30 am for the following purposes:
To transact any other ordinary business of the Company.
As special business, to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions, which will be proposed as to resolution 14 as an Ordinary Resolution and as to resolutions 15 to 17 (inclusive) as Special Resolutions:
This resolution revokes and replaces all unexercised authorities previously granted to the Directors in accordance with section 80 of the Companies Act 1985 or section 551 of the 2006 Act to allot shares or grant Rights but without prejudice to any allotment of shares or grant of Rights already made, offered or agreed to be made pursuant to such authorities.
(b) to holders of other equity securities as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise consider necessary,
but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, legal or practical problems in or under the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange; and
The power granted by this resolution will expire on 31 July 2016 or, if earlier, the conclusion of the Company's next Annual General Meeting (unless renewed, varied or revoked by the Company prior to or on such date) save that the Company may, before such expiry make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of any such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the power conferred by this resolution has expired.
This resolution revokes and replaces all unexercised powers previously granted to the Directors to allot equity securities as if either section 89(1) of the Companies Act 1985 or section 561(1) of the 2006 Act did not apply but without prejudice to any allotment of equity securities already made or agreed to be made pursuant to such authorities.
(a) the amount paid for each Ordinary Share (exclusive of expenses) shall not be more than five per cent above the average of the middle market quotation for an Ordinary Share as derived from the Daily Official List of London Stock Exchange plc for the five business days before the date on which the contract for the purchase is made and, in any event, not less than the nominal value of each Ordinary Share; and
(b) the authority herein contained shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company or on 1 August 2016, whichever is earlier, provided that the Company may, before such expiry, make a contract to purchase its own shares which would or might be executed wholly or partly after such expiry, and the Company may make a purchase of its own shares in pursuance of such contract as if the authority hereby conferred had not expired.
Dated: 26 March 2015
Fernwood House Jonathan D Jowett Clayton Road Company Secretary Jesmond Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1TL
Registered Office: By Order of the Board
To appoint a proxy using the proxy form, the form must be:
completed and signed;
In the case of a member which is a company, the proxy form must be executed under its common seal or signed on its behalf by an officer of the company or an attorney for the company.
Any power of attorney or any other authority under which the proxy form is signed (or a duly certified copy of such power or authority) must be included with the proxy form.
In order for a proxy appointment made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a CREST Proxy Instruction) must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited's ("EUI") specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message must be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer's agent (ID RAI0) by the latest time for receipt of proxy appointments specified in note 8 above. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that EUI does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.
The website referred to in note 12 will include information on the number of shares and voting rights.
Where the Company is required to publish such a statement on its website:
In order to be able to exercise the members' right to require the Company to publish audit concerns (see note 16), the relevant request must be made by:
a member or members having a right to vote at the Annual General Meeting and holding at least 5% of total voting rights of the Company; or
For information on voting rights, including the total number of voting rights, see note 14 above and the website referred to in note 12.
If you either do not have such a right or if you have such a right but do not wish to exercise it, you may have a right under an agreement between you and the Relevant Member to give instructions to the Relevant Member as to the exercise of voting rights.
Your main point of contact in terms of your investment in the Company remains the Relevant Member (or, perhaps, your custodian or broker) and you should continue to contact them (and not the Company) regarding any changes or queries relating to your personal details and your interest in the Company (including any administrative matters). The only exception to this is where the Company expressly requests a response from you.
You may not use any electronic address provided either:
to communicate with the Company for any purposes other than those expressly stated.
Section 439 of the Companies Act 2006 requires quoted companies, at each general meeting at which statutory accounts are to be laid, to propose an ordinary resolution approving the Directors' Remuneration Report for the year. Resolution 13 will be proposed as an ordinary resolution for this purpose.
Resolution 2 appoints KPMG LLP as auditors to the Company and resolution 3 and gives the Directors authority to agree the remuneration of the auditors. An auditor must be appointed at every AGM at which accounts are presented to the shareholders. KPMG Audit Plc has advised the Company that, due to an internal reorganisation, it has decided to wind down its audit business and transfer it to KPMG LLP. Consequently, KPMG Audit Plc has notified the Company that it is not seeking reappointment at the AGM and KPMG LLP has advised its willingness to stand for appointment as the auditor of the Company at the forthcoming AGM.
The statement of circumstances required from KPMG Audit Plc under section 519 of the Companies Act 2006 is reproduced below:
"Statement to Greggs plc (no.00502851) on ceasing to hold office as auditors pursuant to section 519 of the Companies Act 2006.
The circumstances connected with our ceasing to hold office are that our company, KPMG Audit Plc, has instigated an orderly wind down of business. KPMG LLP, an intermediate parent, will immediately be seeking appointment as statutory auditor. We request that any correspondence in relation to this statement be sent to our registered office 15 Canada Square, London, E14 5GL marked for the attention of the Audit Regulation Department.
Yours faithfully KPMG Audit Plc" The Board recommends the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditor following recommendation by the Audit Committee which has considered the circumstances of the change of auditor and conducted an evaluation of the auditor's effectiveness, independence and objectivity. The Board is also seeking authority to agree the remuneration of the auditor in accordance with the terms of reference of the Audit Committee and the fee will be negotiated in accordance with The Statutory Audit Services for Large Companies Market Investigation (Mandatory Use of Competitive Tender Processes and Audit Committee Responsibilities) Order 2014.
The Companies Act 2006 provides that Directors shall only allot unissued shares with the authority of shareholders in general meeting. Resolution 14 will be proposed as an Ordinary Resolution for the renewal of the Directors' general authority to allot shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £674,000, representing approximately one third of the current issued share capital of the Company, as at 4 March 2015 (being the last practical date before going to print). The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority and the authority will, unless renewed, varied or revoked by the Company, expire on 1 August 2016, or, if earlier the date of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company.
The Companies Act 2006 also provides that any allotment of new shares for cash must be made pro rata to individual shareholders' holdings, unless such provisions are disapplied under section 570 of the Companies Act 2006. Resolution 14 will be proposed as a Special Resolution for the renewal of the Directors' authority to allot equity securities for cash, without first offering them to shareholders pro rata to their holdings. This authority facilitates issues made by way of rights to shareholders which are not strictly in accordance with section 561(1) of the Companies Act 2006, and authorises other allotments of up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of £101,000, representing approximately five per cent of the current issued share capital of the Company, as at 4 March 2015 (being the last practical date before going to print). This authority also allows the Directors, within the same aggregate limit, to sell for cash shares that may be held by the Company in treasury (the Company does not currently hold any such shares). The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority and In line with best practice, the Company has not issued more than 7.5% of its issued share capital for cash on a non-pro rata basis over the last three years.
Resolution 16 will be proposed as a Special Resolution for the renewal of the Company's authority to purchase its own shares in the market up to an aggregate nominal amount of £202,000 representing approximately ten per cent of the issued share capital of the Company, as at 4 March 2015 (being the last practical date before going to print). The price payable shall not be more than five per cent above the average price of the middle market quotation as derived from the Daily Official List of London Stock Exchange plc for the Ordinary Shares for the five business days before the purchase is made and in any event not less than the nominal value of each Ordinary Share. It is the Directors' intention only to exercise the authority to purchase the Company's shares where it would increase the earnings per share of those Ordinary Shares that are not re-purchased. The Company intends either to cancel such shares or to hold them in treasury. This power will only be used if the Directors consider that to do so would be in the best interests of shareholders generally. The total number of warrants and options to subscribe for equity shares that are currently outstanding is 4,321,090, which represents approximately 4.3 per cent of the current issued share capital of the Company, as at 4 March 2015 (being the last practical date before going to print). If the full authority to buyback shares (i.e. the existing authority and that being sought under Resolution 14 is used this would represent approximately 4.7 per cent of the current issued share capital of the Company, as at 4 March 2015 (being the last practical date before going to print).
Resolution 17 will be proposed as a Special Resolution to allow the Company to continue to hold general meetings on 14 clear days' notice. The Company is currently able to call general meetings other than Annual General Meetings on 14 clear days' notice in accordance with its Articles of Association. However, the Companies (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2009 (the "Regulations"), which came into force on 3 August 2009, increased the required notice period for all general meetings to 21 days, which overrides the authority provided for in the Articles of Association. The Company is able to reserve the authority to call general meetings (other than the Annual General Meeting) on 14 clear days' notice, provided shareholders have approved this by passing a resolution annually at each Annual General Meeting and the Company has met the requirements for electronic voting under the Regulations. The Company does not intend to call general meetings on 14 clear days' notice as a matter of routine but would like to retain the flexibility to do so where the Directors believe that it is in the best interests of the Company, for example, where the Directors believe there is a financial or operational advantage which outweighs the benefit to shareholders of a longer notice period.
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