AGM Information • Apr 11, 2022
AGM Information
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to be held on Thursday, 12 May 2022 at 3.00pm (UK time) at Moor Place, One Fore Street Avenue, London, EC2Y 9DT
If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you are recommended to consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares, please send this document, together with the accompanying documents at once to the purchaser or transferee, or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
11 April 2022
The 2022 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC (the "Company"), will be held at 3:00pm on Thursday, 12 May 2022 at Moor Place, One Fore Street Avenue, London, EC2Y 9DT.
The Board continues to monitor the latest Government guidelines relating to Covid-19. Whilst it is currently anticipated that there will be no restrictions on social contact or meeting format at the time of the 2022 AGM, shareholders should carefully consider whether or not it is appropriate to attend the AGM. The Board remains keen to ensure the wellbeing of all employees and shareholders are protected and to minimise any public health risks from public gatherings. Shareholders are asked not to attend the AGM if they are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19 or have recently been in contact with anyone who has tested positive. To minimise transmission, we encourage shareholders to take a rapid lateral flow test before attending the meeting, and subject to conditions on the day of the meeting, shareholders may be required to wear face masks. In order to allow all shareholders to attend, even those who decide not to attend in person, we will be providing a remote web cast facility (see below).
The Board recognises the importance of the AGM to shareholders and is keen to ensure that you are able to engage in this year's AGM either physically or remotely. For those wishing to attend remotely, the Board is providing a webcast to view and listen to the AGM and to follow the proceedings in real time. Please note, that you will not be able to vote during the webcast and it is therefore important that, if you wish to vote at the AGM, you appoint a proxy to attend and vote on your behalf. Information on how to join the webcast can be found below. Shareholders can register to join the webcast using the following link:
You will be prompted to enter your name and email address, together with your unique Shareholder Reference Number (this can be found on your proxy form) and PIN number (this is the last four digits of your Shareholder Reference Number) and you will then receive by email a unique webcast link together with instructions on how to login and access the webcast on the day. If you have questions about the webcast facility, please email the Company Secretary at [email protected].
You can put a question to the Board relating to the business to be conducted at the AGM either by emailing [email protected] in advance or by submitting a question at the start of the AGM through the webcast facility. Any questions you wish to submit in advance of the AGM must be received by 3.00pm on Tuesday 10 May 2022. The Board will either respond to you directly or answer the question during the AGM. In the usual way, the Company reserves the right at the AGM to consolidate questions of a similar nature.
The formal Notice of AGM is set out on the following pages of this document, detailing the resolutions that the shareholders are being asked to vote on along with explanatory notes of the business to be conducted at the AGM. Resolutions 1 to 16 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions, and 17 to 20 will be proposed as special resolutions.
Voting on the business of the meeting will be conducted by way of a poll. The results of voting on the Resolutions will be posted on the Company's website as soon as practicable after the AGM.
We strongly encourage shareholders to vote by proxy on the resolutions set out in this Notice of AGM It is important that you complete, sign and return a form of proxy ('Proxy Form') or vote electronically. You can vote electronically at www.sharevote.co.uk using the relevant reference numbers printed on your Proxy Form. Alternatively, if you have already registered with our registrars' (Equiniti Limited) on-line portfolio service, Shareview, you can submit your proxy by logging on to your portfolio at www.shareview.co.uk using your usual user ID and password. Once logged in simply click "View" on the "My Investments" page, click on the link to vote then follow the on screen instructions. CREST members may use the CREST electronic proxy appointment service to submit their proxy appointment in respect of the AGM as detailed on page 10 of this document.
Please note that all Proxy Forms and appointments must be received by 3.00pm on Tuesday, 10 May 2022.
If I am appointed as proxy I will, of course, vote in accordance with any instructions given to me. If I am given discretion as to how to vote, I will vote in favour of each of the resolutions to be proposed at the AGM.
The Board considers that the resolutions set out in the Notice of AGM are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. The Directors therefore recommend that shareholders vote in favour of each of the resolutions, as they intend to do in respect of their own shareholdings. Regarding the re-election of Directors, the Board is of the opinion, and I can confirm that, following a formal performance evaluation, each Director continues to make an effective and valuable contribution and demonstrates commitment to his or her role. The Board is satisfied that each Non-Executive Director remains independent in character and judgement and that there are no relationships or circumstances likely to affect his or her character or judgement. It unanimously recommends the re-election of each of the Directors standing for re-election.
Yours faithfully
Andrew Page
Executive Chairman
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC (the 'Company') will be held at Moor Place, One Fore Street Avenue, London, EC2Y 9DT on Thursday, 12 May 2022 at 3.00pm (UK time) to consider and, if thought appropriate, pass the following resolutions of which Resolutions 1 to 16 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and Resolutions 17 to 20 will be proposed as special resolutions. Further detail in respect of each of the Resolutions proposed can be found in the explanatory notes to this notice of meeting (the "Notice").
That the Company, and all companies that are its subsidiaries, at any time during the period during which this resolution is in force, be and are hereby authorised, in aggregate, to:
(a) make political donations to political parties and/or independent election candidates not exceeding £50,000 in total;
(c) incur political expenditure not exceeding £50,000 in total, from the date of the passing of this resolution until the conclusion of the next AGM, or at 6.00pm on 30 June 2023, whichever is sooner. All existing authorisations and approvals relating to political donations or expenditure under Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 are hereby revoked without prejudice to any donation made or expenditure incurred prior to the date hereof pursuant to such authorisation or approval.
For the purposes of this resolution the terms "political donation", "political parties", "independent election candidates", "political organisation" and "political expenditure" have the meanings given by sections 363 to 365 of the Companies Act 2006.
such authorities to apply in substitution for all previous authorities pursuant to Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (but without prejudice to any allotment of shares or grant of rights pursuant to which an offer or agreement made before the expiry of the authority pursuant to which such offer or agreement was made) and to expire (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company in a general meeting) at the end of the next AGM or at 6.00pm on 30 June 2023, whichever is the earlier, but in each case so that the Company may make offers and enter into agreements during the relevant period which would, or might, require shares to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares to be granted after the authority ends and the Directors may allot shares and grant rights in pursuant of that offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired.
For the purposes of this Resolution, "rights issue" means an offer to:
to subscribe for further securities by means of the issue of a renounceable letter (or other negotiable document) which may be traded for a period before payment for the securities is due, but subject in both cases to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates or legal, regulatory or practical problems in, or under the laws of, any territory or any other matter.
such authority to expire at the end of the next AGM of the Company or, if earlier, at 6.00pm on 30 June 2023 but, in each case, prior to its expiry the Company may make offers, and enter into agreements, which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the Board may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) under any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
such authority to expire at the end of the next AGM of the Company or, if earlier, at 6:00pm on 30 June 2023 but, in
each case, prior to its expiry the Company may make offers, and enter into agreements, which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the Board may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) under any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
By order of the Board
Chief Financial Officer, 11 April 2022
Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC Registered in England & Wales No. 10713517 Registered Office: Moor Place One Fore Street Avenue London EC2Y 9DT
The notes on the following pages give an explanation of the proposed Resolutions. Resolutions 1 to 16 are proposed as ordinary resolutions. For each of these Resolutions to be passed, more than half of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution. Resolutions 17 to 20 are proposed as special resolutions. For each of these Resolutions to be passed, at least three-quarters of the votes cast must be in favour of the Resolution.
The first resolution, the Directors present to the shareholders financial statements, strategic report and the reports of the directors and auditors of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2021.
This resolution seeks shareholder approval of the Directors' Remuneration Report, excluding the Directors' Remuneration Policy, for the year ended 31 December 2021 as set out on pages 100 to 121 of the Annual Report and Accounts. This resolution is subject to an 'advisory vote' by shareholders and the Directors' entitlement to remuneration is not conditional on it.
RSM UK Audit LLP has audited those parts of the Directors' Remuneration Report as highlighted and their report can be found on pages 129 to 136 of the Annual Report and Accounts.
This resolution seeks shareholder approval to pay a final dividend of 1.1 pence per ordinary share for the year ended 31 December 2021. The dividend, if approved, will be payable on 24 June 2022 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 27 May 2022.
Following changes made to the UK Listing Rules in May 2014, companies with a shareholder or shareholders who could, when acting in concert, exercise 30% or more of the voting rights of a company at a general meeting, are required to enter into a binding agreement with that shareholder or shareholders. CHP Software & Consulting Limited (which is controlled by Andrew Page and Andrew Denton) is a controlling shareholder of the Company (i.e. it is a shareholder that controls more than 30% of the votes at a General Meeting of the Company).
Therefore, under rule 13.8.17 of the UK Listing Rules this Notice is required to state certain information concerning any independent Director proposed for election or re-election, and under rule 9.2.2E of the UK Listing Rules such election or re-election must be approved by a majority vote of both: the independent shareholders (i.e. shareholders of the Company who are entitled to vote on the election of Directors and who are not controlling shareholders); and the shareholders as a whole.
In order to determine this, the Company will arrange for the number of votes cast by the independent shareholders to be counted separately, and will announce the results of the voting on both bases. If a majority vote is not achieved on both bases, the Company may under the Listing Rules put the matter to a second vote, this time a single vote of the shareholders as a whole at the meeting, to be held between 90 and 120 days after the AGM.
Pending the second vote, the relevant Director or Directors will be deemed to have been elected only for the period from the date of the AGM until the earlier of (a) the conclusion of any second vote, (b) 6.00pm on the date 120 days after the AGM and (c) the date of any announcement by the Board that it does not intend to hold a second vote. If the independent Director's re-election is approved by a majority vote of all shareholders at
the second general meeting, the Director will then be re-elected until the next AGM.
The Listing Rule requirements for companies with a controlling shareholder also require (in rule 13.8.17 of the UK Listing Rules) additional disclosures about the independent directors' relationships, independence, effectiveness and appointments. This information is set out below.
The Company has decided that all Directors should retire and stand for re-election by shareholders annually. Accordingly, resolutions 4 to 11 detail those Directors retiring and standing for re-election and biographies for each Director standing for re-election are set out below.
Steve is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, having qualified with EY in 1993 where he focused on providing corporate finance advice to technology businesses in the UK and internationally. Steve has 17 years' experience as Chief Financial Officer of a number of businesses. Between 2010 and 2016, Steve was CFO of Tribal Group PLC, a leading international provider of student management software to the education market. Steve has subsequently pursued a portfolio career, acting as adviser to a number of privately owned companies.
Adrian is a Non-Executive Director of Cambridge University Health Trust, one of the country's largest NHS Trusts, where he chairs the Performance Committee. During 2021, Adrian was appointed as the Senior Independent Director of the Trust. He is also Executive Chairman of eConsult Ltd, a leading cloud based medical triage company.
He previously has held senior executive positions in a number of private and public hi-tech and telecommunications companies including Chief Executive Officer of Messagelabs and Achilles Ltd, a member of the Board of Cable & Wireless and Bovis Lend Lease and a member of the Operations Board at Symantec. He holds an MA in History from Trinity College, Cambridge and an MBA from the London Business School.
Currently Chief People Officer at Keyloop which focuses on software for the automotive industry where she joined in early 2021, after serving as Chief People Officer at Synamedia where she lead a large scale global transformation. Prior to that, Charlotte was Global Head of Human Resources and more recently as Executive Vice President at Finastra, a global fintech where she was responsible for Executive Talent, corporate social responsibility, culture and values, and diversity and inclusion.
Prior to joining Finastra in 2012 as Global Head of Human Resources, Charlotte spent over 11 years at Ventyx, a global provider of software solutions for the energy, utility and other asset-intensive businesses. During her tenure at Ventyx she held various HR roles, latterly as Human Resource Manager for Rest of World.
Andrew joined Alfa in 1995 and became a member of the Board of Directors in 2003 as Sales and Marketing Director. He was made Chief Operating Officer in 2010 and became CEO in September 2016. Andrew is also Director and joint founder of the Leasing Foundation, an organisation that supports the leasing and asset finance industry through charitable activities, research and development.
Duncan started his career at Price Waterhouse, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989. He joined Ocean Group in 1992 and spent 13 years in the UK and US in various finance roles as the group transformed into Exel Logistics. He joined Balfour Beatty, the infrastructure company, in 2006 and was Group CFO from 2008 to 2015. In 2016 he joined Rubix, an Industrial Parts Distributor, as Group CFO and was in that role through to 2019.
Andrew is one of the founding Directors of Alfa. Andrew became the Chief Executive Officer in 2010 and the Executive Chairman in September 2016. Andrew provides commercial oversight and with the Board sets the strategic direction and goals of the Company.
Chris was Chief Executive of the Corporate & Investment Bank at Santander UK during the years 2015-2018, and prior to this held various CEO roles during a 40-year career at The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest.
His 11 years on the Group Executive Committee included leading Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Direct Line and Retail Direct and culminated in appointment to the post of Deputy Group Chief Executive in March 2014. A recipient of the Leasing Life European Lifetime Achievement Award, Chris brings expertise in the asset finance industry, having spent nearly 30 years with the Lombard Group in a number of directorate roles including as CEO.
Key strengths — Considerable management experience
— Extensive experience with software development and all aspects of systems implementation and delivery
Matthew joined Alfa as a graduate in 1999, starting in a software development role. In his 20-year career delivering software for the asset finance industry, Matthew has direct experience of everything involved in systems implementation, from configuration and testing support to project management for a number of UK and European projects. From 2010 to 2016, Matthew's role grew to include responsibility for most of the operations of the Company, before he led Alfa's IPO in 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, a role which he assumed in February 2019, Matthew is accountable for the international operations of the business, including Alfa's technology platform and project delivery.
The auditor of a company must be appointed or re-appointed at each general meeting at which the accounts are laid. Resolution 12 proposes, on the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee, the re-appointment of RSM Audit UK LLP as the Company's auditor, until the conclusion of the next general meeting of the Company at which accounts are laid.
This Resolution seeks shareholder consent for the Audit and Risk Committee of the Company to set the remuneration of the auditor.
Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 requires companies to obtain shareholders' authority for donations to registered political parties and other political organisations totalling more than £5,000 in any twelve month period, and for any political expenditure, subject to limited exceptions. The definition of donation in this context is very wide and extends to bodies such as those concerned with policy review, law reform and the representation of the business community. There are further restrictions on companies incurring political expenditure (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) without first obtaining shareholders' consent. The Company has not made any and does not envisage making any political donations; however, this resolution is proposed for approval as a precaution in order to avoid an inadvertent breach of the legislation as a result of the wide meanings given to the terms "political donations" and "political expenditure". This resolution, if passed, will authorise the Directors until the AGM in 2023 to make donations and incur expenditure which might otherwise be caught by the terms of the Act, up to an aggregate amount of £50,000 for the Company and for subsidiary companies.
The Directors propose that the rules of the Deferred Bonus Share Plan ("DBSP") be amended to permit the use of new issue or treasury shares to satisfy awards, which requires the approval of shareholders. The Directors are proposing this change to provide them with an additional method of settling awards, which they will use as and when they believe it to be appropriate as part of the Directors' flexible and responsible approach to managing the Company's finances generally and to hedging the Company's liabilities in relation to share awards.
The permission to use new issue or treasury shares will be subject to the same dilution limit that applies to all of the Company's employee share plans, being 10% of the Company's ordinary share capital over a rolling 10 year period. It will also be subject to the same dilution limit that applies to each of the discretionary share plans adopted by the Company, including in particular the Long Term Incentive Plan, being 5% of the Company's ordinary share capital over a rolling 10 year period.
Awards granted to executive directors under the DBSP will continue to be subject to the Company's directors' remuneration policy, which was last put to shareholders at the Company's 2021 AGM.
This resolution seeks shareholder approval for the DBSP as amended. The principal terms of the DBSP are summarised in Appendix 1 on page 12 of this Notice.
Under the Companies Act 2006, the directors of a company may only allot new shares (or grant rights over shares) if authorised to do so by the shareholders in a general meeting. The authority in paragraph (a) of the resolution will allow the Directors to allot new shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or convert other securities into, shares up to approximately one third (33.3%) of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company (exclusive of treasury shares) which as at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this Notice, is equivalent to an aggregate nominal value of £99,824.93.
The authority in paragraph (b) will allow the Directors to allot new shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or convert other securities into, shares only in connection with a rights issue up to a further nominal value of £99,824.93, which is equivalent to approximately one third (33.3%) of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company (exclusive of treasury shares) as at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice. As at 21 March 2022 the Company held 525,197 shares in treasury.
In total, the resolution will allow the Directors to allot a maximum aggregate of two-thirds of the issued share capital of the Company and is considered routine by The Investment Association.
The Directors have no present intention to allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any security into shares pursuant to this authority. However, the Directors consider it desirable to have the flexibility to respond to market developments and to enable allotments to take place in appropriate circumstances.
If the Resolution is passed the authority will expire on the earlier of 6.00pm on 30 June 2023 or the end of the Annual General Meeting in 2023.
If the Directors wish to allot new shares and other equity securities, or sell treasury shares, for cash (other than in connection with an employee share scheme), company law requires that these shares are offered first to shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. There may be circumstances, however, when it is in the interests of the Company to be able to allot new equity securities for cash other than on a pre-emptive basis.
Resolution 17 deals with the authority of the directors to allot new shares or other equity securities pursuant to the authority
given by Resolution 18, or sell treasury shares, for cash without the shares or other equity securities first being offered to shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. Such authority shall only be used in connection with a preemptive offer, or otherwise, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £14,973.74, being approximately 5% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice. As at 21 March 2022 the Company held 525,197 shares in treasury.
The Pre-emption Group Statement of Principles supports the annual disapplication of pre-emption rights in respect of allotments of shares and other equity securities (and sales of treasury shares for cash) representing no more than an additional 5% of issued ordinary share capital (exclusive of treasury shares), to be used only in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment. The Pre-emption Group's Statement of Principles defines 'specified capital investment' as meaning one or more specific capital investment related uses for the proceeds of an issuance of equity securities, in respect of which sufficient information regarding the effect of the transaction on the company, the assets the subject of the transaction and (where appropriate) the profits attributable to them is made available to shareholders to enable them to reach an assessment of the potential return.
Accordingly, and in line with the template resolutions published by the Pre-emption Group, Resolution 18 seeks to authorise the directors to allot new shares and other equity securities pursuant to the authority given by Resolution 16, or sell treasury shares, for cash up to a further nominal amount of £14,973.74, being approximately 5% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice, only in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment which is announced contemporaneously with the allotment, or which has taken place in the preceding six-month period and is disclosed in the announcement of the issue. If the authority given in Resolution 18 is used, the Company will publish details of the placing in its next Annual Report.
If these resolutions are passed, the authorities will expire at the end of the next AGM or at 6.00pm on 30 June 2023, whichever is the earlier.
The Board considers the authorities in Resolutions 17 and 18 to be appropriate in order to allow the Company flexibility to finance business opportunities or to conduct a rights issue or other pre-emptive offer without the need to comply with the strict requirements of the statutory pre-emption provisions.
The Board intends to adhere to the provisions in the Preemption Group's Statement of Principles not to allot shares for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis (other than pursuant to a rights issue or pre-emptive offer) in excess of an amount equal to 7.5% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the company within a rolling three-year period other than (i) after prior consultation with shareholders or (ii) in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment which is announced contemporaneously with the allotment or which has taken place in the preceding six-month period and is disclosed in the announcement of the allotment.
This resolution, seeks to renew the existing authority granted to the Company to purchase its own ordinary shares, up to a maximum of 29,947,480 ordinary shares, until the Annual General Meeting in 2023 or 30 June 2023, whichever is the earlier. This represents 10% of the ordinary shares in issue (excluding shares held in treasury) as at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice. The Company's exercise of this authority is subject to the stated upper and lower limits on the price payable, the upper limit being the price stipulated in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 as referred to in Article 5(6) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, and the Listing Rules.
Pursuant to the Companies Act 2006, the Company can hold any shares which are repurchased as treasury shares and either re-sell them for cash, cancel them, either immediately or at a point in the future, or use them for the purposes of its employee share schemes. Holding the repurchased shares as treasury shares will give the Company the ability to re-sell or transfer them in the future and will provide the company with additional flexibility in the management of its capital base. No dividends will be paid on, and no voting rights will be exercised in respect of, treasury shares. Shares held as treasury shares will not automatically be cancelled and will not be taken into account in future calculations of earnings per share (unless they are subsequently re-sold or transferred out of treasury).
The Directors consider it desirable and in the Company's interests for shareholders to grant this authority.
The Company will not, save in accordance with a predetermined, irrevocable and non-discretionary programme, repurchase shares in the period immediately preceding the preliminary announcement of its annual or interim results as dictated by the Listing Rules or Market Abuse Regulation or, if shorter, between the end of the financial period concerned and the time of a relevant announcement or, except in accordance with the Listing Rules and the Market Abuse Regulation, at any other time when the directors would be prohibited from dealing in shares.
As at 21 March 2022, being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this Notice, there were no outstanding warrants or options to subscribe for ordinary shares in the Company. As at 21 March 2022 the Company held 525,197 shares in treasury.
Under the Companies Act 2006, as amended, the notice period required for all general meetings of the Company is 21 days, though shareholders can approve a shorter notice period for general meetings that are not annual general meetings, which cannot however be less than 14 clear days. Annual general meetings will continue to be held on at least 21 clear days' notice. The shorter notice period would not be used as a matter of routine, but only where the flexibility is merited by the business of the general meeting to be held, and is thought to be to the advantage of shareholders as a whole. Shareholder approval will be effective until the Company's next AGM, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.
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Lines open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays in England and Wales).
For additional Proxy Forms you may photocopy the Proxy Form provided with this document indicating on each copy the name of the proxy you wish to appoint and the number of Ordinary Shares in the Company in respect of which the proxy is appointed. All Proxy Forms should be returned together in the same envelope.
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Please note that all proxy forms and appointments, whether postal or electronic, must be received by Tuesday, 3.00pm (UK time) on 10 May 2022.
Guests will not be permitted to ask questions.
This appendix sets out the principal terms of the Alfa Deferred Bonus Share Plan ("DBSP"), the amendments to which are being put to shareholders at the AGM for approval by Resolution 15.
The DBSP was adopted on 30 April 2021. The DBSP is a discretionary share plan facilitating: (i) the part-deferral of a participant's earned bonus into shares; and (ii) the partial or full payment of a post-tax bonus in shares ("Net Bonus Shares") in lieu of cash. The purpose of the DBSP is to incentivise and reward the achievement of annual objectives that are integral to the Company's strategy as well as provide alignment with shareholders' long-term interests. It is proposed that the DBSP be amended to permit the use of newly issued, treasury, or transferred Shares to satisfy awards. The Directors are proposing this change to provide them with an additional method of settling awards, which they will use as and when they believe it to be appropriate as part of the Directors' flexible and responsible approach to managing the Company's finances generally and to hedging the Company's liabilities in relation to share award.
The shareholders are therefore asked to approve the DBSP (as amended), as is required under the Listing Rules.
The remuneration committee of the Board (or such other committee which the Board delegates responsibility for overseeing the operation of the DBSP) (the "Remuneration Committee") has absolute discretion to decide on the operation of the DBSP. All employees (including executive directors) who are employed by the Company and/or its subsidiaries (the "Group") on the date on which an award is granted (or the date on which the bonus is payable, if applicable) are eligible to participate in the DBSP at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee. The Remuneration Committee may also extend, at its discretion, such eligibility to include certain former employees or former executive directors.
Where a participant volunteers to, or is required to, defer a portion of their bonus into shares under the terms of the Group's annual bonus arrangements, the Remuneration Committee may grant an award to acquire shares under the DBSP in order to facilitate such deferral.
The Remuneration Committee may grant a conditional right to acquire shares under the DBSP ("Conditional Share Awards"), which cannot be transferred. The Remuneration Committee may also grant forfeitable shares ("Restricted Share Awards"), which cannot be transferred except in limited circumstances as prescribed by the DBSP.
Where a participant is required to accept partial or full payment of their bonus in Net Bonus Shares, the Remuneration Committee may issue the number of shares which equal the value of the bonus (or part of the bonus), net any applicable employee tax and/or social security deductions.
Currently, awards granted under the DBSP are satisfied using shares purchased in the market. Pursuant to Resolution 15, is it proposed that the Remuneration Committee will be authorised to satisfy awards through the issue of new shares, treasury shares or other transferred shares (including those purchased in the market).
Awards may be granted at any time within 42 days of: (i) the date of adoption the of DBSP; (ii) the date on which the shareholders approved the Directors' Remuneration Policy; (iii) the business
day after the announcement of the Company's results for any period; (iv) the announcement or effective date of legislative or regulatory changes affecting share plans; or (v) the date on which applicable restrictions, if any, on dealings or transactions in securities cease to apply. In addition, awards may be granted at any other time when the Remuneration Committee determines there to be exceptional circumstances which justify the granting of awards.
A participant may not receive awards in any financial year over shares which have a market value in excess of the value of the aggregate portion of their bonus being deferred under the DBSP or bonus to be paid in Net Bonus Shares.
In any 10-year period, not more than 10% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company for the time being may, in aggregate, be issued or issuable under the DBSP and any other employee share scheme operated by the Company. In addition, in any 10-year period, not more than 5% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company for the time being may, in aggregate, be issued or issuable under the DBSP and any other discretionary share plans adopted by the Company, including in particular the Long Term Incentive Plan. For the purposes of this limit, no account will be taken of any shares where the right to the shares has lapsed or of any awards made prior to the listing of the Company's shares under any previous employee share schemes.
Awards will normally be released at least three years after the date of grant, unless dealing restrictions apply.
As a general rule, when a participant ceases to hold any office or employment with a member of the Group, their awards will be ordinarily released on the date when release would have occurred if they had not so ceased, unless the Remuneration Committee determines otherwise in its discretion, in the form of a Leaver Award (as defined in the DBSP).
The Remuneration Committee may decide that the malus and Group cross-clawback provisions shall apply if, at any time prior to the release of an award, it is discovered that: (i) there is a material misstatement in the Company's financial results; (ii) the participant is guilty of serious misconduct, deliberate misleading and/or actions causing reputational damage to a member of the Group or the participant's business unit; or (iii) overpayments have been made due to material write-offs, in each case which, in the opinion of the Remuneration Committee, justifies the operation of the recovery and withholding provisions. Malus and clawback may be satisfied by way of a reduction in the number of shares subject to an award (including to nil), additional conditions to release an award, or any other manner provided for in the clawback provisions of the employee share scheme of a member of the Group.
In the event of a takeover, voluntary winding-up or other change of control of the Company as contemplated in the DBSP, the awards will be released in full, subject to the Remuneration Committee's discretion.
In the event of any variation of the Company's share capital, the Remuneration Committee may make such adjustment as it considers appropriate.
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