AGM Information • Jun 6, 2011
AGM Information
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THIS DOCUMENT, WHICH CONTAINS THE NOTICE OF THE COMPANY'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to what action to take, you should consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other appropriate independent professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all your shares in Babcock International Group PLC, please forward this document and the accompanying Form of Proxy to the person through whom the sale or transfer was effected, for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
A Form of Proxy for the Annual General Meeting is enclosed and should be completed and returned so as to reach the Company's registrars no later than 11:00 am on Tuesday 5 July 2011. Completion and return of the Form of Proxy will not prevent you from attending and voting at the Meeting in person, should you so wish.
Notice is hereby given that the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the members of Babcock International Group PLC ('the Company') will be held at Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, Park Lane, London W1K 7TN on Thursday 7 July 2011, at 11:00 am for the transaction of the following business:
To re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent auditors of the Company.
To authorise the Directors to set the remuneration of the independent auditors, as they shall in their discretion see fit.
up to an aggregate amount of £100,000, with the amount authorised under each of paragraphs (a) to (c) also being limited to such amount, in each case during the period beginning with the date of the passing of this resolution and ending on 30 September 2012 or, if sooner, the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company in 2012. For the purpose of this resolution 'political donation', 'political party', 'political organisation', 'independent election candidate' and 'political expenditure' are to be construed in accordance with sections 363, 364 and 365 of the 2006 Act.
such authorisations to apply (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company in General Meeting) until the end of the Company's next Annual General Meeting (or, if earlier, until 30 September 2012) but, in each case, so that the Company may make offers and enter into agreements before the authority expires 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 expires and the Directors of the Company may allot shares or grant such rights under any such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.
in each case free of the restriction in section 561 of the 2006 Act, provided that such powers shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities and the sale of treasury shares:
i. in connection with an offer of equity securities (but in the case of the authority granted under paragraph (b) of Resolution 18, such power shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities in connection with an offer by way of a rights issue only) in favour of ordinary shareholders in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to the respective number of ordinary shares held by them on the record date for such allotment (and to holders of any other class of equity securities entitled to participate therein or, if the Directors of the Company otherwise consider it necessary, as permitted by the rights of those securities), but subject to such restrictions or other arrangements as the Directors may consider necessary or appropriate to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, legal, regulatory or practical problems in, or under the laws of, any territory or any other matter whatsoever; and
ii. in the case of the authority granted under paragraph (a) of Resolution 18, and/or an allotment which constitutes an allotment of equity securities by virtue of section 560(3) of the 2006 Act (in each case otherwise than under paragraph (i) of this Resolution 19) to the allotment of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £10,770,977,
such powers to apply (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company in General Meeting) until the end of the Company's next Annual General Meeting (or, if earlier, until 30 September 2012) but, in each case, so that the Company may make offers and enter into agreements before the power expires which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares to be granted after the power expires and the Directors of the Company may allot equity securities or grant such rights under any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.
Company Secretary 6 June 2011 Registered Office: 33 Wigmore Street, London W1U 1QX.
The ordinary resolutions will be passed if the votes cast for the resolutions are more than those cast against. The resolutions to be proposed as special resolutions will be passed if at least 75% of the votes cast for and against the resolutions are in favour.
The Board considers that all the resolutions in the notice of the Annual General Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. Your Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of them as they intend to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings.
Resolution 1: The Directors are required to lay the Annual Report and Accounts before the shareholders at each annual general meeting. The Directors' and Auditors' reports and the audited financial statements of the Company to be approved at this Annual General Meeting relate to the financial year ended 31 March 2011.
Resolutions 2 to 10: The Board is fully committed to supporting the principles of good governance outlined in the UK Corporate Governance Code which was published by the Financial Reporting Council in June 2010 and which replaced the Combined Code on Corporate Governance for accounting periods beginning on or after 29 June 2010. Under the UK Corporate Governance Code, Section B.7.1 states that all directors of FTSE 350 companies should be subject to annual election by shareholders. The Directors have decided to follow this provision of the Code. The Directors covered by Resolutions 2 to 10 have each previously been re-appointed as Directors at earlier Annual General Meetings of the Company, and are now standing for their first annual re-election under this provision. Following the annual performance evaluation, the Board is satisfied that each director continues to be effective and to demonstrate commitment to his role. Their biographical details are set out on pages 46 and 47 of the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2011 (a copy of which is available on the Company's website at www.babcock.co.uk). The Board considers each of the Non-Executive Directors standing for re-election (those named in Resolutions 7 to 10) to be independent.
Resolution 11 and 12: Ian Duncan and Kate Swann, have not previously been re-appointed at an Annual General Meeting of the Company, as they have each been appointed as a Non-Executive Director by the Board since the last Annual General Meeting with effect from, in the case of Ian Duncan, 10 November 2010 and, in the case of Kate Swann, 1 June 2011. They are now submitting themselves for election by the Company in Annual General Meeting for the first time. The Board believes that, coming from diverse commercial backgrounds, each brings valuable additions to the range of expertise, outlooks and skills available to the Board in its stewardship of the Company as it continues to develop. Their biographical details can be found on page 47 of the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2011 (a copy of which is available on the Company's website at www.babcock.co.uk). The Board considers each of Ian Duncan and Kate Swann to be independent.
Resolution 13: Sections 439 and 440 of the 2006 Act require that quoted companies lay a Directors' Remuneration Report before the Annual General Meeting for approval by shareholders. This resolution is to approve the Directors' Remuneration report for the financial year ended on 31 March 2011. The Report can be found on pages 64 to 80 of the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011.
Resolution 14: The Company is required to appoint an auditor to serve for each financial year of the Company. At the Annual General Meeting held on 8 July 2010, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was re-appointed as auditor of the Company. Resolution 14 would re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to act as auditor of the Company until the next Annual General Meeting.
Resolution 15: This resolution authorises the Directors, in accordance with standard practice, to negotiate and agree the remuneration of the Company's auditor.
Resolution 16: The Board has recommended that a dividend of 14.20 pence per ordinary share be declared and paid in respect of the Company's performance in the financial year ended 31 March 2011. If approved at the Annual General Meeting, this would be paid on 9 August 2011 to those shareholders on the Company's register at the close of business on 8 July 2011.
Resolution 17: It is the Company's policy not to make political donations or incur political expenditure as those expressions are normally understood. However, certain activities undertaken in the usual course of business may fall within the legal definition of political donation or political expenditure. The authority is sought annually to ensure that all the activities of the Company fully comply with the law.
Resolution 18: Under section 551 of the 2006 Act, the Directors may only allot shares or grant rights over shares if authorised to do so by shareholders. Resolution 18 will be proposed as an ordinary resolution to grant a new authority to allot (a) shares up to an aggregate nominal value of £71,806,514, and (b) equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount (when added to any allotments under part (a) of the resolution) of £143,613,029 where the allotment is in connection with a fully pre-emptive rights issue. These amounts will represent a maximum of 33.3% and a maximum of 66.7% respectively of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 25 May 2011. This is in accordance with the guidance provided by the Association of British Insurers (the 'ABI') on the Directors' authority to allot, which permits resolutions seeking authority to allot shares representing two-thirds of the Company's issued share capital (up from the previous one-third restriction) provided that the extra authority (that part provided by part (b) of Resolution 18) shall only be used to allot shares pursuant to a fully pre-emptive rights issue. If granted, this authority will expire at the end of the Company's Annual General Meeting in 2012 (or, if earlier, on 30 September 2012). As at the date of the notice of this meeting the Company held no treasury shares.
The Directors have no present intention of exercising the allotment authority sought under Resolution 18 unless (if required) for the allotment of ordinary shares in respect of options and awards under employee share plans. However, if the Directors do exercise the authority, the Directors intend to follow emerging market best practice as regards its use (including continuance of the Company's practice to propose each of the Directors for re-appointment at each annual general meeting) as recommended by the ABI.
Resolution 19: The Directors also require additional authority from shareholders to allot shares or grant rights over shares or sell treasury shares where they propose to do so for cash and otherwise than to existing shareholders pro rata to their holdings. Resolution 19 will be proposed as a special resolution to grant such authority. Apart from offers or invitations in proportion to the respective number of shares held, the authority will be limited to the issue of shares and sales of treasury shares for cash up to a maximum aggregate nominal value of £10,770,977 (being a maximum of 5% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital as at 25 May 2011). If given, this authority will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2012 (or, if earlier, on 30 September 2012). The Directors will have due regard to institutional shareholder guidelines in relation to any exercise of this authority, in particular the requirement for advance consultation and explanation before making any such issue which exceeds 7.5% of the Company's issued share capital in any rolling three-year period. With the exception of issues, if necessary, of further shares under the Company's executive or employee share schemes, the Directors do not have any present intention of exercising this authority, but consider it desirable to have the flexibility to use it should opportunities arise.
Resolution 20: This will be proposed as a Special Resolution and will renew the general authority for the Company to make market purchases of its own ordinary shares. The renewed authority, in respect of a maximum of 10% of the Company's issued share capital as at 25 May 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document), would be exercisable with a minimum purchase price of 60 pence per share and a maximum price of not more than 105% of the average middle market quotation for an ordinary share as derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days preceding the day of purchase. If granted, the authority would expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2012 or, if earlier, 30 September 2012. Shares purchased under the authority would either be cancelled or held by the Company as treasury shares. The Directors have no present intention of using this power, and would only exercise the power if they were satisfied at any time that it was in the best interests of shareholders generally to do so, and that (except in the case of a purchase of own shares to be held as treasury shares to fulfil obligations under the Company's executive or employee share schemes) any purchase would be likely to result in an increase in earnings per share. The Company has no warrants outstanding and the total number of options to subscribe for equity shares outstanding on 25 May 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this Notice) was 140,975 representing 0.04% of issued share capital as at 25 May 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document). If the full authority to buy back shares were to be used, and the shares cancelled, these outstanding options would represent 0.04% of issued share capital.
Resolution 21: This is required to reflect the implementation of the Companies (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2009, which increased the minimum notice period for general meetings of the Company to 21 days but provided the Company the option to reduce this period back to 14 days (other than for Annual General Meetings) provided that certain conditions are met. As a result of the resolution which was passed at the 2010 AGM, the Company is currently authorised to call general meetings (other than an Annual General Meeting) on 14 clear days' notice and would like to preserve this authority. Shareholders must have approved the calling of meetings on 14 days' notice at the immediately preceding Annual General Meeting or at a general meeting held since that Annual General Meeting. Resolution 21 seeks such approval. The approval will be effective until the Company's next Annual General Meeting, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed. The Company also needs to meet the requirements for electronic voting under the Shareholders' Rights Directive (which it currently does and intends to continue to do so) before it can call a general meeting on 14 days' notice.
Babcock International Group PLC 33 Wigmore Street London W1U 1QX Tel +44(0)20 7355 5300 Fax +44 (0)20 7355 5360 www.babcock.co.uk
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