AGM Information • Feb 8, 2012
AGM Information
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Chemring Group PLC Notice of Annual General Meeting 21 March 2012
This document is important and requires your immediate attention. If you are in any doubt about its contents you should consult your independent financial adviser. If you have sold or transferred all of your Chemring Group PLC ordinary shares you should send this document and all accompanying documents 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.
Notice is hereby given that the 106th Annual General Meeting of the shareholders will be held at 2.30pm on Wednesday 21 March 2012 at Investec, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP for the purpose of considering and, if approved, passing the following resolutions:
in each case, as if section 561(1) of the Act did not apply to any such allotment, provided that this power shall be limited:
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 or any legal or practical problems under the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange; and
(b) to the allotment of equity securities (otherwise than pursuant to paragraph (a) of this resolution) up to
an aggregate nominal value of £96,630;
and (unless previously revoked, varied or reviewed) this authority shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after the passing of this resolution or on 21 June 2013 (whichever is the earlier), save that the Company may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Board may allot equity securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.
ordinary shares in the capital of the Company ("Shares") on such terms and in such manner as the directors may from time to time determine, and where such Shares are held as treasury shares, the Company may
(b) the minimum price (exclusive of expenses) which may be paid for a Share is the nominal value thereof;
(i) an amount equal to 105 per cent of the average of the middle market quotations for a Share as derived from the Daily Official List of the London Stock Exchange plc for the five business days
(ii) an amount equal to the higher of the price of the last independent trade of a Share and the highest current independent bid for a Share on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out,
and (unless previously renewed, revoked or varied), this authority shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after the passing of this resolution or on 21 June 2013 (whichever is the earlier), save that the Company may make a contract to purchase Shares which would or might be executed wholly or partly after the expiry of this authority, and may make purchases of Shares pursuant to it as if this authority had not expired.
All previous unutilised authorities to make market purchases of ordinary shares are revoked, except in relation to the purchase of Shares under a contract or contracts concluded before the date of this resolution and where such purchase has not yet been executed.
of this resolution and expiring at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company or not less than fourteen clear days' notice.
By order of the Board
Group Legal Director & Company Secretary 8 February 2012
Chemring House 1500 Parkway Whiteley Fareham Hampshire PO15 7AF
The directors are required to present to the meeting the audited accounts and the reports of the directors and auditors for the financial year ended 31 October 2011.
It is a statutory requirement that the Directors' Remuneration Report be subject to an advisory vote by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting. The report is set out on pages 39 to 47 of the Annual Report and Accounts, which can be accessed on the Company's website (www.chemring.co.uk). Shareholders may also obtain a copy by contacting the Company Secretary at the Company's registered office during usual business hours.
Shareholders must approve the final dividend payable for each ordinary share held. The final dividend declared cannot exceed the amount recommended by the directors.
In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, Mrs Sarah Ellard and Mrs Vanda Murray will be standing for re-appointment as directors following their initial appointment by the Board during the year.
In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, all directors are required to submit themselves for re-election every three years. However, in order to ensure compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code during the financial year ending 31 October 2012, all of the remaining directors will voluntarily submit themselves for re-election at the Annual General Meeting.
Biographical information on all of the directors is given below.
Sarah Ellard was appointed as Group Legal Director on 7 October 2011. She joined the Group in 1994, and was appointed as the Group Company Secretary in 1998. Prior to joining the Group, she trained and worked at Ernst & Young LLP. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Aged 41.
Vanda Murray OBE was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 November 2011. She currently holds a portfolio of non-executive directorships including Carillion plc, where she chairs the Remuneration Committee, The Manchester Airport Group plc and Microgen plc. She has also recently been appointed to the Board of Fenner plc as senior non-executive director. Previous appointments include Deputy Chairman of the North West Regional Development Agency, non-executive director of SIG plc, Chief Executive Officer of Blick plc and UK Managing Director of Ultraframe PLC. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and in 2002 was appointed OBE for Services to Industry and to Export. Aged 51.
Peter Hickson joined the Group as a non-executive director in July 2010 and was appointed Chairman of the Board on 1 October 2010. He is currently Chairman of Communisis plc and a non-executive director of UK Coal plc. He has had senior management experience with a number of large international companies and previous appointments include Chairman of Anglian Water Group, Senior Independent Director of London & Continental Railways Ltd, Finance Director of Powergen plc and non-executive directorships of Scottish Power plc, Marconi Corporation plc, RAC plc and Kazakhymys PLC. He is also a trustee and Board member of Orbis Charitable Trust, the international sight saving charity, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Aged 66.
Dr David Price CBE DSc PhD CEng CSci joined the Group in April 2005 as Chief Executive. He is also a non-executive director of AZ Electronics Materials S.A. and a member of the Council for Southampton University. Formerly Managing Director, Naval Marine at Rolls-Royce plc and Managing Director of Thomson (UK) Holdings Ltd (now part of the Thales Group). Fellow of the Institute of Engineering & Technology, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology, the Institute of Directors and Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. Aged 56.
Paul Rayner joined the Group in June 1994 and acted as Finance Director to several Group companies before being appointed to the Board in August 1999. Formerly a Senior Audit Manager with Deloitte LLP. Aged 50.
The Rt Hon Lord Freeman joined the Group as a non-executive director in May 2006. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee. He is currently a Consultant (formerly Partner) to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chairman of Thales UK Advisory Board and a non-executive director of Savile Group PLC. He is also on the main Board of Thales S.A., France. He was a partner with Lehman Brothers Investment Bankers between 1969 and 1985. Member of Parliament from 1983 to 1997. Made a Privy Councillor in 1993. Minister 1985-1997. Aged 69.
Ian Much joined the Group as a non-executive director in December 2004. He is the Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. Previous appointments include Chief Executive of De La Rue plc and T&N plc, and non-executive directorships of Admiral plc, Camelot plc, Manchester United plc and Simplyhealth Group Ltd. Currently Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Senior plc and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of BTG plc. Aged 67.
Air Marshal Sir Peter Norriss KBE CB AFC MA FRAeS joined the Group as a non-executive director in May 2004. He is currently a consultant to Tessella plc and a Senior Adviser to Newton. He is also a member of major programme review teams for the Office of Government Commerce and an adviser or court member at four universities. Formerly Deputy Chief of Defence Procurement (Operations) and Controller Aircraft on the Air Force Board. Past President of the Royal Aeronautical Society (2003-4). Aged 67.
This resolution proposes the re-appointment of the auditors and follows the standard practice of giving authority to the directors to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditors.
The directors of the Company may only allot shares if authorised to do so by the shareholders in general meeting. This resolution, if passed, will grant new authority under section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Act") and will give the directors flexibility to act in the best interests of shareholders, when opportunities arise, by issuing new ordinary shares. The authority will enable the directors to allot ordinary shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £644,203, which represents approximately one third of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company (exclusive of treasury shares) as at 7 February 2012. This limit is in line with the guidelines issued by the Association of British Insurers.
The directors have no present intention of exercising this authority except for the purpose of allotting shares under the terms of the Company's employee share schemes. The authority will expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or on 21 June 2013 (whichever is the earlier).
If passed, this resolution will allow the directors, pursuant to section 571(1) of the Act, to allot shares for cash without first offering them to shareholders in accordance with the Act and renews the authority given at the Annual General Meeting in 2011. This authority is limited to the allotment of shares for cash up to an aggregate nominal amount of £96,630 which represents approximately 5 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company (exclusive of treasury shares) as at 7 February 2012, without having to first offer them to shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. This limit is in line with the guidelines issued by the Pre-emption Group. In addition, in accordance with normal practice, the resolution would enable the Board to allot shares pursuant to a rights issue or open offer and to deal with overseas shareholders and fractional entitlements as it thinks fit in the context of any rights issue or open offer. The authority will expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or on 21 June 2013 (whichever is the earlier). It is the directors' intention to review this authority every year. There are no present plans to exercise this authority.
If passed, this resolution will give the Company authority to purchase its own shares in the market up to a limit of 10 per cent of its issued ordinary share capital. The maximum and minimum prices are stated in the resolution. The directors believe that it is advantageous for the Company to have this flexibility to make market purchases of its own shares. In the event that shares are purchased, they would either be cancelled (and the number of shares in issue would be reduced accordingly) or, retained as treasury shares, as an alternative to cancelling them.
continued
Shares repurchased as treasury shares will be held with a view to possible resale at a future date rather than having to cancel them. The directors will consider holding repurchased shares pursuant to the authority conferred by this resolution as treasury shares. This gives the Company the ability to reissue treasury shares quickly and cost effectively, and provides the Company with additional flexibility in the management of its capital base. Any issues of treasury shares for the purposes of the Company's employee share schemes will be made within the 10 per cent anti-dilution limit set by the Association of British Insurers.
The directors will only exercise this authority if they are satisfied that a purchase would result in an increase in expected earnings per share and would be in the interests of shareholders generally. The Board only expects to exercise this authority for a buyback of up to £50 million of shares.
The Act provides that general meetings of a company may be held on not less than fourteen clear days' notice in writing. However, the Shareholder Rights Directive (Directive 2007/36/EC), which come into force on 1 August 2009, made it a requirement for companies whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (among other markets), to seek approval each year from its shareholders if any general meeting is to be held on less than twenty one clear days' notice in writing. Resolution 16 seeks such approval.
(who need not be shareholders in the Company) to attend, speak and vote instead of him/her. A shareholder exercise the rights attaching to a different share or shares held by him/her. A separate proxy form should be used for each proxy appointment. If you intend appointing additional proxies, please contact Computershare Investor Services PLC on +44(0)870 889 3289 to obtain (an) additional proxy form(s). Alternatively, you number of shares for which each proxy is authorised to act on his/her holding. Failure to specify the number number of shares set out in the other proxy appointments, is in excess of the number of shares held by the
meeting. A proxy form accompanies this Notice and in order to be valid should be completed and returned
above. A shareholder who has appointed a proxy using the hard copy proxy form but would like to change the instructions using another hard copy proxy form should contact Computershare Investor Services PLC. The above deadline for receipt of proxy appointments also applies to amended instructions. Any attempt to
To appoint a proxy or to give an instruction to a proxy (whether previously appointed or otherwise) via the later than forty-eight hours before the time appointed for holding the meeting. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp generated by the CREST system) from which the Company's agent is able to retrieve the message. CREST Personal Members or other CREST sponsored members should contact their CREST sponsor for assistance with appointing proxies via CREST. For further information on CREST procedures, limitations and systems timings, please refer to the CREST Manual. The Company may treat as invalid a proxy appointment sent by CREST in the circumstances set out
appointment right or does not wish to exercise it, he/she may, under any such agreement, have a right to
meeting but no such answer need be given if (a) to do so would interfere unduly with the preparation for the website in the form of an answer to a question; or (c) it is undesirable in the interests of the Company or the
that the meeting is adjourned, 5.00pm on the date which is two working days prior to the reconvened meeting, disregarded in determining the rights of any person to attend and vote at the meeting or adjourned meeting.
continued
.
Chemring Group PLC Chemring House, 1500 Parkway, Whiteley, Fareham, Hampshire PO15 7AF, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1489 881880 Fax: +44 (0)1489 881123
www.chemring.co.uk
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