Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Jun 25, 2012
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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Annual General Meeting of Halma plc (the 'Company'). These resolutions are a very important part of the governance of the Company and all shareholders are urged to vote, whether they are able to attend or not. This Notice of Meeting sets out the resolutions that shareholders are being asked to consider and vote on at the Annual General Meeting of Halma plc (the 'Company'). These resolutions are a very important part of the governance of the Company and all shareholders are urged to vote, whether they are able to attend or not.
shareholders either online or by post as follows: If you are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting in person, you can vote on the resolutions put to shareholders either online or by post as follows:
to receive paper copies of such documents or if you have recently acquired shares. Otherwise you may now access the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 by visiting the Halma website at www.halma.com. Please note that a hard copy of the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 will only be sent to you if you have opted to receive paper copies of such documents or if you have recently acquired shares. Otherwise you may now access the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 by visiting the Halma website at www.halma.com.
The results of the voting on resolutions will be posted on the Company's website after the meeting.
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 in the Company, you should send an appropriate independent adviser, eg 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 If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you should immediately consult an appropriate independent adviser, eg your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
accompanying Proxy Form, as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee, or the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee. this document, together with the accompanying Proxy Form, as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee, or the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee. If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares in the Company, you should send this document, together with the accompanying Proxy Form, as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee, or 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 one hundred and eighteenth Annual General Meeting of Halma plc will be held in the Ballroom at The Berkeley Hotel, Wilton Place, London SW1X 7RL on Tuesday, 24 July 2012 at 11.00 am for the following purposes:
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions 1 to 16 as ordinary resolutions:
1 To receive the Accounts and the Reports of the Directors and the Auditors for the period of 52 weeks to 31 March 2012.
2 That a final dividend of 5.95p per share be paid on 22 August 2012 to shareholders on the Register of Members at the close of business on 20 July 2012.
3 To approve the Remuneration Report for the 52 weeks to 31 March 2012.
16 That the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares, or grant rights to subscribe for or to convert securities into shares, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £12,500,000 and that this authority shall expire on the earlier of the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company to be held in 2013 and the first anniversary of the passing of this resolution (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company), save that the Company may before such expiry make any offer or agreement which would or might require shares to be allotted or such rights to be granted after such expiry and the Directors may allot shares or grant such rights in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions 17 to 19 as special resolutions:
and shall expire (unless previously renewed, revoked or varied) when the authority contained in resolution 16 expires, save that the Company may make any offer or agreement before such expiry which would or might require equity securities to be allotted or equity securities held as treasury shares to be sold after such expiry.
and the authority hereby conferred shall expire at the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting (except in relation to the purchase of ordinary shares the contract for which was concluded before such date and which would or might be executed wholly or partly after such date), unless such authority is renewed prior to such time.
19 That a general meeting other than an annual general meeting may be called on not less than 14 clear days' notice.
The Directors believe that each of the proposals to be put to the meeting will be of benefit to and are in the best interests of the Company and the shareholders as a whole and recommend that shareholders vote in favour of all the resolutions, as the Directors intend to do in respect of their own beneficial shareholdings in the Company.
By order of the Board
Company Secretary 25 June 2012
Registered office: Misbourne Court, Rectory Way Amersham, Bucks HP7 0DE Registered in England and Wales No. 40932
Resolutions 1 to 16 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions which require a simple majority of the votes to be cast in favour of each resolution. Resolutions 17 to 19 will be proposed as special resolutions which require a 75% majority of the votes to be cast in favour of each resolution.
The Directors are required to present the audited accounts of the Company to shareholders at a general meeting, together with reports of the Directors and Auditors (in this case for the period of 52 weeks to 31 March 2012).
This resolution seeks authority for the Company to pay a final dividend of 5.95p per share to shareholders for the financial year ended 31 March 2012, as recommended by the Directors. If approved the dividend will be paid on 22 August 2012 to ordinary shareholders on the register at the close of business on 20 July 2012.
The Company offers a Dividend Reinvestment Plan ('DRIP') to enable shareholders to elect to have their cash dividends reinvested in Halma plc shares. Shareholders who wish to elect for the DRIP for the forthcoming final dividend, but have not already done so, should return a DRIP mandate form to the Company's Registrars no later than 1 August 2012.
The Remuneration Report is required to be laid before the shareholders in general meeting and voted on. The Remuneration Report is set out on pages 80 to 86 of the Report and Accounts.
The Company's Articles of Association require that once every three years Directors retire by rotation and seek re-election to the Board at an annual general meeting. However, in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, which recommends that all directors of FTSE 350 companies should stand for re-election by shareholders every year, the Board has agreed that all Directors be subject to re-election at this year's Annual General Meeting.
The Chairman has confirmed that following normal performance evaluations, each of the non-executive Directors who are seeking re-election (being Stephen Pettit, Jane Aikman, Norman Blackwell and Steve Marshall) continue to be effective members of the Board and demonstrate commitment to their roles.
The Chairman himself is also seeking re-election and has the support of the Board. On the basis of the feedback received through the Board's performance evaluation process, Stephen Pettit, in his capacity as Senior Independent Director, confirms that Geoff Unwin continues to be an effective Chairman and demonstrates commitment to his role.
The biographies of the Directors retiring at the Annual General Meeting who wish to seek re-election are as follows:
Geoff was appointed non-executive Chairman of Halma in 2003, having been appointed to the Board in 2002. He is Chairman of Xchanging plc and OpenCloud Ltd. Geoff is also Chairman of Taptu Limited, a member of the Advisory Board of Palamon Capital Partners and also chairs one of their investments, RD Card Holdings Ltd. Previously he was a Non-voting Board Director of Capgemini Group, Chairman of Liberata plc from 2003 to 2011, Alliance Medical Group until December 2010, United Business Media plc from 2002 to 2007 and Chief Executive of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young until 2002.
Andrew was appointed Chief Executive of Halma plc in February 2005. He was promoted to Director of the Halma plc Board in
Kevin was appointed to the Halma plc Board in 1998. He became Group Finance Director in 1997 after joining the Halma Executive Board as Finance Director in 1995. Kevin joined Halma as Group Financial Controller in 1987. Kevin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and is an economics and accounting graduate of Bristol University. He attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2007.
Stephen is the Senior Independent Director. He was appointed a non-executive Director of Halma in September 2003. He is also a non-executive director of National Grid plc and BT Group plc – Equality of Access Board. Previously Stephen was non-executive Chairman of ROK plc, an executive director with Cable & Wireless PLC and a divisional chief executive with BP PLC. Stephen has an MSc from London School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD and is an Economics and Politics graduate of Cardiff University.
Neil was appointed to the Halma plc Board in 1998 and is Chief Executive of the Industrial Safety Division. He joined the Halma Executive Board in 1995 as Divisional Chief Executive. He became Managing Director of Apollo Fire Detectors in 1992, after joining as Sales Director in 1987. Neil has a material sciences degree from Sheffield University.
Jane was appointed a non-executive Director of Halma in August 2007. Previously Jane was finance director of Infinis Limited, Wilson Bowden Plc and Pressac plc. She spent three years as an internal audit manager with GEC Alsthom and five years in East Asia with Asia Pulp and Paper Co Limited. Jane qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and has a degree in civil engineering from Birmingham University.
Adam Meyers, Chief Executive – Health Optics Division Adam joined the Halma plc Board in April 2008 and is Chief Executive of the Health Optics Division. He became a member of the Halma Executive Board in 2003 as Divisional Chief Executive, having joined Halma in 1996 as President of Bio-Chem Valve. Adam gained his MBA from Harvard Business School and is a systems engineering graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Norman was appointed a non-executive Director of Halma in July 2010. He is a non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, non-executive Chairman of Interserve Plc and a non-executive director of Ofcom, the communications regulator. His past business roles have included Senior Independent Director at both Standard Life Plc and SEGRO plc, Director of Group Development at NatWest Group, and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He was Chairman of the independent Centre for Policy Studies from 2000 to 2009 where he remains a board member. Norman was created a Life Peer in 1997 and served as Head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from 1995 to 1997.
Steve was appointed a non-executive Director of Halma in July 2010. He is non-executive Chairman of Balfour Beatty plc and Wincanton plc. He is a former chairman of Delta plc, Queens'
Moat Houses plc and Torex Retail plc as well as a former nonexecutive director at Southern Water Services Limited. He was Group Chief Executive of Railtrack Group plc and prior to that Thorn plc, having also served as finance director at each company. His earlier career included a wide range of corporate and operational roles at Grand Metropolitan plc, Burton Group, Black & Decker and BOC Group. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Under the UK Corporate Governance Code the Board is required to set out the reasons for the election of non-executive Directors. Daniela Barone Soares was appointed to the Board in a nonexecutive capacity in November 2011. The Board continually keeps the appropriateness of its composition under review particularly in terms of relevant experience and diversity in its widest sense and believes that Daniela's experience demonstrates this commitment threefold – geographically, in terms of gender and by way of executive experience; and further that she will strengthen the Board with her unique perspective.
The Company's Articles of Association require that all Directors appointed by the Board since the previous annual general meeting should seek election at the next annual general meeting following their appointment. Daniela Barone Soares was appointed to the Board on 10 November 2011 and will be seeking election at this year's Annual General Meeting. The Board recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the election of Daniela Barone Soares and her biographical details are as follows:
Daniela was appointed a non-executive Director of Halma in November 2011. She is Chief Executive of Impetus Trust. She is on the advisory board and a trustee of a number of non-listed, social sector organisations in the UK and Brazil. Daniela's past business roles have included Head of Institutional Support at Save the Children, Assistant Vice President of Private Equity and Venture Capital at BancBoston Capital, Inc. and roles at Goldman, Sachs & Co. (New York) and Citibank, N.A. (Brazil). Daniela has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSc in Economics from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.
The Company is required to appoint auditors at every general meeting at which accounts are presented and the Directors are proposing the reappointment of Deloitte LLP as the Company's auditors.
The Directors may set the remuneration of the auditors if authorised by the shareholders. This resolution seeks such authorisation.
The Directors may only allot shares if authorised to do so by shareholders. The purpose of this resolution is to renew the Directors' authority.
The effect of this resolution will allow the Directors to allot and issue new shares up to a nominal aggregate value of £12,500,000, being just less than one third of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at 13 June 2012 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice of Meeting).
In accordance with the Directors' stated intention to seek annual renewal, the authority will expire at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company in 2013. Passing this resolution will give the Directors flexibility to act in the best interests of shareholders, when opportunities arise, by issuing new shares. The Directors have no current plans to make use of this authority except under share plans previously approved in general meeting.
As at 13 June 2012 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice of Meeting), the Company held 1,396,240 treasury shares, which is equal to approximately 0.4% of the issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at that date.
The Companies Act 2006 requires that, if the Company issues new shares for cash or sells treasury shares, it must first offer them to existing shareholders in proportion to their current holdings.
The effect of this resolution, which will be proposed as a special resolution, is to authorise the Directors to allot new shares pursuant to the authority given in Resolution 16, or sell treasury shares for cash, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £1,890,000 (up to 18,900,000 new ordinary shares) representing approximately 5% of the Company's issued share capital as at 13 June 2012 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice modify statutory pre-emption rights to deal with the legal, regulatory or practical problems that may arise on a rights or other pre-emptive offer or issue. of Meeting) without offering them to shareholders first, and to
The authority will expire at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company in 2013.
The Directors do not intend to issue more than 7.5% of the issued share capital for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis in any rolling three-year period.
The Directors were authorised at the 2011 annual general meeting to purchase up to 37,600,000 of its own 10p ordinary shares in the market. This authority expires at the end of the 2012 Annual General Meeting. In accordance with the Directors' stated intention to seek annual renewal, this resolution (which will be proposed as a special resolution) will renew this authority until the end of next year's annual general meeting in respect of up to 37,800,000 ordinary shares, which is approximately 10% of the Company's issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) as at 13 June 2012 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice of Meeting).
The Directors consider it desirable that the possibility of making such purchases, under appropriate circumstances, is available. The authority, if granted, will only be exercised if market conditions make it advantageous to do so. The Directors will only make purchases under the authority if they believe that to do so would result in an increase in earnings per share for the remaining shareholders and was in the best interests of shareholders generally.
The Directors' present intention is that the shares purchased under the authority will be held in treasury for future cancellation, sale for cash or transfer for the purposes of, or pursuant to, an employee share plan, although in the light of circumstances at the time it may be decided to cancel them immediately on repurchase. The effect of any cancellation would be to reduce the number of shares in issue. For most purposes, while held in treasury, shares are treated as if they have been cancelled (for example, they carry no voting rights and do not rank for dividends).
As at 13 June 2012 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice of Meeting) options were outstanding to subscribe for a total number of 2,160,900 ordinary shares, or approximately 0.6% of the Company's issued share capital (excluding treasury shares). If the proposed authority were to be used in full and all of the repurchased shares were cancelled (but the Company's issued share capital otherwise remained unaltered), the total number of options to subscribe for ordinary shares at that date would represent approximately 0.6% of the Company's issued share capital (excluding treasury shares).
Changes made to the Companies Act 2006 by the Shareholders' Rights Regulations increase the minimum notice period required for general meetings of the Company to 21 days unless shareholders approve a shorter notice period, which cannot be less than 14 clear days. Annual general meetings continue to held on at least 21 clear days' notice.
Before the Shareholders' Rights Directive came into force on 3 August 2009, the Company was able to call general meetings (other than an annual general meeting) on 14 clear days' notice without obtaining such shareholder approval. In order to preserve this flexibility, Resolution 19 seeks to renew the authority obtained at last year's annual general meeting. It is intended that a shorter notice period will not be used as a matter of routine for general meetings, but only if the flexibility would be helpful given the business of the meeting and where the Board thinks it is in the interest of shareholders as a whole. If the resolution is passed, the authority will be effective until the annual general meeting in 2013, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.
The Company offers the facility for shareholders to vote and appoint proxies by electronic means. This is accessible to all shareholders and would be available if the Company were to call meetings on 14 clear days' notice.
The following notes explain your general rights as a shareholder and your right to attend and vote at this Meeting or to appoint someone else to vote on your behalf.
(a) in hard copy form by post, courier or by hand, to the Company's registrars, Computershare Investor Services PLC;
(b) alternatively, shareholders who have received a Proxy Form may appoint a proxy or proxies electronically via the registrar's website at www.investorcentre.co.uk/eproxy using the Control Number, Shareholder Reference Number (SRN) and PIN; or
(c) in the case of CREST members, by using the CREST electronic proxy appointment service (as set out in note 11);
in each case so that it is received no later than 11.00 am on 20 July 2012, being not less than 48 hours (excluding nonworking days) before the time fixed for the meeting.
agreement, have a right to give instructions to the shareholder as to the exercise of voting rights.
The statement of rights of shareholders in relation to the appointment of proxies in paragraphs 1 to 6 does not apply to Nominated Persons. The rights described in these paragraphs can only be exercised by shareholders of the Company.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers, should note that Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited 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, to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider takes) 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.
meeting any question relating to the business being dealt with at the meeting but no such answer need be given if (a) to do so would interfere unduly with the preparation for the meeting or involve the disclosure of confidential information; (b) the answer has already been given on a website in the form of an answer to a question; or (c) it is undesirable in the interests of the Company or the good order of the meeting that the question be answered.
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