AGM Information • May 31, 2019
AGM Information
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If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, solicitor, accountant or other professional adviser duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 if you are resident in the United Kingdom or, if not, from another appropriately authorised independent financial adviser.
If you have sold or transferred all of your shares in PZ Cussons Plc, please send this document and any other documents that accompany it as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee of those shares or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for onward transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
(incorporated in England and Wales under company number 19457)
Notice of the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of PZ Cussons Plc (the Company), to be held at Manchester Business Park, 3500 Aviator Way, Manchester M22 5TG at 10.30am on Wednesday 25 September 2019 is set out on pages 3 to 7 of this document. Your attention is drawn to the letter from the Chair which is set out on page 2 of this document.
Whether or not you propose to attend the AGM, please complete and submit a proxy appointment in accordance with the Notes to the Notice of AGM set out on page 4. To be valid, the proxy appointment must be received at the address for delivery specified in the Notes by no later than 10.30am on Monday 23 September 2019.
Manchester Business Park 3500 Aviator Way Manchester M22 5TG
23 August 2019
To the Company's shareholders (Shareholders) and, for information only, to participants in the PZ Cussons Share Schemes
I am pleased to be writing to you with details of our 2019 Annual General Meeting which we will be holding at Manchester Business Park, 3500 Aviator Way, Manchester, M22 5TG at 10.30am on Wednesday 25 September 2019.
The formal Notice of the AGM is set out on pages 3 to 7 of this document and contains the proposed resolutions. Explanatory notes to the business to be considered are set out on pages 5 to 7.
As in previous years, I will be inviting you to vote on all AGM resolutions by way of a poll. Poll voting is in line with practice increasingly adopted by UK public companies and provides a more transparent method of voting. It results in a more accurate reflection of the views of Shareholders by ensuring that every vote is recognised, including the votes of those Shareholders who are unable to attend but who have appointed a proxy for the meeting. On a poll, each Shareholder has one vote for every share held.
Whether or not you intend to be present at the AGM, I would encourage you to vote on each of the resolutions set out in the Notice of AGM by appointing a proxy to act on your behalf. You can appoint a proxy by:
Further information on how to appoint a proxy is set out in the notes to the Notice of AGM on page 4. In each case, your proxy appointment must be received by the Company's Registrar by no later than 10.30am on Monday 23 September 2019 to be valid. Completion and return of the Form of Proxy or submission of a proxy appointment online or electronically will not prevent you from attending and speaking and voting in person at the AGM, should you wish to do so.
The Board of Directors (the Board) considers that Resolutions 1 to 16 as set out in the Notice of AGM are in the best interests of the Company and the Shareholders as a whole and the Board unanimously recommends Shareholders to vote in favour of them.
Yours faithfully,
CAROLINE SILVER
Chair
Notice is hereby given that the 2019 Annual General Meeting of the members of PZ Cussons Plc will be held at Manchester Business Park, 3500 Aviator Way, Manchester M22 5TG on Wednesday 25 September 2019 at 10.30am for the purposes set out below.
Resolutions 1 to 13 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions. Resolutions 14 to 16 will be proposed as special resolutions. Resolutions 5 to 10 relating to the re-election of the Independent Non-executive Directors will be passed only if both a majority of votes cast by the Independent Shareholders (as those terms are defined in the explanatory notes on pages 5 to 7 of this document) and a majority of the votes cast by all Shareholders are in favour.
Ordinary Shares on the register on any fixed record date in proportion to their holdings of Ordinary Shares (and, if applicable, to the holders of any other class of equity security in the capital of the Company in accordance with the rights attached to such class), subject in each case to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or appropriate in relation to fractions of such securities, the use of more than one currency for making payments in respect of such offer, any such shares or other securities being represented by depositary receipts, treasury shares, any legal or practical problems in relation to any territory or the requirements of any regulatory body or any stock exchange; and
b) the allotment of equity securities (other than pursuant to paragraph (a) above) with an aggregate nominal value of £214,362,
and shall expire on the revocation or expiry (unless renewed) of the authority conferred on the Directors by Resolution 13 in the notice of this meeting, save that, before the expiry of this power, the Company may make any offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities under any such offer or agreement as if the power had not expired.
Date: 23 August 2019 By Order of the Board
Company Secretary
PZ Cussons Plc, Manchester Business Park, 3500 Aviator Way, Manchester M22 5TG
The Companies Act 2006 requires the Directors of a public company to lay before the Company in general meeting copies of the Directors' reports, the independent auditor's report and the audited financial statements of the Company in respect of each financial year. In accordance with best practice, the Company proposes, as an ordinary resolution, a resolution on its annual accounts and reports for the financial year ended 31 May 2019 (2019 Annual Report and Accounts).
In accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Company proposes an ordinary resolution to seek Shareholder approval of the Report on Directors' Remuneration for the financial year ended 31 May 2019. The Report on Directors' Remuneration is set out on pages 88 to 109 of the 2019 Annual Report & Accounts but, for the purposes of this resolution, does not include the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration containing the Directors' Remuneration Policy which is set out on pages 92 to 99 of the 2019 Annual Report & Accounts. The vote on this resolution is advisory only and the Directors' entitlement to remuneration is not conditional on its being passed.
The Companies Act 2006 requires the Directors' Remuneration Policy to be put to Shareholders for approval annually unless the approved policy remains unchanged, in which case it need only be put to Shareholders for approval at least every three years. The Company is not proposing any changes to the Directors' Remuneration Policy approved at the annual general meeting held in 2017.
The Directors recommend a final dividend of 5.61p per Ordinary Share. If approved by ordinary resolution of the Shareholders, the dividend will be paid on 3 October 2019 to Shareholders on the register as at the close of business on 9 August 2019.
All Directors shall retire from office at the AGM in accordance with the Company's articles of association and each of them shall stand for re-election.
Each of Resolutions 4 to 10 shall be proposed as an ordinary resolution. Biographical details of all of the Directors can be found in the 2019 Annual Report & Accounts. These details include membership of the principal committees. The Chair confirms that, following formal performance evaluation, each Director continues to be effective, to make a positive contribution and to demonstrate commitment to his or her role. The Board believes that the considerable and wide-ranging experience of these Directors will continue to be invaluable to the Company and recommends their re-election. Resolutions 5 to 10 (inclusive) relate specifically to the re-election of those Directors whom the Board has determined to be independent for the purposes of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Independent Non-executive Directors). The Company is required to comply with provisions of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules (the Listing Rules) relating to the election or re-election of independent non-executive directors of premium listed companies with a controlling shareholder, being a shareholder that exercises or controls, on their own or together with any person with whom they are acting in concert, 30% or more of the votes able to be cast on all or substantially
all matters at a general meeting. For the purposes of the Listing Rules, certain Shareholders in the Company (principally comprising the founding Zochonis family or certain wider family groups, certain Company trusts, GA Kanellis as Executive Director, and current or former employees) are deemed to be controlling shareholders of the Company (the Controlling Shareholders). As at the close of business on 22 August 2019, the Controlling Shareholders held 226,986,506 shares, representing approximately 53% of the Company's issued share capital.
As a consequence, and to ensure continuing good governance, at the AGM the re-election of all Independent Non-executive Directors must be approved by a majority vote of all Shareholders and, separately, by a majority vote of the Shareholders entitled to vote on the re-election of Directors other than the Controlling Shareholders (the Independent Shareholders).
Resolutions 5 to 10 (inclusive) are therefore proposed as ordinary resolutions on which all Shareholders may vote, but in addition the Company will separately count the number of votes cast by the Independent Shareholders in favour of each resolution (as a proportion of the total votes of Independent Shareholders cast on the resolution) to determine whether the majority approval of Independent Shareholders as referred to above has been achieved. The Company will announce the results of Resolutions 5 to 10 (inclusive) on this basis as well as announcing the results of the ordinary resolutions of all Shareholders.
Under the Listing Rules, if a resolution to re-elect an independent non-executive director is not approved by majority vote of both the shareholders as a whole and the independent shareholders, a further ordinary resolution may be put forward to be approved by the shareholders as a whole at a general meeting which must be held more than 90 days after the date of the first vote but within 120 days of that first vote. Accordingly, if any of Resolutions 5 to 10 (inclusive) is not approved by a majority vote of all Shareholders and a majority vote of the Independent Shareholders at the AGM, the relevant Independent Non-executive Director will be treated as having been re-elected only for the period from the date of the AGM until the earlier of: (i) the close of any meeting of the Company, convened for a date more than 90 days after the AGM but within 120 days of the AGM, to propose a further ordinary resolution to re-elect him or her, (ii) the date which is 120 days after the AGM, and (iii) the date of any announcement by the Board that it does not intend to hold a second vote.
In the event that the Independent Non-executive Director's re-election is approved by majority vote of all Shareholders at a second meeting, the Independent Non-executive Director in question will be re-elected until the Company's next annual general meeting.
As required by the Listing Rules, the Company confirms the following:
At each meeting at which the annual reports and accounts are laid, the Company is required to appoint an auditor to serve until the next such meeting. The Audit & Risk Committee has recommended to the Board, and the Board now proposes to Shareholders at Resolution 11, the reappointment of Deloitte LLP as auditors. The Audit & Risk Committee has confirmed to the Board that its recommendation is free from third party influence and that no restrictive contractual provisions have been imposed on the Company limiting the choice of auditors.
Resolution 12 is an ordinary resolution giving the Audit & Risk Committee the discretion to determine the auditor's remuneration.
The Directors currently have an authority to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any securities into, shares in the Company. This authority is due to expire at the AGM. The Board is seeking, by ordinary resolution, to renew that authority to provide the Directors with flexibility to allot new shares and grant rights up until the Company's annual general meeting in 2020 within the limits prescribed by The Investment Association.
If passed, this resolution will authorise the Directors to allot (or grant rights over) new shares in the Company in any circumstances up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of £1,414,792, representing approximately 33% of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital as at the close of business on 22 August 2019 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document).
The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority; however, the Board considers it prudent to maintain the flexibility that it provides to enable the Directors to respond to any appropriate opportunities which may arise. If passed by Shareholders, this authority will expire at the close of business on 30 November 2020 or, if earlier, at the conclusion of the Company's annual general meeting held in 2020.
The Company held no treasury shares as at the close of business on 22 August 2019.
This is a special resolution which renews a similar power granted at last year's annual general meeting and which, if passed by Shareholders, will enable the Board to allot Ordinary Shares for cash, or to sell any shares out of treasury for cash, without first offering those shares to existing Shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings.
If passed, Resolution 14 will permit the Board to allot Ordinary Shares or sell treasury shares for cash on a nonpre-emptive basis both in connection with a rights issue or similar pre-emptive issue and, otherwise than in connection with any such issue, up to a maximum nominal amount of £214,362, representing approximately 5% of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital as at the close of business on 22 August 2019 (being the latest date prior to publication of this document).
The Directors have no present intention of exercising this power but believe that it is in the best interests of Shareholders for the Directors to continue to have this flexibility, in those limited circumstances, to allot shares for cash or to sell treasury shares for cash. The Directors intend to seek renewal of this power at future annual general meetings of the Company.
The Directors confirm their intention to follow the provisions of the Pre-emption Group's Statement of Principles regarding cumulative usage of authorities within a rolling three-year period. Those Principles provide that companies should not issue shares for cash representing more than 7.5% of the Company's issued share capital in any rolling three year period, other than to existing Shareholders, without prior consultation with Shareholders.
This special resolution, if passed, will authorise the Company to make market purchases of its own Ordinary Shares. The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority but, again, would wish to have the flexibility to do so in the future. Purchases of own shares would only be made through the London Stock Exchange. This should not be taken to imply that Ordinary Shares will be purchased at any particular price or indeed at all. The Directors will only exercise the authority to make purchases of Ordinary Shares granted by this resolution if they believe that to do so would result in an improvement in earnings per share and is in the best interests of Shareholders generally.
Any Ordinary Shares purchased would be cancelled (in which case the number of shares in issue would thereby be reduced) or held in treasury, depending on which course of action is considered by the Directors to be in the best interests of the Shareholders at that time.
The maximum number of Ordinary Shares which may be purchased is 42,872,496, representing approximately 10% of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital as at the close of business on 22 August 2019 (being the latest date prior to publication of this document). The authority will expire at the close of business on 30 November 2020 or, if earlier, at the conclusion of the Company's annual general meeting held in 2020. The minimum price which could be paid for an Ordinary Share would be its nominal value and the maximum price would be the maximum price permitted by the Listing Rules or in case of a tender offer, 5% above the average of the middle market quotations for an Ordinary Share, as derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the 5 business days immediately preceding the day on which the terms of the tender offer are announced, in each case excluding expenses. The Directors intend to seek renewal of this authority at future annual general meetings of the Company.
As at the close of business on 22 August 2019, there were no options or rights outstanding to subscribe for new Ordinary Shares.
The Company currently has the power under its articles of association to call general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on a minimum of 14 clear days' notice and would like to preserve this ability. In order to do so, Shareholders must first approve the calling of meetings on a minimum of 14 clear days' notice. This special resolution seeks such an approval. If granted, the approval will be effective until the conclusion of the Company's annual general meeting held in 2020. The shorter notice period would not be used as a matter of routine for general meetings, but only where the flexibility is merited by the business of the meeting and where it is considered by the Directors to be in the best interests of Shareholders as a whole.

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