AGM Information • Mar 25, 2011
AGM Information
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to any aspect of the proposals referred to in this document or as to the action you should take, you should seek your own advice from a stockbroker, solicitor, accountant, or other financial adviser who, if you are taking advice in the United Kingdom, is duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or an appropriately authorised independent financial adviser if you are in a territory outside the United Kingdom.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your ordinary shares in Provident Financial plc, please pass this document together with the accompanying documents to the purchaser or transferee, or to the person who arranged the sale or transfer so they can pass these documents to the person who now holds the shares.
Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Provident Financial plc to be held at the offices of Provident Financial plc, No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU on Wednesday 4 May 2011 at 10.30am is set out on pages 3 to 7 of this document.
Whether or not you propose to attend the Annual General Meeting, please complete and submit a proxy appointment form in accordance with the Notes to the Notice of the Annual General Meeting set out on pages 6 and 7. The proxy appointment form must be received at the address for delivery specified in the Notes by 10.30am on Monday 2 May 2011.
(incorporated and registered in England and Wales under number 668987)
No. 1 Godwin Street Bradford West Yorkshire BD1 2SU
25 March 2011
To shareholders
Dear Shareholder,
I am pleased to be writing to you with details of our Annual General Meeting ("AGM") which we are delighted to be holding at our new offices at No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU on Wednesday 4 May 2011 at 10.30am. Directions and a map of how to get to our new offices are set out on the reverse of the enclosed proxy card. This year, as there will be no lunch, I have arranged for light refreshments to be available on arrival and I look forward to welcoming you to our new offices.
Full details of the resolutions that will be put to shareholders are set out in the formal Notice of Annual General Meeting which is set out on pages 3 to 7 of this document. Explanatory Notes to the business to be considered are set out in Appendix I on pages 8 to 10.
Amongst the resolutions proposed this year, I would like to draw your attention specifically to the following:
Shareholders are being asked to approve a final dividend of 38.1p per ordinary share for the year ended 31 December 2010. If shareholders approve the recommended final dividend, this will be paid on 21 June 2011 to all ordinary shareholders who were on the register of members at the close of business on 13 May 2011.
The directors consider that all the resolutions to be put to the meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. Your board will be voting in favour of them and unanimously recommends that shareholders do so as well.
If you would like to vote on the resolutions but cannot come to the AGM, please complete and submit a proxy appointment form in accordance with the Notes to the Notice of the Annual General Meeting set out on pages 6 to 7. The proxy appointment form must be received at the delivery address specified in the Notes by 10.30am on Monday 2 May 2011.
Yours faithfully
John van Kuffeler
Chairman
The fifty-first annual general meeting of Provident Financial plc will be held at No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU on Wednesday 4 May 2011 at 10.30am. Shareholders will be asked to consider and pass the resolutions below. Resolutions 15 to 17 (inclusive) will be proposed as special resolutions. All other resolutions will be proposed as ordinary resolutions.
up to an aggregate total amount of £50,000, with the amount authorised for each of heads (a) to (c) above being limited to the same total. Any such amounts may comprise sums paid or incurred in one or more currencies. Any sum paid or incurred in a currency other than sterling shall be converted into sterling at such a rate as the board may decide is appropriate. Terms used in this resolution have, where applicable, the meanings they have in Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 on "Control of political donations and expenditure".
That the directors are generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into such shares ("Allotment Rights"), but so that:
(a) the maximum amount of shares that may be allotted or made the subject of Allotment Rights under this authority are shares with an aggregate nominal value of £9,366,491;
(i) an amount equal to 5% above the average market value of an ordinary share, based on the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List, for the five business days immediately preceding the day on which that ordinary share is contracted to be purchased; and
(ii) the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid on the London Stock Exchange at the time that the purchase is carried out,
in each case, exclusive of expenses;
such power to expire on 3 November 2012 or, if earlier, on the conclusion of the next annual general meeting; but in each case so that the Company may, before such expiry, enter into a contract to purchase ordinary shares which will or may be completed or executed wholly or partly after the power ends and the Company may purchase ordinary shares pursuant to any such contract as if the power had not ended.
(i) to ordinary shareholders in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their existing holdings; and
(ii) to holders of other equity securities, as required by the rights of those securities or, as the board otherwise considers it necessary,
subject to any limits, restrictions or arrangements which the board considers 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; and
(b) any other allotment of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £1,419,165,
such power to expire when the authority conferred on the directors by Resolution 14 in the Notice of this meeting expires save that, before the expiry of this power, 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 power ends and the board may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) under any such offer or agreements as if the power had not ended.
By order of the board
Registered Office: No. 1 Godwin Street Bradford West Yorkshire BD1 2SU
Kenneth J Mullen General Counsel and Company Secretary 25 March 2011
Registered in England and Wales No. 668987
For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the time stamp applied to the message by the CREST Application Host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means.
The following notes give an explanation of the proposed resolutions.
Resolutions 1 to 14 (inclusive) are proposed as ordinary resolutions. An ordinary resolution will be passed at a meeting on a show of hands if it is passed by a simple majority of (i) the members who (being entitled to do so) vote in person on the resolution and (ii) the persons who vote on the resolution as duly appointed proxies of members entitled to vote.
Resolutions 15 to 17 (inclusive) are proposed as special resolutions. A special resolution will be passed at a meeting on a show of hands if it is passed by a majority of not less than 75% of (i) the members who (being entitled to do so) vote in person on the resolution and (ii) the persons who vote on the resolution as duly appointed proxies of members entitled to vote.
The directors' and auditors' reports and the audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2010 (the "annual report") have been made available to shareholders and will be presented at the AGM. The annual report may also be accessed on the Company's website at www.providentfinancial.com.
The directors' remuneration report is contained in the annual report. It may also be accessed on the Company's website at www.providentfinancial.com.
Shareholders are being asked to approve the final dividend for each ordinary share. However, the final dividend cannot be more than the amount which the directors recommend (which is 38.1p for each ordinary share). Under the articles of association of the Company the directors can pay interim dividends (these are dividend payments made during the year). The final dividend proposed in this resolution is in addition to the interim dividend of 25.4p for each ordinary share which was paid on 30 November 2010.
The articles of association of the Company state that each director who held office at the time of the two preceding annual general meetings and who did not retire at either of them, should retire from office and may offer himself for reappointment. Furthermore, each director must offer himself for reappointment annually once he has served for nine years or more. However, the Company intends to comply with the requirement of the UK Corporate Governance Code and therefore all directors will be subject to annual reappointment with effect from this year's AGM. There is information about the directors and the board committees on which they sit in Appendix II on pages 11 and 12 of this document.
In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, it is confirmed that a formal performance evaluation has been carried out and that each of these directors continues to be an effective member of the board and to demonstrate commitment to the role.
The Company is obliged by law to appoint auditors annually. The audit committee considered the reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP at its meeting on 28 February 2011 and recommended this to the board. Resolution 12 authorises the directors to set the auditors' remuneration.
This resolution renews the resolution that was passed at the 2010 AGM and seeks approval from shareholders to enable the Company to make donations or incur expenditure which it would otherwise be prohibited from making or incurring by the Companies Act 2006.
Amongst other things, the Companies Act 2006 prohibits companies and their subsidiaries from making political donations or incurring political expenditure in excess of an aggregate of £5,000 in relation to a political party or other political organisation or an independent election candidate in the 12 month period following the date of their first AGM after the new legislation came into effect (and in each succeeding 12 month period), unless such donations and expenditure have been approved in advance by the Company's shareholders.
The Company and its subsidiaries do not currently make donations to political parties and do not intend to do so in the future. However, the Companies Act 2006 contains wide definitions of "political donation", "political organisation", "political expenditure" and "political party" and, as a result, it is possible that the Company and its subsidiaries may be prohibited from supporting bodies which it is in the shareholders' interests for the Company to support; for example, bodies concerned with policy review or law reform, with the representation of the business community or sections of it or special interest groups. If this resolution is passed the Company and its subsidiaries will be authorised to make donations and incur expenditure which might otherwise be prohibited by the legislation, up to a limit of, in aggregate, £50,000. The directors consider that the authority is necessary to provide the Company with comfort that it will not, because of uncertainties as to the scope and interpretation of the legislation, unintentionally commit a technical breach of it. It will also allow the Company and its subsidiaries to provide financial and other support to organisations which it is in shareholders' interests for the Company to support.
As permitted under the Companies Act 2006, the resolution extends not only to the Company but also covers all companies which are subsidiaries of the Company at any time the authority is in place.
The directors are currently authorised to allot relevant securities (which include ordinary shares and preference shares) of the Company. Although their authorisation does not expire until 7 May 2013, in accordance with best practice the directors are seeking the annual renewal of the allotment authority.
This resolution would give the directors the authority to allot ordinary shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any securities into ordinary shares up to an aggregate nominal value equal to £9,366,491 (representing 45,189,215 ordinary shares). This represents approximately 33% of the total issued equity share capital as at 23 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document). The renewed authority will remain in force until 3 November 2012 or, if earlier, the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting. As at 23 March 2011, the Company did not hold any treasury shares.
The directors have no present intention of exercising this authority. The purpose of giving the directors this authority is to maintain the Company's flexibility to take advantage of any appropriate opportunities that may arise.
This resolution renews the resolution that was passed at the 2010 AGM giving the Company authority to purchase its own shares in the market up to a maximum of approximately 10% of the total issued equity share capital of the Company. No shares were purchased pursuant to that authority. The resolution sets out the maximum number of shares which may be purchased, which is approximately 10% of the total issued equity share capital of the Company as at 23 March 2011, the highest and lowest prices which may be paid and the date when this authority runs out. If any shares are purchased, they will be either cancelled or held in treasury. Any such decision will be made by the directors at the time of purchase on the basis of shareholders' best interests. If the directors decide to hold such shares as treasury shares, any subsequent issue of these treasury shares for the purposes of equity-based incentive schemes will be treated as being included in the 10% anti-dilution limit in those schemes.
The directors are committed to managing the capital of the Company effectively. Any purchases would be made only if to do so would result in an increase in earnings per share of the Company and would be in the best interests of the Company and of shareholders generally. Earnings per share is the profit after tax of the Company divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year. The directors have no present intention of making purchases of the Company's shares pursuant to this authority.
As at 23 March 2011 there were options outstanding over 1,460,339 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company which represents 1.07% of the Company's total issued equity share capital as at that date. If the authority to purchase the Company's ordinary shares was exercised in full, these options would represent 1.18% of the Company's total issued equity share capital. As at 23 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice) the Company did not hold any treasury shares.
This resolution seeks to renew the directors power to allot equity securities for cash and to sell treasury shares other than to existing holders of ordinary shares in proportion to their holdings. Equity securities are ordinary shares in the Company (but do not include shares which are allotted under employee share schemes). This power is limited to an offer of equity securities by way of a rights issue or an open offer or similar procedure under which a Company offers existing shareholders the chance to acquire new shares. The number of shares they can acquire depends on the number of shares they already own. This is one way by which companies can raise extra capital. However, the rules in some countries make it difficult to include shareholders in those countries in such offers. The power given by this resolution means that the directors can make separate arrangements for those shareholders. The directors may also make separate arrangements for any fractions of shares which are left over.
In addition, this power allows the directors to issue ordinary shares for cash or sell treasury shares for cash without first having to offer the shares to existing shareholders, up to a maximum of 6,846,850 shares. This is approximately 5% of the total issued equity share capital of the Company on 23 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document).
All authorities previously conferred in relation to this power will be revoked, provided that such revocation does not have retrospective effect.
The Association of British Insurers have issued guidelines recommending that a company should not issue shares for cash (without first offering them to existing shareholders) in any one year in excess of 5% of the total issued equity share capital of the Company as shown in its last accounts and in excess of an aggregate of 7.5% in any rolling period of three years. It is the Company's intention to comply with these guidelines.
Resolution 14 passed at the 2010 AGM gave the Company authority to call general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on 14 clear days' notice. This approval is sought as a result of the Shareholders' Rights Regulations 2009 which came into effect on 3 August 2009 and have the effect of requiring a minimum notice period for general meetings of 21 days, unless shareholder approval is given to reduce this to 14 days. Shareholders are asked to renew this authority, which will be effective until the Company's next annual general meeting, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.
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 is thought to be to the advantage of shareholders as a whole.
John van Kuffeler, Non-executive Chairman Age 62
Appointed to the board: October 1991
Committee membership: Chairman of the Nomination Committee
Background and experience: Joined Provident Financial in 1991 as Chief Executive and was appointed Executive Chairman in 1997. He became non-executive Chairman in 2002.
External appointments: Non-executive Chairman of Hyperion Insurance Group Limited and Chairman of Marlin Capital Europe Limited.
Rob Anderson, Independent non-executive Director Age 52
Appointed to the board: March 2009
Committee membership: Chairman of the Risk Advisory Committee and member of the Audit Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee
Background and experience: Spent 19 years at Marks and Spencer, latterly as Director of the childrenswear business unit. Joined Signet Group plc in 2000 and was appointed Chief Executive of Signet Jewelers Limited's UK division in 2002.
External appointments: Chief Executive of Signet Jewelers Limited's UK division.
Peter Crook, Chief Executive Age 47 Appointed to the board: March 2006
Committee membership: Member of the Nomination Committee and Executive Committee
Background and experience: Held a number of different roles within Halifax plc between 1990 and 1997. Moved to Barclays plc and became UK Managing Director of Barclaycard in 2000 and Managing Director of UK Consumer Finance in 2004. Joined Provident Financial in September 2005 as Managing Director of the Consumer Credit Division and was appointed to the board in March 2006. He became Chief Executive in July 2007.
External appointments: None
Andrew Fisher, Finance Director Age 53
Appointed to the board: May 2006
Committee membership: Member of the Risk Advisory Committee and Executive Committee
Background and experience: Finance Director at Premier Farnell plc for 11 years and previously a partner at Price Waterhouse. Joined Provident Financial as Finance Director and was appointed to the board in May 2006.
External appointments: None
Chris Gillespie, Managing Director, Consumer Credit Division Age 48
Appointed to the board: July 2007
Committee membership: Member of the Executive Committee
Background and experience: Held a number of senior positions at Barclays after joining in 1979, including Director of Consumer Lending from 2000 to 2002. Moved to HFC Bank as group Director before joining Bradford & Bingley in 2005 as group lending Director. Joined Provident Financial in May 2007 as Managing Director of the Consumer Credit Division and was appointed to the board in July 2007.
External appointments: None
Robert Hough, Senior independent non-executive Director Age 65
Appointed to the board: February 2007
Committee membership: Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee, Nomination Committee and Risk Advisory Committee
Background and experience: Executive Deputy Chairman of Peel Holdings p.l.c. for 15 years until 2002 and previously Chairman of Cheshire Building Society.
External appointments: Chairman of the North West Development Agency, non-executive Director of Peel Holdings (Management) Limited and non-executive Director of Styles & Wood plc.
Manjit Wolstenholme, Independent non-executive Director Age 46
Appointed to the board: July 2007
Committee membership: Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee and Risk Advisory Committee
Background and experience: Spent 13 years with Dresdner Kleinwort, latterly as co-head of investment banking. She was a partner at Gleacher Shacklock from 2004 to 2006.
External appointments: Chair of Albany Investment Trust and a nonexecutive Director of Capital and Regional plc and Future plc.
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