All the Resolutions in the Notice of the Meeting
were approved on a show of hands
The Meeting lasted about 50 minutes and was attended by some
220 shareholders, proxies and representatives.
• The Chairman and the
Chief Executive both made statements to the Meeting - click
for copies.
• The Company's Report
and Accounts for the year ended 31 December, 2000
were received. Questions on a number of topics were
answered in the course of discussion.
• Approval was given to
declare a final dividend of 1.45 p per ordinary share
payable on 8 June, 2001 to holders of ordinary shares
on the register at the close of business on 27 April,
2001.
• The Meeting approved
the re-appointment of the following
directors :-
Peter Backhouse
Andrew Bonfield
Paul Collins
William Friedrich
Lord Sharman
• The Auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
were re-appointed.
• Authority was given to
the Directors:-
• Approval was given
to amend the Company's Articles of Association
Voting / Proxies
All resolutions were approved on a show of hands and
there were no polls.
The number of proxy votes for and against each of
the resolutions on the Notice of the Meeting were as
follows:-
| Resolution No. |
|
For (including discretionary) |
Against |
| 1 |
Annual Report and Accounts |
1,841,988,004 |
2,382,391 |
| 2 |
Declaration of Dividend |
1,847,911,499 |
1,626,223 |
| 3 |
Election of Mr P G Backhouse |
1,806,412,575 |
37,339,012 |
| 4 |
Election of Mr A R J Bonfield |
1,800,513,448 |
10,810,920 |
| 5 |
Election of Mr P J Collins |
1,842,309,624 |
5,788,451 |
| 6 |
Election of Mr W M Friedrich |
1,800,606,299 |
10,933,069 |
| 7 |
Election of Lord Sharman |
1,841,720,227 |
6,398,233 |
| 8 |
Re-appointment and remuneration of
auditors |
1,803,606,609 |
42,466,711 |
| 9 |
Authority to purchase own shares |
1,844,610,482 |
2,252,159 |
| 10 |
Authority to purchase and cancel
Deferred Shares |
1,845,161,375 |
3,504,297 |
| 11 |
Amendment of Articles of Association |
1,844,418,798 |
2,953,944 |
NOTE: Formal Minutes of the Meeting are available to shareholders
on request
|