TIDMWMH
RNS Number : 4082N
William Hill PLC
08 May 2018
WILLIAM HILL PLC
Result of 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
8 May 2018
William Hill PLC (LSE:WMH) announces the results of its Annual
General Meeting (AGM) held today, Tuesday 8 May 2018 at 11.00 am at
the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, 9-13 Bloomsbury Street, London
WC1B 3QD.
All resolutions as set out in the Notice of Meeting dated 13
March 2018 were voted on by way of a poll and the results of each
resolution are shown below. All resolutions were duly approved by
proxy votes received and the final proxy voting position by
resolution is shown below.
Resolution For Against %
% Withheld
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To receive the annual
1 report and accounts 585,989,102 99.87 743,686 0.13 4,082,100
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To approve the annual
2 report on remuneration 409,251,435 69.29 181,358,622 30.71 207,314
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To declare a final
3 dividend 590,778,759 100.00 22,440 0.00 14,233
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
4 To elect Roger Devlin 584,883,768 99.01 5,835,284 0.99 96,378
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
5 To elect Ruth Prior 588,649,843 99.65 2,074,168 0.35 91,421
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-elect Philip
6 Bowcock 590,646,703 99.99 73,582 0.01 95,047
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-elect Mark
7 Brooker 590,046,192 99.89 661,303 0.11 107,937
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-elect Sir Roy
8 Gardner 553,748,998 94.33 33,288,778 5.67 3,777,654
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-elect Georgina
9 Harvey 589,656,623 99.82 1,048,001 0.18 107,808
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-elect David
10 Lowden 585,441,088 99.11 5,267,054 0.89 105,662
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
11 To re-elect John Resolution withdrawn
O'Reilly
----------- ---------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
To re-elect Robin
12 Terrell 547,153,831 93.21 39,880,598 6.79 3,781,003
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To re-appoint the
13 Auditors 570,414,561 96.55 20,362,310 3.45 37,559
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
To authorise the
Audit and Risk Management
Committee to determine
14 the auditors' remuneration 589,714,839 99.82 1,058,533 0.18 42,058
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Authority to make
or incur EU political
donations and EU
15 political expenditure 570,421,462 96.57 20,273,827 3.43 121,166
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Authority to allot
securities up to
a nominal amount
16 of GBP28,629,136 551,612,273 93.37 39,145,958 6.63 57,201
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Authority to dis-apply
pre-emption rights
for allotments up
to a nominal amount
17 of GBP4,294,413 551,632,529 93.39 39,065,573 6.61 119,330
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Authority to purchase
18 own shares 582,087,479 98.87 6,677,322 1.13 2,052,629
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Notice of General
19 Meeting 563,355,103 95.36 27,430,804 4.64 29,525
----------- ---------------------------- ------------ ------- ------------ ------ -----------
Any proxy votes which are at the discretion of the Chairman have
been included in the "For" total. A vote withheld is not a vote in
law and has not been counted in the calculation of the proportion
of the votes for and against the resolution. The total issued share
capital of the Company as at close of business on 4 May 2018 was
887,295,272, with total voting rights as at the same date of
860,575,579.
Statement regarding voting result
The Board is pleased that the majority of resolutions received
overwhelming support from shareholders, but notes that a
significant number of both institutional and private shareholders
lodged opposition to the advisory vote on the Remuneration Report
this year, with the result that the vote against exceeded the key
threshold of 20% of votes cast.
The Board understands that this opposition is attributable in
large part to concerns regarding the salary increase awarded to
Philip Bowcock, CEO, on his acceptance of that position permanently
in March 2017. These concerns were raised by two proxy agencies in
their reports ahead of the AGM. The Company engaged extensively
with both the proxy agencies and directly with its institutional
shareholder base to discuss the matter. That process confirmed that
whilst the majority of the Company's largest shareholders were
supportive, a significant minority agreed with the proxy agency
recommendation.
The Board has considered those concerns carefully, and remains
of the view that the processes followed and the decision taken in
2017 was appropriate and can be justified in the context of the key
events and industry challenges of last year, many of which are
ongoing.
The Board remains firmly committed to maintaining an open
dialogue with shareholders and advisory bodies on key remuneration
decisions in 2018 and beyond. This includes the commitment already
made to further engage prior to the grant of awards under the
Performance Share Plan for the 2018 financial year.
Board and Committee Changes following AGM
Following recent changes to the Board, which include Imelda
Walsh stepping down from the Board immediately following the AGM
and John O'Reilly also stepping down with effect from 30 April, the
Nomination Committee has reviewed the composition of each of the
Board's committees. That review determined that Mark Brooker should
be appointed to replace John O'Reilly as a member of the Audit
& Risk Management Committee, but otherwise no further changes
were necessary at the current time.
Availability of documents
A copy of the resolutions passed at the meeting, other than
ordinary business, is being uploaded today to the National Storage
Mechanism and will shortly be available for viewing at
www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.
The proxy figures for the resolutions will also be displayed on
the corporate website www.williamhillplc.com.
OAM: Additional Regulated Information
William Hill LEI: 213800MDW41W5UZQIX82
Enquiries:
William Hill PLC
Luke Thomas, Company Secretary
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7 612 3090
Brunswick
Andrew Porter / Oliver Hughes
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7 404 5959
About William Hill
===================
William Hill, The Home of Betting, is one of the world's leading
betting and gaming companies, employing around 16,000 people.
Founded in 1934, it is the one of the UK's largest bookmakers with
around 2,340 licensed betting offices that provide betting
opportunities on a wide range of sporting and non-sporting events,
and gaming on machines, providing customers with the opportunity to
access William Hill's products online, through their smartphone or
tablet. William Hill US was established in June 2012 and provides
land-based and mobile sports betting services in Nevada, and is the
exclusive risk manager for the State of Delaware's sports lottery.
William Hill PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a
member of both the FTSE 250 and FTSE4Good Indices.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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