Last checked at 3 Apr 2020 07:00
For Immediate Release | 3 April 2020 |
Hunting PLC
("Hunting" or "the Company")
Relocation of Annual General Meeting
to Registered Office
and
Withdrawal of Final Dividend Resolution
and
Declaration of Interim Dividend
Hunting PLC (LSE: HTG), the international energy services group, today announces the relocation of its 2020 Annual General Meeting (the "Meeting") to the Company's registered office. Further, the Company announces the withdrawal of resolution three, as contained in the 2020 Notice of Annual General Meeting, to approve the 2019 Final Dividend, with the Directors of the Company replacing the 2019 Final Dividend of 6.0 cents per share with an Interim Dividend of 3.0 cents per share.
Relocation of Annual General Meeting
In light of developments regarding the coronavirus together with the UK government's public health instructions and stay at home measures limiting social contact, public gatherings and non-essential travel, the Board has decided to relocate the Meeting to 5 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1HQ, the Company's registered office, on 15 April 2020 starting at 2:30pm.
As announced on 13 March 2020, all documents in relation to the Meeting have been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders and are available from the Company's website www.huntingplc.com. These include the 2019 Annual Report and Accounts, the 2020 Notice of Annual General Meeting and the 2020 Form of Proxy.
The Board strongly urges shareholders to follow the UK government's public health instructions in respect of the evolving situation regarding the coronavirus and the stay at home measures announced in respect of social contact, public gatherings and non-essential travel. Please note that the Company intends to refuse entry to shareholders who do attempt to attend the Meeting in order to comply with those public health instructions and stay at home measures.
The health of the Company's shareholders, as well as its officers and employees is of paramount importance. It is expected that the Company's attendance in person at the Meeting will be limited to satisfy the requirements of a quorum. The Meeting will end immediately following the formal business required and there will be no corporate presentation, shareholder questions and answers, or refreshments. Instead of attending the Meeting, shareholders are requested to complete and return the Form of Proxy appointing the Chairman of the Meeting as their proxy with their voting instructions, or to register their proxy appointment electronically. As voting on all resolutions at the Meeting will be on a poll, this will ensure that all votes of shareholders will be counted, whether or not shareholders are able to attend the Meeting. On a poll, each shareholder has one vote for every share held. The results of the poll will be announced shortly after the Meeting, via the Regulatory News Service ("RNS") and published on the Company's website at www.huntingplc.com.
The Company will continue to update shareholders on arrangements for the Meeting through the RNS and the Company's website at www.huntingplc.com. Shareholders are advised to check the Company's website for updates.
Withdrawal of Approval of Final Dividend and Declaration of Interim Dividend
Further, the Company also announces the withdrawal of resolution three, as set out in the 2020 Notice of Annual General Meeting, in respect of the approval of the 2019 Final Dividend.
In light of current global economic conditions, including the decline in the price of crude oil and the likely impact of the coronavirus on the short-term demand for oil and gas, the Board has implemented measures to conserve cash and limit capital outflows. As part of these immediate actions, the Board has decided to withdraw resolution three, as contained in the 2020 Notice of Annual General Meeting, which sought shareholder approval to pay a Final Dividend of 6.0 cents per share to shareholders on 15 May 2020. In place of the 2019 Final Dividend, the Board has decided to pay an Interim Dividend for 2020 of 3.0 cents per share, to be paid to those shareholders on the register on 17 April 2020, which will absorb c.$5.0 million. The payment date for this interim dividend will be 15 May 2020.
The next trading update is due to be published on Wednesday 15 April 2020, the date of the Company's Annual General Meeting.
For further information, please contact:
Hunting PLC Peter Rose, Finance Director Tarryn Riley, Investor Relations Ben Willey, Company Secretary
| Tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 0123 |
Notes to editors:
Hunting PLC is an international energy services provider to the world's leading upstream oil and gas companies. Established in 1874, it is a premium listed public company traded on the London Stock Exchange. The Company maintains a corporate office in Houston and is headquartered in London. As well as the United Kingdom, the Company has operations in Canada, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.
Hunting PLC's Legal Entity Identifier is 2138008S5FL78ITZRN66