Last checked at 21 Mar 2018 16:13
21 March 2018
Safestore Holdings plc
("Safestore", "the Company" or "the Group")
Result of Annual General Meeting
The 2018 Annual General Meeting of Safestore Holdings plc was held at midday today at the Company's registered office in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
All resolutions were passed by the requisite majority by way of a poll.
Commentating on the result of the AGM Alan Lewis, Chairman of Safestore said:
"After an 84% turnout, a majority of shareholders have approved the Directors' Remuneration Report which implements the new remuneration policy, adopted in July 2017. I would like to thank them for their continued support.
Although all resolutions were duly passed, the Board recognises the significant votes against the Remuneration Report (Resolution 2), the re-appointment of Claire Balmforth as a director (Resolution 11) and the re-appointment of the other members of the Remuneration Committee (Resolutions 9,10 and 12).
The Board appreciates that the remuneration policy continues to divide opinion amongst shareholders and Claire, as Remuneration Committee Chairman, and I will as a matter of priority be listening to and engaging with shareholders. I can assure shareholders that our management team will be maintaining focus on delivering market beating performance and value to all shareholders."
The following votes were cast in respect of the AGM resolutions:
| Ordinary Resolution | Votes For | % | Votes Against | % | Votes Total | % of Issued Share Capital Voted | Votes Withheld |
1 | To receive the Annual Report and Accounts | 176,583,123 | 99.84 | 290,000 | 0.16 | 176,873,123 | 84.23 | 179,039 |
2 | To approve the Directors' Remuneration Report | 91,521,500 | 51.74 | 85,351,738 | 48.26 | 176,873,238 | 84.23 | 178,923 |
3 | To appoint Deloitte LLP as auditor | 174,992,189 | 98.93 | 1,884,965 | 1.07 | 176,877,154 | 84.23 | 175,007 |
4 | To authorise the Directors to determine the auditors' remuneration | 175,309,894 | 99.11 | 1,568,454 | 0.89 | 176,878,348 | 84.23 | 173,814 |
5 | To declare a final dividend of 9.80 pence per ordinary share | 176,740,076 | 100.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 176,740,076 | 84.17 | 312,086 |
6 | To re-elect Alan Lewis as a Director | 150,001,502 | 84.80 | 26,878,313 | 15.20 | 176,879,815 | 84.23 | 172,346 |
7 | To re-elect Frederic Vecchioli as a Director | 176,308,975 | 99.68 | 573,341 | 0.32 | 176,882,316 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
8 | To re-elect Andy Jones as a Director | 175,838,035 | 99.41 | 1,044,281 | 0.59 | 176,882,316 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
9 | To re-elect Ian Krieger as a Director | 134,583,888 | 76.09 | 42,298,427 | 23.91 | 176,882,315 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
10 | To re-elect Joanne Kenrick as a Director | 137,288,888 | 77.62 | 39,593,427 | 22.38 | 176,882,315 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
11 | To elect Claire Balmforth as a Director | 87,993,740 | 52.28 | 80,322,237 | 47.72 | 168,315,977 | 80.15 | 8,736,184 |
12 | To elect Bill Oliver as a Director | 137,596,306 | 77.79 | 39,286,009 | 22.21 | 176,882,315 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
13 | To authorise political donations and political expenditure | 171,324,286 | 99.52 | 834,040 | 0.48 | 172,158,326 | 81.98 | 4,893,836 |
14 | To authorise the directors to allot relevant securities | 168,950,638 | 95.52 | 7,923,485 | 4.48 | 176,874,123 | 84.23 | 178,039 |
| Special Resolution* |
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15 | To authorise the dis-application of pre-emption rights | 175,454,799 | 99.79 | 370,579 | 0.21 | 175,825,378 | 83.73 | 1,226,784 |
16 | To authorise market purchases of ordinary shares | 175,615,500 | 99.58 | 741,390 | 0.42 | 176,356,890 | 83.98 | 695,271 |
17 | To authorise general to be called on not less than 14 clear days' notice meetings other than annual general meetings | 164,917,781 | 93.24 | 11,964,535 | 6.76 | 176,882,316 | 84.23 | 169,846 |
*Special Resolutions requiring a 75% majority
Notes
Where shareholders appointed the Chairman as their proxy with discretion as to voting, their votes were cast in favour of the resolutions and their shares have been included in the "votes for" column.
A "vote withheld" is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the percentages of votes cast for and against a resolution.
The current issued capital of Safestore Holdings plc is 209,990,730 shares.
In accordance with LR 9.6.2, copies of the resolutions passed as special business will be forwarded to the FCA for publication through the Document Viewing Facility and will be accessible via the National Storage Mechanism website at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM
For further information, please contact:
Safestore Holdings plc | 020 8732 1500 |
Nicholas Jennings, Interim Company Secretary |
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www.safestore.com |
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Instinctif Partners | 020 7457 2020 |
Mark Reed Guy Scarborough |
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Notes to editors:
Value created since the March 2017 AGM and since 2013
· Through continued organic growth, combined with the Alligator acquisition and a refinancing, both of which were immediately earnings accretive, Safestore has delivered for shareholders some £200m in market value through share price appreciation since the March 2017 AGM, as well as a 20% increase in the dividend for the full year ended 31 October 2017.
· Over the four years to 31 October 2017, Safestore's cash tax adjusted earnings per share increased by 110%, the dividend by 143% and Total Shareholder Return by 290%. Under current management the share price has quadrupled and market capitalisation has increased from £279m to c. £1.1bn.
About Safestore
· Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage group with 146 stores, comprising 120 wholly owned stores in the UK (including 67 in London and the South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bristol) and 26 wholly owned stores in the Paris region.
· Safestore was founded in the UK in 1998. It acquired the French business "Une Pièce en Plus" ("UPP") in 2004 which was founded in 1998 by the current Safestore Group CEO Frederic Vecchioli.
· Safestore has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2007. It entered the FTSE 250 index in October 2015.
· Safestore employs around 600 people in the UK and France.
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