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Notice
of Meeting |
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The
2008 Annual General Meeting of BT Group
plc will be held at the Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
at 10.30 am on Wednesday 16 July 2008 to consider the following: |
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Ordinary
business
Resolutions 1 to 11 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions. |
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Resolution
1
That the accounts and
reports of the directors and the auditors for the year ended 31 March
2008 be received.
By law, the directors have
to present these accounts and reports contained in the Company’s
Annual Report to the meeting. |
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Resolution
2
That the directors’ remuneration report for the year ended 31
March 2008 be approved.
The directors have to ask
shareholders to vote on the report on directors’ remuneration. It is
summarised on pages 17 to 19 of this document. The full report, in the
Annual Report, can be found at www.bt.com/annualreport |
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Resolution
3
That the final dividend of 10.4 pence per share recommended by the
directors be declared to be payable on 15 September 2008 to holders of
ordinary shares registered at the close of business on 22 August 2008.
The final dividend
declared cannot exceed the amount recommended by the directors. |
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Resolutions
4 to 9: directors
Additional biographical details of each director referred to in
resolutions 4 to 9 are contained on pages 14 and 15.
Under our articles of
association (‘articles’) all directors have to retire every three
years at an Annual General Meeting. This is to comply with the
Combined Code on Corporate Governance. As a result, two directors must
retire at this year’s meeting and are proposed by the Board for
re-election. |
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Resolution
4
That
Hanif Lalani be re-elected as a director.
Hanif Lalani was appointed to the Board as Group Finance Director on 7
February 2005. |
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Resolution
5
That Carl Symon be re-elected as a director.
Carl Symon was appointed
to the Board as a non-executive director on 14 January 2002. |
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Resolutions
6 to 9: election of directors
The articles require any director appointed by the Board to retire
at the Annual General Meeting following appointment. |
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Resolution
6
That Sir Michael Rake be elected as a director.
Sir Michael was appointed
to the Board as Chairman on 26 September 2007. |
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Resolution
7
That Gavin Patterson be elected as a director.
Gavin Patterson was
appointed to the Board as Chief Executive, BT Retail as of 1 June
2008. |
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Resolution
8
That J Eric Daniels be elected as a director.
Eric Daniels was appointed
to the Board as a non-executive director on 1 April 2008. |
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Resolution
9
That the Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP be elected as a director.
Patricia Hewitt was
appointed to the Board as a non-executive director on 24 March 2008. |
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Resolution
10
That PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP be reappointed auditors of
the Company, to hold office until the conclusion of the next general
meeting at which accounts are laid before the Company. |
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Resolution
11
That the directors be authorised to decide the auditors’ remuneration.
This resolution follows
standard practice. |
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Special
business
The following resolution will be proposed as an ordinary resolution. |
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Resolution
12
That
the authority and power conferred on the directors in relation
to the Section 80 Amount by Article 74 of the Company’s articles
of association be renewed until 15 October 2009 and for that period
the Section 80 Amount will be £127 million.
The articles give
a general authority to the directors to allot unissued shares,
which is subject to renewal by shareholders. The directors will
be able to issue new shares up to a nominal value of £127 million
(the Section 80 Amount) which is equal to approximately 33% of
the issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) of the Company
at the date of this Notice. See the notes to Resolution 14 for
more information on treasury shares. |
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The
following two resolutions will be proposed as special resolutions. |
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Resolution
13
That the authority and power conferred
on the directors by Article 74 of the Company’s articles of
association be: |
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(a) |
extended
to any sale of shares which the Company may hold as treasury shares;
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renewed
until 15 October 2009; and for that period the Section 89 Amount
will be £21 million. |
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This
resolution renews the authority given to directors to allot equity
securities without needing to offer
these shares to existing shareholders first: |
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for cash, up
to an amount representing approximately 5% of the issued share
capital (including treasury shares) at the date of this Notice,
approximately 420 million shares; or |
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in connection
with a rights issue – defined in summary as an offer of equity
securities to shareholders which is open for a period decided
by the Board – subject to any limits or restrictions that the
Board thinks are necessary or appropriate. |
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There
are no current plans to allot shares except in connection
with the Company’s employee share plans. Over a three year rolling
period this disapplication will not exceed 7.5% of issued share
capital. References to ‘allot’ in this note include the sale
of treasury shares. The authorities sought by Resolutions 12 and
13 will last for 15 months until 15 October 2009, although the
directors intend to seek renewal of these powers at each Annual
General Meeting. |
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This
will ensure that the directors continue to have the
flexibility to act in the best interests of shareholders, when
opportunities arise, by allotting shares. |
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Resolution
14
That the Company be generally and unconditionally
authorised to make market purchases (as defined in section 163
of the Companies Act 1985) of shares of 5p each in the Company,
subject to the following conditions: |
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(a) |
the
maximum number of shares which may be purchased is 774 million
shares; |
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(b) |
the
minimum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for each
share is 5p; |
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(c) |
the
maximum price (excluding expenses) which the Company may pay for
each share cannot be more than the higher of: |
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(i) |
105% of
the average market value of a share in the Company for the five
business days prior to the day the purchase is made; and |
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the value
of a share in the Company calculated on the basis of the higher
of the price quoted for: (a) the last independent trade of; or
(b) the highest current independent bid for, any number of shares
in the Company on the trading venues where the purchase is carried
out; and |
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(d) |
this
authority will expire at the close of the Annual General Meeting
of the Company held in 2009, or if earlier, 15 October 2009, except
in relation to the purchase of shares, the contract for which
was concluded before the expiry of this authority and which might
be executed wholly or partly after that expiry. |
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The
directors would like the Company to continue to have the flexibility
to buy its own shares. This resolution renews the Company’s
authority to buy its own shares on similar terms to previous years’
authorities, except to reflect recent regulatory changes. It would
be limited to 774 million ordinary shares, representing 10% of
the issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) at the date
of this Notice. The directors would exercise this authority only
after considering the effects on earnings per share and the benefits
for shareholders generally.
Shares
purchased by the Company out of distributable profits could be
held as treasury shares, which could then be cancelled, sold for
cash or used to meet the Company’s obligations under its employee
share plans.
During
the 2008 financial year, 540 million shares were purchased (6.4%
of the share capital) for a consideration of £1,498 million,
at an average price of £2.78 per share. At 14 May 2008 53 million
treasury shares had been transferred to meet the Company’s obligations
under its employee share plans and at that date, the Company still
held 657 million treasury shares which is equal to 8.5% of the
issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) in issue at that
date.
The
Company’s current intention is to hold any shares purchased
as treasury shares but it retains the flexibility to cancel them
or sell them for cash if it considers this to be in the best interests
of the Company.
The
authority sought by this resolution will end by 15 October 2009,
although the directors intend to seek renewal of this power at
each Annual General Meeting.
At
14 May 2008, there were options outstanding over 326 million shares
(of which options over 281 million shares were in respect of options
granted under the savings related share option plans), representing
4.2% of the Company’s issued share capital (excluding treasury
shares). If the authority given by this resolution were to be
fully used, these would represent 4.7% of the Company’s issued
share capital (excluding treasury shares). There are no warrants
outstanding. |
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The
following resolution will be proposed as an ordinary resolution. |
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Resolution
15 |
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That
British Telecommunications plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
Company, be authorised to make political donations to political: |
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(a) |
parties
and/or independent election candidates not exceeding £75,000
in total; and |
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(b) |
organisations
other than political parties not exceeding £25,000 in total |
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during
the period beginning with the date of the 2008 Annual General
Meeting and ending at the conclusion of the day on which the 2009
Annual General Meeting is held.
The Company’s continuing
policy is that no company in the group will make contributions
in cash or kind (including loans) to any political party. However,
the definition of political donations used in the Companies Act
2006 (‘2006 Act’) is very much broader than the sense in which
these words are ordinarily used. It covers activities such as
making MPs and others in the political world aware of key industry
issues and matters affecting the Company, which make an important
contribution to their understanding of BT. These activities have
been carried out on an even-handed basis over a four-year period,
related broadly to the major political parties’ electoral strength.
The authority we are requesting in this resolution is not designed
to change the above policy. It will, however, ensure that the
group acts within the provisions of the 2006 Act requiring companies
to obtain shareholder authority relating to political parties
and/or political organisations as defined in that Act. This year’s
resolution refers to independent election candidates, due to the
new 2006 Act.
During
the 2008 financial year, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary,
British Telecommunications plc, spent £29,989 on expenditure
related to last year’s political donation resolution. |
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Register of
Members and proxies |
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Only shareholders on the
Register of Members at 6.00 pm on 14 July 2008 are entitled to attend
and vote at the AGM. As a shareholder entitled to attend and vote, you
can appoint another person as your proxy to exercise all or any of
your rights to attend, speak and vote at the meeting. You may appoint
more than one proxy in relation to the meeting, provided you appoint
each proxy to exercise the rights attached to a different share or
shares held by you. A proxy need not be a shareholder of the Company.
On a poll, the number of shares held by you as a shareholder at 6.00
pm on 14 July 2008 will decide the number of votes that you may cast. |
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Nominated
Persons |
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Unless you are a shareholder
you do not have a right to appoint any proxies under the procedures
set out above, or referred to under the heading “AGM information”
below. |
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You may nevertheless have a right
under an agreement between you and a shareholder of the Company who
has nominated you to have information rights (‘Relevant
Shareholder’):
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to
be appointed, or to have someone else appointed,
as a proxy for the meeting; or |
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to
give instructions to the Relevant Shareholder on the
exercise of voting rights. |
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If
you are uncertain about your rights or about your
investment you should contact the person or organisation
that administers that investment. |
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Shares |
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The total number of issued and
fully paid ordinary shares of 5p each at 14 May 2008, the latest
practicable (business) date before the publication of this document,
was 8,401,227,029. The total number of voting rights in the Company at
that date was 7,744,377,765 (excluding treasury shares). |
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By order of the Board |
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Andrew Parker |
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Secretary |
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81 Newgate Street |
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London |
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EC1A 7AJ |
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14 May 2008 |
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Documents |
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Copies of all service contracts
and contracts of appointment between the directors and the Company are
available for inspection during business hours at the registered
office of the Company on any weekday (but not on public holidays).
They will also be available for inspection at the Annual General
Meeting venue from 9.30 am on the day of the meeting until the end of
the meeting. |
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Your
directors believe that the proposals in Resolutions 1 to 15 are in the
best interests of shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommend
that you vote in favour of all these resolutions. The directors intend
to do so in respect of their own beneficial holdings. |
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If you are
not coming to the meeting Webcast |
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The speeches by the Chairman,
Sir Michael Rake, and our new Chief Executive, Ian Livingston,
will be broadcast live on the internet at www.bt.com/btagm2008 |
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Questions and voting on the
business of the meeting will not be broadcast. If you intend to view
the webcast, you should visit this site before the meeting to check
that you will be able to view it on your computer, and also whether
you need any additional software. After the AGM you will be able to
view a recording of the speeches. |
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