BURBERRY GROUP PLC

(the "Company")

 

Result of Annual General Meeting 2017

 

 

The Company announces the results of voting at its Annual General Meeting held earlier today and confirms that all resolutions were passed with majorities as set out below. All resolutions were taken on a poll. 

 

The Board has proactively consulted with Burberry shareholders on remuneration matters both during the year and in the recent weeks leading up to today's Annual General Meeting.

 

We would like to thank our shareholders for their support for Resolution 2 (the Directors' Remuneration Policy) and are pleased that as a result of this extensive ongoing dialogue it received a vote of 93.40% in favour of the resolution.  This reflects support for the Policy changes made during the year to reduce overall headline quantum, incorporate best practice features and ensure long term alignment with shareholders.

 

The Board would also like to thank our shareholders for their support for Resolution 3 (the Remuneration Report) which received a vote of 68.52% in favour of the resolution.  The Board took proactive measures to address concerns around the 2016/17 Remuneration Report following its publication. With the interests of shareholders and the Company in mind, and with the support of Julie Brown, on 26 June 2017 we announced her decision to waive a portion of her buy-out award and 75% of her 2016/17 EPS award. We also provided additional information on the assessment of performance for Christopher Bailey's 2014 Exceptional performance-based share award on our website. 

 

We appreciate the importance of shareholder alignment on remuneration matters and would like to thank our shareholders for the time they have invested with us. We will continue to build on the constructive dialogue we have established, and will give full consideration to their feedback in our decision-making over the upcoming year. 

 

Resolutions 1 to 19 were proposed as Ordinary Resolutions and resolutions 20 to 22 as Special Resolutions. The results were as follows:

 

Resolution		Votes For*	%	Votes Against	%	Total votes validly cast	Total votes cast as % of issued share capital**	Votes Withheld***
1	To receive the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2017.	337,814,486	99.63	1,255,417	0.37	339,069,903	77.87%	44,511
2	To approve the Directors' Remuneration Policy.	315,538,767	93.40	22,283,872	6.60	337,822,639	77.58%	1,291,775
3	To approve the Director's Remuneration Report for the year ended 31 March 2017.	226,928,117	68.52	104,241,135	31.48	331,169,252	76.06%	7,945,162
4	To declare a final dividend of 28.4p per ordinary share for the year ended 31 March 2017.	339,092,583	100.00	115	0.00	339,092,698	77.87%	21,716
5	To re-elect Sir John Peace as a director of the Company.	308,597,110	91.36	29,199,958	8.64	337,797,068	77.58%	1,317,346
6	To re-elect Fabiola Arredondo as a director of the Company.	324,040,000	95.87	13,962,754	4.13	338,002,754	77.62%	1,111,660
7	To re-elect Philip Bowman as a director of the Company.	325,762,550	97.55	8,167,128	2.45	333,929,678	76.69%	5,184,736
8	To re-elect Ian Carter as a director of the Company.	324,781,587	96.18	12,889,826	3.82	337,671,413	77.55%	1,443,001
9	To re-elect Jeremy Darroch as a director of the Company.	333,826,189	98.76	4,180,001	1.24	338,006,190	77.63%	1,108,224
10	To re-elect Stephanie George as a director of the Company.	316,894,813	93.85	20,777,778	6.15	337,672,591	77.55%	1,441,823
11	To re-elect Matthew Key as a director of the Company.	336,345,862	99.51	1,660,208	0.49	338,006,070	77.63%	1,108,344
12	To re-elect Dame Carolyn McCall as a director of the Company.	336,302,410	99.50	1,704,768	0.50	338,007,178	77.63%	1,107,236
13	To re-elect Christopher Bailey as a director of the Company.	335,716,904	99.02	3,306,561	0.98	339,023,465	77.86%	90,949
14	To elect Julie Brown as a director of the Company.	333,317,858	98.31	5,712,852	1.69	339,030,710	77.86%	83,704
15	To elect Marco Gobbetti as a director of the Company.	336,861,095	99.36	2,165,020	0.64	339,026,115	77.86%	88,299
16	To reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Auditors of the Company.	333,611,326	98.38	5,476,594	1.62	339,087,920	77.87%	26,494
17	To authorise the Audit Committee of the Company to determine the Auditors' remuneration.	338,806,369	99.92	280,710	0.08	339,087,079	77.87%	26,847
18	To authorise political donations by the Company and its subsidiaries.	336,096,955	99.56	1,495,861	0.44	337,592,816	77.53%	1,521,415
19	To authorise the directors to allot shares.	338,203,365	99.74	875,635	0.26	339,079,000	77.87%	35,231
20	To renew the directors' authority to disapply pre-emption rights.	337,961,301	99.67	1,113,604	0.33	339,074,905	77.87%	39,326
21	To authorise the Company to purchase its own ordinary shares.	333,785,836	98.49	5,129,209	1.51	338,915,045	77.83%	199,186
22	To authorise the directors to call general meetings (other than an AGM) on not less than 14 clear days' notice.	317,391,258	94.01	20,232,907	5.99	337,624,165	77.54%	1,490,065

 

Notes:

* Includes discretionary votes.

** Excluding treasury shares.

*** A vote withheld is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the votes for or against a resolution.

 

Every shareholder has one vote for every ordinary share held. As at 13 July 2017, the issued share capital of the Company consisted of 438,382,404 ordinary shares (including treasury shares).  The Company held 2,949,066 shares in Treasury, which do not carry any voting rights.  Therefore, the total number of voting rights in Burberry Group plc as at 13 July 2017 are 435,433,338. In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2 copies of all the resolutions passed, other than ordinary business, have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm 

13 July 2017