AGM Reports

AGM Reports

Our library contains reports on the Annual General Meetings of a large number of listed and quoted companies that our members have attended. This unique resource provides valuable insights for investors in those companies, not available anywhere else.

You will find summaries of our AGM reports on this page. You can also search for reports on a specific company, using our “Research” feature. Only full members of ShareSoc can view the full details of our AGM reports and need to login to do so. If you wish to gain access, click here to become a full member, for less than 90p/week and gain full access to our library of hundreds of AGM reports, as well as other member benefits.

If you are already a full member and are still having any difficulty accessing our reports, please contact the ShareSoc Office.


easyJet (EZJ) EGM Report August 2012

Introduction and Environment I attended easyJet’s EGM held on 13th August. The EGM was requisitioned by EasyJet founder and major shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Iannou (“Sir Stelios”), with one resolution proposed: to remove chairman Sir Michael Rake (MR). Given the facts expressed and, in particular MR’s other commitments, ShareSoc and I supported this resolution. See http://www.sharesoc.org/ShareSoc_Press030%20EasyJetEGM2012.pdf The first challenge was finding EasyJet’s HQ. The location given by mapping the postcode bears no relationship to the actual location of the building! It turns out that the building is in the terminal ...

ProVen VCT (PVN) AGM Report 2012

On the 21st August I attended the Annual General Meeting of ProVen VCT, one of the best performing venture capital trusts over the years based on total return obtained – over 10% per annum since formation which few other VCTs can match. There are only two possible issues with this company that might concern shareholders. One is the high management fee at 6.1% of net assets based on the latest set of accounts (the Total Return is of course after taking ...

Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) – AGM report 2012

Ever since inheriting some shares in Monks Investment Trust (MNKS) from a wise old uncle, I had always felt that this was one investment I did not have to needlessly worry about. The trust has been managed by Edinburgh fund manager Baillie Gifford (BG), for over 80 years and was set up in the year of the Wall Street Crash, so it should be able to weather the current tough times. BG is one of the few real partnerships left in a ...

West Bromwich Building Society (WBS) AGM Report 2012.

The West Bromwich Building Society held its Annual General Meeting on the 31st July. To repeat what I said in last year’s report, the reason for ShareSoc’s interest in this organisation is because they issued PIBS which are listed securities. In 2009, the Society ran into major financial difficulties, mainly due to unwise commercial property lending. They then proposed changes to the 6.15% Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (“PIBS”) as part of a financial restructuring of the Society so as to improve ...

Halfords (HFD) AGM Report 2012 – Pray it stops raining.

Halfords held its Annual General Meeting in Birmingham yesterday – this time at the civilised time of 11.00 am so they got a few more shareholders present than last year (only 4 then when the time was set to 9.0 am, which I, and Mark Bentley another ShareSoc director, complained about). It’s probably not necessary to describe what this well known retailer does (although it’s also now in the car servicing business). But it is worth pointing out that the share price ...

Asterand (ATD) AGM (and GM) Report 2012 – What do you do when nobody raises a hand?

Asterand held two general meetings today – their Annual General Meeting and an extraordinary General Meeting immediately after to approve the sale of part of the business and delisting from the main LSE market. Asterand is a fully listed UK company which operates in the human tissue field. In June 2011 it had a market cap of £15m but now it’s £0.6m, and there appears to be a substantial risk that it will go into administration. To buy a US company called ...

Findel (STU) AGM Report 2012

Is Findel (FDL), one of the UK’s biggest home shopping groups with 1.2m customers, a busted flush, or a grossly misunderstood recovery stock? In a bid to find out, I attended FDL’s 2012 annual general meeting on July 26th at The Macdonald Manchester Hotel next to Manchester’s Piccadilly station. According to FDL’s annual report its board regards the AGM as the “principal forum for dialogue with private shareholders”, so it was a pity that there were no more than four shareholders present, ...

Rensburg AIM VCT (RSB) AGM Report 2012 – Substantial votes against the directors

On the 26th July I attended the Annual General meeting of Rensburg AIM VCT. ShareSoc has been running a campaign on this Venture Capital Trust since October 2011 (see www.sharesoc.org/campaigns.html for background information). Our main concerns when we commenced the campaign were: 1. The historic long-term poor investment performance of this company, which we have suggested is the result of a focus on AIM company investments (a negative average annual total return of minus 0.7% per annum since formation according to independent sources). We proposed a change of ...

RIT Capital Partners PLC (RCP) AGM Report 2012

RIT Capital Partners PLC held its Annual General Meeting today (26th July) at the Institute of Directors, Pall Mall London. The performance numbers at a glance were not the best, NAV down 3.2% and a share price drop of 6.7%. RIT’s policy is to invest in a diversified international portfolio across a range of asset classes. A very well attended meeting with well over 80 shareholders present, although mostly of the retired male persuasion. It is a pity more younger shareholders cannot ...

TR Property Investment Trust PLC (TRY) AGM Report 2012

This investment trust held its 108th Annual General Meeting on the 24th July at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, London. A pretty poor year for the company as although Revenue was up by 6% to £26.4 million, NAV was down 11% with a corresponding drop in the share price of 9.5% to 154.50p. The Trust maintains a portfolio in shares of property companies of all sizes on an international basis and also in investment property located within the UK. The meeting ...