Result of AGM

RNS Number : 4063E

Henderson Opportunities Trust PLC

10 March 2022

 

HENDERSON INVESTMENT FUNDS LIMITED

HENDERSON OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC

LEGAL ENTITY IDENTIFIER: 2138005D884NPGHFQS77

10 March 2022

HENDERSON OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC

Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 10 March 2022

Henderson Opportunities Trust plc announces that at the Annual General Meeting held earlier today, at which votes were cast on a show of hands, all resolutions proposed were passed, including the following special business resolutions:

-  To authorise the Directors to allot up to 10% of the issued ordinary share capital (ordinary resolution);

-  To authorise the Directors to allot or to sell from treasury up to 10% of the issued ordinary share capital without first offering them to existing shareholders in accordance with statutory pre-emption procedures (special resolution);

-  To authorise the Company to make market purchases of up to 14.99% of the Company's ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares) (special resolution);

-  To authorise the Company to hold general meetings other than an Annual General Meeting on not less than 14 clear days' notice (special resolution); and

-  To adopt the proposed investment objective and investment policy as the investment objective and investment policy of the Company to the exclusion of all previous investment objectives and investment policies of the Company (ordinary resolution).

The full text of all the resolutions can be found in the Notice of Meeting which is available on the National Storage Mechanism ("NSM") website.  A copy of the special business resolutions will be submitted to the NSM and will shortly be available for inspection on the NSM website at:

https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

The proxy votes received in relation to each resolution were as follows:

	Resolution	Votes for (including at Chairman's discretion)	%	Votes Against	%	Total Votes Cast (excluding votes withheld)	Votes Withheld
1	Annual Report and audited financial statements	1,569,041	99.98	238	0.02	1,576,015	7,210
2	Directors' Remuneration Report	1,556,235	99.58	6,516	0.42	1,569,487	13,738
3	Approve a final dividend of 8.0p per share	1,561,686	99.94	886	0.06	1,569,308	13,917
4	To appoint Harry Morgan as a Director	1,556,837	99.57	6,749	0.43	1,570,322	12,903
5	To re-appoint Wendy Colquhoun as a Director	1,560,240	99.54	7,231	0.46	1,574,207	9,018
6	To re-appoint Davina Curling as a Director	1,556,784	99.56	6,950	0.44	1,570,470	12,755
7	To re-appoint Frances Daley as a Director	1,556,696	99.54	7,175	0.46	1,570,607	12,618
8	Re-appoint BDO LLP as statutory auditors	1,555,504	99.66	5,296	0.34	1,567,536	15,689
9	Authorise Directors to determine the remuneration of the statutory auditor	1,559,457	99.91	1,343	0.09	1,567,536	15,689
10	Authority to allot relevant securities	1,564,440	99.91	1,464	0.09	1,572,640	10,585
11*	Authority to disapply pre-emption rights *	1,514,032	98.41	24,509	1.59	1,545,277	37,948
12*	Authority to repurchase ordinary shares *	1,556,637	99.29	11,193	0.71	1,574,566	8,659
13*	14 days' notice for a General Meeting *	1,566,665	99.94	898	0.06	1,574,299	8,926
14	To adopt the proposed investment objective and policy	1,570,666	99.99	156	0.01	1,577,558	5,667

* special resolution

The number of ordinary shares in issue at the date of this announcement is 8,000,858, of which 102,483 ordinary shares are held in treasury.  As at the date of this announcement the Company's total voting rights therefore comprises 7,898,375 shares with one vote each.

For the purposes of section 341 of the Companies Act 2006, the votes validly cast are expressed in the table above as a percentage of the Company's total voting rights as at the close of business on 8 March 2022 (7,898,375), being the time at which a shareholder had to be registered in the register of members in order to attend and vote at the AGM.  A vote "withheld" is not a vote in law and has not been counted as a vote "for" or "against" a resolution.

As announced in the Company's 2021 Annual Report, Chris Hills, who has served on the Board since June 2010, retired with effect from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting .

Following approval of Resolution 14, the Company's Investment Objective and Investment Policy are now as follows:

Investment Objective

The Company aims to achieve capital growth in excess of the FTSE All-Share Index from a portfolio of primarily UK investments.

Investment Policy

Asset allocation

The following investment ranges apply:

Equities: 70% to 100%;

Fixed Income and Cash: 0% to 30%

Stock selection is not constrained by the FTSE All-Share Index and there are no limits on investment by sector or market capitalisation. Therefore, the makeup and weighting of the portfolio will differ materially from the FTSE All-Share Index.

Investment restrictions

There will be at least 60 individual holdings in the portfolio.

No more than 10% of the Company's gross assets will be invested in companies outside of the UK.

No single investment will represent more than 10% of gross assets (at the time of investment).

The Company can, but normally will not, invest up to 15% of its gross assets in investment companies (including listed investment trusts).

The Company may invest up to a maximum of 10% of its gross assets in private securities not quoted on an exchange (at the time of investment).

Dividend

Income growth is a secondary objective to capital growth. However, the Company does seek dividend growth over time.

Derivatives

The Company may use financial instruments known as derivatives for the purpose of efficient portfolio management while maintaining a level of risk consistent with the risk profile of the Company.

Gearing

Net gearing (defined as all borrowings less cash balances and investments in cash funds) is limited by the Board to a maximum of 25% of the Company's net assets.

The Company instructs J.P. Morgan Securities plc to act as its broker in respect of its market purchase transactions. The Company may utilise the authority to purchase shares by either a single purchase or a series of purchases when market conditions allow when they are trading at a discount to the underlying net asset value per share, with the aim of maximising the benefit to shareholders. This proposal does not indicate that the Company will purchase shares at any particular time or price, nor imply any opinion on the part of the Directors as to the market or other value of the Company's shares.  This arrangement is in accordance with Chapter 12 of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules and the Company's general authority to repurchase shares.

A copy of the proxy results will shortly be available on the Company's website at:

www.hendersonopportunitiestrust.com

For further information, please contact:

James Henderson Fund Manager Henderson Opportunities Trust plc Telephone: [phone]	James de Sausmarez Director and Head of Investment Trusts Janus Henderson Investors Telephone: [phone]
Laura Foll Fund Manager Henderson Opportunities Trust plc Telephone: [phone]	Harriet Hall Investment Trust PR Manager Janus Henderson Investors Tel: [phone]

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

END

 

 

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