Results of Annual General Meeting

RNS Number : 5227N

Playtech PLC

20 May 2020

 

Playtech plc (the "Company")

Results of Annual General Meeting

Playtech plc announces that at its Annual General Meeting (AGM), held today, 20 May 2020, resolutions set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting dated 23 April 2020 were duly passed by shareholders by means of a poll vote, with the exception of the Annual Report on Remuneration.

Following Claire Milne's appointment as Interim Chairman, effective today, Playtech announces that Claire will also be Chairman of the Nominations Committee and as a result of the change of company Chairman, the Board will therefore be reviewing the structure and membership of all its committees in the near future.

The Company has considered the reasons for the results of today's meeting, reflected in the voting outcomes for the resolutions regarding the directors' remuneration report and the re-election of Ian Penrose, the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee.

In implementing the Directors' Remuneration Policy during the financial year ending 31 December 2019 the Remuneration Committee has sought to balance the parameters of a publicly listed company's remuneration policy with the need to retain and incentivise its leadership team. Playtech confirms it will conduct a thorough review of the remuneration policy and processes to not only reflect market and corporate governance best practices, but also ensure more rigorous implementation and transparent disclosure going forward for the benefit of the Company's shareholders.

Playtech has made significant progress in developing its corporate governance and remuneration practices over the last 18 months during Ian's tenure as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee.  As a consequence of an extensive shareholder engagement programme, to hear and reflect the views of its shareholders, there have been major improvements to the way in which the Company approaches remuneration, as reflected in the support for the remuneration policy last year.  However, the Company recognises it needs to go further. Ahead of the AGM, the Remuneration Committee consulted further with shareholders to better understand their views on the remuneration report. There was a mix of feedback and this will be considered when designing a new remuneration policy, which will be put to shareholders for approval at the 2021 AGM.

The Company understands from its engagement with shareholders in advance of today's meeting that the minority vote against the re-election of Ian Penrose is solely as a consequence of Ian being Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

The Company will continue to engage with shareholders on this issue and will provide a full update on progress within the next six months.

For information, the votes cast were as follows:

Resolutions	For	% Votes cast	Against	% Votes cast	Total Votes Cast (excl. Votes Withheld)	Votes Withheld
1.  Report and accounts	223,703,400	99.98	33,823	0.02	223,737,223	224,703
2.  Remuneration Report	72,260,453	36.28	127,020,086	63.72	199,280,539	24,681,386
3.  Reappoint the auditors	219,945,803	98.21	4,015,183	1.79	223,960,986	939
4.  Re-Elect John Jackson	192,089,392	85.77	31,870,542	14.23	223,959,934	1,991
5.  Re-Elect Claire Milne	195,686,790	87.38	28,274,644	12.62	223,961,434	491
6.  Re-Elect Ian Penrose	149,647,450	67.40	72,413,049	32.60	222,060,499	1,901,426
7.  Re-Elect Anna Massion	216,248,021	99.26	1,621,294	0.74	217,869,315	6,092,611
8.  Re-Elect John Krumins	217,862,969	99.99	4,846	0.01	217,867,815	6,094,111
9.  Re-Elect Andrew Smith	217,495,484	97.18	6,321,451	2.82	223,816,935	1,991
10. Re-Elect Moran   Weizer	216,478,266	96.66	7,483,169	3.34	223,961,435	491
11. Directors Power   to allot shares	197,843,313	88.34	26,117,997	11.66	223,961,310	616
12. Disapplication   of  Pre-Emption   rights	198,870,122	88.80	25,090,509	11.20	223,960,631	1,295
13. Further   disapplication of   Pre-Emption   rights	198,842,170	88.79	25,118,461	11.21	223,960,631	1,295
14. Market purchase   of own shares	223,673,522	99.89	249,438	0.11	223,922,960	38,966

At 20 May 2020, the issued share capital of the Company was 299,328,354 ordinary shares of no par value (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares).

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2, copies of the resolutions (other than those concerning ordinary business) will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for viewing at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm  

The NSM can be accessed at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism  

The proxy figures for the resolutions will also displayed on the Company's corporate website - www.playtech.com  

-  Ends -

For further information please contact:

Playtech plc                                                        [phone]

Chris McGinnis, Director of Investor Relations &

Strategic Analysis

James Newman, Director of Corporate Affairs

Headland (PR adviser to Playtech)  [phone]

Lucy Legh, Stephen Malthouse

About Playtech

Founded in 1999 and premium listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, Playtech is a technology leader in the gambling and financial trading industries.

Playtech is the gambling industry's leading technology company delivering business intelligence driven gambling software, services, content and platform technology across the industry's most popular product verticals, including, casino, live casino, sports betting, virtual sports, bingo and poker. It is the pioneer of omni-channel gambling technology through its integrated platform technology, Playtech ONE. Playtech ONE delivers data driven marketing expertise, single wallet functionality, CRM and responsible gambling solutions across one single platform across product verticals and across retail and online.

Playtech partners with and invests in the leading brands in regulated and newly regulated markets to deliver its data driven gambling technology across the retail and online value chain. Playtech provides its technology on a B2B basis to the industry's leading retail and online operators, land-based casino groups and government sponsored entities such as lotteries. Through the acquisition of Snaitech, Playtech directly owns and operates a leading sports betting and gaming brand in online and retail in Italy, Snai.

Playtech's Financials Division, named TradeTech Group, is a technology leader in the CFD and financial trading industry and operates both on a B2B and B2C basis.

Playtech has in total c.6,000 employees across 21 countries and is headquartered in the Isle of Man.

 

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