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.


Blinkx (RTHM) AGM Report 2012

This report on the Blinkx AGM on the 21st September 2012 is a fairly long because it was a long meeting. It started in Cambridge at 9.00 a.m. (which is a bit early for my liking as I said to the Chairman but I did not then realise how long the meeting would take) and finished at 12.00 noon. But unlike many long AGM meetings, this was not because there were any contentious issues, just lots of presentations, demonstrations and questions. Blinkx ...

First Property (FPO) AGM Report 2012

I have been a shareholder of First Property (AIM:FPO) since 2010 and attended their AGM on 14th September. Background First Property is a peculiar beast, being primarily an asset manager of institutional property funds, but also owning stakes in some properties directly and stakes in its own funds, as “seed capital”. That leads to two alternatives methods of valuing the business: on earnings or NAV. Earnings comprise: Fund management fees Rental and capital returns from directly owned property stakes  Income and capital gains from investments in ...

Carpetright (CPR) AGM Report 2012 – Time to let go?

Today I attended the Annual General Meeting of Carpetright, the leading carpet retailer in UK, and possibly Europe (about 25% market share in the UK). It will be a brief report because the AGM was brief – about 15 minutes in duration. The meeting took place at their offices in Purfleet, Essex and there were less than a dozen people in attendance (although I was told there were only three last year). It included a couple of people who I worked with ...

Polar Capital (POLR) AGM Report 2012 – heavily invested in Apple but still underperformed

I attended the Annual General Meeting of Polar Capital Technology Trust Plc (PCT) yesterday. This is an investment trust which invests in a wide range of worldwide technology companies – as a result it has a lot of the major IT companies in its portfolio. So it holds Apple, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle, SAP, ARM, Samsung, and lots of others. The fund is managed by Polar Capital LLP as the fund manager, with the individual concerned being Ben Rogoff. One reason ...

Victoria (VCT) AGM Report 2012 – an activist shareholder concert party in motion

Yesterday I attended the Annual General Meeting of Victoria Plc. Bearing in mind the recent events at this company, I expected it to be a lively affair and so it turned out to be. With another General Meeting having been requisitioned to remove some of the directors and add others which will take place probably in early October, one could perceive this meeting to be simply a preamble to the main fight. But the arguments were well rehearsed at this one. Background It’s best to give some ...

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 ...