21
May 2024
Greencore Group
plc
Launch of new £30
million Share Buyback
Programme
Plan to return up to £50
million to shareholders including potential reintroduction of
dividends
Greencore Group plc ('Greencore' or
the 'Group' or 'the Company'), a leading manufacturer of
convenience foods in the UK, announces its intention to commence a
share buyback programme ('Programme') with an aggregate value of up
to £30 million.
The Programme is part of a plan to
return £50 million to shareholders over
next 12 months, commencing initially with a share buyback of up to
£30 million, which is expected to be
completed within the next six months.
If the Company continues to trade as expected, the Board also
intends to declare a dividend for the year to September
2024.
The Programme follows the return of
£50 million to shareholders by way of a share buyback between May
2022 and February 2024.
Dalton Philips, Chief Executive Officer,
said:
"Our ambition is to continue to build Greencore as the UK's
leading convenience food business and to create value for our
shareholders. Following an initial capital return of £50 million
over the past two years, we are today announcing the return of a
further £50 million. Our capital returns policy is supported by our
strong balance sheet and continued confidence in the outlook for
the sector and our business."
Launch of £30 million Share Buyback
Programme
Greencore has entered into an
agreement with Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited ('Shore Capital')
pursuant to which Shore Capital will carry out
on-market purchases of Ordinary Shares in the capital of the
Company (the 'Shares') independent of the Company on an irrevocable
and non-discretionary basis. Shore Capital will make its trading
decisions in relation to the Programme independently of the
Group.
The maximum price paid per Share
(exclusive of expenses) will be no more than the higher of: (i) 5%
above the average of the middle market quotations taken from the
London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business
days preceding any Ordinary Shares being purchased; and (ii) the
higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest
independent bid for Ordinary Shares on the trading venue where the
purchase is carried out. The minimum price shall be no less than
(exclusive of expenses) a price of £0.01 pence per Share, being the
nominal value of a Share.
The Programme will commence today,
21 May 2024, and will end no later than 28 November 2024 unless
completed or terminated earlier. Under the terms of the Programme,
the Shares will be repurchased on the London Stock Exchange and
will be cancelled.
The maximum number of Shares which
can be repurchased under the Programme is 42,268,584. The Programme
will be conducted at all times within the limits of the applicable
authority granted by shareholders to repurchase the Company's
Ordinary Shares in issue.
Shareholders should be aware that
the programme will, insofar as is possible, be conducted in
accordance with the safe harbour parameters of the Market Abuse
Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) and the Commission
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (as incorporated into UK
domestic law by virtue of the UK's European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 and the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations
2019)('MAR') as well as the applicable laws and regulations of the
UK Financial Conduct Authority. The
Programme will be effected in accordance with Chapter 12 of the
rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.
However, Shares acquired pursuant to
the Programme may on any given trading day represent a significant
proportion of the daily trading volume in the Shares on the London
Stock Exchange and could exceed 25% of the average daily trading
volume. On days where a buyback of shares exceeds 25% of the
average daily trading volume, the Company will not benefit from the
exemption contained in Article 5(1) in the UK version of MAR.
Furthermore, the Programme will not prevent the Company from making
additional purchases of Shares, including by way of block trades,
in accordance with the Company's general authority to repurchase
Ordinary Shares where it considers appropriate to do so.
Any market purchase of Ordinary
Shares pursuant to the Programme will be announced no later than
7.30am on the business day following the day on which the purchase
occurred.
For
further information, please contact:
Damien Moynagh
|
General Counsel & Company
Secretary
|
Tel: +353 (0) 1 605 1000
|
Curtis Armstrong
|
Director of FP&A and
IR
|
Tel: +44 (0) 1246 384649
|
David Marshall
Jonathan Neilan
|
Head of Capital Markets
FTI Consulting
|
Tel: +353 (0) 1 605 1000
Tel: +353 (0) 86 231 4135
|
Nick Hasell
|
FTI Consulting
|
Tel: +44 (0) 203 727
1340
FTI_Greencore@fticonsulting.com
|
About Greencore
We are a leading manufacturer of
convenience food in the UK and our purpose is to make every day
taste better. To help us achieve this we have a model called The
Greencore Way, which is built on the differentiators of People at
the Core, Great Food, Excellence and Sustainability - The Greencore
Way describes both who we are and how we will succeed. We
supply all of the major supermarkets in the UK. We also supply
convenience and travel retail outlets, discounters, coffee shops,
foodservice and other retailers. We have strong market positions in
a range of categories including sandwiches, salads, sushi, chilled
snacking, chilled ready meals, chilled soups and sauces, chilled
quiche, ambient sauces and pickles, and frozen Yorkshire Puddings.
During FY23 we manufactured 779m
sandwiches and other food to go products, 132m chilled ready meals,
45m chilled soups and sauces and 245m jars of cooking sauces,
pickles and condiments. We carry out more than 10,400 direct to
store deliveries each day. We have 16 world-class manufacturing
sites and 17 distribution centres in the UK, with industry-leading
technology and supply chain capabilities. We generated revenues of
£1.9bn in FY23 and employ 13,600 people. We are headquartered in
Dublin, Ireland. For further information go to
www.greencore.com or follow
Greencore on social media.