The Board has decided to withdraw its recommendation for the final dividend of 9.1p per ordinary share in respect of the 2019 financial year, which was originally recommended to shareholders in the preliminary results announcement on 27 February 2020.

Accordingly, the Board confirms that it has withdrawn its recommendation for Resolution 3 – Final Dividend, as set out in the Company’s Notice of Annual General Meeting 2020. The Chair of the AGM will also propose the removal of Resolution 3 at the meeting¹.

The Board is not changing its dividend policy and intends to resume the dividend payments as soon as it has greater clarity about the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of the Group.

1 Please note that whilst shareholders present at the AGM may object to the withdrawal of Resolution 3, in line with article 176 of the Company’s Articles of Association, no dividend can exceed the amount recommended by the Board. Therefore, if a shareholder objects to the removal of Resolution 3 and it is subsequently voted on, because the Board has withdrawn their recommendation, any resulting approval of Resolution 3 would have no effect.