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Relations with shareholders and others
Set out below are some of the ways in which the Company interacts with investors and others, and keeps abreast of their views:
Board – Investor relations and external communications and media reports are circulated before every Board meeting. The investor relations report contains a commentary on key events in Experian’s main markets, share price performance, market movements, investor feedback from management/analyst meetings, broker and analyst forecasts and recommendations, investor relations activities (including Environmental, Social and Governance (‘ESG’)), and shareholder analysis. The external communications and media update provides details of the focus of external communication activities, which has included innovation, financial health, data security and integrity, and people. The Chief Communications Officer provides regular updates at Board meetings.
Engagement with investors – The Chair of the Remuneration Committee wrote to our major shareholders and the main UK and US proxy advisory bodies in March 2022. He provided an update on our ESG progress and our commitment to achieving more gender diversity in senior management levels. The Chair, Mike Rogers, met with a number of Experian’s major shareholders over a number of days in December 2021. There was a wide range of topics discussed with these shareholders: business strategy and performance, the impact of COVID-19, financial inclusion, data security, regulation, Board diversity and expertise, and ESG matters.
Investors and analysts – The executive team runs an ongoing programme of dialogue with institutional investors and analysts, through which they discuss a wide range of issues including strategy, performance, management and governance. Experian also engages with investors through industry conferences and by hosting events with members of the senior management team. The announcements of the full-year and half-year results and trading updates provide opportunities for us to answer questions from analysts, covering a wide range of topics. This year, executive management attended virtual conferences and investor meetings as outlined above.
Annual General Meeting – The AGM provides a valuable opportunity for the Board to communicate with shareholders and usually to meet them informally before the main business of the meeting. In response to COVID-19 and in order to ensure the safety of the Company’s shareholders, employees and directors, shareholders were not permitted to physically attend the Company’s 2021 AGM. However, shareholders were provided with a facility to view the AGM electronically and to submit questions, and we also engaged with investors ahead of the AGM. Voting levels at the 2021 AGM were 75.26% of the Company’s issued voting share capital. The 2022 AGM will take place on Thursday 21 July 2022 in Dublin, Ireland. Shareholders are encouraged to use proxy voting on the resolutions put forward, all of which (except for procedural resolutions) are taken by a poll.
Private shareholders – The Company Secretary, Charles Brown, oversees communication with private shareholders, and ensures direct responses as appropriate in respect of any matters raised by shareholders. The Company issues a ‘Shareholder Questions’ card each year, together with the AGM documentation. The Company responds to shareholders directly, as appropriate, following the meeting.
Investor relations app – This contains information about our financial performance, together with reports, presentations and news of upcoming events.
Website – Our website is an important channel for communicating with all stakeholders, including shareholders. All material information reported to the regulatory news services is published at www.experianplc.com/investors/regulatory-news together with copies of full-year and half-year results announcements and trading updates.
Other stakeholders – information on Group-wide engagement with key stakeholders can be found in the Strategic report here. You can also find out more on Board activities regarding key stakeholders, including engagement, summarised in the Governance section of the Annual Report 2022.
Considering our stakeholders in our decision-making - all material business cases considered in the Group (for example, mergers, acquisitions and major capital investments) include an analysis of stakeholder impact considerations, anticipated impact and mitigations. This process, which has been reinforced during the year ended 31 March 2022, helps the Board to perform the duties outlined in Section 172 of the UK Companies Act 2006 and provides assurance to the Board that potential impacts on stakeholders have been considered in the development of the proposal.