To Sheffield. It’s raining.
B&B has booked the the whole of the Sheffield Arena for the EGM to vote on their re-re-refinancing. But they might have been overly cautious; turnout could be thinner than the bank’s AGM in May.
FACT ONE: eight years ago today, in this very same venue, members of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society voted in favour of becoming a bank.
Now they’re being asked to stop B&B becoming an ex-bank.
Journalists are in quarantine for the time being in the press room. Won’t be able to mingle with real live shareholders until after 9am.
Very soothing classical music being played in the background…
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Live images of the arena, beamed into the press room, suggest just a handful of people have turned up. 15 maybe? Certainly more security than shareholders. Maybe they’re expecting trouble.
there’s a video screen here in the press room showing live images of the arena. there are literally from what i can see on the screen just a handful of people sitting there. 15 i reckon? there are more security than shareholders. probably b/c they are afraid shareholders will be carrying weapons?
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9.05 The show’s underway. Chairman Rod Kent apologies for the timing and choice of venue, and for generally inconveniencing people. Certainly more staff and security here than actual shareholders.
Chairman Kent acknowledges that “it has not been a smooth journey”. There has been disappointment and distraction. More apologies are offered.
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9.15 Chairman Ken is now trying to strike an upbeat note.
“Mortgage lending has and always been a cyclical business.” Of course it has.
“This is just a downturn and if we keep our head down we can trade through this.” Absolutely.
If Bradford & Bingley gets rights issue approval, it will be one of the best capitalised banks in the UK.
Yup.
Time to remind the audience of BB’s great product offerings…
Much still needs to be done, of course, like finding a new chief executive. But this will be made much easier if we get a positive vote today.
9.25 We’re on to the questions!
Oh dear. The first one has very hostile tone - from a lady in a floral shirt. And it’s not a question at all. It’s an ear bashing for Chairman Kent. B&B has made a lot of mistakes and this shareholder in particular hopes it can learn from those mistakes.
Q2: Will directors be getting a bonus? Short answer from the chairman: “No.” Not him, not the other directors either.
Q3: Ah, it’s a man from Standard Life (big, big shareholder). He wants to know if management will do everything to uphold preemption rights, before going on to assure the directors that SL will be supporting all the resolutions.
That all looked a bit staged.
Anyway, Chairman Kent is happy to give the man from SL that assurance.
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9.30
Next guy up looks like a AGM/EGM regular. In fact he was definitely at the meeting in May.
He wants to know how the board could possibly have struck such a confident tone back then. Oh, and how come the underwriters got off the hook so easily. And why as an individual shareholder should he take up his rights when the shares are trading below the subscription price.
Cue some uncomfortable shuffling on the stage.
Follow-up Q from the same shareholder: The board might be foregoing their bonus, but how can directors justify the increase in their remuneration as approved at May’s AGM? Perhaps the board would like to take a 1/3 pay cut….
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9.35 Chairman Kent says he knows shareholders have suffered but the remuneration increase is needed to keep talent “We are in a market where there’s a lot of demand for good people…Cannot ignore what’s going on elsewhere.”
Suddenly the questions are over.
The press are feeling cheated!
Vote underway….
All resolution passed.
Meeting adjourned.
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Final tally
56 shareholders
22 security guards
15 reporters
40-50 BB staff
3 felts from Finsbury
