2nd Feb 2006 14:45
Smith WH PLC02 February 2006 WH SMITH PLC ("WHSmith") Annual General Meeting - Proxy Votes and Poll Result Appointment of New Chairman of WHSmith Pension Trust Interim Results 2006 Date Change At the AGM of WH Smith PLC held today at 11.30am, the following levels of proxyappointments and associated voting instructions were received prior to themeeting. All of the resolutions were carried on a show of hands. Resolution Proxy Votes For the Proxy Votes Against the Abstentions Number Resolution Resolution 1 113,638,940 319,620 54,617 2 111,533,834 2,449,203 30,140 3 113,361,289 410,802 241,086 4 113,875,367 122,641 15,169 5 113,869,428 127,815 15,934 6 113,842,785 155,968 14,424 7 111,827,540 1,306,500 879,137 8 108,092,781 5,811,893 108,503 9 108,105,098 5,796,541 111,538 10 108,492,750 5,408,258 112,169 11 109,935,656 3,690,563 386,958 12 110,857,504 3,141,370 14,303 13 109,001,052 4,980,193 31,932 14 113,921,178 22,726 69,273 15 112,912,622 592,905 507,650 16 112,847,175 318,548 847,454 17 113,695,011 86,221 231,945 Notes 1. Any proxy appointments which gave discretion to the Chairman have beenincluded in the "for" total. 2. The proxy votes shown reflect the position as at 11.30am on Tuesday 31January 2006, being 48 hours before the time of the meeting and conforming toRegulation 41 of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001. Votinginstructions can be changed at any time prior to a poll being demanded, and ashareholder having lodged a proxy is still entitled to attend the meeting andvote their shares themselves as they see fit. Appointment of New Chairman of WHSmith Pension Trust Following his appointment as Chairman of Syngenta AG, based in Zurich, MartinTaylor is retiring from the position of Chairman of the WHSmith Pension Trustwith effect from 1 April 2006. The Company has appointed Jeremy Stone to succeedMartin Taylor as Chairman of the WHSmith Pension Trust. Robert Walker, Chairman of WH Smith PLC said: "On behalf of the Company and ourpensioners I would like to thank Martin for his strong leadership and invaluablecontribution in chairing the Pension Trust over the past seven years. "We are delighted Jeremy has agreed to become Chairman of the Pension Trust. Asan independent trustee he has been instrumental in delivering the successfulchanges we have made to the funding arrangements." Interim Results 2006 Date Change WH Smith PLC will announce its Interim Results 2006 on Wednesday, 12 April 2006(and not on Thursday, 13 April 2006, as announced on 24 January 2006). -Ends- Enquiries: WH Smith PLC Louise Evans Media Relations 020 7851 8850Mark Boyle Investor Relations 020 7851 8820 Brunswick Tom Buchanan 020 7404 5959Pam Small Notes to Editors: Jeremy Stone was appointed as an independent trustee of the WHSmith PensionTrust in July 2002. He has extensive experience of investment banking and iscurrently a Managing Director of NM Rothschild & Sons. Prior to this Jeremy wasGroup Finance Director of Lazard Brothers & Co. Ltd. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Wh Smith