Result of AGM
18 May 2018 17:30 BST
Results of Annual General Meeting held on 18 May 2018
AstraZeneca PLC announced the results of the voting at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today. As proposed in the Notice of AGM, all Resolutions were decided by poll vote. Resolutions 1 - 8 were passed as ordinary resolutions and resolutions 9 - 13 were passed as special resolutions.
| RESOLUTION | VOTES FOR | % OF VOTES CAST | VOTES AGAINST | % OF VOTES CAST | VOTES CAST IN TOTAL | TOTAL VOTES CAST AS A % OF ISSUED SHARE CAPITAL | VOTES WITHHELD | |
| 1 | To receive the Company's Accounts, the Reports of the Directors and Auditor and the Strategic Report for the year ended 31 December 2017 | 975,352,556 | 99.97 | 286,020 | 0.03 | 975,638,576 | 77.03% | 2,190,628 |
| 2 | To confirm dividends | 973,207,907 | 99.66 | 3,276,414 | 0.34 | 976,484,321 | 77.09% | 1,345,238 |
| 3 | To reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Auditor | 975,991,837 | 99.92 | 823,912 | 0.08 | 976,815,749 | 77.12% | 1,010,316 |
| 4 | To authorise the Directors to agree the remuneration of the Auditor | 975,217,035 | 99.83 | 1,642,984 | 0.17 | 976,860,019 | 77.12% | 966,821 |
| 5a | To re-elect Leif Johansson as a Director | 965,159,252 | 98.78 | 11,893,311 | 1.22 | 977,052,563 | 77.14% | 777,040 |
| 5b | To re-elect Pascal Soriot as a Director | 976,561,635 | 99.96 | 423,451 | 0.04 | 976,985,086 | 77.13% | 840,934 |
| 5c | To re-elect Marc Dunoyer as a Director | 966,288,665 | 98.93 | 10,404,129 | 1.07 | 976,692,794 | 77.11% | 1,131,405 |
| 5d | To re-elect Geneviève Berger as a Director | 969,536,507 | 99.27 | 7,178,145 | 0.73 | 976,714,652 | 77.11% | 1,111,156 |
| 5e | To re-elect Philip Broadley as a Director | 976,367,428 | 99.97 | 321,290 | 0.03 | 976,688,718 | 77.11% | 1,137,091 |
| 5f | To re-elect Graham Chipchase as a Director | 881,989,499 | 92.80 | 68,391,901 | 7.20 | 950,381,400 | 75.03% | 27,446,864 |
| 5g | To elect Deborah DiSanzo as a Director | 976,385,364 | 99.97 | 318,846 | 0.03 | 976,704,210 | 77.11% | 1,122,657 |
| 5h | To re-elect Rudy Markham as a Director | 963,170,539 | 98.61 | 13,530,376 | 1.39 | 976,700,915 | 77.11% | 1,129,638 |
| 5i | To elect Sheri McCoy as a Director | 976,377,268 | 99.97 | 302,558 | 0.03 | 976,679,826 | 77.11% | 1,148,061 |
| 5j | To elect Nazneen Rahman as a Director | 975,580,506 | 99.89 | 1,085,775 | 0.11 | 976,666,281 | 77.11% | 1,161,656 |
| 5k | To re-elect Shriti Vadera as a Director | 974,721,822 | 99.80 | 1,938,806 | 0.20 | 976,660,628 | 77.11% | 1,168,365 |
| 5l | To re-elect Marcus Wallenberg as a Director | 728,805,452 | 77.48 | 211,832,691 | 22.52 | 940,638,143 | 74.26% | 37,189,833 |
| 6 | To approve the Annual Report on Remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2017 | 616,320,491 | 65.08 | 330,706,327 | 34.92 | 947,026,818 | 74.77% | 30,798,857 |
| 7 | To authorise limited political donations | 951,435,712 | 97.85 | 20,941,516 | 2.15 | 972,377,228 | 76.77% | 5,450,018 |
| 8 | To authorise the Directors to allot shares | 879,235,003 | 90.02 | 97,511,636 | 9.98 | 976,746,639 | 77.11% | 1,081,345 |
| 9 | To authorise the Directors to disapply pre-emption rights | 964,350,714 | 98.99 | 9,859,917 | 1.01 | 974,210,631 | 76.91% | 3,617,671 |
| 10 | To authorise the Directors to further disapply pre-emption rights for acquisitions and specified capital investments | 948,470,583 | 97.36 | 25,722,825 | 2.64 | 974,193,408 | 76.91% | 3,633,732 |
| 11 | To authorise the Company to purchase its own shares | 964,157,201 | 98.76 | 12,138,730 | 1.24 | 976,295,931 | 77.08% | 1,532,147 |
| 12 | To reduce the notice period for general meetings | 887,046,924 | 91.22 | 85,341,411 | 8.78 | 972,388,335 | 76.77% | 5,438,953 |
| 13 | To adopt new Articles of Association | 962,268,146 | 99.00 | 9,709,546 | 1.00 | 971,977,692 | 76.74% | 5,848,152 |
AstraZeneca is pleased to have received shareholder support for all resolutions proposed at the AGM, but is disappointed with the lower level of support received for its Annual Report on Remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2017.
AstraZeneca engaged with its major shareholders during 2017 and is disappointed that enhancements made to Remuneration Report disclosures and changes to the operation of the annual bonus scheme in response to shareholder feedback have not significantly improved the voting result.
The Remuneration Committee has already engaged with a number of shareholders to understand the reasoning behind their decisions not to support the Remuneration Report and will continue to engage with shareholders during 2018 to determine how best to address their concerns.
Issued capital
As at 16 May 2018, the number of issued shares of the Company was 1,266,635,735 ordinary shares, which was the total number of shares entitling the holders to attend and vote for or against all of the resolutions at the AGM. In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, on a poll every member present in person or by proxy has one vote for every share held.
Adrian Kemp
Company Secretary, AstraZeneca PLC
18 May 2018
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism and Respiratory. The Company also is selectively active in the areas of autoimmunity, neuroscience and infection. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.
For more information, please visit www.astrazeneca.com and follow us on Twitter @AstraZeneca.
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