Experian 2009 Annual Report Download - page 50

48 Experian Annual Report 2009
Governance
Directors’ report continued
of their employment, the Group is
supportive, whether through re-training
or re-deployment, so as to provide an
opportunity for them to remain with the
Group whenever possible.
Employee involvement
Experian is committed to employee
involvement throughout the business
and is intent on motivating and keeping
staff informed on matters that concern
them in the context of their employment
and involving them through local
consultative procedures. Where there
are recognition agreements with trade
unions, the consultation process is
established through national and
local trade union representatives and
through joint consultation committees.
Employees are kept well informed on
matters of concern and the nancial
and economic factors affecting
the Group’s performance through
management channels, conferences,
meetings, publications and intranet
sites.
Experian continues to support
employee share ownership through the
provision of save as you earn and other
all-employee share plan arrangements
which are intended to align the
interests of employees with those of
shareholders.
Creditor payment
For all trade creditors, it is Group policy
to:
Agree and conrm the terms of
–
payment at the commencement of
business with that supplier;
Pay in accordance with any contract
–
agreed with the supplier or as
required by law; and
Continually review payment
–
procedures and liaise with
suppliers as a means of eliminating
difculties and maintaining good
working relationships.
Trade creditors of the Group at 31
March 2009 were 22 days based on the
ratio of Group trade creditors at the
end of the year to the amounts invoiced
during the year by trade creditors. The
Company has no trade creditors.
Company did not utilise the authority
to make any purchases of its own
shares during the year under review.
Details of the new authority being
requested are contained in the
circular to shareholders, which
accompanies this annual report
or is available on the Company’s
website at www.experianplc.com.
The Companies (Jersey) Law 1991
permits the Company to hold any shares
bought back as treasury shares as an
alternative to immediately cancelling
them and the directors intend to decide
whether to cancel shares pursuant to
this authority or hold them as treasury
shares based on the interests of the
Company and shareholders as a whole
at the relevant time.
Details of the shares in the Company
purchased by and held under The
Experian plc Employee Share Trust
and the Experian UK Approved All
Employee Share Plan are set out in
note L to the Company’s nancial
statements.
Charitable donations
During the year the Group donated
US$1.95m to charitable causes.
Funds from the GUS Charitable Trust
disbursed through Experian during the
year totalled US$0.42m.
In addition to cash contributions, the
Group’s employees are encouraged to
give their time and skills for the benet
of a variety of charitable causes.
Political donations
Experian did not make any donations
to EU political parties or candidates
during the year ended 31 March 2009.
Employment of people
with disabilities
People with disabilities have equal
opportunities when applying for
vacancies. In addition to complying
with legislative requirements,
procedures are in place to ensure that
disabled employees are fairly treated
and that their training and career
development needs are carefully
managed. For those employees
becoming disabled during the course
by him/her to vote either personally
or by proxy at a shareholders’
meeting or to exercise any other
right conferred by membership in
relation to shareholders’ meetings
if any call or other sum presently
payable by him/her to the Company
in respect of that share remains
unpaid.
No member shall, unless the
–
directors otherwise determine, be
entitled to vote either personally
or by proxy at a shareholders’
meeting or to exercise any other
right conferred by membership in
relation to shareholders’ meetings
if he/she fails within the prescribed
period to provide the Company with
information concerning interests in
those shares required to be provided
after being duly served with a
notice pursuant to the articles of
association of the Company.
In accordance with the articles
–
of association of the Company
and save for certain limited
circumstances, if the number of
shares in the Company benecially
owned by residents of the USA
exceeds a dened permitted
maximum and the directors give
notice to the holder(s) of such
shares, such shares shall not confer
on the holder(s) thereof the right to
receive notice of, attend or vote at
general meetings of the Company.
Financial risk management,
objectives and policies
Descriptions of the use of nancial
instruments and Experian’s treasury
and risk management objectives and
policies are set out in the nancial
review within the business review
section of the annual report and
also in note 3 to the Group nancial
statements.
Own shares
The existing authority for the Company
to purchase its own shares, which
expires at the end of this year’s
annual general meeting, was given
at the annual general meeting held
on 16 July 2008 and permitted the
Company to purchase, in the market,
up to 102,000,000 of its own shares. The