Unilever 2014 Annual Report Download - page 8

SINIFIANT SHAREHOLDERS OF PL
As far as Unlever s aware, the only holders of more than 3% of,
or 3% of votng rghts attrbutable to, PL’s share captal on
31 December 2014 (apart from deferred stock held by Naamlooze
Vennootschap Elma and Unted Holdngs Lmted, see page 44, and
shares held n treasury by PL, see page 44), are BlackRock, Inc
and the Leverhulme Trust as ndcated n the table below
Shareholder lass of shares
Total number of
shares held
% of relevant
class
Naamlooze
Vennootschap
Elma deferred shares 50,000 50
Unted Holdngs
Lmted deferred shares 50,000 50
BlackRock ordnary shares 71,832,960 55
The Leverhulme
Trust ordnary shares 68,531,182 53
No dsclosable changes n nterests n the share captal of
PL have been notfed to PL between 1 January 2015 and
25 February 2015 (the latest practcable date for ncluson n ths
report) Between 1 January 2012 and 25 February 2015, Legal &
eneral roup plc, BlackRock and the Trustees of the Leverhulme
Trust and the Leverhulme Trade hartes Trust have held more
than 3% of, or 3% of votng rghts attrbutable to, PL’s ordnary
shares Durng ths perod, and as notfed, these holdngs
reduced to below the 3% reportng threshold
Durng 2014, the trustees of the Leverhulme Trust and the trustees
of the Leverhulme Trade hartes Trust (comprsng the same
ndvduals (together the ‘Trustees’)) together held 70,566,764
ordnary shares amountng to 55% of the votng rghts of PL
On 31 December 2014 the Leverhulme Trust and the Leverhulme
Trade hartes Trust became chartable ncorporated
organsatons As a consequence of these changes, the balance
of shares held by the Trustees has reduced to zero and only the
Leverhulme Trust has a dsclosable nterest as shown n the
table above
SHAREHOLDER ENAEMENT
Unlever values open, constructve and effectve communcaton
wth our shareholders Our shareholders can rase ssues drectly
wth the harman and, f approprate, the Vce-harman/Senor
Independent Drector The FO has lead responsblty for nvestor
relatons, wth the actve nvolvement of the EO They are
supported by our Investor Relatons department whch organses
presentatons for analysts and nvestors These and other
materals (eg an Introducton to Unlever and AM materals)
are generally made avalable on our webste
Prncpal shareholders the Executve Drectors’ nvestor relatons
programme contnued n 2014 wth meetngs n nne maor ctes
n Europe, North Amerca and Asa In all, they met more than 90
nvestors durng these roadshows In addton, the harman
mantaned contact wth prncpal shareholders wth one to one
and group governance and strategy meetngs n the UK and the
Netherlands n June and n the US n September
Quarterly announcements brefngs on quarterly results are
gven va teleconference and are accessble by telephone or va
our webste
Annual nvestor semnar ths annual event was held n our
London offces n December 2014 It focused on ‘Drvng Proftable
rowth and Aglty’ and ncluded presentatons on brands, R&D
and supply chan The event was attended by members of the
Unlever Leadershp Executve and other senor management
The sldes shown and an audo-recordng of the presentatons
were made avalable and can be accessed on our webste Ths
allows those nvestors not attendng n person to access the
nformaton provded at the event
Investor conferences the Executve Drectors and members of
the Investor Relatons team also meet a large number of nvestors
at the ndustry conferences they attend In 2014 the conferences
that were attended by Unlever representatves ncluded broker
sponsored conferences n London, Pars, Brussels, San Francsco
and Sngapore
Feedback from shareholders we mantan a frequent dalogue
wth our prncpal shareholders and regularly collect feedback
In addton, n 2014 we asked a cross secton of nvestors to
partcpate n a detaled percepton study We use ths feedback
to help shape our nvestor programme and future shareholder
communcatons Prvate shareholders are encouraged to gve
feedback va shareholderservcesunlevercom The harman,
Executve Drectors and harmen of the ommttees are also
generally avalable to answer questons from the shareholders
at the AMs each year
Board awareness the Boards are brefed on nvestor reactons
to the roup’s quarterly results announcements and are brefed
on any ssues rased by shareholders that are relevant to ther
responsbltes
wwwunlevercom/nvestorrelatons
ENERAL MEETINS
Both Unlever NV and Unlever PL hold an AM each year
At the AMs the harman gves hs thoughts on governance
aspects of the precedng year and the EO gves a detaled revew
of the performance of the roup over the last year Shareholders
are encouraged to attend the relevant meetng and to ask
questons at or n advance of the meetng Indeed, the queston
and answer sesson forms an mportant part of each meetng
The external audtors are welcomed to the AMs and are enttled
to address the meetngs
The 2014 AMs were held n London and n Rotterdam n May and
the topcs rased by shareholders ncluded Non-Executve
Drectors’ shareholdngs, Non-Executve Drector successon
plannng, the PL Dvdend Renvestment Plan, the NV umulatve
Preference shares, the termnaton of the certfcaton of the
NV shares and how Unlever’s values are reflected across ts
brand portfolo
VOTIN
Shareholders can vote n person or by proxy Smlar
arrangements apply to holders of depostary recepts ssued
for NV shares and the holders of NV preference shares
The Trustees of the PL employee share trusts may vote or
abstan n any way they thnk ft and n dong so may take nto
account both fnancal and non-fnancal nterests of the
benefcares of the employee share trusts or ther dependants
Hstorcally the Trustees tend not to exercse ths rght
The shares held by NV and PL n treasury are not voted on
More nformaton on the exercse of votng rghts can be found
n NV’s and PL’s Artcles of Assocaton and n the respectve
Notces of Meetngs, all of whch can be found on our webste
wwwunlevercom/corporategovernance
wwwunlevercom/agm
45Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2014 Governance