GNC Greencore Group Plc

21 May 2024

Greencore Group plc

Launch of new £30 million Share Buyback Programme

Plan to return up to £50 million to shareholders including potential reintroduction of dividends

Greencore Group plc ('Greencore' or the 'Group' or 'the Company'), a leading manufacturer of convenience foods in the UK, announces its intention to commence a share buyback programme ('Programme') with an aggregate value of up to £30 million.

The Programme is part of a plan to return £50 million to shareholders over next 12 months, commencing initially with a share buyback of up to £30 million, which is expected to be completed within the next six months.  If the Company continues to trade as expected, the Board also intends to declare a dividend for the year to September 2024.

The Programme follows the return of £50 million to shareholders by way of a share buyback between May 2022 and February 2024.

Dalton Philips, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Our ambition is to continue to build Greencore as the UK's leading convenience food business and to create value for our shareholders. Following an initial capital return of £50 million over the past two years, we are today announcing the return of a further £50 million. Our capital returns policy is supported by our strong balance sheet and continued confidence in the outlook for the sector and our business."

Launch of £30 million Share Buyback Programme

Greencore has entered into an agreement with Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited ('Shore Capital') pursuant to which Shore Capital will carry out on-market purchases of Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company (the 'Shares') independent of the Company on an irrevocable and non-discretionary basis. Shore Capital will make its trading decisions in relation to the Programme independently of the Group.

The maximum price paid per Share (exclusive of expenses) will be no more than the higher of: (i) 5% above the average of the middle market quotations taken from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days preceding any Ordinary Shares being purchased; and (ii) the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest independent bid for Ordinary Shares on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out. The minimum price shall be no less than (exclusive of expenses) a price of £0.01 pence per Share, being the nominal value of a Share.

The Programme will commence today, 21 May 2024, and will end no later than 28 November 2024 unless completed or terminated earlier. Under the terms of the Programme, the Shares will be repurchased on the London Stock Exchange and will be cancelled.

The maximum number of Shares which can be repurchased under the Programme is 42,268,584. The Programme will be conducted at all times within the limits of the applicable authority granted by shareholders to repurchase the Company's Ordinary Shares in issue.

Shareholders should be aware that the programme will, insofar as is possible, be conducted in accordance with the safe harbour parameters of the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (as incorporated into UK domestic law by virtue of the UK's European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019)('MAR') as well as the applicable laws and regulations of the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The Programme will be effected in accordance with Chapter 12 of the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.

However, Shares acquired pursuant to the Programme may on any given trading day represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Shares on the London Stock Exchange and could exceed 25% of the average daily trading volume. On days where a buyback of shares exceeds 25% of the average daily trading volume, the Company will not benefit from the exemption contained in Article 5(1) in the UK version of MAR. Furthermore, the Programme will not prevent the Company from making additional purchases of Shares, including by way of block trades, in accordance with the Company's general authority to repurchase Ordinary Shares where it considers appropriate to do so.

Any market purchase of Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Programme will be announced no later than 7.30am on the business day following the day on which the purchase occurred.

For further information, please contact:

About Greencore

We are a leading manufacturer of convenience food in the UK and our purpose is to make every day taste better. To help us achieve this we have a model called The Greencore Way, which is built on the differentiators of People at the Core, Great Food, Excellence and Sustainability - The Greencore Way describes both who we are and how we will succeed. We supply all of the major supermarkets in the UK. We also supply convenience and travel retail outlets, discounters, coffee shops, foodservice and other retailers. We have strong market positions in a range of categories including sandwiches, salads, sushi, chilled snacking, chilled ready meals, chilled soups and sauces, chilled quiche, ambient sauces and pickles, and frozen Yorkshire Puddings.  

During FY23 we manufactured 779m sandwiches and other food to go products, 132m chilled ready meals, 45m chilled soups and sauces and 245m jars of cooking sauces, pickles and condiments. We carry out more than 10,400 direct to store deliveries each day. We have 16 world-class manufacturing sites and 17 distribution centres in the UK, with industry-leading technology and supply chain capabilities. We generated revenues of £1.9bn in FY23 and employ 13,600 people. We are headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. For further information go to www.greencore.com or follow Greencore on social media.