28 February 2025
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Yellow Cake plc ("Yellow Cake" or the
"Company")
Statement
regarding Shareholder Consultation
Yellow Cake, a
specialist company operating in the uranium sector holding
physical uranium ("U3O8") for the long
term, provides an update, in accordance with the UK Corporate
Governance Code following its Annual General Meeting held on 3
September 2024 ("AGM").
While all
resolutions were passed by a majority of
shareholders, Resolution 5 (re-appointment of Sofia Bianchi) and Resolution
11 (an advisory resolution to approve the
directors' remuneration report) were passed with the
necessary majority but received less than 80% of votes in
favour.
At the time of the AGM announcement,
the Company noted that Investor Shareholder Services ("ISS"), a
proxy advisory firm, recommended that
shareholders vote against Sofia Bianchi's re-appointment on 21
August 2024 on the basis of the number of Ms Bianchi's other board
positions. On 30 August 2024, following clarification that two of
Ms Bianchi's board appointments were within the same shareholder
group, ISS recommended that shareholders vote in favour of her
re-appointment. Given that the amended ISS recommendation was
issued shortly before the proxy voting deadline, there may have
been insufficient time for shareholders who follow these
recommendations to amend their votes.
ISS also recommended that
shareholders vote against the directors' remuneration report,
stating that the vesting of Long-Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP")
awards was not conditional on the achievement of performance
conditions. While the Company did not consider ISS' analysis of the
LTIP scheme to be fair or accurate, it undertook to consult with those shareholders who voted against
this resolution to better understand their specific
concerns.
In light of the feedback received
from shareholders and ISS, the Remuneration Committee (the
"Committee") has taken the opportunity to review and amend the LTIP
with advice from an independent remuneration consultant, to ensure
improved alignment with the shareholder experience and expectations
(the "Updated LTIP"). The Committee proposes to replace the
market-value options with Performance Shares. Performance Shares
are a simple and transparent structure and are well-understood by
our shareholders and proxy advisors. The Updated LTIP also directly
addresses ISS's concerns around performance conditions. The
performance conditions have been selected to better align
management with investors seeking to participate in an expected
increase in the uranium price.
The Company consulted with major
shareholders following the LTIP re-design and is therefore
confident that the design of this Updated LTIP appropriately
rewards management, aligns their interests with those of our
shareholders, and ensures that there is no reward for poor
performance. The grant of LTIP awards in
respect of the financial year ending 31 March 2025 would normally
be granted at the start of the financial year, but was deferred
pending shareholder consultation. These awards were instead
granted on 27 February 2025 and reflect the terms of the Updated
LTIP, a summary of which was provided in Yellow Cake's separate
regulatory announcement, 'Grant of Awards Under Long Term Incentive
Plan', published on 28 February 2025. The new directors'
remuneration policy will be fully detailed in the Company's 2025
Annual Report.
The Company will continue to engage
with its shareholders on remuneration related
matters.
Enquiries:
Yellow Cake plc
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Andre Liebenberg, CEO
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Carole Whittall, CFO
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+44 (0) 153 488 5200
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Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker:
Canaccord Genuity Limited
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James Asensio
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Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor
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Charlie Hammond
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+ 44 (0) 207 523 8000
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Joint Broker: Berenberg
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Matthew Armitt
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Jennifer Lee
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Detlir Elezi
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Tel: +44 (0) 203 207 7800
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Financial Adviser: Bacchus Capital Advisers
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Peter Bacchus
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Richard Allan
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Tel: +44 (0) 203 848 1640
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Communications Adviser: Sodali &
Co
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Peter Ogden
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+44 (0) 779 385 8211
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ABOUT YELLOW CAKE
Yellow Cake is a London-quoted
company, headquartered in Jersey, which offers exposure to the
uranium spot price. This is achieved through its strategy of buying
and holding physical triuranium octoxide
("U3O8"). It may also seek to add value
through other uranium related activities. Yellow Cake seeks to
generate returns for shareholders through the appreciation of the
value of its holding of U3O8 and its other
uranium related activities in a rising uranium price environment.
The business is differentiated from its peers by its ten-year
Framework Agreement for the supply of U3O8
with Kazatomprom, the world's largest uranium producer. Yellow Cake
currently holds 21.68 million lb of U3O8, all
of which is held in storage in Canada and France.