Annual General Meeting

GlaxoSmithKline plc (‘GSK’) holds an Annual General Meeting in London each year during May. All the directors able to attend are available formally during the meeting, and informally beforehand, for questions.

Voting on all resolutions put to the Annual General Meeting is done by way of a poll rather than by a show of hands.

2020 Annual General Meeting

The twentieth Annual General Meeting (‘AGM’) of GSK will be held on Wednesday 6 May 2020 at 2.30pm.

The Notice of AGM 2020 gives details on the resolutions put to the meeting, together with explanatory notes (‘AGM Notice’).

At the AGM, a resolution will be put to shareholders to approve a new Remuneration Policy. The proposed new Remuneration Policy can be downloaded here.

Important information in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Last updated: 9 April 2020

On 23 March 2020, the UK Government established stay at home measures prohibiting, amongst other things, public gatherings of more than two people. In light of these measures the AGM will be run as a closed meeting and shareholders will not be able to attend in person. Shareholders attempting to attend the AGM will be refused entry. We hope that you understand that we are taking these steps to protect our shareholders, employees and the Board and as a result to enable GSK to continue to focus on providing healthcare to patients in need.

We will make arrangements such that the legal requirements to hold the meeting can be satisfied through the attendance of two GSK director shareholders and/or employee shareholders. The AGM will now be held at 980 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9GS (GSK’s registered office) and not at the Sofitel at Heathrow Airport. The time and date of the AGM remain as 2.30pm on Wednesday 6 May 2020 and the business to be conducted remains as set out in the AGM Notice.

The outcome of the resolutions will as usual be determined by shareholder vote based on the proxy votes we receive. Shareholders are strongly encouraged to vote by proxy on the resolutions contained in the AGM Notice. Given the restrictions on attendance, shareholders are encouraged to appoint the “Chairman of the Meeting” as their proxy rather than another person who will not be permitted to attend the meeting. If any shareholders have already submitted a Proxy Form appointing someone other than the “Chairman of the Meeting”, they are encouraged to contact our registrar, Equiniti, as soon as possible on 0371 384 2991 (in the UK) or + 44 (0)121 415 7067 (outside the UK) to change their proxy appointment to the “Chairman of the Meeting”.

Shareholders may appoint a proxy by completing and returning the Proxy Form that was sent with the AGM Notice. Alternatively, a proxy may be appointed electronically via www.shareview.co.uk, www.sharevote.co.uk or, if shares are held in CREST, via the CREST system. To ensure votes are counted at the AGM, proxy appointments must reach Equiniti by 2.30pm on Monday 4 May 2020.

Participants in GSK’s UK Corporate Sponsored Nominee service may exercise their votes through Equiniti by using the Form of Direction that was sent with the AGM Notice. Alternatively, they may exercise their votes electronically via www.sharevote.co.uk. Please note that voting instructions must be received by 5.00pm on Wednesday 29 April 2020.

Holders of GSK shares through another nominee service, should contact the nominee service provider regarding the process for appointing a proxy. Please be aware that the deadline for this is likely to be much earlier than Monday 4 May 2020. 

All valid proxy appointments (whether submitted electronically or in hard copy form) will be included in the poll to be taken at the AGM. The results of the poll will be announced to the London Stock Exchange and placed on our website, in the usual way, as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the AGM.

The Board believes that the resolutions contained in the AGM Notice continue to be in the best interests of GSK and its shareholders as a whole and recommends that shareholders vote in favour of them.

Should a shareholder have a question that they would have raised at the AGM, we ask that they send it by email to company.secretary@gsk.com. Answers to questions will be published on our website following the AGM.

This situation is constantly evolving and the UK Government may change the current restrictions or implement further measures during the affected period. Shareholder engagement is important to us even in these exceptional times. Although the restrictions mean that we will not be able to hold our AGM in the usual way, we would like to ensure that we can still respond to questions. Shareholders should continue to monitor this page of our website and London Stock Exchange announcements for any updates regarding the AGM. Alternatively, shareholders can contact Equiniti for updated information (please see above for Equiniti’s contact details).

The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank all shareholders for their continued support and understanding in these exceptional circumstances and wish them well during this time. We will return to full shareholder engagement as soon as possible.

Total Voting Rights

In accordance with section 311A of the Companies Act 2006, GSK confirms that, as at 20 March 2020, its issued share capital (excluding Treasury shares) consisted of 5,017,039,560 ordinary shares of 25 pence each, carrying one vote each. Therefore, the total voting rights that members are entitled to exercise at the AGM in respect of these shares is 5,017,039,560

Information on requisitioning a resolution for the AGM