Company Announcements

The Biotech Growth Trust PLC - Result of AGM

THE BIOTECH GROWTH TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

 

Results of the Annual General Meeting

 

The Board is pleased to announce that at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company held on Thursday, 17 July 2025 all resolutions as detailed below were duly passed by shareholders on a poll.  

 

 ______________________________________________________________________________
|               |         |     |             |     |                |Votes    |
|Resolutions    |Votes For|%    |Votes Against|%    |Total Votes Cast|         |
|               |         |     |             |     |                |Withheld*|
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|1. To receive  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the audited    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|financial      |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|statements and |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the Report of  |7,975,685|99.92|6,651        |0.08 |7,982,336       |667,777  |
|the Directors  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|for the year   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|ended 31 March |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|2025.          |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|2. To approve  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the Directors' |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Remuneration   |7,907,296|99.37|49,832       |0.63 |7,957,128       |692,985  |
|Report for the |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|year ended 31  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|March 2025.    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|3. To re-elect |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Hamish Baillie |7,938,961|99.52|38,387       |0.48 |7,977,348       |672,765  |
|as a Director  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|of the Company.|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|4. To re-elect |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Geoff Hsu as a |5,969,910|99.29|42,878       |0.71 |6,012,788       |2,637,325|
|Director of the|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Company.       |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|5.. To re-elect|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Dr Nicola      |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Shepherd as a  |7,929,461|99.36|51,295       |0.64 |7,980,756       |669,357  |
|Director of the|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Company.       |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|6. To re-elect |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Roger Yates as |7,937,295|99.50|40,053       |0.50 |7,977,348       |672,765  |
|a Director of  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the Company.   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|7. To elect    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Julie Tankard  |7,932,765|99.40|47,991       |0.60 |7,980,756       |669,357  |
|as a Director  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|of the Company.|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|8. To          |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|re-appoint BDO |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|LLP as auditor |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|and to         |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|authorise the  |6,884,315|99.71|20,273       |0.29 |6,904,588       |1,745,525|
|Audit Committee|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|to determine   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|their          |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|remuneration.  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|9. To authorise|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the Directors  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|to allot       |7,940,791|99.47|42,610       |0.53 |7,983,401       |666,712  |
|securities in  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the Company.   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|10#. To        |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|disapply the   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|rights of      |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|pre-emption in |7,923,509|99.29|56,443       |0.71 |7,979,952       |670,161  |
|relation to the|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|allotment of   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|securities.    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|11#. To        |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|authorise the  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Company to make|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|market         |7,969,302|99.86|11,324       |0.14 |7,980,626       |669,487  |
|purchases of   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Ordinary shares|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|in the Company.|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|12#. (Subject  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|to court       |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|approval) to   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|reduce the     |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|share capital  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|of the Company |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|by cancelling  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|the entire     |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|amount standing|7,968,939|99.83|13,582       |0.17 |7,982,521       |667,592  |
|to the credit  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|of the share   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|premium account|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|and the capital|         |     |             |     |                |         |
|redemption     |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|reserve to     |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|create a new   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|distributable  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|reserve.       |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|13#. To        |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|authorise the  |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Directors to   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|hold General   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Meetings       |7,935,239|99.55|35,629       |0.45 |7,970,868       |679,245  |
|(excluding     |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|AGMs) on not   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|less than 14   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|clear days'    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|notice.        |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|
|14. That the   |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|Company should |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|continue as an |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|investment     |6,624,050|76.68|2,014,787    |23.32|8,638,837       |11,276   |
|trust for a    |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|further period |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|of five years. |         |     |             |     |                |         |
|_______________|_________|_____|_____________|_____|________________|_________|


 

# designates a Special Resolution

* Please note that a `vote withheld' is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes `For' and `Against' a resolution.

 

Any proxy votes which are at the discretion of the Chair have been included in the "For" total.

 

At 6.30pm on 15 July 2025 the total number of Ordinary shares of 25p each in issue and the total number of voting rights was 25,368,360.

 

The voting figures will shortly be made available on the Company's website at www.biotechgt.com

   

In accordance with UK Listing Rules 6.4.2 and 6.4.3, the full text of the resolutions passed has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism . In addition, resolutions 9 to 13 will be filed at Companies House.

 

Statement from the Board

All resolutions proposed at the AGM were duly passed. The majority received votes in favour exceeding 99%, while Resolution 14, approving the continuation of the Company as an investment trust for a further five years, secured 77% support.

 

In accordance with Provision 4 of the UK and AIC Corporate Governance Codes, when 20% or more of votes are cast against the board recommendation for a resolution, the Company is required to explain what actions it intends to take to consult shareholders in order to understand the reasons behind the result.

 

Ahead of the Annual General Meeting, the Board proactively engaged with major shareholders and was encouraged to learn that the majority expressed support for the Company's continuation. The Board was recently made aware of concerns raised by a dissenting shareholder.   The Board will engage further with them and remains committed to constructive dialogue with all shareholders. Further updates will be shared in due course.

 

17 July 2025

 

For further information please contact:

 

        Katherine Manson Frostrow Capital LLP - Company Secretary 020 3709 8734