REG - Character Group PLC - Share Buyback Programme

CharacterAnnouncement

06/02/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 0908C  Character Group PLC  06 February 2024

 

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this
announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information
is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

Tuesday, 6 February 2024

 

The Character Group plc

("Character," the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Designers, developers and international distributor of toys, games, and
giftware

 

 

Share Buyback Programme

Character (AIM:CCT) today announces that, as part of its strategy to
repurchase the Company's own shares when considered appropriate, it will
undertake a share buyback programme of up to a maximum aggregate consideration
of one million pounds (£1.0m) (the "Share Buyback Programme"), which will be
funded out of the Group's existing cash resources.

The Company has appointed its joint corporate broker, Panmure Gordon (UK)
Limited ("Panmure Gordon"), to manage the Share Buyback Programme and to
repurchase issued Ordinary Shares on its behalf from today's date until the
day before the date of Company's 2025 AGM or earlier if the maximum aggregate
consideration of £1.0 million is reached before that date.  The Share
Buyback Programme can subsequently be increased in scale by agreement between
the Company and Panmure Gordon.  If any such agreement is reached, a further
announcement will be made giving details of the agreement.

The Company has engaged Panmure Gordon to operate the Share Buyback Programme
on a broker-managed basis, repurchasing Ordinary Shares (within certain
defined parameters). Panmure Gordon will make all trading decisions in
relation to the buyback of Ordinary Shares independently of the Company within
the terms of the Share Buyback Programme.

Share purchases under the Share Buyback Programme will take place in open
market transactions and may be made from time to time depending on market
conditions, share price, trading volume and other terms. The maximum price
paid per Ordinary Share will be no more than: (i) the higher of the price of
the last independent trade and the highest current independent purchase bid
for Ordinary Shares on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out;
and (ii) 105 per cent of the average closing middle market quotations of an
Ordinary Share for the five business days immediately preceding the day on
which such Ordinary Shares are purchased. Under the Share Buyback Programme,
the shares repurchased by the Company will be cancelled.

 

There is no guarantee that the Share Buyback Programme will be implemented in
full or that any purchases will be made. The Company reserves the right to
bring a halt to the Share Buyback Programme under circumstances that it deems
to be appropriate and in accordance with relevant law and regulation.

The Share Buyback Programme will operate in accordance with the Company's
general authority to purchase a maximum of 2,890,000 Ordinary Shares, granted
by its shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 19
January 2024. The purpose of the Share Buyback Programme is to reduce the
Company's share capital. The Share Buyback Programme will be conducted within
the pricing parameters of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014/EU and the
delegated regulations made pursuant to it (the "Regulations"). However, given
the limited liquidity in the issued Ordinary Shares, the Company has agreed
that, on any trading day, a buy-back of Ordinary Shares under the Share
Buyback Programme may exceed 25% but remain below 50% of the average daily
trading volume in the Ordinary Shares in the 20 trading days preceding the
date on which a buy-back of Ordinary Shares is carried out. Accordingly, the
Company may not benefit from the exemption contained in the Regulations.

The Company confirms that it currently has no other unpublished price
sensitive information at the time of this announcement.

The Company will make further regulatory announcements in respect of
repurchases of Ordinary Shares as required by UK MAR and the AIM Rules.

Total Voting Rights (TVR)

As at 5 February 2024, the Company's total issued share capital consisted of
21,465,929 Ordinary Shares, with one voting right per share, of which
2,100,159 are held in treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting rights
in the Company was 19,365,770.

 

The Character Group plc

FTSE sector:  leisure goods:

FTSE AIM All-share: symbol: CCT

Market cap: £52m

Email:  info@charactergroup.plc.uk (mailto:info@charactergroup.plc.uk)

Group website: www.thecharacter.com (http://www.thecharacter.com)

Product ranges can also be viewed at www.character-online.co.uk
(http://www.character-online.co.uk)

CHARACTER GROUP PLC CCT Stock | London Stock Exchange
(https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/CCT/character-group-plc/company-page)

 

 

 

 Enquiries to:

 The Character Group plc

 Jon Diver, Joint Managing Director

 Kiran Shah, Joint Managing Director & Group Finance Director

 Office:  +44 (0) 208 329 3377

 Mobile: +44 (0) 7831 802219 (JD)

 Mobile: +44 (0) 7956 278522 (KS)

 Panmure Gordon (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

 Atholl Tweedie, Investment Banking

 Rupert Dearden, Corporate Broking

 Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7886 2500

 Allenby Capital Limited (Joint Broker)

 Nick Athanas, Corporate Finance

 Amrit Nahal / Tony Quirke, Sales & Corporate Broking

 Tel:  +44 (0) 20 3328 5656

 TooleyStreet Communications Limited (Investor and media relations)

 Fiona Tooley

 Tel:  +44 (0) 7785 703523

 Email: fiona@tooleystreet.com (mailto:fiona@tooleystreet.com)

 

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