RWS Annual Report 2022 web - Flipbook - Page 9
SUSTAINABILITY AND ESG
On 29 December 2021 we announced that Des Glass,
Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, was leaving
to pursue other opportunities. On 10 January 2022 we
confirmed that Rod Day had joined the Group as Interim
Deputy Chief Financial Officer. Rod has more than thirty
years of senior finance and strategy experience, primarily
in the business services, online and retail sectors. After an
effective handover period, Des Glass left on 8 April 2022, at
which point Rod Day was appointed to the Board. In parallel
Christopher Lewey, Group Corporate Development Director
and a member of the Executive Team, was appointed acting
Company Secretary.
After a rigorous search and selection process, we
announced the appointment of Candida (Candy) Davies
as Chief Financial Officer on 5 July 2022. Candy was
most recently Head of Finance for the Personal Health
division of Royal Philips, the Dutch-headquartered health
technology conglomerate, where she also supported the
Group Innovation and Strategy function. Candy joined the
Group on 3 October 2022 and was appointed to the Board
the same day. She also joined the Executive Team and
has been conducting a thorough handover with Rod Day,
who will leave the Group on 31 December 2022. Jane Hyde
was also appointed as General Counsel and Company
Secretary and joined the Executive Team on 3 October
2022. As a result of this appointment, Christopher Lewey
stepped down from his role as acting Company Secretary.
On 27 July 2022 we also announced the appointment of
Julie Southern as Non-Executive Director. The appointment
further strengthens the Group’s highly experienced Board
and forms part of the Group’s succession planning, with
the intention that Julie takes up the role of Non-Executive
Chairman in October 2023, at which time I will become
a Non-Executive Director. Julie, who has also become
a member of the Group’s Audit Committee, brings a
wealth of business and governance experience from her
executive career and her current Non-Executive Director
roles at Rentokil Initial, Ocado, NXP Semiconductors and
easyJet, and we are delighted to have attracted someone
of her calibre to chair the Group.
On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Des and Rod
for their significant contributions to the development of
the Group.
RWS remains fully committed to sustainability and
achieving the highest standards in Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG) in its business activities and
interactions with stakeholders. Sustainability was therefore
a core consideration in the development of the Group’s
medium-term growth strategy and purpose.
As a signal of our ambition we have published a separate
ESG report for the first time. This comprehensive review
sets out our progress in detail and is available to download
from the Group’s website (www.rws.com/about/
corporate-sustainability/). We provide a summary of our
sustainability activities and our SASB disclosure on p.25-39
and an update on our progress in adopting the Taskforce
on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) on p.48-59.
DIVIDEND
RWS continues to deliver against its progressive dividend
policy and this marks the 19th year in succession that we
have increased the dividend. The Group remains highly
cash generative, and while our previously announced
investment programme will mean a higher level of capital
expenditure for the next couple of years, we will continue
to deliver high levels of cash conversion and we have a
strong net cash position.
The Board therefore recommends a final dividend of 9.5p
per share. Together with the interim dividend of 2.25p per
share, this will result in a total dividend of 11.75p for the
year – an increase of 12% compared with FY21. Subject to
final approval at the AGM, the final dividend will be paid
on 24 February 2023 to shareholders on the register at 27
January 2023.
SUMMARY
The Group has delivered another robust set of results
against a backdrop of increasing economic uncertainty
and conflict in Eastern Europe. The global nature of our
business and the diverse range of end markets that we
operate in allows us to better navigate these impacts while
delivering consistently strong returns to shareholders.
With an even stronger Board and Executive Team in place,
I remain confident in the Group’s position and longterm prospects. We continue to lead the markets which
we serve and we are excited about the opportunities
for organic growth and M&A in the sector, which will
support enhanced profitability and cash conversion in the
medium- to long-term. I am looking forward to my last
year as Chairman as the Group continues to deliver on its
five-year accelerated growth plan.
Andrew Brode
CHAIRMAN
14 December 2022
STRATEGIC REPORT RWS — Annual Report 2022
9
