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John Menzies plc

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FY2018 Annual Report · John Menzies plc
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EXCELLENCE FROM  
TOUCHDOWN TO TAKEOFF

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2018

AS A LEADING AVIATION 
SERVICES BUSINESS, WITH  
A NETWORK SPANNING  
36 COUNTRIES, WE AIM TO  
BE AN AIRLINE’S LOGISTICS 
SERVICES PARTNER OF 
CHOICE THROUGH OUR HIGH 
QUALITY, TIME-CRITICAL AND 
INDUSTRY-LEADING SERVICE.

What We Do

Executive Services
From stylish lounges to personalised 
meet-and-greet experiences, our 
Executive Services’ offering enhances 
the comfort and convenience of 
executive and VIP air travel.

18

Executive lounges globally

Offline Services
We provide services such as line 
maintenance and aircraft washing,  
which take place outside the scope of 
our customers’ regular flying schedules.

98,300

Third party equipment maintenance 
hours 2018

Cargo
We facilitate transportation of goods  
by accepting, storing and preparing 
cargo for worldwide transit with our 
airline customers.

 Read more on page 11

1.6m

Cargo handled (tonnes) 2018

EXCELLENCE FROM TOUCHDOWN TO TAKEOFF

Fuelling
We provide into-plane fuelling services 
and fuel farm management to airlines, 
airports, oil companies and other 
partners across the world. 

 Read more on page 11

4m

Fuelling turns 2018

Ground Handling
We provide front-line airport services, 
both above and below the wing, 
ensuring passengers and aircraft 
complete journeys efficiently and  
on schedule.

 Read more on page 10

1.3m

Ground handling turns 2018

Financial Highlights

£21.6m

£55.1m

Continuing profit before tax

Continuing underlying operating profit

2018

2017

2016

(1.9)m

21.6m

9.9m

55.1m

53.1m

30.5m

2018

2017

2016

0

0

£94.9m

Operating cash flow

20.5p

Dividend per share

2018

2017

2016

0

94.9m

109.9m

75.0m

2018

2017

2016

0

20.5p

20.5p

18.5p

0

0
Operational and Strategic Highlights
•  Aviation pure play business created following the completion of strategic re-alignment
•  Underlying operating profit for continuing business £55.1m, up 8% in constant currency
•  Underlying earnings per share for continuing business 37.6p, up 20% in constant currency
•  Exceptional items for continuing business were £13.5m including spend for transactions, the completion  

of the ASIG integration and legal and warranty claims related to the ASIG acquisition
•  Menzies Aviation delivered a resilient performance despite some challenging markets
•  Strong customer relationships and service excellence support a very strong contract renewal performance
•  Menzies Distribution sold for an enterprise value of £74.5m
•  Full year dividend in line with previous year at 20.5p

Governance  
Reports 

1-43

44-92

Financial  
Statements 

Strategic  
Report 

What We Do

Financial Highlights 

Where We Operate 

Chairman’s Statement 

Delivering on our Strategy 

Our Business Model 

Market Review 

Our Strategy and KPIs 

Business Review 

Chief Financial Officer’s Review 

Risk Management 

Responsible Business 

Chairman’s Introduction 

Board of Directors 

Corporate Governance Statement 

Nomination Committee Report 

Audit Committee Report 

Human Resources Committee Report 

Remuneration Committee Report 

Directors’ Report 

44

46

48

53

57

63

65

86

Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities  92

1

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

20

24

30

Independent Auditor’s Report 

Consolidated Income Statement 

Consolidated Statement  
of Comprehensive Income 

Consolidated Balance Sheet 

Consolidated Statement  
of Changes in Equity 

93-179

93

103

104

105

106

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows  107

Notes to the Consolidated  
Financial Statements 

Company Financial Statements 

Five Year Summary 

Subsidiary, Joint Venture  
and Associate Undertakings  

108

157

165

166

Shareholder  
Information 

180-189

Notice of Annual General Meeting 

General Information 

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

180

187

1

Strategic Report 
Where We Operate

REACHING 
NEW GLOBAL 
MARKETS

Menzies Aviation is a leading global 
provider of landside and airside 
services tailored to our customers’ 
needs, timed to their schedules and 
delivered to the highest standards. 

We operate at 212 airports in 36 
countries, supported by a team  
of 32,000 highly trained people.

Each year Menzies Aviation serves 
around 500 customers, handling 
1.3 million flights, 1.6 million tonnes  
of cargo and fuelling 4 million 
turnarounds.

WHERE WE OPERATE

Menzies Aviation manages  
its 212 operating locations  
in three regional segments:

  Americas
  EMEA
  Rest of World

Revenue by percentage

Revenue by percentage

Revenue by percentage

41%

45%

14%

Top 10 Customers

Norwegian
IAG
easyJet
United Airlines
American Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Air Canada
Air France-KLM
Lufthansa
Delta Air Lines

AMERICAS

Featured contract:  
Southwest (Denver and Dallas)

We re-negotiated and renewed our contracts 
with Southwest for into-plane fuelling 
services at 16 stations across the USA, 
including Southwest’s two largest operations 
at Denver International Airport, Colorado, 
and Dallas Love Field Airport, Texas.

6,100

Aircraft turns per week

EMEA

Featured contract:  
Czech Airlines (Prague)

We entered into a significant new ground 
handling services contract with Czech 
Airlines at their main hub, Vaclav Havel 
Airport, Prague.  

REST OF WORLD

  Americas
  Americas
  EMEA
  EMEA
  Rest of World
  Rest of World
New contracts
New contracts

Featured contract:  
Singapore Airlines (Sydney)

Singapore Airlines awarded us their 
passenger and ramp handling business in 
Sydney Airport, Australia, demonstrating 
our corporate strategy of growing our 
portfolio with key account customer airlines. 

300

Aircraft turns per week

35

Aircraft turns per week

2
2

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018
John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

3

Strategic Report 
Chairman’s Statement

A TRANSFORMATIONAL 
YEAR

well-placed to grow and deliver 
returns for our shareholders.

During 2018 we have continued to 
expand, opening in 13 new airports, 
and deepened our product density. 
We also continued the investment 
in our systems and our People to 
ensure we have a solid platform for 
growth as we develop a market- 
leading Aviation Services business. 

We remain committed to pursuing 
our Excellence Manifesto and 
aim to become the undisputed 
premium brand in the Aviation 
Services sector. In doing so we will 
set the highest standards for safety, 
security and performance; we will 
offer the deepest combination of 
service portfolio and geography; 
and we will deploy the most 
sophisticated technical solutions. 
Underpinning all of this are our 
People – they are at the heart of 
all that we do and our structured 
People agenda allows us to attract, 
retain and develop each of our 
32,000 employees.

Aligned with our Excellence 
Manifesto, we also remain 
committed to the following 
principles:

•  Organic growth: We seek to 
grow organically both within  
our existing footprint by winning 
more contracts and deepening 
our relationships with growing 
airlines in growing markets 
whilst entering new markets 
either with existing customers  
or through a new scale customer 
that provides the certainty of 
operations to allow the setting 
up of a new base.

Dear Shareholder,

2018 was another significant year 
of progress for the Group. 

On 4 September 2018 we 
celebrated a landmark day in 
the history of John Menzies plc 
with the divestment of Menzies 
Distribution, achieving our exit from 
the distribution of print media and 
the creation of a pure play Aviation 
Services business. Our Group has 
been in business since 1833 and we 
are very proud of our heritage. By 
delivering this strategic objective we 
are now pursuing the next stage of 
the Group’s evolution and I believe 
that by positioning ourselves in 
the attractive, structurally growing 
Aviation Services market we are 

Additionally, after leading our 
Aviation business for three years, 
Forsyth Black has stepped down 
from his role as Chief Executive 
Officer. Forsyth leaves with our 
best wishes as he moves on to 
pursue the next stage of his career. 
The Board will now undertake a 
thorough process, working with 
external recruitment consultants to 
look at both internal and external 
candidates, to appoint a new Chief 
Executive Officer who will prioritise 
growing the underlying business in 
what is an exciting growth market. 
In the interim, Giles Wilson, who 
has been Chief Financial Officer, 
will assume the position of Interim 
Chief Executive Officer.

Led by Giles, we are confident that 
the strong and experienced team 
we have in place will move the 
business forward in the short term. 
The position will be kept under 
regular review in 2019 to ensure 
that Board composition is such that 
at all times we are optimally-placed 
to compete effectively in the 
markets in which we operate and 
seize the strategic opportunities 
that may arise.

Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit
Chairman

•  Acquisitive growth: We will 
make acquisitions where the 
strategic fit is right to bolster 
existing operations and products 
or to enter new markets. We 
will also prioritise acquisitions 
that are highly synergistic. 
These investments may be 
by participating in market 
consolidation or by entering 
joint ventures that allow us 
to enter new markets or to 
participate in airline outsourcing, 
particularly at hub locations.

•  Deliver shareholder returns:  

We are focused on progressively 
growing our margin. We aim 
for top line growth of 8% per 
annum and target a minimum 
EPS growth of 10% per annum. 
Our target net debt will be 
between 1.5 and 2 times EBITDA 
and we will look to continue with 
a progressive dividend policy 
where cover lies between  
2 and 3 times.

Geoff Eaton, Non-Executive Director, 
intimated his intention not to stand 
for re-election at the Company’s 
forthcoming annual general meeting 
during 2018 and stood down 
as Chairman of the Company’s 
Remuneration Committee and as  
a member of the Audit, Nomination 
and Human Resources Committees 
at the end of the year. I would like to 
thank Geoff for the contribution he 
has made to the Board. Following the 
announcement of this change David 
Garman assumed responsibilities for 
the Remuneration Committee and 
Philipp Joeinig took over as Chairman 
of the Nomination Committee, with 
both changes becoming effective  
on 1 January 2019. 

OUR EXCELLENCE 
MANIFESTO

Our strategic goal is to 
position Menzies Aviation  
as the undisputed, premium 
partner in the Aviation 
Services industry through our 
‘Excellence Manifesto’ which 
is centred around a customer 
promise of ‘Excellence from 
touchdown to takeoff’ and is 
underpinned by the following 
three objectives: 

1   SET THE HIGHEST 
STANDARDS 
FOR SAFETY, 
SECURITY AND 
PERFORMANCE

2   HAVE THE DEEPEST   
COMBINATION 
OF SERVICE 
PORTFOLIO AND 
GEOGRAPHY

3   HAVE THE MOST 
SOPHISTICATED  
TECHNICAL 
SOLUTIONS

 Read more on pages 12 to 19

4

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

5

Strategic ReportDelivering on our Strategy

A PURE PLAY AVIATION 
SERVICES BUSINESS

During 2018 we delivered on our 
strategic objectives. Key to this plan 
was the disposal of our Distribution 
business on 4 September 2018. This 
created a global pure play Aviation 
Services business with strong growth 
ambitions that operates in a structural 
growth market.

As detailed in the Chairman’s 
Statement, our overall aim is to be 
recognised as the premium brand in 
our market place, delivering service 
excellence with the highest levels of 
safety and security. We will deliver 
this by deploying innovative system 
solutions, standardising processes 
and, most importantly, by investing 
in our biggest asset, our People.

Today we are a leading player 
in the Aviation Services market 
with leading positions in ground 
handling and into-plane fuelling. 
Globally we operate at over 200 
airports in 36 countries, for over 
500 airline customers and with 
32,000 employees.

Our industry is continuing to grow 
and evolve and we will continue 
to put ourselves at the forefront 
of this development as we strive 
to be the logistics services partner 
of choice for our airline and fuels 
customers. Airlines have a need for 
safe and secure on-time departure; 
aircraft types are changing with 
the introduction of carbon fibre 
composite fuselages and new 
generation engines that allow 
far greater distances to be flown 
by smaller aircraft. These new 
developments place a premium 
on service excellence from ground 
handling providers. Well-invested 
players with a focus on innovation, 
system deployment and first class 
safety records will continue to grow 
market share and we believe that, 
with our proven safety record and 
focus on service excellence, we  
are very well-placed to continue  
to prosper.

We are very excited by the 
opportunity that exists. We operate 
in a growing market but we are 
also benefitting from an increasing 
addressable market, driven by 
both low cost carriers continuing 
to grow market share and from 
more traditional airlines looking 
to optimise their cost base by 
outsourcing ground services. In 
our two largest product categories, 
ground handling and into-plane 
fuelling, we see significant 
opportunity with aircraft traffic 
projected to grow by 4.7% per 
year and the world’s aircraft fleet 
expected to grow by 3% annually 
through to 2037.

Our stated strategy is outlined in the 
Chairman’s Statement and we will 
seek to deliver this by leveraging our 
existing customer relationships to 
enter into new airports and markets. 
Our primary focus is on organic 
growth which we can deliver by 
continuing to win more contracts, by 
grasping cross selling opportunities, 
particularly in North America, where 
we have overlapping products 
and by the strategic targeting of 
contracts and customers. We will 
do this in a disciplined manner with 
strict contracting governance and 
focus on sustainable returns. We 
are very focused on our margins 
and have continual programmes in 
our existing operations to improve 
returns wherever possible whether 
this be through product density or 
increased productivity.

OUR CORE 
PRODUCTS

 GROUND 
HANDLING

We provide front-line 
airport services, both 
above and below 
the wing, ensuring 
passengers and aircraft 
complete journeys 
efficiently and on 
schedule.

 FUELLING

 We provide into-plane 
fuelling services and  
fuel farm management 
to airlines, airports,  
oil companies and  
other partners across 
the world. 

 CARGO

We facilitate 
transportation of goods 
by accepting, storing 
and preparing cargo for 
worldwide transit with 
our airline customers. 

 Read more on pages 10 and 11

6

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

7

Strategic Report 
 
 
Our Business Model

By utilising our highly skilled people, global network and other key resources 
in the delivery of our Excellence Manifesto, John Menzies plc seeks to deliver 
stakeholder value and sustainable returns.

KEY RESOURCES  
AND INPUTS 

Our People

We have a workforce of 32,000 
highly trained employees who 
drive our productivity.

Our Network 

An established network gives us 
the reach to service customers 
from more than 200 locations  
in 36 countries.

IT & Innovation

We seek out and invest in the 
most sophisticated technical 
solutions to support stronger 
performance, improved data  
and greater efficiency and 
prioritise new thinking in order to 
find innovative ways of satisfying 
our customers and gaining 
competitive advantage.

Safety & Security

Our exacting standards, driven 
by our expert safety and security 
teams, provide clear frameworks 
for safe operations across the 
Group.

Our Relationships

We enjoy the hard-earned status 
of trusted partner with many  
of the world’s major airlines.

Governance

We provide clear corporate 
governance and compliance 
processes and controls to drive 
quality, reduce risk and support 
effective working throughout  
our business.

EXCELLENCE FROM TOUCHDOWN TO TAKEOFF

WHAT WE DO

Our Excellence Manifesto sets three strategic objectives which our 
business pursues in order to achieve recognition as the undisputed, 
premium partner in the Aviation Services industry:

We operate in a range of markets that serve the needs of the growing 
Aviation Services sector. 

1

Set the highest standards for safety,  
security and performance

Menzies Aviation distinguishes itself from other handlers by setting a stringent 
benchmark for safety and security performance, and demanding exceptional levels 
of service delivery.

2

Have the deepest combination of service  
portfolio and geography

Menzies Aviation strives to be the partner of choice for major airlines, and the 
natural choice for multi-service contracts, by offering the deepest possible portfolio 
of services at each station across its network.

3

Have the most sophisticated  
technical solutions

Menzies Aviation employs software and equipment which 
deliver the smoothest, most appealing service experience to 
our customers and the most organised, efficient approach to 
resourcing of any business in the Aviation Services market.

For further 
information on 
our strategic 
objectives  
see pages 4 to 7

Ground Handling
Performing aircraft turns, managing 
passengers and handling baggage. 

Fuelling
Providing into-plane fuelling services 
for airlines and managing fuel farms  
for our partners. 

Cargo
Receiving cargo and storing and 
preparing it for transit; loading and 
unloading the consignment and 
readying it for onward transit; and 
wholesaling air cargo capacity.

Executive Services
Providing premium experiences for 
travellers via executive lounges, VIP 
meet-and-greet services, and more.

Offline Services
Handling key services for airline partners 
which take place away from front-line 
operations, such as maintenance and 
central load planning.

WE DELIVER VALUE TO

Our Stakeholders

Our Customers

Our People

We maintain clear oversight of our 
operations, ensuring that our business 
decisions generate real value for  
our stakeholders. 

We work in partnership with our customers to ensure our 
service offering is the right one to help them meet their  
own business challenges. As a professional Aviation Services 
business, our customers benefit from our R&D activities.

We offer varied careers in dynamic environments, ensuring 
our employees remain engaged in delivering results. 

20.5p

Dividend per share 2018

£29.1m

£2.2m

Invested in infrastructure and innovation 2018

Invested in training and development 2018

8

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

9

Strategic Report 
Market Review

AVIATION SERVICES:  
A STRUCTURALLY 
GROWING MARKET

Ground Handling
The Ground Handling market 
provides the world’s airlines with 
essential logistics and support 
services. These services must  
be undertaken to exacting safety 
standards and within stringent 
timescales to ensure the smooth 
running of airline schedules and 
passenger satisfaction.

Participants in the market, ranging 
from in-house providers maintained 
by airlines to independent ground 
handlers, such as Menzies Aviation, 
perform the processes which 
allow airlines to ‘turn’ aircraft, an 
industry term that starts with the 
touchdown of an incoming flight, 
the offloading of cargo, passengers 
and their belongings, followed by 
the preparation and re-loading of 
the aircraft for the next scheduled 
journey. Ground handlers also 
provide key services such as  
the operation of check-in desks 
and gates.

There is continued opportunity  
for growth within the Ground 
Handling market with the four 
largest international handlers, 
one of whom is Menzies Aviation, 
responsible for only a small  
portion of market activity with  
the remainder of the market being 
served by a long tail of regional 
and local providers with varying 
levels of service offering. The 
market growth opportunities can 
be evidenced by the fact that in 
2018 38m turns were undertaken 
globally 1, of which an estimated 
50% were outsourced by the 
airlines, a number that is expected 
to increase to 70% by 2025 2.

Taking into account the prevailing 
fragmented state of the market, 
it would appear that the trend 
towards consolidation amongst 
ground handlers that has been 
experienced in recent years is  
set to continue, with many of the 

smaller providers recognising 
the increasing difficulty of 
competing with global players and 
demonstrating a corresponding 
willingness to divest. The largest 
international handlers have the 
greatest capacity to invest in 
innovative and productivity 
enhancing technologies; they 
possess broader networks 
with which to leverage scale 
agreements; and, generally, are 
party to stronger relationships  
with the world’s largest carriers. 

As a leading global provider of 
ground handling services, Menzies 
Aviation is well-placed to benefit 
from the continued consolidation 
and outsourcing trends and further 
strengthen its position in the 
Ground Handling market.

1.  Source: www.OAG.com
2.  Source: KPMG, 19th Annual GHI Conference, BCN (November 2017)
3.  Source: Boeing, Commercial Market Outlook 2018 – 2037

Fuelling
The aircraft Fuelling market 
comprises two separate offerings: 
fuel farm management (“FFM”)  
and into-plane fuelling (“ITP”).  
The FFM model provides on-airport 
jet fuel storage and associated 
underground hydrant facilities for 
airlines and fuel suppliers, whilst 
the ITP market offers aircraft 
refuelling services to airlines and 
fuel suppliers, facilitating the final 
transfer of jet fuel from the airport 
fuel infrastructure into the wing  
of the aircraft.

Within the Fuelling market  
all participants must focus on 
delivering jet fuel in the safest, 
most efficient manner, adhering 
to extremely prescriptive 
standard operating procedures, 
as well as government, industry 

and customer specifications 
and with an increased focus on 
environmental considerations. From 
an employee resource perspective, 
fuelling operations involve the 
same attendant issues that arise 
in ground handling in terms of 
security, control, certification, 
training and vetting.
Traditionally, oil companies would 
provide the FFM and ITP services 
themselves or sub-contract to 
service providers such as Menzies 
Aviation; although in North America 
it is more typical for the airlines 
themselves to own the fuelling 
infrastructure.
However, similar to what has been 
experienced in the retail petrol 
station market in recent years, 
there appears to be a growing 

trend amongst oil companies to 
retrench their businesses back 
to the refinery level. This, in turn, 
creates an opportunity for service 
providers to step into the gap and 
either take over those downstream 
activities or partner with investors 
in order to build and operate new 
FFM facilities over long, fixed terms 
as there is a need to invest in the 
upgrade of existing infrastructure 
and satisfy the increased demands 
of global passenger numbers. 

The rate and reliability of returns 
available from such arrangements 
make them appealing to fuelling 
service providers such as Menzies 
Aviation.

Cargo
The traditional air cargo logistics 
model includes a number of 
specialised service roles. Specifically, 
the ‘forwarder’ sources the space on 
aircraft and ensures all documentary 
and customs requirements are 
satisfied; the airline provides the 
aircraft to transport the goods; and 
the ‘handler’ has warehouse capacity 
and equipment to accept the cargo 
on behalf of the airline and load it 
onto their aircraft. Menzies Aviation’s 
primary role in this supply chain 
is as a handler, with Air Menzies 
International (“AMI”), our subsidiary 
business, acting as a forwarder.

In the Aviation Services market 
there has been a notable shift 
by airlines towards using non-
traditional and secondary airports 
for cargo flights, in response 
to increasing congestion and 
restrictions at some of the 
world’s largest airports. This 
affords those handlers with a 

global reach and a robust service 
offering the opportunity to work 
at these emerging locations 
and take advantage of airlines’ 
increasing desire to consolidate 
their providers and achieve a 
standardised approach to handling. 

The Cargo Forwarding market 
can generally be split into two 
business types: (i) retail forwarding, 
which is concerned with collecting 
consignments from their originators 
and organising onward transit; and 
(ii) wholesale forwarding, which is 
concerned with the consolidation 
of smaller consignments and their 
onward transport. Wholesale 
forwarders, such as AMI, purchase 
carrying capacity in bulk and re-sell 
it to smaller shippers and retail 
forwarders.

The key benefits of this service 
for smaller forwarders include the 
ability to leverage the considerable 
buying power of the wholesaler 

with airlines and gain improved 
pricing and service levels on any 
given trade lane, together with 
increased access to ancillary 
services such as collection, 
customs clearance, security 
screening arrangements, shipping 
documentation and warehousing, in 
turn substantially streamlining their 
own shipping process. Airlines also 
benefit as they can expect year-
round throughput from wholesalers 
and will gain aggregated business 
from the smaller forwarders who 
may not have the volumes to deal 
with them directly.

With the upturn in growth towards 
the end of 2017 and further 
improved growth at the start of 
20183, primarily driven by the 
significant increase in e-commerce 
and associated delivery targets, 
the outlook for the Cargo market 
remains bright. 

10

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

11

Strategic ReportOur Strategy and KPIs

MONITORING OUR SUCCESS

We measure and track our performance against a number of financial and non-financial key 
performance indicators (“KPIs”) relevant to our core activities. These KPIs have been selected 
to ensure a balanced assessment of the development and performance of our operations can 
be undertaken and progress against the Group’s strategic objectives monitored.

Our Excellence Manifesto

Progress during 2018

1

SET THE HIGHEST STANDARDS 
FOR SAFETY, SECURITY AND 
PERFORMANCE

Menzies Aviation distinguishes itself from 
other handlers by setting a stringent 
benchmark for safety and security 
performance and demanding exceptional 
levels of service delivery.

2 HAVE THE DEEPEST 

COMBINATION OF SERVICE 
PORTFOLIO AND GEOGRAPHY

Menzies Aviation strives to be the partner  
of choice for major airlines, and the natural 
choice for multi-service contracts, by 
offering the deepest possible portfolio of 
services at each station across its network.

3 HAVE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED  

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

Menzies Aviation employs software and 
equipment which deliver the smoothest, 
most appealing service experience to our 
customers and the most organised, efficient 
approach to resourcing of any business in 
the Aviation Services market.

•  Recognition of our exceptional safety and security 

performance by a number of our partners (e.g. easyJet, 
United Airlines and American Airlines) through various 
awards, paying testament to the commitment of our 
People in achieving operational excellence.

•  Our first annual global Safety and Security Week raised 
employee awareness of health, safety and security 
matters by bringing the subject to life in an engaging, 
informative and fun manner. We also ran our Top 6 
Risks awareness campaign and key regional events 
included our Safety Summit in Dallas, Texas, and our 
Safety and Security Workshop in Accra, Ghana.

•  Launch of our global Safety Perception Survey to 

further develop our Safety and Security culture and 
help us identify opportunities for improvement and 
steer employee engagement plans.

•  Acquisition of the trade and assets of Airline Services 

Limited, a provider of aircraft presentation and de-icing 
services within the UK, simultaneously expanding our 
footprint, increasing our portfolio of services at existing 
locations and bolstering our resource and capabilities. 

•  Expansion of our global fuelling operations, as evidenced 
with 58 new fuelling contract wins (including at three 
locations in France) and further strengthening our 
customer relationships.

•  Growing our cargo handling footprint in Oceania 

through entry into a JV with AT Group, a local aviation 
service provider, and the creation of a new cargo 
handling hub at Cairns Airport, Queensland, offering 
major airlines, such as Virgin Australia Airlines, 
international cargo handling facilities. 

•  Deployment of a next generation workforce 

management system, WorkBridge, that fully integrates 
with airport, HR and Time & Attendance systems. 
Aligned to this we provided our employees with mobile 
devices to ensure we have the right people, with the 
right skills, in the right place, at the right time, meeting 
customer needs and minimising administration overhead.

•  Delivery of Telematics onto ground service equipment in 

the UK, Continental Europe and the Americas, enabling 
accurate billing for ground service equipment usage, 
providing insight into the use of our equipment and 
delivering a leaner, more efficient fleet.

•  Deployment of a ‘best in class’ HRiS solution, digitising 
HR and training records and integrating with core 
systems to support employee management.

KPIs

Operational 
delivery  
and ensuring 
excellence

Employee turnover (%) 

2018

2017

2016

53.0

53.3

50.4

Why we measure this
We strive to employ the right individuals with the 
right skills. We train and develop our People and 
therefore monitor employee turnover as a key 
determinant in the investment we make in them. 
Regional and seasonal variations exist as we operate 
in many different countries. This KPI is measured on 
a station-by-station basis.

Employee hours  
per fuelling turn

2018

2017

1.7

1.7

0

0

2016
n/a
2015
Why we measure this
Into-plane fuelling is a core service for our business 
2014
and measuring the average number of employee 
hours utilised for each fuelling turn provides critical 
information on how efficiently we perform this 
activity throughout our operations.

Employee hours  
per ground handling turn

Employee injuries  
per 100 full-time equivalents 

2018

2017

2016

31.9

30.5

29.2

2018

2017

2016

0.16

0.15

0.15

Aircraft damage  
per 1,000 turns 

2018

0.02

2017

2016

0.06

0.06

0

0

2015
Why we measure this
Although changes in the mix of wide and 
2014
narrow-bodied aircraft handled by our business  
can impact this measure, the average number of 
employee hours invested to perform each ground 
handling turn remains a critical measure of how 
efficiently we operate.

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
Our People are our greatest asset and deliver our 
2014
industry-leading service. We operate in areas with 
heavy machinery and must ensure that training is 
appropriate to minimise injuries.

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
Aircraft damage per 1,000 turns underpins our 
2014
quality service provider reputation and ensures we 
maintain an industry-leading position in safety and 
service delivery. Insurance costs are also monitored 
and controlled.

Delivering value 
and measuring 
growth drivers

Revenue growth (%) 

Ground handling turns  

2018
1.4
2017

2016

15.9

51.0

2018

2017

2016

1,293,233

1,380,551

1,246,114

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
We are committed to growing our Aviation business 
2014
and revenue growth is therefore a key metric.

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
Ground handling is a growing, dynamic market.  
2014
We monitor aircraft turns to ensure our business  
is growing both on a like for like and absolute basis.

Ground handling contract  
renewal rate (%)

Operating margin (%) 

Total shareholder return v FTSE 
SmallCap over three years (%)

2018

2017

2016

80.1

82.2

86.6

2018

2017

2016

4.3

4.2

3.5

2018

31.0

2017

-19.8

2016

89.4

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
The rate of ground handling contracts that we 
2014
successfully tender for and renew is a key sign  
of how satisfied our customers are with the levels  
of service and price we are able to provide.

0

0

2015
Why we measure this 
Operating margin is a standard measurement 
2014
demonstrating our ability to turn our revenue  
into profit, encompassing our efficiency, controls 
and value generation.

0

2015
Why we measure this 
Total shareholder return is the most commonly used 
measurement of value generated for shareholders, 
capturing both capital and dividend growth.

2014

0

12

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

13

Strategic ReportBusiness Review

A RESILIENT PERFORMANCE

2018 was another year of progress 
for our business with underlying 
operating profit at £55.1m up 
8% in constant currency. Overall, 
this represents a very resilient 
performance with results in 
line with expectations despite 
challenging markets, most notably 
in North America where previously 
highlighted labour shortages 
impacted the cost base and 
operational performance. 

Our focus on customer 
relationships and service excellence 
was recognised by a strong 
contract renewal performance 
with 276 contracts renewed, 
representing £152m of annualised 
revenue. Importantly overall 

contract renewals enhanced 
margin. Contract win momentum 
continued with 98 net new 
contracts delivering profit growth. 
Revenue growth was adversely 
impacted by some contract losses 
and the exiting of uneconomic 
contracts that had large revenue 
contributions. We continue to focus 
on matching risk with reward, and 
price new business and renewals at 
sustainable rates. This inevitably led 
to the loss of some older contracts 
that were held at uneconomic rates. 

of some large contracts and the 
prior year impact of Hurricane Irma 
on our operations in St. Maarten. 
Into-plane fuelling volumes 
delivered strong growth with 
absolute turns up 7% to 3.9 million. 
This was a result of underlying 
market growth and an additional 
month’s trading from ASIG. Cargo 
handling had an excellent year with 
like for like tonnes up 3% resulting 
from market growth and contract 
wins, particularly in the USA and 
Australia.

Across the network ground 
handling turns decreased as a 
result of exclusive licence losses 
in Panama and the Dominican 
Republic, together with the exiting 

Our ongoing investments into 
service excellence continued.  
A roll-out plan to place Telematics 
on all motorised equipment 
continues and is delivering real 

benefits. Benefits are not only 
financial but also include greater 
fleet management and safety as 
our system is linked to our training 
records which therefore prevents 
those not trained to use a piece 
of equipment from using it. We 
continue to innovate within the 
fuels business where standard 
industry processes are largely 
paper based and successful trials 
in North America have given 
us systems that will allow us to 
automate many processes that  
will deliver bottom line benefits  
to ourselves and our customers. 

Corey Meyer, 
ITP Fueller,  
Bradley, USA

 “ We have a Board that 

supports our endeavours 

to invest in and deploy  

the most sophisticated 

technical solutions. IATA 

has projected that the 

Aviation industry will 

increase spending by  

20% towards digitisation, 

and we are investing 

significantly in parallel  

with airlines and airports, 

having a profound impact 

on our business as we 

move into this new era.” 

Mark Reid
Chief Information 
Officer

In Pursuit of our Excellence Manifesto

BRADLEY INTERNATIONAL 
AIRPORT PIONEERS 
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

The Aviation Services industry is undergoing a  
digital revolution, with greater automation and 
digitisation driving service improvements. 

We are at the forefront of this revolution with  
Menzies Aviation’s Central Operational Excellence 
team working in conjunction with its IT colleagues 
and counterparts in the USA to create our first  
‘Centre of Excellence’ at Bradley International  
Airport, Connecticut. The Centre of Excellence  
pushes us forward in our pursuit of deploying the 
most sophisticated technical solutions ahead of our 
competitors and provides a template for Menzies to 
deliver operational efficiency and customer value.

At Bradley, traditionally labour-intensive processes, 
such as work allocation and the capture of fuelling 
records, have been transformed by digitisation.  
We have truly put technology in the hands of our 
People, delivering innovative digital solutions that 
allow operators to optimise rostering and staff 
allocation in real-time, ensuring we have the right 
resource, in the right place, at the right time. 
Additionally, our Telematics technology allows 
equipment to be tracked remotely and its usage 
monitored in granular detail, whilst digital fuel 
management systems replace large volumes of paper 
documents, saving cost whilst improving the integrity 
and accessibility of data. Our growing performance 
standards and scalable platforms, ensure we are 
well-placed to be at the forefront of our industry.

Transactions digitised annually

38,000

Tasks digitally allocated (per annum)

44,000

14

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

15

Strategic ReportBusiness Review continued

Americas
The Americas region experienced 
a challenging year with labour 
shortages in North America 
impacting the cost base and 
operational performance. Whilst we 
expect some of these challenges 
to continue the business has made 
significant progress in re-pricing 
contracts and accelerating our 
People agenda to help recruit  
and retain staff.

During the year our into-plane 
fuelling business continued to 
perform strongly. Contract renewals 
were excellent, reflecting the strong 
service provision and our moves  
to automate many processes.  
We renewed contracts with three 
major USA-based carriers at 
35 locations, securing £39m of 
revenue at an improved margin.

During the year we ceased to 
operate exclusive licences for 
into-plane fuelling in Panama and 
ground handling at two airports in 
the Dominican Republic. The loss 
of these profitable licences was 
disappointing. 

Overall commercial activity was 
strong in what remains a significant 
growth market where we have 
many opportunities to grow. As 
a portfolio business there were 
contracts lost that we would have 
chosen to keep but we also had 
significant contract wins, notably 
Sunwing in Toronto where we will 
handle 4,600 flights per annum  
in their largest hub and Air China  
in Los Angeles which added to  
our portfolio of Chinese carriers 
across the network. 

Europe, Middle East & Africa
Overall the region performed very 
strongly. In particular, Continental 
Europe had an excellent year 
winning and renewing contracts. 
Our strong relationship with 
easyJet in Continental Europe 
continued with the renewal of 
our contract in Amsterdam, one 
of its largest bases in the region, 
together with new contract 

awards in Gothenburg and Oslo. In 
October we commenced handling 
Czech Airlines in Prague, their 
home airport. This is a significant 
hub operation operating 15,000 
flights per annum. This added to 
the business of Travel Service, the 
parent company of Czech Airlines, 
who are already a customer and 
demonstrates our investments 
into key account management 
and our ability to leverage 
existing relationships to develop 
new organic business at existing 
locations.

The UK ground handling business, 
which represents less than 15% 
of continuing Group revenue, 
continued to be challenged. 
Operations at London Heathrow 
and London Gatwick performed 
strongly but performance 
outside these major hubs was 
disappointing as we continue 
to re-position the business as 
uneconomic contracts unwind and 
we right-size operations aligning 
ourselves to contracts where 
risk and reward are matched. On 
14 December 2018 we were pleased 
to be given provisional clearance 
for the acquisition of the trade and 
assets of Airline Services Limited 
which was subsequently given 
full clearance on 17 January 2019. 
Whilst we were frustrated by the 
process and the delay this caused 
to our ability to run the business, 
raise standards and drive out the 
deal synergies, we are now pleased 
that this process has begun and  
we will incorporate Airline Services 
into the Menzies family. 

Within our fuels business we 
continued to develop the business 
outside the UK adding four locations 
in France where we will provide 
fuel farm management together 
with into-plane fuelling operations 
on behalf of World Fuel Services. 
Performance during the year in 
these new airports has been good. 
We see collaboration with major 
industry players such as World Fuels 
as a significant avenue to grow the 
business throughout Continental 

16

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

 “ This is major contract win 
for the Americas region 
and particularly for our 
fast-growing Canadian 
business. We are delighted 
that Sunwing Airlines has 
chosen to broaden its 
existing partnership with 
us, demonstrating the 
success of our work on the 
ground so far and further 
expanding our operations 
at one of its largest hub 
airports in North America.” 

Paul Walton
SVP Sales & Commercial 
Operations – Americas

In Pursuit of our Excellence Manifesto

SUNWING PARTNERSHIP 
ON THE RISE IN NORTH 
AMERICA 

Sunwing Airlines, the Canadian leisure carrier 
headquartered in Toronto, selected Menzies Aviation 
for three year ground handling contracts at two 
North American locations. 

The contracts, which include passenger services,  
ramp handling and cabin cleaning, involve a renewal  
at Orlando International Airport, USA, and a significant 
new contract at Toronto Pearson International Airport, 
Canada, which will see Menzies Aviation handle 90 new 
aircraft turnarounds each week. Toronto is Sunwing’s 
largest operation whilst Orlando offers a seasonal 
Sunwing service between November and April.

Sunwing provides services from Canada to 45 
locations across the USA, Mexico, the Caribbean  
and Central America. The award of these contracts 
represents an expansion of our existing Sunwing 
relationship, which includes Mexico where we 
currently provide full handling services, and  
confirms our continuing relationship at Orlando. 

Turns per year

5,200

New employees

270

Menzies Ground 
Handling team, 
Toronto, Canada

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

17

Strategic ReportBusiness Review continued

In Pursuit of our Excellence Manifesto

MENZIES PEOPLE AGENDA 
ADVANCES 

We recognise that investment in our People is key in pursuing 
our established strategic objectives. 

Our People are at the core of all that we do and finding ways  
to support and invest in them, from the moment they become 
Menzies employees and throughout their career with us, is vital 
if we wish to maximise our collective success. To this end we 
have a structured People agenda that allows us to attract, 
retain and develop each of our 32,000 employees.

Our People priorities are as follows:
•  We aim to attract and retain the best
•  We aim to provide world class training and career 

development

•  We aim to create an engaged team, providing  

excellent service

To achieve this we will seek to: 
•  Ensure a robust onboarding process is implemented 

throughout our networks

•  Unlock business growth through high quality leadership
•  Proactively strengthen our talent pools and succession  
plans with a mix of internal development and external 
pipeline plans

•  Put in place clear retention strategies that drive pride  

and loyalty

•  Create an inclusive culture that drives world class 

engagement

Menzies Careers webpage hits 2018

360,000 

Menzies Careers webpage hits year on year

+28%

Kayla Moa, 
General Manager 
Cargo, NSW & 
ACT, Australia

Shawn Rohan, 
Lead Ramp Agent, 
and Cristiano 
Nogueria,  
Ramp Agent, 
Toronto, Canada

Tina Markussen, 
Customer 
Service Agent, 
Copenhagen, 
Denmark

Europe and we look forward to 
further progress during 2019.

Operations in Hyderabad, India, 
ceased during the year following 
the completion of our highly 
successful joint venture. Our 
partner, GMR, exercised their call 
option after ten years and we leave 
after having received market value 
for our proportion of the business.

Rest of World
Performance in the region was 
excellent. Significant contract wins 
at improved yields more than made 
up for cargo handling shortfalls 
created by a prior year contract loss.

Cargo handling performance,  
which is a significant contributor 
within the region, was strong. 
Within the ground handling 
business we were delighted to  
win the business of Singapore 
Airlines in Sydney. Operations 
started in October with 1,800  
flights per annum and this award 
builds on our existing relationships 
in five other cities in the region.  
In New Zealand, our operations  
in Auckland continued to prosper  
with excellent new contracts. 
We are also developing strong 
relationships with Chinese carriers 
across the region and we will look 
to build on this going forward.

Operations were opened in Jakarta, 
Indonesia, in September. Whilst the 
start-up operation is modest we 
believe there are real opportunities 
to grow the business locally and 
will look for further expansion 
during 2019.

Cargo Forwarding – Air Menzies 
International (“AMI”)
AMI had a record year in 2018 
increasing revenue by 9% in 
constant currency and continuing 
to grow the bottom line. New 
management continue to energise 
the business and are working on 
plans to synergise the regional 
business units and upgrade the 

operating platform which will leave 
the business in a stronger position 
from which to grow.

Strong volumes, particularly in 
Australia and the UK, boosted the 
full year outturn as the business 
benefitted from a generally strong 
year for the cargo forwarding 
market. Good business relationships 
in China and the Far East were 
developed and the potential to 
grow the business through bolt-on 
acquisitions is evident.

18

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

19

Strategic ReportChief Financial Officer’s Review

IMPROVED GROUP 
PERFORMANCE IN 2018

Outlook
On 17 January 2019 we were 
able to take full control of Airline 
Services following clearance from 
the UK Competition and Markets 
Authority. Integration is progressing 
well with synergy benefits being 
realised. Commercially we will look 
to leverage the deeper customer 
offering this business brings to  
win new business and bolster  
our UK operations. 

Recent commercial successes 
include an award by Korean 
Airlines to handle their flights 
into our operations in Auckland, 
New Zealand, building on the very 
positive growth across the country 
in 2018 and we have also expanded 
our relationship with World Fuel 
Services who have awarded us  
fuel facility management and into-
plane fuelling business in Toulouse 
and Lyon. This expansion, which 
began during 2018, now brings our 
portfolio of business from World 
Fuels in France to five airports.

Overall trading in the first two 
months has been tempered by 
soft cargo volumes and continuing 
difficult labour markets in North 
America. Despite this, and given 
the opportunities ahead of us, 
we still remain positive about 
the remainder of 2019. Looking 
forward, our medium term outlook 
remains very strong with excellent 
market dynamics and significant 
opportunities for growth. 

Group Performance Review
Group performance in 2018 
improved with underlying operating 
profit from continuing operations 
up 4% (8% in constant currency) 
and underlying profit before tax 

£1,291m

Revenue*

 4% in constant currency

£44.1m

Underlying profit before tax*

 10% in constant currency

37.6p

Underlying earnings per share* 

 20% in constant currency

* from continuing operations

Group performance in 2018 improved with underlying operating 
profit for continuing operations up 4% (8% in constant currency) 
and underlying profit before tax for continuing operations up 4% 
(10% in constant currency).

up 4% (10% in constant currency). 
The improvement was particularly a 
result of increased cargo tonnage, 
an extra month of ASIG trading 
and realisation of synergies, strong 
de-icing performance in EMEA 
and increased cargo forwarding 
volumes. The Group reported a 
profit before tax from continuing 
operations of £21.6m (2017: £9.9m) 
with stronger trading profit further 
enhanced by the non-recurrence of 
2017 exceptional costs relating to 
the ASIG acquisition and integration. 

The integration of the fuelling 
and the ground handling business 
acquired with ASIG in 2017 has now 
been completed with synergies 
delivered ahead of target. Contract 
win momentum continued with 
revenue at constant currency up 
4% year on year, and we continue 
to benefit from a focus on margin 
control with the renewal of key 
contracts at increased pricing 
to mitigate higher staff costs. 
We continue to invest in people, 
processes and technology to  
drive further benefits. 

The Group’s revenue from 
continuing operations was 
£1,291.0m (2017: £1,273.6m). 
Continuing underlying profit before 
tax grew to £44.1m (2017: £42.3m) 
up 10% before the impact of foreign 
currency translation. Continuing 
profit before tax was £21.6m (2017: 
£9.9m). Continuing underlying 
earnings per share rose to 37.6p 
(2017: 33.7p). 

The underlying post-tax profit for 
the year from the discontinued 
Distribution operations prior to 
their disposal on 4 September 
2018 was £13.6m (2017: £19.6m for 

12 months), offset by exceptional 
and other items of £31.5m being 
the loss on disposal and related 
transaction and separation costs.

Financial Overview
Exceptional items in  
operating profit
Exceptional items in continuing 
operating profit of £13.5m include 
acquisition and transaction costs 
(£2.9m) and costs to complete the 
integration of the ASIG acquisition 
(£2.1m). Also included are warranty 
and claim costs (£6.7m), which 
comprise the increase in provision 
for identified items relating to ASIG 
that occurred prior to the Group’s 
ownership and are expected to 
become payable. These costs 
are stated before the expected 
recovery of these costs from 
the vendor under warranty and 
indemnity undertakings given in 
the sale and purchase agreement. 
Other items comprise the write-
down in the investment in a joint 
venture (£3.7m) and the ongoing 
de-risking costs of the UK defined 
benefit pension scheme (£0.2m), 
partly offset by gains on disposal 
of property (£2.0m).

Finance costs
The continuing underlying net 
finance charge was £11.0m (2017: 
£10.8m) in line with the prior year.

Taxation
As a multinational business the 
Group is liable for taxation in 
multiple jurisdictions around the 
world. The Group’s continuing 
underlying tax charge for the 
period was £12.4m (2017: £14.8m), 
representing an effective underlying 
tax rate of 28% (2017: 35%).

Earnings per share
The Group’s underlying earnings 
per share for continuing operations 
was 37.6p (2017: 33.7p) as a result 
of the increase in underlying 
profits and the lower tax rate. 
The corresponding basic earnings 
per share was 14.6p (2017: 0.1p) 
benefitting from the reduction in 
non-recurring items compared with 
the prior year.

Defined benefit  
retirement obligation
The reported defined benefit 
retirement obligation in the UK has 
reduced by £31.5m since December 
2017 to £18.0m. As reported in 
2017 the pension scheme was 
split into two sections ahead 
of the planned disposal of the 
Distribution business with Section 
B to be funded by the Distribution 
business and Section A to be 
funded by the continuing business. 
The reduction in deficit in 2018 is 
a result of the transfer of £7.0m of 
Section B as part of the disposal 
of the Distribution business, 
additional cash injected following 
the disposal and sale of related 
properties (£12.5m), ongoing deficit 
contributions (£11.3m) and the 
impact of higher discount rates 
(£17.4m), partly offset by the year 
end downwards revaluation of 
pension scheme assets (£16.7m) 
due to weaker equity markets.

20

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

21

Strategic ReportChief Financial Officer’s Review continued

Underlying operating profit
Depreciation
Dividends from associates and joint ventures
Working capital
Net pension movement
Non-cash items

Operating cash flow

Net capital expenditure
Net interest paid
Regular tax paid
Non-recurring tax paid

Free cash flow

Equity dividends paid
Additional pension payment
M&A
Cash spend on exceptional items
Shares and other

Total movement

Opening net debt
Currency translation

Closing net debt

2018
£m

72.2 
24.9 
4.8 
(1.8)
1.3 
(6.5)

94.9 

(17.3)
(10.2)
(15.3)
–

52.1 

(17.1)
(24.8)
29.2 
(11.0)
(4.4)

24.0 

(214.4)
(9.2)

2017
£m

77.9 
27.8 
6.3 
1.9 
1.0 
(5.0)

109.9 

(31.8)
(11.9)
(13.3)
(3.7)

49.2 

(15.9)
(11.3)
(158.4)
(22.7)
1.5 

(157.6)

(70.5)
13.7 

(199.6)

(214.4)

Investments and cash flow
Investments by the Group in the 
period of £22.4m include amounts 
included in sundry receivables 
incurred ahead of the acquisition 
of the trade and assets of Airline 
Services. The Group intended to 
account for this transaction as an 
acquisition from the closing date 
on 4 April 2018 as the clearance 
of the transaction by the UK 
Competition and Markets Authority 
was expected to be routine. In 
the event, full clearance was not 
received until 17 January 2019 
when restrictions on the Group’s 
ability to control the business were 
removed. Airline Services will be 
accounted for as an acquisition 
from 17 January 2019 in the 
Annual Report and Accounts 

2019. The prior year comparative 
in the Interim Results 2019 will be 
amended as a result.

Operating cash flow was £94.9m 
(2017: £109.9m), the reduction 
year on year driven predominantly 
from the ownership of Menzies 
Distribution for eight months in 
2018. Working capital management 
remains a key focus for the business. 
Free cash flow was £52.1m (2017: 
£49.2m). Net capital expenditure 
was £17.3m (2017: £31.8m).

Debt and facilities
The Group continues to operate 
on a sound financial footing with 
a robust balance sheet built from 
strong operating cash flows. At 
the year end, despite £10.5m 

22

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

adverse impact of foreign currency 
movements on the retranslation of 
the Group’s US$250m term loan 
facility, net debt closed ahead of 
the prior year at £199.6m (2017: 
£214.4m).

The Group’s net debt to EBITDA 
ratio was 2.4 times at 31 December 
2018 (31 December 2017: 1.9 
times) and interest cover was 
5.2 times (2017: 8.3 times) both 
within covenanted levels. The 
reduction in headroom in the year 
reflects the exclusion of profits 
from discontinued operations. The 
Group had £345.3m of committed 
facilities at 31 December 2018 of 
which £91.0m were undrawn.

Impact of foreign  
currency movements
The majority of the Group’s 
operations are located outside 
the UK and account in currencies 
other than the Group’s reporting 
currency. The Group hedges 
the sterling exposure of foreign 
currency denominated assets to 
manage the impact of currency 
movements in the Group’s net 
assets using forward contracts. The 
translation of profits from overseas 
trading entities is not hedged 
and as a result the movement 
of exchange rates impacts the 
Group’s reported results. In 2018 
the Group’s profits were impacted 
by unfavourable exchange rate 
movements against the prior year, 
particularly with respect to sterling 
against the Australian and US 
dollars. The year on year impact 
of foreign currency movement 
on operating profit was a £2.3m 
reduction. As noted above, net 
debt is also subject to foreign 
currency movements on the 
US$250m term loan facility. 

As a result, the Board confirms that 
it has a reasonable expectation that 
the Group will be able to continue 
in operation and meet its liabilities 
as they fall due over the period of 
assessment of three years.

Dividend
As announced at the time of the 
sale of Menzies Distribution, the 
Board intends to hold the total 
paid and proposed dividend for 
the year in line with the previous 
year. Therefore, the Board has 
proposed a final dividend of 
14.5p per ordinary share, which 
is payable on 1 July 2019 to all 
shareholders on the Company’s 
Register of Members at 24 May 
2019, bringing the total paid and 
proposed dividend for the year to 
20.5p per ordinary share. Going 
forward the Board will look to have 
a progressive dividend policy with 
dividend cover between two and 
three times.

Giles Wilson
Chief Financial Officer
11 March 2019

Discontinued operations
The post-tax loss for the year 
from discontinued operations was 
£17.9m representing the profit after 
taxation for the eight months to 
4 September 2018 of £10.4m (2017: 
£12.5m for 12 months), offset by the 
loss on disposal of £28.3m.

Going Concern
The Group’s core business 
activities are set out on pages 10 
and 11 of this Annual Report and 
Accounts 2018 and the principal 
risks impacting these activities 
are set out on pages 26 to 29. The 
Group’s financial position and cash 
flows are set out on pages 105 
and 107 along with an analysis of 
its borrowings in Note 16 on page 
139. As regards going concern, the 
Directors have considered market 
and gearing risks. Sensitivities to 
capital and liquidity risks are set 
out in Note 16 on pages 136 to  
141 of this Annual Report and  
Accounts 2018. 

The Group updates trading 
forecasts covering a forward 12 
month period on a regular basis 
and cash flow forecasts show  
that the Group is capable of 
operating within its committed 
banking facilities and related 
financial covenants for the 
foreseeable future. 

The Directors, who have reviewed 
the budgets, forecasts and 
sensitivities for the coming year, 
consider that the Group has 
adequate financial resources to 
enable it to continue in operational 
existence for the foreseeable future. 
Accordingly, the Directors believe 
that it is appropriate to continue to 
adopt the going concern basis for 
preparing the financial statements.

Viability Statement
The Directors have assessed  
the prospects of the Group over 
a period of three years. The 
Directors believe this period to be 
appropriate because the average 
length of the Group’s customer 
contracts is approximately three 
years and the Group’s planning 
cycle covers a three year period.

As detailed on pages 24 and 25 of 
this Annual Report and Accounts 
2018, the Board monitors and 
assesses the risks and uncertainties 
faced by the Group. This includes a 
consideration of the principal risks 
and material uncertainties facing 
the Group, including those that 
would threaten its business model, 
future performance or solvency. 
During 2018 this process included 
a detailed strategic review of the 
Aviation business and a detailed 
three year planning process.

For the purpose of assessing the 
Group’s viability, the Directors 
focused their attention on the 
principal risks that are critical to 
the Group’s success. Each risk 
and its impact and mitigation 
are set out on pages 26 to 29 of 
this Annual Report and Accounts 
2018. Other than in the event of a 
catastrophic large aircraft incident 
over a populated area, none of the 
plausible events in isolation or in 
combination would prevent the 
Group from continuing to operate 
and meet its liabilities as they fall 
due over the period of assessment 
of three years. In the case of such  
a catastrophic aircraft incident,  
the Group would seek to manage 
the timeframe in which any 
liabilities arose in order to  
continue in operation.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

23

Strategic ReportRisk Management

EFFECTIVE RISK 
MANAGEMENT

Risk Management Framework

1st line  
of defence
Control,  
design and 
implementation

I n ternal Audit

C ompliance

a g e ment Contro

ls

n

a

M

2nd line  
of defence
Oversight

Inherent
Risk

Risk
Management
Framework

Residual
Risk

Risk

3rd line  
of defence
Independent 
assurance

risk management and control 
objectives – it is expected to 
provide comprehensive assurance 
based on the highest level of 
independence and objectivity 
within the organisation.

The Group’s Risk framework  
is underpinned by our ‘8 Pillar’ 
Audit Programme from which  
our Group Risk Register is derived. 
The Programme prescribes 
the minimum standards that 
are expected throughout our 
operations and provides the 
necessary assurance that risks 
are adequately managed and 
continuous improvement achieved, 
whilst the Risk Register process 
seeks to build upon a process 
mapping and control identification 
exercise undertaken during the 
Programme. Risks are categorised 
into 15 areas with key identified 
risks, both financial and non-
financial (the latter including 
environmental, social and 
governance risks), reviewed by 
both the Board and the Executive 
Committee on an ongoing basis. 

In addition to the formal six-monthly 
review of risks and controls that 
occurs, supported by the Group’s 
controls assurance provider, annual 
certifications on internal control 
compliance are undertaken and the 
standard agenda of the Executive 
Committee includes the review of 
audit, compliance and safety and 
security issues and risks. From 
a Finance perspective, the Tax 
Committee continues to convene 
on a two-monthly basis to ensure 
the potential impact of any global 
tax changes has been properly 
assessed whilst the Treasury 
Review Committee also meets on 
a two-monthly basis to review the 
adequacy of the Group’s facilities 
against potential utilisation and 
commitments and to monitor and 
manage the Group’s exposure 
to interest rate and currency 
movements. 

with vigour during 2019. Aligned 
with this will be the implementation 
and global roll-out of the Group’s 
new web-based Integrated Risk 
Management System which will 
bring together our Safety, Quality, 
Security and Environmental 
Management Systems and provide 
a more automated Risk solution 
that, significantly, will enable us 
to progress our risk assessment 
methodology from a less subjective 
to more objective basis. 

As a business health, safety 
and security are at the heart 
of our operations; the ongoing 
development and refinement of 
our risk processes and functions 
must therefore continue for 
without a cohesive, co-ordinated 
approach, risk and control 
resources may not be deployed 
effectively and significant risks 
may not be identified or managed 
appropriately. 

John Geddes
Director of Corporate Affairs  
& Group Company Secretary
8 March 2019

The table on pages 26 to 29 of 
this Annual Report and Accounts 
2018 sets out the principal risks 
and uncertainties, extracted from 
the Risk Register, that the Group 
faced, and continues to face, at the 
end of 2018 and the key control 
mechanisms it has in place to 
mitigate them. The most notable 
changes from 2017 are the removal 
of the ‘Integration of an Acquisition’ 
risk from the Top 10 (as a result 
of the successful integration of 
ASIG) and the introduction of the 
Training and Privacy risks, following 
a wholesale review of the relevant 
‘pillars’ being undertaken by the 
new risk owners during 2018. 

Whilst the risks on these pages do 
not represent all of the risks and 
uncertainties that may impact the 
Group, nor are they listed in order 
of priority, they have been subject 
to robust assessment and review 
by the Board in its consideration of 
the Company’s ability to continue 
as a going concern and in its 
assessment of its viability, thus 
allowing it to make the Going 
Concern and Viability Statements 
contained on page 23 of this 
document.

It is expected that the ongoing 
evaluation and evolution of our risk 
appetite and profiling will continue 

Approaches to Risk

Our shareholder value-based approach 
Coverage is driven by issues that directly impact shareholder value,  
with clear and explicit linkage to our strategic objectives. 

Identify shareholder value-
creating activities

Evaluate impact to  
shareholder value

Understand enterprise 
risks (strategic, financial, 
operational and governance)

TOP DOWN

Audit Plan

BOTTOM UP

Traditional approach 
Based on stakeholder interviews and analysis with focus on coverage  
of identified risk areas, geography and business operations. 

Evaluate impact of risks 
within audit universe

Identify risks (financial,  
operational and compliance)

Define audit universe  
(e.g. geography or  
business unit)

As a risk management-led 
organisation, we recognise 
that a robust risk management 
programme is essential if we are  
to safeguard the Group’s assets 
and, more generally, promote  
the interests of its stakeholders. 
The Group’s central Risk function, 
incorporating Audit, Security, 
Health and Safety, Insurance and 
Environmental, has been operating 
since 2015 and performs a key role 
in ensuring that risks are properly 
identified, prioritised, evaluated  
and managed.

We believe the Three Lines of 
Defence model, as set out below, 
provides a simple but effective 
way to enhance communications 
on risk management and control 
within our business by clarifying 
essential roles and duties. 
Operational management must 
own and manage risk, assuming 
responsibility for maintaining 
effective internal controls and 
for executing risk and control 
procedures on a day-to-day 
basis whilst also implementing 
corrective actions to address 
process and control deficiencies. 
Risk management and compliance 
functions are then expected 
to facilitate and monitor the 
implementation of effective 
risk management practices by 
operational management and assist 
risk owners in defining the target 
risk exposure and reporting risk-
related information throughout the 
organisation via the appropriate 
means. Internal audit provides 
assurance on the effectiveness 
of governance, risk management 
and internal controls, including 
the manner in which the first and 
second lines of defence achieve 

24

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

25

Strategic ReportRisk Management continued

PRINCIPAL RISKS  
AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Board has undertaken a robust assessment of the principal risks and uncertainties facing 
the Group, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, 
solvency or liquidity. The following table, whilst not an exhaustive list of all the risks and 
uncertainties that may arise, details those which the Board considers most significant, 
together with the actions employed to mitigate them. 

Increase

Decrease

No change

Risk Category

Risk

Risk Description

Impact

Key Control Mechanism

Change 
from 2017

BUSINESS 
MANAGEMENT  

Price 
Optimisation  
in Contract 
Renewals/
Contract 
Tendering and 
Competitive 
Pressure

The risk that we fail to re-negotiate  
existing contracts at acceptable rates or to 
successfully win new contracts on terms that 
achieve the Group’s internal rate of return 
and risk profile threshold criteria; together 
with the risk that a competitor enters an 
airport/area leading to a loss of key staff 
and/or contracts. Competition, in the UK 
particularly, continues to increase with  
new entrants to the market.

Inability to re-negotiate and retain key material 
contracts at rates that provide acceptable 
returns could significantly impact Group 
earnings.

Our Commercial teams rigorously undertake advance planning activities to ensure readiness for all upcoming 
contract renewals and new business tenders. The Group also operates a Menzies Commercial Appraisal Committee 
that convenes at least monthly to review all pricing and contractual terms before bids are submitted for new/repeat 
business. In addition, we constantly strive to innovate within our operations to ensure our operational model 
operates with an optimum cost base.

EXTERNAL 
SHOCK

Impact of 
‘Brexit’ to UK 
and European 
Operations

The risk that business becomes more 
difficult within the European Union  
when the UK exits.

The outcome of Brexit negotiations may 
affect/restrict the free movement of persons 
resulting in staff recruitment issues (during 
peak seasons in particular) and impact the 
operations of our customers.

This is a key focus of our HR teams under the stewardship of our Group EVP People and developments in this area 
remain under continual review to ensure we are positioned to react as and when appropriate. Our Commercial 
teams also have a strategy in place that is aimed at achieving the optimum combination of service portfolio and 
geography to offset any potential UK-European flight reduction. Further, many major airlines serving the UK have 
split, or are splitting, their appellation d’origine controlee into UK and European Union to mitigate their risk, in turn 
mitigating ours. Additionally, business continuity plans have been reviewed to ensure suppliers have adequate  
plans in place.

FINANCE

Menzies  
Pension Fund

The risk associated with the Group’s historic 
defined benefit pension scheme in the UK. 
The scheme closed to new members in 2003 
and to future accrual in 2017 and is currently 
in deficit. The Group is required to make  
cash contributions to address this deficit  
and the potential exists that the deficit 
increases due to poor asset returns or 
because of an increase in liabilities arising 
from current financial assumptions  
differing from experience.

An increase in the scheme deficit could result 
in a requirement to increase the current cash 
contributions which in turn could reduce the 
amount that the Group can invest in growth 
business opportunities.

The decision to close the scheme to future accrual was a key determinant in reducing the risk associated with it as 
changes in the scheme liabilities now only result from a change in liabilities relating to past service, as opposed to a 
further increase as a result of current and future service. 

The ongoing controls adopted by the Group to manage this risk include working closely with the scheme’s Trustee 
and its advisers to ensure that investment performance and liability experience are reviewed regularly; diversifying 
pension assets so that the impact decreases in the value of certain asset classes is minimised; and ensuring that the 
scheme has the optimum investment policy by matching asset profiles with associated liabilities taking into account 
the future likely mortality of members, investment returns and inflation. Additional cash has been injected into the 
scheme following the sale of Menzies Distribution. 

HUMAN 
RESOURCES

Increased 
Labour Costs 
and Staff 
Turnover

Our business relies on our People but risks 
exist relating to increased labour costs  
and staff turnover issues. Wage inflation  
is prominent in many of the territories in 
which we operate and there are a number  
of initiatives within various countries to 
improve salaries which in turn could impact 
our operations. Further, high staff turnover 
leads to low experience and skill levels  
to cover required shifts. This could leave  
our operations exposed and lacking 
sufficient skilled employees to deliver  
our business objectives.

An inability to pass on statutory increases  
to our customers could materially impact 
profitability (e.g. the UK’s National Living 
Wage).

Consistently high staff turnover could result  
in both a reduction in service levels and a loss 
of customer contracts. Additionally, a high 
number of inexperienced staff could lead  
to an increase in safety-related incidents.

Contracts with customers increasingly contain clauses that specify statutory wage increases. We also continue to evolve 
our operating model to optimise our cost base and resource management tools are being rolled-out to ensure roster 
outputs meet applicable regulations and customer demands whilst also providing improved productivity.

The Board has a particular focus on staff turnover and regularly monitors the position. Initiatives aimed at reducing  
turnover are in place and are embedded throughout the Group (e.g. in the Americas a dedicated function exists to address 
this issue). Investment in onboarding HR systems, that help vet employees to ensure suitability for the role, have gained 
traction and, at Group level, the Human Resources Committee continues to give detailed consideration to the staff turnover 
issue to determine what can be done to make an impact in this area. Additionally, monthly reviews take place to ensure 
regular monitoring of this risk, together with an increased focus on the collation of competitor data. 

26

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

27

Strategic Report 
Risk Management continued

Risk Category

Risk

Risk Description

Impact

Key Control Mechanism

Change 
from 2017

HUMAN 
RESOURCES

Succession 
Planning

IT

System 
Availability 
and Integrity

The risk that the Group does not have a 
structured and/or effective succession planning 
programme in place that ensures the necessary 
pool of talent exists from which to identify the 
correct individuals to occupy positions that  
may arise, whether supervisory, managerial  
or otherwise. Our operations rely on having  
the right people, with the right skills, in the  
right place, at the right time and as the Group 
expands staff retention and talent recruitment 
are key to guaranteeing the smooth running  
of our operations and maximising our present 
day success.

The operational and leadership impact of 
failing to have robust succession plans in 
place could result in increased costs to the 
business, lack of efficiency and a failure to 
deliver on any, or all, of the Group’s key 
strategic objectives. 

Our brand loyalty could be impacted and  
a competitive disadvantage arise if we were 
unable to retain internal candidates to occupy 
key roles as they become available or we lose 
individuals with the requisite knowledge and 
expertise due to a lack of career opportunities.

The risk of a cyber-attack that compromises 
the confidentiality, integrity and availability  
of systems and data is a growing worldwide 
issue. 

Sophisticated IT systems are at the core of our 
business, driving efficiency and underpinning 
our operations.

A serious IT systems outage and/or 
unauthorised access to the Group’s network 
for even a limited period of time could have  
a significant operational, financial and/or 
reputational impact.

Data Breach/
Data 
Protection 
Resource

The risk that a lack of awareness and/or 
resource in respect of data protection matters 
could result in ineffective handling of a data 
incident, including failure to report a breach 
within the prescribed timescale (72 hours) 
and thus non-compliance with the European 
Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. 

The impact of a major data breach could result 
in regulatory action, including administrative 
fines of up to 4% of global annual turnover,  
the potential risk of individual litigation, the 
termination of customer contracts and severe 
reputational damage.

PRIVACY

SAFETY

Adherence  
to Standard 
Operating 
Procedures

The risk of a breach of/failure to comply with 
our internal and airline standard operating 
procedures (“SOP”) or regulations, which  
are key to ensuring that the Group delivers  
its strategic objectives and operates safely 
and securely at all times.

SECURITY

Global Act  
of Terrorism/
Insider 
Threat

The risk that a global terrorism event  
could materially affect the Aviation industry 
resulting in the number of aircraft flights 
being significantly reduced for a period of 
time. Additionally, the risk that a serious 
security breach or incident occurs that  
is directly attributable to the actions of  
one of our employees, former employees  
or contractors.

TRAINING

Employee 
Training

The risk that employees are not trained  
or refresher training not provided in a  
timely manner.

Failure to adhere to SOP could endanger 
employees and negatively impact both 
operational performance and the Group’s 
reputation. An increase in aircraft damage  
and personal injury incidents may arise and,  
in turn, a poor safety record could produce 
increased operating costs, including punitive 
and compensatory charges and increased 
insurance rates, and ultimately lead to the  
loss of customer contracts.

A global act of terrorism could lead to a 
significant loss in revenue as flights would  
be grounded and air cargo would not be 
transported. Further, the impact of a serious 
security-related incident could affect the 
Group’s reputation, operational performance 
and, ultimately, financial performance.

Failure to deliver adequate training or 
refresher training could give rise to actual  
or potential safety, security and/or quality 
breaches. In addition to endangering employees 
and negatively impacting both our safety 
record and operational performance, the 
reputation of the Group would suffer.

Succession plans across the Group exist and the Board annually reviews such plans for Senior Management and 
Executive Directors. These succession plans are monitored by both regional and departmental teams as well as  
centrally at the Leadership Talent Review which takes place bi-annually. This Review now captures the risk and  
impact of loss which will assist in highlighting the ‘critical positions’ that require focus. Restructuring has taken  
place within the regions which has led to each region having a HR Senior Manager who is accountable for  
supporting their EVP in respect of robust succession planning. 

Structured development programmes are in place aimed at identifying and developing key employees while  
salaries and benefits are benchmarked to ensure they remain competitive with market standards. Additionally, 
succession planning was subject to detailed scrutiny by the Nomination Committee during 2018 and an action  
plan is to be agreed aimed at making our succession population more robust.

Improved security has been provided with the outsourcing of our physical hardware data centres, and associated 
support, to a third party outsourcing specialist. Appropriate plans and controls to mitigate risks to an acceptable 
level have been put in place through our Cyber Security Programme including: identification and replacement of all 
‘end of life’ hardware; proactive management of threats and vulnerabilities; double authentication; move to Office 
365; penetration testing of networks and systems; and periodic review of Response and Disaster Recovery plans.

Increased data protection resource is being introduced into the business to support the Data Protection Officer, 
whilst specialist information security and data protection consultancy services have been provided by an external 
third party. A targeted training and communications programme has also been launched to heighten awareness  
of data protection issues throughout the Group. 

Additionally, an improved Information Security Incident Policy has recently been published and an Incident 
Response process created that, together with associated documentation, will be implemented across the network. 

Independent audit programmes exist to ensure applicable SOP are being adhered to and all audit scores are reviewed 
by the Senior Leadership team. The Operational Excellence function seeks to drive standardisation across the network 
whilst significant investment in infrastructure and systems has aided the drive for compliance and standardisation. 

Tailored training packages exist and all employees undertake full and rigorous training (as applicable). Safety and 
security represent the number one priority at every station and should never be compromised. Industry-leading  
safety systems are utilised whilst our internal M.O.R.S.E. system is at the heart of all our operations. In addition,  
each geographic region will have a dedicated SVP Risk with structures in place to drive continuous improvement.

The Group works closely with airport authorities. Rigorous checking and vetting of all employees takes place. Central 
support is provided to all stations via the Security team, utilising the M.O.R.S.E. intranet-based safety and security 
monitoring system which provides consistent and regular reporting. A dedicated Group Security Officer continues to 
raise standards across the Group and reinforce awareness whilst a corporate personal security measures assessment  
is due to be undertaken. 

Ground handling cost base is flexible and could be flexed to assist in mitigating the potential financial impact.

The introduction of our new learning and development platform, Empower Learning, increases the resilience and 
transparency of our employee training records. The functionality of the system is such that it allows training to be 
delivered in a more efficient manner, reduces variation and simplifies the record-keeping process in terms of, for 
example, expiry and completion dates.

Additionally, all employees undertake a full induction, which includes all mandatory training, upon joining the Group, 
the results of which are recorded in a business unit training matrix. Training compliance is included as part of the 
monthly self-certification process and independent audits are conducted at which the business unit training matrix  
is reviewed to identify any irregularities. All mandatory training has a refresher requirement of no more than every  
36 months. Training is also one of the key pillars in our ‘8 Pillar’ Audit Programme.

28

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

29

Strategic ReportResponsible Business

AN ETHICAL 
APPROACH

Demonstrating our 
commitment to excellence 
and innovation in all that we 
do can serve to differentiate 
us from our competitors. Our 
stakeholders and customers 
can be confident in our 
abilities, our service and how 
we conduct our business  
and we can take pride in our 
work, our teams and in the 
John Menzies plc group.

Underlining our zero tolerance 
approach to bribery and corruption, 
we became a member of TRACE  
in May 2017.

TRACE is a globally recognised 
anti-bribery business organisation 
and leading provider of cost-
effective third party risk 
management solutions. Members 
and clients include hundreds  
of multinational companies 
headquartered worldwide.  
For more information, visit  
www.TRACEinternational.org.

Aaron Thomas, 
Passenger Services 
Supervisor,  
Los Angeles, USA

 Read more about our responsible business online:

www.johnmenziesplc.com/anti-slavery-and-human-trafficking-statement/
www.johnmenziesplc.com/third-party-code-of-conduct/

30

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

by which we can ensure that 
potential or actual improper 
conduct, breaches of regulation or 
legislation or unethical behaviour 
are reported and addressed. 

Our Third Party Code of Conduct, 
which mirrors our own Code of 
Conduct, was also published during 
2018 and this outlines the values, 
ethics and behaviours we expect 
from all our Business Partners. It 
is a fundamental step in engaging 
with those with whom we do 
business and ensuring that we 
share the same strong business 
ethics and values, including a  
focus on employee wellbeing. 

Our assessment of third party 
risk and ensuring our supply 
chains are free from all forms of 
modern slavery is another area 
we give keen consideration to as 
a Group. We do not tolerate any 
form of slavery within our business 
or any of our supply chains, as 
recognised within both our Code 
of Conduct and our Third Party 
Code of Conduct. We are currently 
working on the implementation of 
new measures to ensure improved 
rigour, consistency and auditability 
around our Business Partner due 
diligence process and these will  
be a key focus during 2019. 

Aligned with both this and our 
Excellence Manifesto, we are also 
undertaking an assessment of 
new technology options intended 
to support our Business Partner 
risk assessment and onboarding 
procedures and further endorsing 
our commitment to the success of 
our Compliance Programme across 
the Group.

Our framework of policies and 
guidelines seeks to ensure that we 
foster a culture in which integrity 
and sound ethical values are at  
the centre of everything that we 
do. Having consistent standards  
in place, wherever we operate and 
at every level of our organisation, 
allows us to conduct business 
in the ‘right way’. It also helps 
mitigate compliance-related  
issues which in turn safeguards  
our business, our People and  
our Business Partners (who 
include our customers, contractors, 
suppliers, joint venture partners 
and consultants). 

During 2018 we launched our 
new Group-wide Compliance 
Programme, which is designed 
to guide our People to act in 
accordance with all applicable 
laws, regulations and guidelines 
and to work ethically and with 
integrity, creating a workplace 
environment that is respectful, 
inclusive and supportive. This is 
a ‘living’ Programme that will be 
regularly reviewed and refreshed 
to ensure it both stays relevant 
to us as an expanding business 
and provides our People with the 
guidance and advice they require. 
At the centre of the Programme 
is our Code of Conduct which 
contains key principles, expectations 

and guidance on making ethical 
decisions together with helpful 
resources to assist our People in 
their endeavours. 

Engaging with our People through 
regular communications and 
providing them with the requisite 
training, knowledge, tools and 
confidence ensures our business 
operates in line with our values and 
to the highest ethical standards; 
this is critical to the success of 
our Compliance Programme and 
our organisation more generally. 
We want our People to work in an 
environment where they have the 
courage to speak up if they feel 
something is not right or if they 
believe a breach of our values, 
policies or operating standards  
has taken place.

EXPOLINK, our independent 
whistleblowing hotline, is one way 
our People can report any concerns 
confidentially and anonymously 
and know it will always be 
followed-up. This platform 
represents an invaluable means  

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

31

Strategic ReportHighlights• New Group Code of Conduct was launched network-wide in 12 languages, laying a solid foundation for our global Compliance Programme and providing every employee with an awareness and understanding of our culture and values and our ethical and legal obligations and expectations. • Roll-out of new and updated policies such as Anti-Slavery  and Human Trafficking, Conflicts of Interest and Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption to reflect our refreshed Compliance Programme and ensure their continued relevance to our business. • Finalisation of a new suite of e-learning courses to align  with our updated Compliance Programme together with a bespoke Code of Conduct module and Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness video. Responsible Business continued

Our People

Our People are our most valued asset; they are at the heart of all that we do and are 
critical to securing the successful delivery of our Excellence Manifesto. Investment in our 
People therefore remains a top priority and during 2018 a number of global initiatives 
were launched in respect of attraction, retention and development that underline our 
strong commitment in this area.

Highlights

•  Appointment of a new Head of Operational Learning to lead 
our Learning team in their efforts to deliver industry-leading 
training and processes, incorporating blended-learning 
solutions, new systems and innovative technology.

•  We have combined investment in our communities with 
investment in our future leaders through our Cultural 
Leadership Challenges which took place in Zaragoza, Spain, 
and St. Maarten, Caribbean. A more proactive approach to our 
leadership succession and talent pipeline in 2018 has allowed  
a greater focus on ensuring that we retain our best People. 

•  Our People are our most important resource and mental 

health is a key factor in ensuring they are healthy and happy. 
In recognition of this we marked World Mental Health Day, a 
World Health Organisation-supported day which encourages 
businesses and individuals to take a moment to think about 
their own mental health and that of those around them. 

•  In Oceania a pilot employee engagement survey was launched 

to gain insight into how passionate our People are about  
their work, how well they understand and feel committed to 
our Excellence Manifesto, and whether they feel their work  
is valued and their talents well-utilised. As a consequence of 
this, we are working towards a global roll-out of such surveys.

The Board-constituted Human 
Resources Committee, further 
details on which can be found on 
pages 63 and 64 of this Annual 
Report and Accounts 2018, 
continues to play a key role in 
ensuring that we pursue best 
practice from a People perspective, 
particularly in areas such as staff 
retention and succession planning.

The rolling implementation of our 
online recruitment tools across 
our worldwide network continues 
to deliver multiple benefits, 
including efficiency of candidate 
management and the ability to take 
candidates through the recruitment 
process using real time information, 
leading to an improved standard 
of applicants and in turn calibre 
of recruits. Additionally, entry 
into a partnership with a software 
provider in the Americas has 
allowed us to engage with potential 
candidates and new recruits via 
their mobile telephones and text 
messaging service, modernising 
our employee recruitment and 
onboarding experience. 

We have also been trialling a 
range of innovative retention 
initiatives in specific USA locations 
including, but not limited to, 
offering employees more flexibility 
in their work schedules; providing 
enhanced visibility of support 
teams and managers, coupled with 
improved communication from 
senior leaders within the business; 
and the introduction of employee 
recognition activities. The results of 
these initiatives have been 

overwhelmingly positive and at the 
present time consideration is being 
given as to what activities should be 
launched on a wider basis and when. 

We consider learning essential 
to improvement and continuous 
improvement essential to delivering 
excellence. Therefore, in addition 
to ‘on the job’ learning, we invest 
in the development of our People 
through online and classroom-
based courses and resources. The 
global implementation of our new 
People performance management 
system, Empower Performance, 
for graded managers and the 
ongoing implementation of our 
learning management system, 
Empower Learning, have enabled 
us to introduce consistency in the 
performance management process, 
deliver e-learning courses directly 
to employees and store their 
performance and training records 
in a standardised and consistent 
manner. 

Following the successful launch of 
the Menzies Aviation Management 
Graduate Programme in 2017, 
we welcomed another group 
of graduates, with diverse work 
experience and educational 
backgrounds, onboard during 
2018. Their 21 month placements 
will see them undertake a series 
of rotational, project-focused 
roles within the business designed 
to develop their leadership and 
core skills through mentoring, 
workshops and operational and 
functional exposure. 

From an employee engagement 
perspective, managers are 
encouraged to hold team and 
one-to-one meetings with their 
staff and communication channels 
are in place to ensure our People 
are provided with regular updates 
on the Company’s performance 
and associated items. We seek to 
maintain constructive relationships 
with labour unions and works 
councils formally representing 

our employees and continuously 
monitor feedback from employees 
who have left the business to 
ensure their comments are taken 
into account in the development 
and refinement of our retention 
strategies. 

We recognise that there is more 
to meaningful work than the 
pursuit of success alone and, 
whilst our business will always 
strive for excellence, we also 
seek to build a community that 
reflects our inclusive, global spirit. 
Providing equality of opportunity, 
valuing diversity and promoting 
a culture of inclusion are vital 
to our continued success; as a 
global business, with a varied 
customer base, we want our People 
to reflect the diversity of the 
regional, national and international 
communities in which we operate. 

and talents to the full without 
fear of discrimination, bullying, 
victimisation, retaliation or 
harassment, creating a culture 
where everyone can strive to fulfil 
their full potential. 

Additionally, we aim to ensure equal 
opportunity in recruitment, career 
development, promotion, training 
and reward for all employees – 
regardless of ethnicity, national 
origin, religion, gender, age, sexual 
orientation, marital status, disability, 
or any other characteristic protected 
by applicable laws (further details 
of which are included on page 88 
of this Annual Report and Accounts 
2018). Further, we encourage 
employee share ownership and, 
for example, under our Sharesave 
Scheme, UK employees have the 
opportunity to use accumulated 
savings to purchase shares in  
the Company.

Enshrining our commitment to 
fairness and our opposition to 
prejudice and discrimination, 
we launched our Group-wide 
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 
Policy during 2018. This Policy 
communicates our Board level 
commitment to creating a 
working environment in which 
individuals can utilise their skills 

 Read more about our  
responsible business online:
www.johnmenziesplc.com/gender-pay-gap- 
report/

Gender Diversity 
(as at 31 December 2018)

Employees

Decision-makers

Board of Directors

21,998

MALE

9,866

FEMALE

231

MALE

108

FEMALE

8

MALE

1

FEMALE

32

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

33

Strategic ReportResponsible Business continued

Our People continued

Responsible Business in Action 

ENHANCING 
LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Two teams of high-performing 
managers were selected from 
across the global Menzies network 
to take part in the 2018 Cultural 
Leadership Challenges (“CLC”), 
aimed at enhancing each 
participant’s leadership skills while 
raising funds and awareness for a 
carefully selected local charity in 
one of two locations: Zaragoza, 
Spain, and St. Maarten, Caribbean.

Over two eight day events, our 
managers faced a series of surprise 
challenges which pushed them out 
of their comfort zones and sought 
to strengthen leadership skills, 
encourage innovative thinking, 
wellness and physical fitness and 
also benefit the local communities. 

Zaragoza, Spain:  
SOS Children’s Villages UK 
(“SOS”)
Eleven Menzies leaders travelled to 
Spain in September 2018 to support 
SOS. SOS is part of the world’s 
largest charity network caring for 
unsupported children. Through  
a global network of community 
projects, children who have lost 
parental care are offered the chance 
to grow up in a safe, family-like 
environment with a carer, siblings, 
quality education and healthcare.

Our CLC team visited a SOS Day 
Centre which was under construction, 
met with the local SOS leaders in 
Zaragoza and donated laptops for  
use by children who would attend  
the new Day Centre. 

With hard work and support from 
friends and family, the team raised 
more than £19,000 to fund the  
Day Centre.

St. Maarten, Caribbean:  
K1 Britannia Foundation (“K1”)
In November 2018 eleven Menzies 
leaders visited St. Maarten in 
support of K1. K1’s work focuses  
on supporting young people on  
the island in the aftermath of the 
devastating Hurricane Irma in 2017 
which decimated St. Maarten’s 
tourist industry and eliminated 
many sources of employment. K1’s 
ideology of combatting poverty 
through empowerment brings 
together communities across  
the island and provides fresh 
opportunities for the children. 

The CLC team met with young 
people involved in K1’s many 
projects, including children from 
the local Little League: Player 
Development group and the 
apprentice programme at the 
National Institute for Professional 
Advancement. They also hosted  
a Personal Impact Workshop, 
offering guidance to young people 
on employability skills including 
advice on interview techniques  
and how to write a resume. 

Fundraising efforts from the team 
resulted in a donation of over 
£30,000 to K1.

Our Cultural Leadership 
Challenge participants, 
Zaragoza, Spain

Our Cultural Leadership 
Challenge participants,  
St. Maarten, Caribbean

34

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

35

Strategic ReportResponsible Business continued

Supporting our Communities 

Responsible Business in Action 

Throughout 2018 the Group supported a variety of charitable organisations and 
community initiatives across the globe, including many that were nominated through  
our regions and by individual employees. By approaching our charitable giving in this  
way we hope to make a positive social contribution to the communities and environments 
in which we operate.

CYCLING WITHOUT AGE 
SCOTLAND

the charities and communities our 
teams worked with, through hands-
on support as well as fundraising 
activities. 

Our social contribution and the 
positive impact we can have on 
the local communities in which 
we operate is important to us and, 
with this in mind, we reviewed our 
charitable-giving strategy at the 
end of 2018 to consider how we 
might extend its value and reach. 

It was agreed that we would 
revitalise our approach during 2019 
and ensure an increased focus was 
placed on increasing employee 
engagement and encouraging 
participation. Additionally, we hope 
to make it easier for employees to 
nominate charities that are local 
or important to them and support 
alternative ways and means for 
employees to either volunteer, 
receive training or become more 
engaged with local charities and 
communities. Further, we would 
hope to strengthen and build upon 
relationships with key charitable 
partners going forward to seek 
to achieve longer lasting, positive 
impacts on the local communities 
they service. We look forward to 
the charitable year ahead. 

Highlights

•  We were pleased to continue to support charities that have 

previously benefitted from our charitable-giving programme, 
including: Playlist for Life, Scotland; Hummingbird House, 
Queensland, Australia; and Ramana Maharshi Academy for  
the Blind, Bangalore, India. 

•  In alignment with our charitable objectives:

 – £30,600 was donated to organisations that support  

adults and the elderly through improving quality of life  
and wellbeing as well as those that offer health and  
end-of-life care; 

 – £33,400 was donated to organisations that support the 

younger generations through providing educational, health, 
emotional and wellbeing support as well as tackling poverty  
and inequality; and 

 – an additional £16,000 was donated towards charities that 
encourage inter-generational engagement and provide 
community support across all ages and generations. 

We continue to focus our charitable 
efforts on organisations that:

•  support and invest in the 

generations that will follow us 
by promoting the wellbeing of 
children and tackling the issues 
that undermine their life chances 
such as inequality, poverty and 
lack of education; and
•  assist and empower the 

generations that preceded us 
by enabling their independence, 
addressing their social needs 
and providing health or  
end-of-life care.

A total of £80,000 was paid from 
our Main Charities Fund during 
2018 to charities that satisfied this 
criteria, with a further £20,000 
allocated from the John Maxwell 
Menzies Fund, which is used 
to encourage employees to 
participate in charitable, voluntary 
and community-related activities 
either on an individual basis or as 
part of a team. 

As referenced in the foregoing 
People section, our 2018 Cultural 
Leadership Challenges not only 
had a profound personal impact 
on the participating delegates but 
also afforded us the opportunity 
to make a greater contribution to 

36

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

Based on an international model, Cycling Without Age Scotland (“CWAS”) started life in 2016 as a community 
group and became a registered charity in February 2018. 

It has gone from strength to strength with 25 local community groups now having been established throughout 
Scotland to deliver the CWAS inter-generational project. 

Each community group is trained, guided and supported by CWAS to help over 65s who are suffering from 
mobility issues and/or who are isolated or live in care homes or sheltered housing to get outdoors, socialise 
and feel good about themselves. The project aims to improve the wellbeing of communities and to transform 
the lives of elderly people, bringing them closer to the outdoor environment through trips on trishaws with 
local volunteer pilots (trishaw drivers). We were delighted to support CWAS in 2018 by donating £12,500 
towards the purchase of trishaws for groups in the Edinburgh area and look forward to supporting the charity 
again in the future.

Agnes (102) and Jenny 
(97) enjoying the outdoors 
with Christine Bell,  
trishaw driver

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

37

Strategic ReportResponsible Business continued

Health, Safety and Security

Responsible Business in Action 

Setting the highest standards in respect of Health, Safety and Security is at the forefront  
of our Excellence Manifesto and good health, safety and security practices are a core 
responsibility of every Group employee. With quarterly Safety Awards, we reward the stations 
who lead the pack for safe practices and encourage others to improve where required. 

Highlights

•  Stuart Jones was appointed SVP Risk, assuming overall 

responsibility for leading our Risk teams including Safety, 
Security, Environmental, Quality Assurance and Insurance. 
Stuart’s focus is on taking our management of risk to the 
next level, including adopting a more forward-looking and 
predictive approach and by further driving improvements 
and standardisation throughout the business to fulfil our 
Excellence Manifesto. 

•  In addition to our own extensive internal audit programme,  
our customers/regulators conducted over 1,100 external  
audits across our operational network, with 75% of those 
audits resulting in zero audit findings. 

•  An enhanced Quality Control platform, SMART 2.0, was 

deployed, producing a more dynamic set of safety inspections 
and generating greater analytics capability, and in turn 
delivering increased value in respect of our 390,000  
annual quality control checks. 

•  Our first annual Safety and Security Week was held, promoting 
health, safety and security in the workplace. This event was 
supplemented by other initiatives such as our ‘safe driving’ 
poster campaign in November, which received wide employee 
engagement. 

Employee welfare and protecting 
the interests of both our 
organisation and our stakeholders 
more generally are directly linked 
to how successfully we manage 
risk across our operations. A safe 
and secure environment helps 
safeguard our key assets, including 
our People and our business, and, 
in recognition of this, the Group 
continues to invest in resource and 
strive for continued improvement 
through its Risk Management 
programme.

Bolstering resource and developing 
capability and expertise within our 
Risk function and regional teams 
was a key area of focus during 2018 
and included the engagement, 
and subsequent deployment, of 
subject matter experts in a variety 
of Risk disciplines. This in turn has 
facilitated increased adoption of 
Group Risk policies and procedures 
and equipped our People to help 
reduce and better mitigate and 
manage risk at every level of  
our organisation. 

Our rate of ‘damage’ incidents 
relating to ground handling and 
fuelling activities reduced by over 
20% in 2018, exceeding our own 
internal targets and demonstrating 
industry-leading performance 
in this area. Our personal injury 
rate also reduced and, whilst 
all improvement is welcome, 
we will seek further improved 
performance during 2019 and 
continue to challenge ourselves in 
our pursuit of achieving excellence. 
Our focus on ensuring a culture 
that promotes zero incidents and 
year on year improvements is 
fundamental to supporting our 
position as an industry leader.

As our processes and controls have 
matured so too have our levels of 
understanding and application and, 
consequently, we have been able  
to further develop the way in  
which we manage and track Risk 
disciplines, such as Safety, Security 
and Environmental, through 
investment in a new Integrated Risk 
Management System. This will assist 
us in integrating all such disciplines 
onto one platform and provide 
increased flexibility and improved 
usability and reporting of incidents, 
near misses and perceived hazards. 
The expectation is that once fully 
launched our analytics capability 
will be significantly expanded and 
we will have substantially improved 
oversight of operational risk 
throughout our global operations, 
driving even greater consistency 
and standards across the Group.

BUILDING OUR REPUTATION  
FOR EXCELLENCE

In seeking to continually develop and refine our Safety and Security culture and general risk awareness, 
elevating our performance to the next level, our Safety Perception Survey was launched across our global 
network in November 2018. 

The Survey was designed to help us understand the perceptions and views of our People on our Safety and 
Security culture globally and assist in identifying potential opportunities for improvement.

The results of the Survey will be used to steer our staff engagement strategies in our rolling Safety and Security 
plan. Key anticipated outcomes should permit us to:
•  analyse and better understand the Safety and Security culture of our organisation;
•  use the results as a leading indicator to help identify areas of concern before they lead to an incident; and
•  develop insights and apply predictive analytics for future performance improvements.

Robert Brodie, 
Tank Farm Lead, 
Toronto, Canada

38

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

39

Strategic ReportResponsible Business continued

Respecting our Environment

As our operational network continues to expand globally, our environmental commitment 
remains an important part of how we manage our business. Over the last year the Group 
has embarked upon a number of new environmental initiatives with an accompanying 
programme of internal communications aimed at increasing awareness of environmental 
issues and the associated impact across all areas of our organisation. In addition to 
workplace-related initiatives, we have also been providing our People with information  
on how they can participate in campaigns such as Earth Day and undertake  
environmental improvements at home. 

Highlights

•  Voltage optimisation equipment is in the process of being 

installed at our head office in Edinburgh and is expected to 
reduce our electricity consumption by almost 84,000 kWh/
year and our CO2e emissions by 26 tonnes/year, which is equal 
to 37 return economy flights between London and New York.

•  Our electrical ground support equipment fleet accounts for 

almost 15% of our entire global fleet.

•  Our new Environment Management System provides business 

units with a standardised best practice approach together with 
instruction and guidance on how to identify and manage the 
most significant environmental issues that our operations may 
typically encounter.

•  A new environmental e-learning module has been developed, 
providing awareness on how we, as a business, interact with 
the environment, how we can be more environmentally astute 
and how we should and could operate more sustainably. 

During 2018 we developed and 
launched our new Environment 
Management System which is now 
being rolled-out Group-wide. This 
has been created in line with the 
internationally recognised ISO 
14001:2015 standard, ensuring best 
practice and a consistent approach 
is applied across all business areas 
in environmental management 
practices such as assessment, 
identification and optimisation 
of local issues and activities and 
standardising emergency response 
and waste management procedures. 
It remains our intention to achieve 
independent accreditation of 

ISO 14001:2015 which will further 
demonstrate our commitment to 
environmental stewardship. 

In 2018 we made significant 
advances by converting a portion 
of our ground support equipment 
fleet to electric vehicles. In 
addition, and in alignment with 
our strategy of investing in the 
most sophisticated technology, we 
have rolled-out a number of fully 
electric towbarless tug vehicles as 
well as smaller remote-controlled 
Mototok pushbacks. These vehicles 
reduce emissions in the local area, 
thereby improving air quality and 

40

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

providing a reliable and efficient 
way of moving aircraft on the ramp. 
Furthermore, new procedures 
have been introduced that ensure 
all new equipment requests are 
assessed to determine whether 
a more environmentally-friendly 
option can be procured.

Our Technical Services team 
is also investigating more eco-
friendly electrical equipment 
options such as an electrical 
ground power unit which would 
be used to power aircraft while 
grounded. Other initiatives include 
liaising with airport authorities to 
understand their environmental and 
sustainability goals and considering 
how we, as a member of the 
Aviation community, can support 
our partners and incorporate 
elements of those goals into our 
own environmental endeavours.

Our efforts are not limited to 
our core operations and one 
initiative that is being trialled at 
our head office in Edinburgh is the 
installation of voltage optimisation 
equipment (“VOE”). VOE optimises 
and reduces the voltage of the 
electricity supplied to equipment 
in a building, ensuring only the 
required electricity is used. By 
simply rejecting and returning 
any surplus electricity back to the 
National Grid, electricity usage is 
minimised while remaining within 
the operating conditions specified 
by the equipment manufacturer. 
Over the 25 year lifespan of the 
VOE equipment, we estimate that 

our electricity consumption from 
the National Grid would reduce 
by over 2.1 million kWh and our 
CO2e emissions by 644 tonnes, 
reducing our environmental impact 
whilst achieving a financial saving. 
As a result of such benefits, we 
are assessing the viability of 
implementing the same solution  
in other network locations.

Greenhouse Gas  
Emissions Reporting
In line with the Climate Change Act 
2008 and the Companies Act 2006 
(Strategic Report and Directors’ 
Report) Regulations 2013 (the 
“Regulations”), we are mandated 
to disclose the greenhouse gas 
(“GHG”) emissions arising from our 
operations. We disclose this figure 
in the form of tonnes of CO2e on all 
material emissions of the six gases 
covered by the Kyoto Protocol 
generated from both direct sources 
and purchased electricity, heat, 
steam and cooling. 

The period covered for the 
purposes of this GHG Emissions 
Reporting section is 1 January 
2018 to 31 December 2018 and 
includes data relating to Menzies 
Distribution for the period 
1 January 2018 to 31 August 2018. 
We report on Scope 1 emissions 
(direct combustion of fuels) 
and Scope 2 emissions (indirect 
combustion e.g. purchased 
electricity) as follows: Scope 
1 – fuels consumed by passenger 
and delivery vehicles, natural gas 
consumption in buildings and 
fugitive emissions of refrigerants; 
and Scope 2 – UK electricity and 
overseas electricity.

To further increase accuracy in 
2018, we collected and internally 
validated source data from financial 
accounting databases, collated on 
a country-by-country basis. This 
information was then entered into 
an online Carbon Tracker system, 
where electricity usage and fuel 
consumption are calculated into 
CO2e using emission factors issued 
by the Department for Business, 
Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Carbon Footprint Ltd. (“Carbon 
Footprint”) is the independent 
GHG verifier that we have engaged 
since 2016. Carbon Footprint 
certifies that our approach to data 
collection is logical and that our 
data-sets are satisfactory, as well 
as providing external verification 
of our data. Carbon Footprint 
has, for a third consecutive year, 
validated the data entered into 
our online Carbon Tracker system 
and confirmed that our emissions 
factors, methodology and GHG 
calculations are robust. The CO2e 
Emissions table below previously 
contained two different intensity 
ratios i.e. “CO2e tonnes per aircraft 
turnaround” and “CO2e tonnes per 
£000 revenue”. We have removed 
the aircraft turnaround ratio but 
retained the revenue based ratio, 
as this is more commonly used in 
our industry and provides a clearer 
understanding of the performance 
of our operations. 

Overall, the emissions from our 
global operations have reduced as 
a result of improved operational 
procedures, an increase in 

CO2E EMISSIONS

Global  
tonnes of 
CO2e 2018

Global 
tonnes of 
CO2e 2017

UK tonnes  
of CO2e  
2018

UK tonnes 
of CO2e 
2017

Measure

Group total

Menzies
Aviation

Menzies
Distribution*

Total

UK total

Menzies
Aviation

Menzies
Distribution*

Total

Combustion  
of fossil fuels

Electricity 
purchased  
for own use

141,033

123,185

17,848

169,319

33,282

15,435

17,848

45,889

26,143

23,973

2,170

50,814

5,860

3,690

2,170

6,202

Total

167,176

147,158

20,018

220,133

39,142

19,125

20,018

52,091

Intensity 
ratios (tonnes 
of CO2e)

Per £000 
turnover

Per £000 
turnover total

0.114

0.025

0.072

0.025

0.080

0.087

0.037

0.035

* Data for Menzies Distribution only includes figures for the applicable reporting period i.e. 1 January 2018 to 31 August 2018.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

41

Strategic ReportResponsible Business continued

Respecting our Environment continued

Responsible Business in Action 

This year’s reporting period 
included Menzies Distribution, 
which is responsible for almost 
all reported emissions in our CRC 
submission. The current reporting 
period, April 2018 to March 2019, 
is the last reporting period under 
the Scheme and a new scheme, 
Streamlined Energy and Carbon 
Reporting, is due to come into 
force during 2019. As we are still 
required to comply with the CRC 
Scheme, we will submit our annual 
compliance report to the CRC 
Registry by 31 July 2019.

This Emissions Reporting section 
is incorporated into the Directors’ 
Report contained on pages 86  
to 91 of this Annual Report and  
Accounts 2018.

The Strategic Report on pages  
1 to 43 of this Annual Report and 
Accounts 2018 has been approved 
by the Board of Directors in 
accordance with the Companies 
Act 2006 (Strategic Report and 
Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

John Geddes
Director of Corporate Affairs  
& Group Company Secretary
8 March 2019 

electric equipment and improved 
efficiencies where fossil fuels are 
used (e.g. our emissions in the UK 
from fossil fuels have decreased 
by 25% whilst electricity 
consumption has increased by 
3.7 million kWh). That said, the 
emissions from our electricity 
consumption have decreased 
compared to the previous year as 
a result of more electricity being 
produced from renewable sources 
together with an improvement 
in reporting procedures and the 
disposal of Menzies Distribution.

The Company also participates 
in the following UK Government-
driven carbon reporting schemes:

•  the Energy Savings Opportunity 
Scheme (“ESOS”) which runs in 
four year cycles; and
•  the Carbon Reduction 

Commitment Energy Efficiency 
Scheme (the “CRC Scheme”) 
which is due to be phased-
out following the 2018/2019 
reporting period. 

ESOS
ESOS is a mandatory UK energy 
assessment scheme which has 
been in force since July 2014. It 
requires larger companies and 
non-public sector organisations to 
conduct energy saving assessments 
and identify where energy savings 
can be implemented. Carbon 
Footprint was appointed our Lead 
Assessor and in 2015 undertook 
our Phase 1 ESOS-compliant 
energy audit, covering the period 
1 January 2014 to 31 December 
2014. As we are based in Scotland, 
we were also required to submit 
these audit findings to the Scottish 
Environment Protection Agency.

The Phase 1 audit identified 
areas of opportunity that would 
allow us to reduce our total 
energy consumption (including 
buildings and direct transport-
related energy). As the audit 
was conducted when Menzies 
Distribution was part of the Group, 
some of the findings are no longer 
relevant to us, although as part of 
our ongoing energy management 
programme other opportunities 
have been revisited to assess their 
suitability. One example is the 
installation of solar panels at our 
head office which, after a second 
review, was still found to be a 
less cost-effective way to reduce 
energy consumption. Another 
opportunity that was re-assessed 
and that has been successfully 
progressed is the aforementioned 
VOE initiative which was identified 
as a better solution for reducing 
electricity consumption and 
therefore CO2e emissions. 

The ESOS scheme is currently in 
Phase 2 and our Phase 2 energy 
assessment must be completed 
ahead of the scheme closure in 
December 2019. The sample site 
visits for the Group took place 
at Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh 
Park, World Business Centre and 
all associated London Heathrow 
operations in December 2018. 

CRC Scheme
Effective from April 2010, the 
CRC Scheme is an obligatory 
emissions trading scheme with 
the stated objective of improving 
energy efficiency and reducing 
CO2e emissions in large UK public 
and private sector organisations. 
Under the Scheme, we continue to 
submit information annually on our 
UK operations’ energy usage. We 
disclosed just under 8,000 tonnes 
of CO2e for the 2017/2018 reporting 
period, compared to 10,100 tonnes 
of CO2e in the previous reporting 
period.

ENHANCING OUR 
ENVIRONMENT  
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

In 2018 our Technical Services team introduced the first Mototok to our fleet at Edinburgh Airport, UK;  
this is a 100% electric, remote-controlled tug vehicle used for aircraft pushback. 

As well as having excellent environmental credentials, with no fuel costs and a long battery life, Mototoks 
support increased safety as their remote operation enables an uncompromised view of an aircraft during 
pushback, allowing operators to stay further away from hazard zones while communicating with the flight  
deck and tower via a wireless headset. 

A Mototok uses 8,963 kWh of electricity per year, which is similar to the annual electricity consumption  
of 2.3 average UK households. This electricity consumption produces just over 2.5 tonnes of CO2e emissions.  
A conventional diesel tug used for the same type of work can use more than 11,000 litres of diesel per year  
and produce just under 29 tonnes of CO2e emissions.

Innes Affleck, 
Ramp Controller, 
Edinburgh, UK

42

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

43

Strategic ReportChairman’s Introduction

GOVERNANCE AT  
OUR CORE

Dear Shareholder, 

As Chairman of John Menzies 
plc I am tasked with leading 
the Board and ensuring that it 
comprehensively and effectively 
discharges the duties and 
responsibilities incumbent upon it. 
Whilst simultaneously driving the 
strategic direction of the Group 
and overseeing the delivery of its 
business objectives, the Board 
must remain focused on the long 
term success of the Company 
and grow the business in a 
prudent and structured manner. 
The composition of the Board 
must be such that the leadership 
requirements of the Group are met 

and, collectively, the Directors must 
possess the requisite knowledge, 
skills and expertise to generate 
sustainable stakeholder value.

As previously announced, Geoff 
Eaton will not stand for re-election 
at the Company’s forthcoming 
annual general meeting. Again,  
I would like to take this opportunity 
to extend my gratitude to Geoff 
for his contribution during his 
time in tenure both as an active 
Board member and as Chairman 
of the Remuneration Committee. 
The current balance of Executive/
Non-Executive Directors has been 
reviewed and, whilst there is no 
intention to replace Geoff at the 

Code (July 2018) to the current 
financial year we look forward to 
reporting on how we achieved 
compliance with the enhanced 
disclosure requirements, the 
challenges that we faced and how 
these were successfully addressed 
within the parameters of our 
governance framework.

Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit 
Chairman
8 March 2019

present time, the Nomination 
Committee will continue to monitor 
the position and ensure our 
leadership needs are at all times 
fully satisfied.

we do and how we do it and are 
not only essential to the long term 
success of our operations but also 
in securing and promoting the 
interests of all our stakeholders.

As one of the leading players 
in a structural growth market 
we recognise that adherence 
to our Excellence Manifesto is 
key in setting us apart from our 
competitors; if we are to become 
the undisputed, premium partner  
in the Aviation Services industry 
then our continual push for 
operational excellence and 
standardisation must persist  
but must be positioned within  
the parameters of the Group’s 
stringent governance framework. 

As a global organisation with 
32,000 employees, strong 
governance practices, whether 
operational, regulatory or 
otherwise, sit at the core of what 

In accordance with the Financial 
Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules, 
we are required to report on how 
we have complied with the main 
principles of the UK Corporate 
Governance Code (April 2016) 
during the 2018 financial year 
and I am pleased to confirm that 
the Board is of the view that full 
compliance was achieved. 

The Reports that follow detail the 
corporate governance measures 
that we have in place, including our 
systems of risk management and 
internal control, and provide insight 
on the activities and considerations 
of the Board and its Committees 
during 2018. With the application of 
the new UK Corporate Governance 

COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD

BOARD DIVERSITY AND TENURE

BOARD
Principal responsibility is to ensure the long term success of the Company, assuming responsibility 
for the Group’s overall strategy and providing shareholders with stability and growth.

0-2 years

3-6 years

3

5

1

0

0

  Executive Director

Independent Non- 
Executive Director

  Chairman

  Male

  Female

UK Corporate Governance Code
The Board is committed to the principles of good corporate governance contained in the UK Corporate Governance  
Code (July 2018), which is published by the Financial Reporting Council and is available on its website at  
www.frc.org.uk. The Company follows the good practice which the Code recommends and the Board considers 
that the Company has applied the principles and complied with the provisions set out in the UK Corporate 
Governance Code (April 2016) throughout 2018, as detailed in this Statement and the associated Reports.

The Board believes that the Annual Report and Accounts 2018 are, when taken as a whole, 
fair, balanced and understandable, providing shareholders with the requisite information 
to assess the Company’s performance, business model and strategy.

AUDIT  
COMMITTEE
Monitors the integrity of 
the Group’s financial 
reporting and financial 
statements, reviews the 
effectiveness of internal 
controls and risk 
management, and 
oversees the relationship 
with the external auditor.

NOMINATION  
COMMITTEE
Ensures appropriate 
succession plans are  
in place and reviews  
the structure and 
composition of the Board 
to ensure the necessary 
balance of knowledge, 
skills and experience to 
develop and support 
Group strategy.

REMUNERATION  
COMMITTEE
Determines and agrees 
the Company’s 
remuneration policy in 
respect of Executive 
Directors and the 
Chairman, together  
with their specific 
remuneration packages.

HUMAN RESOURCES 
COMMITTEE
Assists the Board in 
fulfilling its human 
resources obligations and 
ensures standardisation, 
adequacy and 
effectiveness of structure, 
policies and process.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Responsibility for operational and strategic matters.

44

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

45

Governance Reports 
 
Board of Directors

Committee Membership Key

 Audit Committee

 Nomination Committee

 Remuneration Committee

 Human Resources Committee

 Indicates Committee Chair

Name and Title

Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit
Chairman

Forsyth Black
Chief Executive Officer

Giles Wilson
Chief Financial Officer

John Geddes
Director of Corporate 
Affairs & Group 
Company Secretary

Paul Baines 
Non-Executive Director

Geoff Eaton 
Non-Executive Director

David Garman
Non-Executive Director 
& Senior Independent 
Director

Philipp Joeinig 
Non-Executive Director

Silla Maizey 
Non-Executive Director

Date of 
Appointment

Experience  
and Skills

July 2016

January 2016

June 2016

November 2016

June 2016

June 2015

June 2015

June 2017

May 2014

Giles has worked with 
the Group since 2011 in 
a variety of senior roles, 
including Finance Director 
of Menzies Aviation and 
Senior Vice-President of 
the Group’s African, Middle 
East and Indian Operations. 

John has held the position 
of Group Company 
Secretary since 2006, 
having joined the 
Group in 1997, and was 
appointed to the Board 
in late 2016 as Director 
of Corporate Affairs. 

A chartered accountant, 
he was formerly Finance 
Director of Commercial 
Estates Group and 
held senior finance 
positions at Gallaher 
Group PLC, including 
Finance Director UK.

Giles brings great 
financial acumen and a 
deep knowledge of the 
Aviation Services market 
to his role on the Board.

John possesses a keen 
and comprehensive 
understanding of the 
Aviation Services market 
and his responsibilities 
include Governance, Risk 
and Investor Relations. 

As a Chartered Secretary, 
John’s career has included 
Company Secretariat posts 
at both Bank of Scotland 
plc and Guinness plc.

Forsyth assumed the 
role of Chief Executive 
Officer upon the disposal 
of Menzies Distribution in 
September 2018, having 
previously served as 
President & Managing 
Director, Menzies Aviation.

During the course of his 18 
year career with the Group, 
Forsyth has worked in a 
number of commercial and 
operational leadership roles 
across both its Aviation 
and Distribution operations. 
He brings extensive 
commercial, managerial 
and business development 
experience to the Board, 
having launched and grown 
Menzies’ African and Indian 
Aviation businesses as well 
as having led the entry of 
Menzies Distribution into 
the parcel delivery market. 

Dermot brings a wealth of 
cross-industry experience 
to bear on his leadership 
of the Company, having 
previously served as 
Chairman of Powerflute Oyj 
and having held a number 
of senior positions within 
the Jefferson Smurfit 
Group, including joint 
Deputy Chairman (1994-
2003) and worldwide 
Director of Sales and 
Marketing (1997-2003).

Dermot is a former 
Chairman of Anker PLC, 
Peach Holdings PLC, the 
World Containerboard 
Organisation and FEFCO, 
the European Federation 
of Corrugated Board 
Manufacturers. He was 
also previously Chairman 
of Eurolink Motorway 
Services Limited and a 
Director of ACE Limited, 
Aon BV., Timber Capital 
Limited and The Forest 
Company Limited.

Paul brings extensive 
Corporate Finance 
experience to the Board. 

He served Hawkpoint 
Partners, an independent 
corporate advisory 
business, as Chief 
Executive (2003-2009) 
and Executive Chairman 
(2009-2013); was a main 
board director of Collins 
Stewart Hawkpoint plc 
(2006-2012); and, prior 
to joining Hawkpoint 
Partners in 2000, was 
Chief Executive (Corporate 
Finance Division) of 
Charterhouse Bank.

Geoff is a chartered 
accountant and has had 
an expansive Executive 
career, with roles 
including Chief Operating 
Officer of Premier Foods 
plc and Chief Executive 
Officer of Uniq plc. 

He has a distinguished 
business-to-business 
track record in both 
Europe and the United 
States, experience 
of diverse corporate 
cultures and brings the 
knowledge gleaned from 
his broad international 
business exposure to 
his Board position.

David brings 
comprehensive industrial 
and logistics sector 
expertise to the Board.

He was previously Chief 
Executive of TDG plc, 
a European contract 
logistics and supply chain 
management business; 
an Executive Director of 
Associated British Foods 
plc; held Non-Executive 
directorships at St 
Modwen Properties PLC, 
Kewill Limited, Victoria 
PLC and Phoenix IT Group 
PLC: and occupied a 
variety of management 
roles at United Biscuits. 

Philipp brings a deep 
understanding of the 
Aviation Services industry 
to the Board, having 
occupied a number 
of executive director 
roles within Swissport 
International Limited over 
a ten year period (2007-
2016) as a member of the 
Management Board and 
latterly being in charge of 
all businesses in Europe 
Central, East and West. 
Prior to this his career 
included management 
consultant roles with both 
Management Consulting 
Group PLC and Lausanne 
Consulting Group Limited.

Silla is a qualified 
accountant and brings 
vast experience of 
the air travel industry 
to the Board.

She enjoyed an Executive 
career at British Airways 
(1978-2012) holding a 
number of roles within 
Finance, Procurement, 
Corporate Responsibility 
and Customer Services. 
Most recently Silla served 
as Managing Director 
of London Gatwick. 

Other  
Appointments

Chairman of ML 
Capital Group 

Director of various 
Group companies

Director of various 
Group companies

Chairman of AustroCel 
Hallein GmbH

Director of Gamma 
(Fiber) Holdings 1 B.V. 

Board member of 
the Airport Services 
Association 

Director of various 
Group companies

Chairman of the 
Shareholder Committee 
of Shepherd Building 
Group Limited

Senior Adviser to  
Smith Square Partners

Senior Adviser to 
Vermilion Partners

Chairman of New 
England Seafood 
International Limited 

Non-Executive Director 
of Troy Income & 
Growth Trust plc 

–

Chairman of Butcher’s 
Pet Care Limited

Non-Executive Director  
of Speedy Hire Plc 

Director of various 
private companies

Chair of NHS Business 
Services Authority 

Non-Executive 
Director of the Crown 
Commercial Service 

Non-Executive Director 
of Network Rail Limited

Committees

–

–

–

46

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

47

Governance Reports 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate Governance Statement

Board Responsibilities 
The principal responsibility of the Board is to promote the long term success of the Company for the benefit 
of its shareholders as a whole. In discharging such responsibility it must ensure that the Company’s affairs 
are always conducted within the parameters of the Group’s internal control framework and the interests of 
internal and external stakeholders appropriately identified and managed. Whilst determining and overseeing 
delivery of the Group’s strategic objectives, the Board also assumes governance and regulatory responsibilities 
across a diverse range of topics (e.g. Health and Safety, Risk and Compliance) and has a formal schedule of 
matters specifically reserved for its attention. This includes, without limitation, consideration and, if appropriate, 
approval of: the Group’s financial statements, going concern statements at half year and year end and its 
Viability Statement; and key financial and operational items such as potential disposals and acquisitions,  
capital expenditure above certain thresholds and major non-recurring projects.

Additionally, the Board has overall responsibility for the Group’s systems of internal control, covering financial, 
operational, compliance and risk management and for annually reviewing their effectiveness. Whilst the Audit 
Committee has delegated responsibility from the Board to review the effectiveness of these systems and the 
day-to-day responsibility for such systems, including deployment and maintenance, rests with the relevant 
members of the Senior Management team, the Board ensures that it regularly reviews their effectiveness and 
actively monitors the processes by which risks are identified, evaluated and managed. Further details on how 
the Board manages business risks are included on pages 24 and 25 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018.

To ensure the full and proper discharge of its duties, the Board convenes on a regular basis and met seven 
times during 2018, as set out in the table opposite. Board papers are circulated one week prior to all Board 
meetings through a secure electronic platform, allowing Directors adequate time to familiarise themselves  
with the items for discussion, whilst the annual Board evaluation process affords Directors the opportunity  
to comment on the quality and content of Board packs.

Board Committees
The Company’s Executive Committee, comprising the Executive Directors and other Senior Executives as 
required, has Board-delegated responsibility in respect of the oversight and delivery of strategic, operational 
and business matters. 

The Board also delegates certain responsibilities to the Board Committees detailed in the table on the 
opposite page; specifically, the Nomination Committee, Audit Committee, Human Resources Committee and 
Remuneration Committee. Further information on these Committees can be found on pages 53 to 85 of this 
document and the defined Terms of Reference of each are available on the Group’s website. Whilst Committee 
membership is monitored regularly to ensure a suitable balance and rotation of Directors, it is Board policy 
that membership of the three UK Corporate Governance Code-prescribed Committees is restricted to Non-
Executive Directors alone. The Chairman of each of the Nomination, Audit and Human Resources Committees  
is selected from Directors who are considered independent under the UK Corporate Governance Code (“Code”) 
with the Senior Independent Director serving as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. 

Directors must exercise their judgement independently from the influences of others and the independence of 
individual Directors is reviewed on an ongoing basis, taking into account the characteristics of independence 
contained within the Code. All current Non-Executive Directors are considered independent and, throughout 2018 
and since the end of the financial year ending 31 December 2012, all Directors on each of the Board Committees 
referenced above have been independent in compliance with the Code. The Chairman was deemed independent 
under the terms of the Code as at the date of his appointment.

Role of Board Members
Chairman
Our Chairman, Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit, performs a clearly defined, Non-Executive role in which he not only leads 
the Board in the determination and development of the Company’s strategy but is expected to promote both 
Board effectiveness and general Board relations. In chairing Board meetings, Dr. Smurfit seeks to foster an 
atmosphere that encourages constructive debate and discussion between Board members whilst ensuring 
the appropriate focus is given to key strategic agenda items, including long term shareholder value. Executive 
Directors may discuss issues of concern with the Chairman who is also actively engaged with stakeholders, 
both internal and external. 

Board and Committee meetings attendance in 2018

Appointed

Board

Nomination 
Committee

Audit 
Committee

Human  

Resources
Committee 1

Remuneration 
Committee

Meetings

D Smurfit

F Black 

G Wilson 

J Geddes

P Baines

G Eaton 3

D Garman

P Joeinig

S Maizey 

Jul. 2016

Jan. 2016

Jun. 2016

Nov. 2016

Jun. 2016

Jun. 2015

Jun. 2015

Jun. 2018

May 2014

7 2

7/7

7/7

7/7

7/7

7/7

6/7

7/7

7/7

6/7

2

–

–

–

–

2/2

2/2

2/2

–

2/2

3

–

–

–

–

3/3

2/3

3/3

3/3

3/3

2

–

2/2

–

2/2

–

–

2/2

2/2

2/2

6

–

– 

–

–

6/6

6/6

6/6

–

5/6

Notes:
1.  Claire Hall, Group EVP People, is also a member of the Human Resources Committee.
2.  Additionally, two Board meetings took place in 2018 at which a duly appointed committee of the Board of Directors was present.
3.  Following the announcement that he would not stand for re-election at the Company’s forthcoming annual general meeting in May 2019, 

Geoff Eaton was subsequently excused from the December Board and Committee meetings.

Board Composition
The Nomination Committee (further details of which can be found on pages 53 to 56 of this document)  
ensures that the size and composition of the Board is subject to ongoing scrutiny and that the appropriate 
balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge exists. It was proposed that upon completion  
of the sale of Menzies Distribution, the Group revert to a more standard Executive structure and replace  
the position of President & Managing Director, Menzies Aviation, with the role of Chief Executive Officer 
(“CEO”). Accordingly, one of the Nomination Committee’s key responsibilities during 2018 was to identify  
the most suitable candidate for this role, taking into account Board structure and expertise, and recommend  
their appointment to the Board, a process that resulted in the appointment of Forsyth Black as CEO.

As detailed in the diagram on page 44 of this document, membership of the Board is constituted as follows:

•  the Chairman; 
•  three Executive Directors; and
•  five Non-Executive Directors.

Biographical information on the current Board can be found on pages 46 and 47. As previously detailed,  
Geoff Eaton, Non-Executive Director, will not stand for re-election at the forthcoming annual general meeting 
(“AGM”) in May 2019. At the present time there is no intention to appoint a replacement Non-Executive Director 
as the balance of Executive/Non-Executive Directors is considered appropriate (with specific reference to  
the collective balance of skills, knowledge and expertise). That said, the Nomination Committee will keep  
the position under review to ensure the leadership needs of the organisation are satisfied and the Company 
is at all times well-placed to execute its strategy and compete effectively in the markets in which it operates. 
Any new Director would be subject to election by shareholders at the first AGM following their appointment 
and, together with all incumbent directors and in accordance with best practice principles, subject to annual 
re-election thereafter.

Executive Directors
The role of the Executive team is to set and ensure the delivery of the Group’s stated strategic objectives whilst 
providing the necessary leadership to the Group and overseeing its day-to-day management. They must report 
regularly to the Board, keeping it apprised of key strategic, financial and operational developments and on any 
issues or concerns that may arise. The Executive Directors have individual duties and responsibilities aligned 
with their specific function although these may vary in line with business requirements.

48

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49

Governance ReportsCorporate Governance Statement continued

Non-Executive Directors 
In accordance with the Code, our Non-Executive Directors are expected to provide independent and constructive 
challenge and assist in the development of strategic proposals. In line with best practice, they must participate 
in the Chairman’s annual evaluation whilst also keeping the performance of the Executive Directors under review. 
Additionally, they must satisfy themselves on the integrity of the Group’s financial information and be comfortable 
that its systems of internal financial controls and risk management are rigorous and robust.

Senior Independent Director
David Garman has been Senior Independent Director since August 2015. He continues to support the Chairman 
in the discharge of his responsibilities and also makes himself available to the Company’s shareholders and other 
stakeholders when discussions with the Chairman and/or Executive Directors are not considered appropriate. In 
accordance with the Code, David leads the Chairman’s annual performance appraisal in addition to the annual 
Board effectiveness evaluation.

Board Recruitment, Induction, Development and Succession Planning 
As noted above, the size and composition of the Board are monitored on an ongoing basis, with the collective 
knowledge and experience of the Directors taken into account together with the results of Board evaluations and 
other key factors such as diversity (including, for example, industry and international experience, nationality and 
gender). The Board is aware of the importance of having suitable succession plans in place, an issue highlighted 
in the external Board evaluation conducted in 2018 and referred to below, and therefore reviews its succession 
plans on at least an annual basis. If the need arises to fill or create a new Board position, whether Executive or 
Non-Executive, the Nomination Committee is tasked with both considering suitable internal candidates and also 
nominating external candidates, in relation to which it may employ the services of external recruitment agencies. 
The Committee must also ensure that contingency plans are in place to provide for Chairman continuity.

All new Directors are required to participate in a structured induction programme upon appointment. Whilst this 
encompasses standard governance and regulatory items aimed at ensuring that they fully understand, and are 
equipped to effectively discharge, their duties as directors of a listed company (and, as appropriate, members 
of any Board Committee), it is also tailored to the individual training and developmental needs of new Directors. 
Additionally, the programme includes a comprehensive introduction to the Group itself, providing new Board 
appointees with a firm understanding of the Group’s operations, its stated strategic objectives, the markets in 
which it operates and the challenges to be addressed. Structured meetings will, for example, be arranged with 
the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors around the functioning of the Board, its Committees and associated 
operating responsibilities and governance requirements, whilst new Directors will also spend time with the 
Executive team and relevant members of Senior Management to develop familiarity with key strategic and 
operational items. 

It is the Group Company Secretary’s responsibility to ensure that as and when required: (i) all Directors have 
access to independent professional advice, at the Company’s expense, to allow them to effectively discharge 
their directors’ duties; and (ii) Board Committees also have the necessary resources available, including external 
professional support, to properly execute the responsibilities incumbent upon them. More generally, the Group 
Company Secretary is available at all times to provide support and guidance to both individual Directors and 
Board Committees.

The Board acknowledges that the regular training and upskilling of its members is key to its effective 
functioning and, accordingly, a number of measures are in place to ensure Directors are kept apprised of 
relevant governance, regulatory and policy developments (e.g. the attendance of guest speakers at Board 
meetings and the inclusion of targeted updates within Board packs). The annual Board evaluation process 
remains a key tool by which to identify the training requirements of individual Directors and the Board more 
generally, together with areas that may require particular focus/strengthening. 

Site visits are also encouraged as an important means by which to gain a more rounded understanding of the 
Group’s operations and markets, a point acknowledged in the external Board evaluation process referred to below. 
In July 2018 an offsite Board meeting took place in Budapest, Hungary, following which the Directors undertook a 
visit to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, one of our Aviation network locations. Budapest Ferenc Liszt 
International Airport is the largest of the country’s commercial airports which, in addition to providing our Board 
with a valuable opportunity to meet with some of our Hungarian colleagues, showcased our ground handling, 
cargo handling and executive lounge capabilities. 

Diversity
As detailed in the Nomination Committee Report, potential Board appointees are nominated and appointed 
on the basis of merit and evaluation against objective criteria; to date no diversity quotas, gender-based or 
otherwise, have been set or targeted as the Board does not believe that setting a quota is the most appropriate 
means by which to achieve a balanced board and guarantee the delivery of sustained shareholder growth. 
However, the Directors recognise the shift in focus under the new UK Corporate Governance Code (July 2018) 
which prescribes that Board appointments and succession plans should “promote diversity of gender, social 
and ethnic background”. Endorsing its commitment to diversity and equality, this is an area that will be subject 
to detailed Board scrutiny during 2019.

From a Group perspective, the Company’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy was launched in 2018 and it 
is the intention that an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Focus Group will be established in 2019 to progress the 
aims and objectives set out in the Policy. During 2018 the Human Resources Committee considered equality, 
diversity and inclusion across the organisation as part of its discussions on capability and talent management 
whilst the Remuneration Committee and the Board reviewed and discussed data and reporting on the UK 
gender pay gap prior to publication of our Gender Pay Gap Report in March 2018. Focus was given to the data 
gathered in the preparation of the Report and the action that is being taken to address the gap as well as the 
broader issue of diversity within the Company.

Board Evaluation
The Board endorses the Principles and Provisions of the Code in respect of Board evaluation and thus conducts 
rigorous internal assessments of its own performance and that of its Committees and individual Directors. Whilst 
the annual evaluation process is typically conducted by the Group Company Secretary, with individual Directors 
being required to complete a detailed questionnaire and the results collated and reviewed collectively by the 
Board, external consultants are engaged to refresh the process at least every three years. As the last external 
evaluation took place in 2014, the Company engaged Genius Methods Limited to undertake an independent 
Board evaluation in the final quarter of 2018. Genius Methods confirmed that all Directors were fully engaged in 
the process, open to challenge on their ideas and considerations and frank in their views on the topics covered. 
Each Director received individual feedback relating to their own effectiveness, the objective being to empower 
the Board to work together in the most effective manner possible.

Taking into account the results of the questionnaires issued, attendance at Board and Committee meetings 
and face-to-face discussions with all the Directors, Genius Methods considered the Board vastly improved in 
terms of its effectiveness, providing a safe environment within which Directors could operate in a transparent 
and open manner. It was noted that the Chairman appeared to have brought a fresh energy to proceedings 
and introduced a more entrepreneurial spirit, resulting in a shift from being a procedural-style board to a 
board which is more engaged and dynamic in its approach. Challenges are allowed and, positively, valuable 
discussions take place between the Executive and Non-Executive Directors which is a result of Board members 
learning how to work together to achieve the best results. 

50

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51

Governance ReportsCorporate Governance Statement continued

Nomination Committee Report

It was noted that effectiveness could be improved in some areas including the transition of and support for 
the CEO; the evaluation emphasised the importance of the supporting Executive team and next layer of Senior 
Management fully recognising the shift in the CEO’s role and having the requisite capabilities to ‘step up’ and 
support his success. From a governance perspective, it was observed that gaps in Directors’ knowledge should 
be addressed to ensure a comprehensive understanding of their fiduciary duties in terms of the long term success 
of the Company and to allow for full engagement. Further and as is a common issue with many boards, the focus 
of Board agendas and packs should be reviewed to, for example, re-focus the order of agenda items and bring 
strategic issues to the fore for discussion. 

The evaluation paper narrated that the tone from the top is that of a ‘can do’ culture and it is clear the Board 
is unanimous in its view that there must be a keen focus on the sustainable growth of the Company and 
its performance. The overall conclusion was that the Board is effective and addresses key issues in a timely 
manner; it is considered forward-looking, focused on the challenges ahead and eager to ensure it is in the 
optimum position collectively to face the challenges ahead.

Relations with Shareholders
In line with the Code, the Board is aware of the importance of maintaining a clear dialogue with the Company’s 
shareholders and has implemented a programme of activity to ensure that effective and constructive communication 
takes place. As detailed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2017, the Company’s website, containing a dedicated 
Investor Centre through which the Company disseminates its announcements, results and reports, was re-launched  
in 2017 to make it more user-friendly and improve dialogue with shareholders. 

The Company’s AGM provides shareholders with the opportunity to engage directly with the Board; questions 
can be raised during the AGM in relation to the formal business of the meeting or shareholders may meet with 
the Directors at the end of the meeting, including the Board Committee Chairs, to discuss other Group or 
Committee-related matters. Board members may also request meetings with major shareholders and other  
key stakeholders, arranged via the Group Company Secretary, as and when considered necessary throughout 
the financial year. Further, as part of the Company’s maturing Investor Relations programme, a key stakeholder 
and analyst update report has become a standard Board agenda item to ensure the Board has full visibility on 
the engagement activities being undertaken. 

In addition to the standard analysts and investors meetings and calls that were scheduled during 2018, full 
and interim results presentations took place in London in March and August 2018 respectively. The Company 
also hosted a Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts in November 2018 which focused on the Group’s 
strategy and growth dynamics and also included specific presentations on key focus areas within the Group 
such as our People agenda and our systems and technology programmes. 

As the newly appointed Chairman of the Nomination 
Committee, I am delighted to introduce the Committee’s 
Report for the 2018 financial year. 

With the sale of the Group’s Distribution business in 
September 2018 it has been an eventful period for the 
Committee, as can be seen from the key areas of focus 
detailed on the following pages.

I assumed the position of Nomination Committee 
Chairman at the beginning of 2019 when David 
Garman stepped down to become Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee. Whilst David remains a 
member of the Nomination Committee, I would like to 
extend my gratitude to him for leading the Committee 
since his appointment in May 2016. The Committee 
continues to comprise solely of independent Non-
Executive Directors, as set out in the table opposite. 
John Geddes, the Group Company Secretary, remains 
as Secretary to the Committee whilst Executive 
Directors attend Committee meetings by invitation  
if a particular agenda item requires.

Terms of Reference
The Nomination Committee operates under Terms 
of Reference that can be found on the Company’s 
website. Whilst these are modelled closely on the 
relevant provisions of the UK Corporate Governance 
Code (April 2016), it is intended that these will be 
reviewed and updated during 2019 to ensure they 
remain fit for purpose and are properly aligned to 
the applicable provisions of the new UK Corporate 
Governance Code (July 2018) (“2018 Code”).

Function and Responsibilities
A primary function of the Nomination Committee is 
to ensure that the Company’s Board of Directors has 
the requisite combination of skills, experience and 
knowledge to effectively discharge its responsibilities. 
The Committee therefore regularly evaluates this 
balance and is responsible for identifying and 
recommending candidates to the Board when an 
appropriate position arises. 

As detailed in its Terms of Reference, the key duties 
of the Nomination Committee, together with the main 
activities undertaken during 2018, are detailed in the 
following table. To ensure the effective discharge of 
these responsibilities, the Committee may engage 
such advisers, internal or external, as it considers 
either necessary and/or desirable. 

Philipp Joeinig
Nomination Committee Chairman

Committee Members

Name

P Joeinig 1 

P Baines 

G Eaton 2 

D Garman 1 

S Maizey

Position

Attendance

Chairman

Member

Member

Member

Member

n/a

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

Notes:
1.  Philipp Joeinig became Nomination Committee Chairman on 

1 January 2019 when David Garman stepped down to become 
Remuneration Committee Chairman. 

2.   Geoff Eaton stepped down as a member of the Nomination 

Committee on 31 December 2018.

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53

Governance ReportsNomination Committee Report continued

Responsibility

Main activities 2018

Responsibility

Main activities 2018

Evaluation

Prior to making a recommendation and as  
set out above, to evaluate the balance of skills, 
knowledge and experience on the Board and, 
in light of this evaluation, prepare a description 
of the role and capabilities required for a 
particular appointment.

Leadership  
and structure

To annually review: (i) the structure, size and 
composition (including the skills, knowledge 
and experience) of the Board and its 
Committees and make recommendations to 
the Board with regard to any changes; and  
(ii) the leadership needs, both Executive and 
Non-Executive, with a view to ensuring the 
continued ability of the organisation to 
compete effectively in the marketplace.

It was proposed that, upon the 
completion of the sale of Menzies 
Distribution, we revert to a more 
standard Executive structure and 
replace the role of President & 
Managing Director, Menzies Aviation, 
with the role of Chief Executive Officer.

After due and careful consideration  
of the skills, experience and expertise 
required for this position, the 
Nomination Committee identified 
Forsyth Black as the most suitable 
candidate and, accordingly, 
recommended his appointment  
to the Board.

In identifying potential Board 
candidates the Committee may use 
open advertising or the services of 
independent external advisers to 
facilitate the search in question. The 
recruitment process will be undertaken 
in accordance with the relevant Group 
recruitment policies and candidates 
from a wide range of backgrounds, 
identified on the basis of merit and 
against objective criteria, including  
the time they are able to commit  
to the role, will be considered. 

Prior to completion of the sale of 
Menzies Distribution, the Nomination 
Committee reviewed the proposed 
structure and composition of the  
Board following the disposal. 

Taking into account the relevant 
skillsets and length of service of each 
Director, together with the proposed 
appointment of Forsyth Black to the 
position of Chief Executive Officer,  
the Nomination Committee concluded 
that the Board composition was fit  
for purpose.

In line with the Committee’s Terms of 
Reference, it was agreed that a further 
review would be conducted in 2019  
to ensure this remained the case and 
composition was in alignment with 
both current and proposed strategic 
developments.

Succession planning To ensure that appropriate plans are in place 

for the orderly succession of Board members, 
taking into account the challenges and 
opportunities facing the Company and what 
skills and expertise are therefore required on 
the Board in the future.

Executive  
remuneration

To liaise closely with the Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee in relation to the 
service contract and remuneration package to 
be offered to any proposed Executive Director. 

As detailed in the Annual Report  
and Accounts 2017, the Nomination 
Committee is tasked with focusing  
on succession planning from a Board 
and Executive Committee, comprising 
the next immediate level of Senior 
Management, perspective.

Succession planning was subject to 
significant scrutiny at a meeting of  
the Nomination Committee held in 
October 2018 and, following detailed 
discussions and consideration of  
tenure to date, it was agreed that  
no succession planning was required  
at that time in respect of our  
Non-Executive Directors.

Succession plans in relation to the 
Executives and the wider Senior 
Management team were also discussed 
and the Committee’s responsibility  
to ensure that sufficient depth of  
skills and talent existed within the 
business acknowledged. The quality  
of the current succession planning 
arrangements was subject to detailed 
review, together with potential areas of 
vulnerability. The Committee concluded 
that, where possible, talent should be 
fostered from within the Group; noting 
the importance of having individuals  
of the requisite calibre in place, it was 
agreed that we should strive to be in  
a position where the current direct 
reports of Executives may be viewed  
as potential successors.

The Nomination Committee considered 
Forsyth Black’s remuneration package 
in light of the proposal to appoint  
him to the position of Chief Executive 
Officer of the Group. In conjunction 
with the Remuneration Committee,  
it was considered appropriate that,  
in recognition of the increased scope  
of his role, Forsyth Black’s salary  
be increased from £357,000 to 
£400,000 upon his appointment  
in September 2018. 

54

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55

Governance Reports 
Nomination Committee Report continued

Audit Committee Report

In addition to the areas detailed above, the Nomination Committee also considered the following items  
during 2018:
•  The Non-Executive Directors’ letters of appointment were reviewed, in conjunction with the Group Company 
Secretary, to ensure they remained fit for purpose. Whilst it was noted that there had been an increased time 
commitment during 2018, principally as a result of the Menzies Distribution transaction, this was expected  
to recede in 2019. Accordingly, it was agreed that the letters of appointment were appropriate.
In light of the application of the 2018 Code for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2019 and 
associated discussions around employee engagement, it was generally accepted that, at the appropriate time, 
Non-Executive Director involvement would be considered in this regard.

• 

Diversity and Succession
As can be seen from the preceding table, succession planning and internal leadership requirements and 
capabilities were a key focus of the Nomination Committee during 2018. This will continue to be the case during 
2019, with investment in our People, our most valued resource, remaining a top priority. A robust succession 
plan is essential to ensure that, as our business continues to expand, we have the correct people in place to 
contribute to and maximise the success of our operations. At Board, Senior Management and, indeed, all other 
levels of our organisation, the recruitment, retention and development of driven and talented individuals is  
of vital importance and careful thought must be given to what skills, experience and knowledge are required  
to drive forward the Group’s strategy and ensure its sustained growth and success.

An external Board evaluation was conducted at the end of 2018 by Genius Methods Limited, further details 
of which can be found on page 51 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018. Notably, the evaluation paper 
reinforced the position that the Nomination Committee should lead on various succession agendas, including 
Executive management and that of the Chairman, but emphasised that the appropriate deliberations must take 
place substantially in advance of any proposed changes being made or required. 

In recognising the importance of a robust succession plan, the Nomination Committee, and the Board more 
generally, acknowledge the need for the development of a diverse pipeline for succession (as required by  
the 2018 Code). Due and proper consideration is therefore given to all aspects of diversity in our deliberations 
and we rigorously endorse the advantages that diversity can bring both to the Boardroom and the business 
more generally. Potential Board appointees are, however, nominated and appointed on the basis of merit and 
evaluation against objective criteria and, to date, no diversity quotas, gender-based or otherwise, have been 
set or targeted. That said we recognise the shift in the 2018 Code, expanding as it does the scope of diversity 
considerations and prescribing that whilst Board appointments and succession plans should be based on merit 
and objective criteria, they should also, inter alia, “promote diversity of gender, social and ethnic background”; 
and this is something that will be subject to detailed consideration and discussion in 2019. 

Further information on the above matters, including the measures which the Group takes to support diversity, 
can be found on pages 50 and 51 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018 (and is incorporated by reference 
into this Nomination Committee Report).

On behalf of the Nomination Committee

Philipp Joeinig
Nomination Committee Chairman
8 March 2019

56

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

Paul Baines
Audit Committee Chairman

Committee Members

Name

P Baines

G Eaton 1 

D Garman

P Joeinig 

S Maizey 

Position

Attendance

Chairman

Member

Member

Member

Member

3/3

2/3

3/3

3/3

3/3

Note:
1.  Geoff Eaton stepped down as a member of the Audit Committee 

on 31 December 2018.

Welcome to the Audit Committee Report for the  
2018 financial year. 

Having now served my first full year as Chairman, 
I am pleased to report that throughout the year 
the Committee continued to assist the Board of 
Directors in discharging its oversight responsibilities 
in respect of the Company’s internal financial controls 
and, ultimately, safeguarding the interests of its 
shareholders. 

Whilst the Board has overall responsibility for  
the Group’s systems of internal controls, the Audit 
Committee has delegated responsibility to review the 
effectiveness of such controls. Indeed, the Committee’s 
principal role is to assess the quality of the Group’s 
internal and external audit processes and ensure 
that the risks which our business faces, financial, 
operational, compliance-related or otherwise, are 
effectively managed. Whilst no systems of internal 
control can provide absolute assurance against 
material loss, the Group’s systems are designed to 
provide the Directors with reasonable assurance that 
risks can be promptly identified and appropriate 
remedial action taken where necessary.

The Audit Committee carefully considered and 
evaluated the effectiveness of these controls for the 
period from 1 January 2018 to the date of approval 
of this document and concluded that the Group 
has sound systems of risk management and internal 
controls in place, further details of which can be  
found on pages 24 and 25 of this Annual Report  
and Accounts 2018.

Additional key responsibilities of the Audit Committee 
include, but are not limited to, the following:
•  reviewing the Company’s financial results 

announcements and financial statements (including 
the significant judgements and estimates contained 
within them);

•  ensuring compliance with applicable accounting 

standards and reviewing the appropriateness of the 
accounting policies and practices we have in place;

•  advising the Board on whether the Company’s 
annual report and accounts are, when taken as 
a whole, fair, balanced and understandable and 
provide the requisite information for shareholders 
to assess the Company’s performance, business 
model and strategy;

•  overseeing all aspects of the relationship with  

the external auditor, including its appointment, the 
audit process, the supply of non-audit services and 
monitoring its effectiveness and independence; and

•  reviewing the Group’s policies and practices 

concerning business conduct, ethics, integrity  
and fraud.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

57

Governance Reports 
Audit Committee Report continued

To properly fulfil its role and ensure the effective discharge of its duties, the Audit Committee may take such 
independent professional advice and request any information from any Group employee, including Executive 
Directors, as it considers necessary. The Audit Committee may also meet with the external auditor in the 
absence of Executive Directors, allowing for any items of concern to be raised with or by the external auditor.

Meetings and Principal Activities
During 2018 the Audit Committee convened three times, as scheduled, with meeting attendance set out 
on the previous page and also in the table on page 49 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018. As can be 
seen on the previous page, the Audit Committee comprised five Non-Executive Directors during 2018: Geoff 
Eaton, a chartered accountant (who stepped down as a member of the Committee on 31 December 2018), 
David Garman, Philipp Joeinig, Silla Maizey, a qualified accountant, and myself. The current composition 
of the Audit Committee meets with the requirements of the UK Corporate Governance Code (April 2016), 
possessing competence relevant to the sector in which the Company operates, although, in line with good 
practice, membership will continue to be reviewed annually. Whilst composition is also aligned with the new UK 
Corporate Governance Code (July 2018), effective from 1 January 2019, the Committee’s Terms of Reference  
will be reviewed during 2019 to ensure they are also fully reflective of the new Code.

All of the Committee meetings were held immediately prior to a full Board meeting which afforded me the 
opportunity to provide a comprehensive update on the Committee’s discussions and recommendations to those 
Directors not in attendance. The Group’s Chairman, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Corporate Affairs & 
Group Company Secretary are, together with certain senior members of the Finance team and representatives 
from the internal and external audit teams, given notice of all Audit Committee meetings and invited to attend 
and speak where considered appropriate.

I met with the Group Company Secretary at the start of the year to agree the agenda for the 2018 Audit Committee 
meetings and also identify non-standard agenda items which required consideration over the coming months. Once 
again, the Committee received ad hoc presentations from members of the Senior Management team on a variety 
of key issues throughout 2018 whilst the re-tender of the external audit process (“Audit Tender”) was subject to 
significant deliberation (as discussed further below). 

The main activities which the Audit Committee has undertaken since March 2018 are as follows:
•  Formally reviewed the Company’s Annual Report and Accounts 2018 (including the Statements on  

Internal Control and the work of the Audit Committee) and associated business review together with  
the Interim Results announcement made by the Company, focusing on key accounting policies, estimates 
and judgements, including significant or unusual transactions or changes to these. In doing so the Audit 
Committee reviewed the reports of Management and the controls assurance (internal audit) provider and 
took into account the views of the external auditor. It concluded that a recommendation should be made to 
the Board that the required disclosure set out in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities could be made, 
as set out on page 92 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018.

•  Reviewed the work of Management which involved assessing key risks according to their significance, 
likelihood and impact, in addition to the Group’s exposure to and management of these risks. The Risk 
Register and evaluation of risk constantly evolve and the Audit Committee was satisfied that Management 
had appropriate risk management strategies and systems in place to address the Group’s principal business 
risks, such strategies and systems having been in place throughout 2018 and up to the date of approval of 
this document.

•  Reviewed and adopted an updated internal audit plan and considered the objectivity and independence  

of the external auditor.

•  Oversaw the Audit Tender process in accordance with the relevant legislation and guidance, including the 
provisions of The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (“2016 Regulations”) 
that require mandatory audit firm rotation for listed entities and detail the criteria for the selection and 
appointment of the auditor (further details of which can be found below).

•  Considered the transfer and integration of the financial operations following the acquisition of ASIG into  

our shared service centre in the USA, the issues encountered and the key lessons learned.

•  Examined and discussed the impact of new accounting standards and disclosures on the Group’s financial 

statements and reporting practices, including IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts 
with Customers and IFRS 16 Leasing.

Annual Report and Accounts 2018
The primary areas of judgement considered by the Audit Committee in relation to the financial statements 
contained within this document and how these were addressed are as follows:

Disposal of Distribution business
The Audit Committee considered and monitored the treatment of Menzies Distribution as a discontinued 
business during the year and examined the calculation and treatment of the retained investment in the 
business.

Acquisition of Airline Services
The Audit Committee reviewed the accounting for the acquisition of the trade and assets of Airline Services 
Limited and the impact of the anticipated and realised restrictions placed on the Group during the year by the 
UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The Audit Committee was satisfied with the accounting treatment 
adopted and the disclosures made.

Revenue recognition
The Audit Committee has reviewed the work completed by Management during 2018 to ensure that the Group 
has appropriately recognised revenues in accordance with its contractual obligations during the period. The Audit 
Committee was satisfied with the approach and judgements taken.

Goodwill and intangible assets
The review for impairment of goodwill and intangible assets is based on cash flow projections to calculate a 
value in use for each area based on Group forecasts. The achievability of the forecast is a risk, given inherent 
uncertainty within any financial projection.

The Audit Committee evaluated a paper from Management on the results of the impairment assessment. Key 
assumptions were reviewed and challenged by the Committee, including discount rates, business risk factors 
and cash flow projections based on the most recent budget and strategic reviews. Actions and factors likely  
to influence levels of impairment were reviewed with alternative scenarios requested for further analysis.  
Taking into account the documentation presented, the Audit Committee was satisfied with the approach  
and judgements taken.

Pension accounting
The assumptions made in the calculation for pension scheme liabilities and asset returns are underpinned 
by a range of judgements. Assumptions were prepared by external actuaries, reviewed by Management and 
approved by the external auditor, ensuring they were aligned to prevailing economic indicators. Changes in 
assumptions and the completeness of disclosures were then summarised for the Audit Committee. The Audit 
Committee was satisfied with the disclosures made and judgements taken.

Exceptional and other items
The Audit Committee considered the appropriateness of the measure of underlying profits and the classification 
and transparency of items separately disclosed as exceptional and other items. It was satisfied that the measure 
of underlying profits provided a reasonable view of the underlying performance of the Group and that there was 
transparent disclosure of items shown separately as exceptional and other items.

Taxation
Provisioning for current and deferred tax liabilities and assets requires the exercising of judgement. The 
Audit Committee addressed this through the receipt of a range of reports from Management and a separate 
Tax Committee exists to deal with such requests (see further details on page 25 of this Annual Report and 
Accounts 2018). The Audit Committee challenged the appropriateness of Management’s views, including the 
extent to which these were supported by appropriate external advice. In particular, the Committee challenged 
Management’s calculations of provision for items under discussion with authorities and of the deferred tax 
assets and liabilities.

Provisions
The Audit Committee has challenged the assumptions used by Management in determining whether provisions 
are appropriate in relation to insurance, onerous property leases and ongoing warranty and legal matters.

58

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

59

Governance ReportsAudit Committee Report continued

External Group Audit
Audit Tender
A key focus of the Audit Committee during 2018 was, as stated above, overseeing the Audit Tender, the scope 
of which covered statutory audit services for the Company and its subsidiaries, covering all statutory audit 
work for the continuing businesses for the financial year ending 31 December 2019 (“2019 FY”), for a tenure 
of five years. In our Annual Report and Accounts 2017 it was noted that Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) was the 
appointed external auditor to the Group, having assumed the role in 2009 following a full tender process. We 
further confirmed our compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code and the FRC Guidance on Audit 
Committees (April 2016) with regard to the external audit tendering timetable and, in relation to mandatory 
auditor rotation and tendering, the provisions of the 2016 Regulations. In accordance with such guidance and 
legislation, the Committee determined that the 2019 FY audit should be tendered, EY completing its ten year 
tenure following the 2018 year end.

The Audit Tender resulted in the proposal to re-appoint EY as the external auditor for the 2019 FY, subject to 
the required shareholder approval being obtained at the Company’s forthcoming annual general meeting in 
May 2019. 

Governance of Audit Tender
The overall objective of the Audit Tender was to select the best auditor for the Group from a calibre and quality 
perspective, as the Group requires audit services of the highest standard in order to provide shareholders with 
the level of assurance expected of a listed entity, but within a reasonable price range. To ensure a transparent 
and robust evaluation and selection process a sub-committee of the Audit Committee, chaired by myself and 
including the Chief Financial Officer, was formed to oversee the process. Whilst the Audit Committee retained 
ultimate authority over the Audit Tender and audit firm evaluation, approved the criteria and recommended the 
selection of EY to the Board, the sub-committee approved the detail of the Audit Tender, agreed the objectives 
and evaluation criteria and oversaw its execution. 

In accordance with the relevant Group policies, the prohibition on the provision of any gifts and/or hospitality 
during the process was reinforced to the participants to avoid influencing (or the perception of influencing) the 
outcome of the Audit Tender whilst engagement with key decision-makers was restricted to regular business 
matters only.

Market assessment and selection criteria
A desktop market assessment, focusing on the audit market and firms’ capabilities, network, experience in 
the services and logistics industries and findings of audit regulator reports, was completed in February 2018 
and resulted in a shortlist of two audit firms. In order to be successful in the Audit Tender, the participants 
were assessed on certain minimum requirements i.e. the firm’s willingness to bid; audit firm and auditor 
independence; commercial scoping, including price range; ethics and compliance standards; investigations  
by regulators; and acceptance of legal terms and conditions.

In addition, a number of selection criteria were applied with specific weightings including:
•  technical criteria, including the proposed audit plan, audit quality, structure of audit, innovative tools and  

the transition plan;

•  team quality, including lead partner and team, industry knowledge, access to specialists and mitigation  

of frequent team changes;

•  resources and organisation, including representation in industry and accounting bodies and conflict 

resolution mechanism in the audit firm; and

•  value added, including access to accounting training and additional assurance obtained.

The selection criteria to evaluate each of the audit firms participating in the Audit Tender formed the basis  
for the questions to be included in the request for proposal.

Request for proposal
In May 2018, the request for proposal was issued to the two audit firms invited to participate in the Audit Tender. 
Relevant information on the Group was shared with each of the participating firms through an electronic data 
room that was accessible during the period of the Audit Tender. In this period a structured question and answer 
process was in place where responses to clarification questions and additional information requests were shared 
with the participating firms.

Technical tests and interviews
Both participating firms were given the opportunity to demonstrate their differentiating technical capability 
relevant to the Group audit. 

The lead engagement partners from each of the participating firms met with myself, the Chief Financial Officer 
and Director of Corporate Affairs & Group Company Secretary, as well as senior Finance and IT managers,  
and provided answers to a series of identical questions relating to the Company’s financial reporting and  
wider industry matters.

Final presentations, evaluation and shareholder approval
Both participating firms provided a final presentation of their proposal to the sub-committee in July 2018. 
The final proposals submitted were compliant with the minimum requirements set and the bids qualified and 
assessed against the selection criteria. 

In August 2018 the Audit Committee concluded that EY was the preferred firm to conduct the Group audit 
engagement for the 2019 FY. The Audit Committee recognised that the audit services would, however, be  
re-assessed annually and acknowledged that a further tender would not be required for a period of ten years;  
it was agreed that the Audit Committee would formally notify the Board at the end of the five year period with  
a recommendation to re-tender or not. The appropriate recommendation was thereafter made to and approved 
by the Board which noted the five year rotation period. 

Independence and non-audit services
The Audit Committee regularly monitors the objectivity and independence of the external auditor to ensure its 
continued effectiveness, value for money and compliance with statutory duties. The nature and extent of EY’s 
non-audit services are also subject to the Committee’s consideration and in 2018 its non-audit work continued 
to be managed separately from the audit workstream, distinct from the work undertaken by the EY external 
audit partner. No conflict of interest is considered to exist between the provision by EY of audit and non-audit 
services and the arrangement is viewed as the most cost-effective means by which to undertake the services 
in question. Following a review held at the conclusion of the 2018 audit, the Audit Committee was satisfied that 
EY continued to provide an effective audit and remained independent and objective.

All non-audit work is put out to tender and non-audit fees paid to EY approved by the Chief Financial Officer, 
who reports any significant payments or awards of work to the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee 
continues to believes that the level and scope of these non-audit services do not impair EY’s objectivity and 
consistently monitors the remuneration received by EY, whether for audit services or otherwise. For the 2018 
financial year, EY’s non-audit fees were in the sum of £0.7m whilst audit-related fees amounted to £1.3m.

60

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

61

Governance ReportsAudit Committee Report continued

Human Resources Committee Report

Internal Control and Audit
The internal audit function continues to be undertaken by a combination of internal teams, Deloitte LLP and 
other third parties as and when required. In November 2018, the Group recruited an inhouse financial internal 
audit resource in addition to its long-established operational capability. Taking into account the global spread 
and nature of the Group’s operations, the Audit Committee is of the view that the co-sourcing model is the 
optimum approach, given the increased capacity of the inhouse team to conduct a significant proportion of 
the financial reviews, Deloitte’s international presence, on-the-ground resource and business management 
expertise, and the capability of internal teams to undertake operational and compliance audits at our stations. 
Internal audit programme findings are presented to the Audit Committee and prioritised by Management 
for action, with follow-up reports subject to the Committee’s careful scrutiny to ensure that the necessary 
corrective measures are implemented.

As noted above, the Audit Committee has concluded that the Group has effective systems of risk management 
and internal controls in place to provide the Directors with reasonable but not absolute assurance that risks can 
be promptly identified and appropriate remedial action taken to protect against material loss. Further details  
on this can be found within the Risk Management section contained on pages 24 to 29 of this Annual Report 
and Accounts 2018.

On behalf of the Audit Committee

Paul Baines
Audit Committee Chairman
8 March 2019

I am pleased to introduce the second Report of 
the Board-constituted Human Resources (“HR”) 
Committee for the 2018 financial year. Establishment 
of the Committee was, as previously intimated, 
considered the optimum means by which to ensure 
that the Group’s People agenda was actively pursued 
and best practice followed in key focus areas such as 
succession planning and staff retention. 

The main priorities of the Committee are detailed in 
its Terms of Reference which acknowledge the role of 
the Committee in: (i) assisting the Board in fulfilling its 
obligations in respect of all HR matters; (ii) ensuring 
standardisation of HR structure, policies and process; 
and (iii) overseeing the optimisation of our People, 
who are our key resource.

Composition and Meetings 
Recognising the significant role that our People play 
in the ongoing success of our operations, it was 
considered important that Claire Hall, Group EVP 
People, be party to the Committee’s deliberations 
to ensure the requisite People items are properly 
identified, pursued and delivered. Claire therefore sits 
on the Committee with both Executive (Forsyth Black 
and John Geddes) and Non-Executive (David Garman 
and Philipp Joeinig) Board members and inputs from 
a more general HR perspective sharing, for example, 
information on HR-specific Group initiatives and issues 
which dovetail into the Committee’s remit. 

As can be seen from the table opposite and on page 
49 of this document, the Committee convened twice 
during 2018, in March and October, and, from an 
agenda perspective, linked in with the Nomination 
Committee as and when necessary to ensure 
upcoming agenda items were considered by  
the appropriate Committee.

Progress During 2018
As detailed in last year’s inaugural Report, whilst 
operational training does not fall within its remit, 
the HR Committee does review and monitor People 
development programmes and initiatives and, in 
this regard, one of the principal challenges that the 
Committee faced during 2018 was in relation to 
employee training. Detailed consideration has been 
given to the fact that more flexible and innovative 
ways to facilitate learning within the Group, coupled 
with modernisation of the training mediums employed, 
is required, together with implementation of a more 
robust training curriculum that identifies and targets 
a revised training population. More specifically, the 
importance of the Station Manager’s role within 
the Group’s network was also acknowledged and 
discussed and it was agreed that a Station Manager 

Silla Maizey
Human Resources Committee Chairman

Committee Members

Name

S Maizey

F Black

D Garman

J Geddes

C Hall 1

P Joeinig

Position

Attendance

Chairman

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

Note:
1.  Claire Hall sits on this Board Committee in her capacity as Group 

EVP People.

62

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

63

Governance ReportsHuman Resources Committee Report continued

Remuneration Committee Report

Lifecycle Project would be scoped and initiated; the Committee recognised that the retention and development 
of the Group’s middle operational management is essential for overall sustainability within its business units.

Staff retention and recruitment also fell to be considered by the Committee with key priority projects 
identified for focus stations including a station-specific recruitment and retention plan for 15 radar stations 
(five within each region), the development of a proposition for a Menzies Academy and the introduction of 
a comprehensive induction programme. A digital pilot employee engagement survey was also conducted 
in Oceania and, due to the success of this, a global roll-out of such surveys is currently being considered. 
Whilst there was a general acceptance of the common themes across the regions that produced the high 
staff turnover rates and a keen recognition of the importance of getting recruitment ‘right’, the Committee 
acknowledged that, as a Group, we must improve our data accumulation and turnover statistics to provide 
better quality data for analysis.

At the March Committee meeting the importance of clear values and culture to drive our business performance 
was recognised; it was highlighted that a review of the Group’s vision and values had exposed the challenges 
that exist in getting our People to engage with our current value set and desired culture. As a result of this, 
workshops were facilitated which sought to define the culture within each region and create a tailored action 
plan that is now updated at Executive team meetings. Aligned with this, Group EVPs have been set a ‘cultural 
change’ key result area that is expected to be developed and refined over time.

Looking Forward
Whilst good progress has been made over the course of 2018 in relation to a number of the Committee’s key 
agenda items, we are acutely aware of the challenges that the Group faces and which will remain subject to 
detailed scrutiny in 2019. Staff turnover and retention issues, particularly in the USA and Eastern Europe, are 
high on the agenda and Group strategies to address material items such as these continue to be refined and 
implemented. For example, in addition to individual radar stations (as referred to above) having their own 
specific recruitment and retention action plans, information gathered at these stations will form the basis  
of a strategy bank that will be applied on a station-by-station basis to assist in countering such issues. 

Further, consideration is currently being given as to how the Board can best engage with our People to 
enhance the ‘employee voice’ in the Boardroom, as prescribed by the revised UK Corporate Governance 
Code (July 2018), taking into account the size and geographical spread of our organisation. I look forward to 
reporting on the effectiveness of our workforce engagement and how we consider this has strengthened our 
People’s voice in next year’s HR Committee Report. I will conclude, however, by re-stating our commitment to 
retain, foster and develop our People, a commitment that is evidenced through our identified HR priority areas, 
namely to: (i) attract and retain the best staff; (ii) provide an optimal training and development experience; and 
(iii) create an engaged team that delivers an unparalleled service. We are actively seeking to strengthen our 
talent pools and succession plans, unlock business growth through superlative leadership, put in place clear 
retention strategies that instil pride and loyalty in our business and create an inclusive culture that drives world-
class engagement.

On behalf of the Human Resources Committee

Silla Maizey
Human Resources Committee Chairman 
8 March 2019

64

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

The Board was keen to ensure that long term incentive 
arrangements were aligned to its Aviation strategy, 
with Management incentivised and focused on the 
opportunities ahead to create significant value for the 
Company’s shareholders. 

Against this background and at a general meeting 
of the Company held in August 2018 (“2018 GM”), 
our shareholders approved: (i) a new value creation 
plan (“VCP”) for Executive Directors and other Senior 
Managers within the Company, further details of which 
are set out below; and (ii) a new remuneration policy 
(“2018 Remuneration Policy”), adopted in substitution 
for the Directors’ Remuneration Policy approved at 
the Company’s 2017 annual general meeting (“2017 
Remuneration Policy”). 

The differences between the 2018 Remuneration 
Policy and the 2017 Remuneration Policy are  
as follows: 
•  the inclusion of the VCP;
•  the increase to shareholding guidelines from 100% 

to 200% of salary; 

•  the removal of the Company’s Bonus Co-

Investment Plan (“BCIP”) and the Share Matching 
Plan (“SMP”) from the ‘policy table’ to reflect the 
fact that these have been removed from the 2017 
Remuneration Policy from 1 January 2018, although 
existing awards under the BCIP and SMP may be 
satisfied in accordance with both their terms and 
the Directors’ Remuneration Policy in place when 
they were granted; and

•  the removal of the Company’s Long Term Incentive 
Plan (“LTIP”) from the ‘policy table’ to reflect the 
fact that from the date of adoption of the 2018 
Remuneration Policy no further LTIP awards  
will be made to Executive Directors, although 
existing awards under the LTIP may be satisfied  
in accordance with both their terms and the 
Directors’ Remuneration Policy in place when  
they were granted. 

VCP
As detailed in the Company’s shareholder circular 
dated 30 July 2018, the Remuneration Committee 
believes that the VCP provides an incentive for the 
Company’s Management team, motivating it to use 
shareholder capital effectively within the business 
and create tangible value and material returns to 
shareholders going forward. The VCP, which replaced 
Executive Directors’ participation in future LTIP awards, 
provides Management with a share in the upside 
value created for shareholders whilst at the same 
time incorporating a significant number of safeguard 
features (further details of which can be found on page 
80 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018) to ensure 
that Management remains focused on creating long 
term sustainable value. 

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

65

David Garman
Remuneration Committee Chairman

Committee Members

Name

Position

Attendance

D Garman 1 

Chairman

P Baines

G Eaton 1 

S Maizey

Member

Member

Member

6/6

6/6

6/6

5/6

Note:
1.  Geoff Eaton stepped down as both Chairman and a member 
of the Remuneration Committee on 31 December 2018. David 
Garman assumed the position of Chairman at this time. 

Having assumed the position of Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee at the beginning of this 
year, I am delighted to introduce the Company’s 
Remuneration Report for the 2018 financial year.  
At the outset, I would also like to extend my sincere 
thanks to Geoff Eaton, who previously chaired the 
Committee, for his contribution during his period  
in tenure. 

As you will be aware, the John Menzies plc group 
has undergone a significant transformation in recent 
years culminating in the disposal of its Distribution 
business in September 2018, following which the 
Group became a pure play focused global leader in 
Aviation Services, a high growth, high return market. 

Governance ReportsRemuneration Committee Report continued

2018 Remuneration Outcomes
The Group continued to make solid progress against its strategic objectives in 2018, as reflected in the 
Remuneration Committee’s assessment of the 2018 outcomes detailed in this Report. 

The Remuneration Committee considered it appropriate that, in recognition of the increased scope of his role, 
Forsyth Black’s salary be increased from £357,000 to £400,000 upon his appointment as Chief Executive 
Officer of the Company in September 2018. Having reviewed the base salary levels of all Executive Directors, 
the Remuneration Committee has determined that there will be no salary increase for Forsyth Black, Giles 
Wilson or John Geddes in 2019. 

In July 2018 share awards granted to each of Forsyth Black, Giles Wilson and John Geddes in July 2015, prior 
to their respective appointments to the Board of Directors, vested. Details of these awards are disclosed on 
page 82 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018. The 2016 LTIP awards were assessed by the Remuneration 
Committee based on performance to 31 December 2018. The Remuneration Committee determined that the 
relevant performance measures were met and awards will vest as appropriate following the Company’s final 
results announcement on 12 March 2019. Further details are provided on page 79 of this Annual Report and 
Accounts 2018.

For the 2018 annual bonus plan, the Remuneration Committee reviewed Group Underlying Profit before Tax 
performance and the performance of Forsyth Black, Giles Wilson and John Geddes against key result areas 
(“KRAs”) which were set at the start of the year and covered a number of key operational and strategic areas. 
Details of financial targets, 2018 performance and individual awards are disclosed on pages 77 and 78 of this 
Annual Report and Accounts 2018, including details of the KRA performance element. 

Looking Forward
In my first year as Chairman, I would like the Remuneration Committee to review the 2018 Remuneration  
Policy and assess its fitness for purpose. Indeed, the Board is committed to a strategy that will grow both  
the Group’s business and the quality of earnings in a sustainable way, whilst adopting a measured approach  
to its balance sheet. 

During 2019 the Committee will also be considering the revised UK Corporate Governance Code (July 2018).  
As appropriate and taking into account the remit of the Human Resources Committee, consideration will 
be given to items such as wider workforce pay and practices including pay ratios and gender pay. Further, 
consideration is also currently being given as to how the Board can best engage with our employees to 
enhance the ‘employee voice’ in the Boardroom. As referenced in the Human Resources Committee Report,  
we are committed to retaining, fostering and developing our People, as well as creating an inclusive culture that 
drives world-class engagement. Details of any further changes to comply with the Code will be made available 
in our Annual Report and Accounts 2019.

The remainder of this Remuneration Committee Report comprises the 2018 Remuneration Policy, approved  
at the 2018 GM, and our 2018 Annual Report on Remuneration which will be put to a shareholder vote at our 
2019 annual general meeting. We look forward to receiving your views and support.

On behalf of the Remuneration Committee

David Garman
Remuneration Committee Chairman
8 March 2019

Directors’ Remuneration Policy
This section of the Remuneration Committee Report sets out the Company’s Remuneration Policy in respect of 
its Directors. As previously detailed, the 2018 Remuneration Policy was approved by shareholders at a general 
meeting of the Company held in August 2018 and took effect immediately upon receipt of such approval. 

The 2018 Remuneration Policy is available on the Company’s website at: www.johnmenziesplc.com.

Directors’ Remuneration: Principles
The 2018 Remuneration Policy has been developed to ensure that the Company is well-placed to attract, retain 
and motivate Directors with the ability and experience necessary to run the Group successfully, whilst also 
aligning Executive remuneration with the financial returns of its shareholders. 

1  Basic salary

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Attract and retain high performing individuals, reflecting the market value of the role and 
Executive Directors’ skills and experience.

Operation

Normally reviewed annually.

Salaries for 2019 will be:
•  F Black: £400,000;
•  G Wilson: £331,500; and
•  J Geddes: £255,000.

The Remuneration Committee takes into consideration a number of factors when setting 
salaries including (but not limited to):
•  the size and scope of an individual’s responsibilities;
•  an individual’s skills, experience and performance;
•  typical salary levels for comparable roles at appropriate comparator companies; 
•  pay and conditions elsewhere in the Group; and
• 

inflation in the relevant market.

Maximum 
opportunity

There is no maximum opportunity. Salary increases will normally be in line with the average 
increase awarded in the wider employee population. 

Higher increases may be made in certain circumstances and at the Remuneration 
Committee’s discretion. For example, this may include (but is not limited to):
• 
•  development of an individual within the role;
•  corporate events such as a significant acquisition or Group restructuring which impacts 

increase in the scope and/or responsibility of an individual’s role;

the scope of a role; and

•  where it is considered necessary for the retention of an Executive Director or to reflect 

significant changes in market practice.

Performance 
metrics

None, although individual and Company performance are factors taken into account when 
setting salaries.

2  Annual bonus

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Operation

Maximum 
opportunity

Performance 
metrics

Incentivise delivery of Group and individual objectives and enhance performance.

The annual bonus is paid in cash and shares, based on the Remuneration Committee’s 
assessment of performance during the financial year in question.

Maximum annual award is 100% of salary.

All measures and targets are reviewed annually and set at the start of each financial year. 
The measures will include relevant financial measures and may include performance against 
KRAs or other strategic measures as appropriate.

At least 70% of the bonus will be based on financial measures. 

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Bonus in deferred Ordinary Shares (“Deferred Bonus Shares”)

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Encourage a longer term focus which is aligned to shareholders and discourages 
inappropriate risk-taking.

Operation

20% of any annual bonus award is paid in Deferred Bonus Shares with such Shares having 
dividend entitlements.

The Remuneration Committee may claw back bonus awards for a period of three years after 
the end of the relevant bonus year in the event of misstatement of accounts that materially 
increased the amount of bonus paid or misconduct by an employee which has or could have 
led to their employment being summarily terminated.

The Remuneration Committee may increase the level of deferral at any time.

None.

None.

Maximum 
opportunity

Performance 
metrics

3  VCP

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Incentivise Executive Directors to deliver significant, sustainable absolute returns to 
shareholders over the long term.

Operation

Awards under the VCP take the form of entitlements to receive a number of Ordinary Shares 
for nil cost. 

The number of Ordinary Shares to which a participant is entitled is determined by reference 
to shareholder value created above a total shareholder return (“TSR”) hurdle. Each 
participant’s award will represent a percentage of the shareholder value above the hurdle.

Performance will be measured in three tranches from 26 July 2018:
•  1/3 will be measured over 3.5 years; 
•  1/3 will be measured over 4.5 years; and
•  1/3 will be measured over 5.5 years. 

Awards are ‘released’ so that participants are entitled to receive the Ordinary Shares after a 
two year holding period beginning at the end of the vesting period applying to the relevant 
tranche of the award.

An additional payment (in the form of cash or Ordinary Shares) may be made in respect of 
Ordinary Shares delivered under the VCP to reflect the value of dividends that would have 
been paid on those Ordinary Shares over the holding period. This payment may assume 
the re-investment of dividends into Ordinary Shares on such basis as the Remuneration 
Committee determines.

Maximum 
opportunity

The value that may be delivered under the VCP is linked to the shareholder value created 
over the relevant performance period.

The TSR hurdle will be 8% per annum (calculated on a compound basis) over the relevant 
performance period. The stretch hurdle will be 15% per annum.

The total pool for all participants will be 6.5% of the shareholder value generated above the 
8% per annum hurdle. This would increase to 7.5% if the stretch TSR hurdle of 15% per annum 
is achieved.

The allocations of this pool for each Executive Director will be:
•  F Black: 25.0%;
•  G Wilson: 19.8%; and 
•  J Geddes: 15.2%.

The total VCP value is capped at £30 million.

For current Executive Directors the aggregate cap is £18 million (being 60% of the overall 
cap) with proportionate interim caps. The maximum award for each Executive Director is:
•  F Black: £7,511,178;
•  G Wilson: £5,928,465; and
•  J Geddes: £4,560,358.

Performance 
metrics

The principal performance condition applying to the VCP is the TSR achieved relative to  
the hurdle.

A portion of the VCP award may be subject to additional performance conditions. If such 
performance conditions are not satisfied, a participant’s award value may be reduced (but 
not increased). For the Executive Directors 20% of the award will be subject to additional 
performance conditions relating to compliance measures such as safety and security.

The Remuneration Committee may exercise discretion and make adjustments to the  
value that may be delivered under the VCP and/or number of Ordinary Shares subject  
to an award, taking into account the provisions of any current or prospectively applicable 
corporate governance codes and, as appropriate, associated guidance published by relevant 
regulatory, institutional or trade bodies, including (but not limited to) where the payment 
outcome would materially deviate from the intention of the Company’s Remuneration 
Policy, is materially impacted by unexpected or unforeseen circumstances, or is materially 
misaligned with the results achieved by the Company.

4  Pension

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Operation

Provide market levels of pension provision.

Executive Directors can participate in the Menzies Money Purchase Pension Scheme or  
cash equivalent.

Maximum 
opportunity

Under the Menzies Money Purchase Pension Scheme Executive Directors may receive  
a pension contribution of up to 20% of salary.

The Remuneration Committee may determine that Executive Directors receive a cash 
supplement of up to 20% of salary in lieu of pension.

Performance 
metrics

5  Benefits

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Operation

None.

Provide market levels of benefits provision.

Executive Directors receive benefits which typically may include, but are not limited to, 
private health insurance, life assurance, ill health insurance protection and a company car 
allowance. Other benefits may be operated through salary sacrifice. The Remuneration 
Committee may introduce or remove benefits offered to individuals where it considers  
it appropriate to do so. 

Where Executive Directors are required to relocate, the Remuneration Committee may,  
if considered appropriate, offer additional relocation or expatriate benefits.

Maximum 
opportunity

As the cost of providing other benefits, including health insurance and life assurance, may 
vary from year to year, it is not considered practical to define a maximum level for these or 
any other benefits. The level of any relocation benefits, allowances and expenses will depend 
on the specific circumstances.

There is no overall maximum level of benefits. 

Performance 
metrics

None.

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Company Sharesave Scheme

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Provide the Company’s UK employees with an interest in the performance of its Ordinary 
Shares.

Operation

Accumulated savings may be used to exercise an option to acquire Ordinary Shares.

The option price of such Ordinary Shares may be discounted by up to the HMRC-approved 
level (currently 20%).

Monthly contributions of up to the HMRC-approved limit over a three or five year period.

None.

Maximum 
opportunity

Performance 
metrics

Shareholding guidelines

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Operation

Maximum 
opportunity

Performance 
metrics

Align the Executive Directors with the long term interests of shareholders.

Shareholding guidelines for Executive Directors are 200% of salary (built up over time).

None.

None.

Chairman and Non-Executive Directors’ fees

Purpose and  
link to strategy

Operation

Attract Non-Executive Directors of sufficient skills and experience to fulfil the role.

The fees for Non-Executive Directors comprise a basic payment plus additional payments 
for being Chairman of a Committee, a Committee member or for being the Senior 
Independent Director. Differential fee levels may be paid for Non-Executive Directors 
depending on the skills, experience, nationality and responsibilities of an individual or 
additional time commitments for the role.

The Chairman receives a fee for services to the Company. 

A portion of Chairman and Non-Executive Directors’ fees may be delivered as Ordinary 
Shares.

Non-Executives Directors’ fees are reviewed periodically by the Board with reference to 
external benchmarking.

None.

None.

Maximum 
opportunity

Performance 
metrics

Notes:
1.  Annual bonus 

Annual bonus performance measures have been chosen to provide an appropriate balance between incentivising Executive Directors to 
meet financial targets for the year and to deliver the Group’s KRAs. This balance allows the Remuneration Committee to effectively reward 
performance against the key elements of the Group’s strategy. Threshold and stretch targets are derived from a review of the historical and 
projected performance of the Group and its peers, together with an analysis of analysts’ expectations. 

2.  VCP

The ultimate goal of the Company is to provide long term sustainable returns to shareholders. The VCP rewards Management for the delivery  
of sustainable shareholder returns above the hurdle. TSR has been used as it aligns Management’s interests with those of shareholders, and  
the hurdle has been set to reward excellent performance. Additional performance measures linked to compliance measures such as safety  
and security are included to support a long term outlook and a culture focused on sustainable working practices.

3.  Differences in Remuneration Policy for Directors and other employees 

Remuneration arrangements throughout the Group are based on the principle that reward should be set at competitive levels to support the 
delivery of the Group’s strategy and also attract, retain and motivate individuals who have the necessary skills for each role. Pay differs for 
employees of different seniority and for those operating in different parts of the world. For example, in accordance with market practice and 
shareholder expectations, the remuneration arrangements for Executive Directors place a significant emphasis on long term performance-related 
pay compared to other employees. Below Board, up to 40% of the VCP pool will be available to top up existing incentives to ensure the VCP 
is inclusive for the wider Management team. The Company also operates an HMRC-approved Sharesave Scheme, in which all UK employees 
(including Executive Directors) are eligible to participate and which aims to promote a sense of ownership amongst staff.

The Remuneration Committee reserves the right to make any remuneration payments and/or payments 
for loss of office (including exercising any discretions available to it in connection with such payments), 
notwithstanding that they are not in line with the 2018 Remuneration Policy, where the terms of the payment 
were agreed: (i) before 16 May 2014 (the date on which the Company’s first shareholder-approved Directors’ 
Remuneration Policy came into effect); (ii) before the 2018 Remuneration Policy came into effect, provided 
that the terms of the payment were consistent with the shareholder-approved Directors’ Remuneration Policy 
in force at the time they were agreed; or (iii) at a time when the relevant individual was not a Director of the 
Company and, in the opinion of the Remuneration Committee, the payment was not in consideration for the 
individual becoming a Director of the Company. For these purposes ‘payments’ includes the Remuneration 
Committee satisfying awards of variable remuneration and, in relation to an award over Ordinary Shares,  
the terms of the payment are ‘agreed’ at the time the award is granted.

Payments may be made in respect of existing awards under the BSP, SMP and LTIP and the Remuneration 
Committee may exercise any discretions available to it in connection with such awards in accordance with the 
shareholder-approved Directors’ Remuneration Policy in force at the time awards were made. The VCP will be 
operated in accordance with the Rules of the John Menzies plc 2018 VCP, as approved by shareholders at a 
general meeting of the Company in August 2018 (“VCP Rules”). Awards may be adjusted in accordance with 
the VCP Rules (e.g. VCP awards may be adjusted in the event of any variation of the Company’s share capital). 
The Remuneration Committee may recommend to the Board that it amends the targets applicable to VCP 
awards (other than the principal TSR targets applicable to VCP awards) if an event occurs which causes the 
Remuneration Committee to reasonably consider that, having due regard to the interests of shareholders,  
the performance targets should be varied to ensure a fair measure of performance.

The Remuneration Committee may make minor amendments to the 2018 Remuneration Policy (for regulatory, 
exchange control, tax or administrative purposes or to take account of a change in legislation) without 
obtaining shareholder approval for that amendment.

1. Clawback and Malus
Awards granted during 2016 and onwards to Executive Directors are subject to the following terms:
•  Cash and Deferred Bonus Shares may be clawed back for a period of three years after the end of the relevant 
bonus year in the event of the misstatement of accounts that materially increased the amount of bonus paid 
or misconduct by an employee which has or could have led to their employment being summarily terminated.

•  VCP awards may be reduced or clawed back up to the third anniversary of the end of the relevant 

performance period in the event of material misstatement of financial results, an error in assessing the VCP 
value or any applicable performance condition, serious reputational damage, serious misconduct on the part 
of the participant, a material downturn in financial performance, material corporate failure or material failure 
on compliance measures such as safety and security or any other reason the Remuneration Committee 
includes in the relevant terms at the time an award is made.  

•  Matching Deferred Bonus Share awards and LTIP awards may be clawed back after vesting where  

the Company is required to restate its accounts to a material extent; the Board becomes aware of any 
material wrongdoing on the part of an employee which would have entitled the Company to terminate the 
employee’s employment; or any other reason the Remuneration Committee includes in the relevant terms  
at the time an award is made. The clawback period will be set by the Remuneration Committee. 

2. Recruitment Policy
In determining appropriate remuneration arrangements upon hiring a new Executive Director, the Remuneration 
Committee will take into consideration all relevant factors including, but not limited to, the role, the remuneration 
being forfeited and the jurisdiction the candidate was recruited from. The Remuneration Committee is mindful 
of the need to avoid paying more than is necessary upon recruitment. Salary would be set to take into account 
role and responsibilities. For interim positions a cash supplement may be paid rather than salary (e.g. a Non-
Executive Director taking on an Executive function on a short term basis).

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The Remuneration Committee may make awards on hiring an external candidate to ‘buy out’ remuneration 
arrangements forfeited upon leaving a previous employer. In doing so the Remuneration Committee will take 
account of relevant factors including any performance conditions attached to these awards, the form in which 
they were granted (i.e. cash or shares) and the time over which they would have vested. The key principle 
should be that buyout awards should not be more valuable than those forfeited.

Normally the maximum variable remuneration (excluding buyouts) would be in line with the 2018 Remuneration 
Policy table set out above, including that the Executive Director may participate in the VCP (within the overall limits 
of the VCP). The Remuneration Committee retains the flexibility to determine that for the first year of appointment 
any annual bonus award will be subject to such conditions as it may determine. Against that background, 
where the potential exists that a new Executive Director could have different roles and responsibilities to those 
currently appointed, such responsibilities may require to be reflected in that Executive Director’s remuneration 
arrangements. Taking this into account the Remuneration Committee may, for the first year, make an additional 
performance-related incentive award of up to 50% of salary. The form of any award would be determined at the 
relevant time.

Where an Executive Director is appointed from within the Group, the normal policy of the Company is that  
any legacy incentive arrangements should be honoured in line with the original terms and conditions. Similarly,  
if an Executive Director is appointed following the Company’s acquisition of, or merger with, another company, 
legacy terms and conditions should be honoured. 

In the event of the appointment of a new Non-Executive Director, remuneration arrangements will be in line 
with those detailed in the 2018 Remuneration Policy. 

3. Service Contracts and Letters of Appointment
The Executive Directors have service contracts with the Company as detailed below. The Company’s practice is 
that the service contracts of Executive Directors should contain a 12 month notice period for both the Executive 
and the Company.

Executive Director

Date of service contract

Notice period

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

June 2017
June 2017
June 2017

Terminable on 52 weeks’ notice
Terminable on 52 weeks’ notice
Terminable on 52 weeks’ notice

All Executive Directors’ service contracts and Non-Executive Directors’ letters of appointment are available for 
inspection at the Company’s registered office.

The Chairman and each of the Non-Executive Directors have letters of appointment. The letters of appointment 
do not contain any contractual entitlement to a termination payment and the Non-Executive Directors can 
be removed in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association. The Chairman and all Non-Executive 
Directors are subject to annual re-election. 

4. Payments to Outgoing Directors
Executive Directors will be entitled to receive their basic salary and contractual benefits for any notice period. 
The Company may, in its absolute discretion, elect to terminate an Executive Director’s employment by 
making a payment in lieu of notice of the individual’s salary for that period. The Remuneration Committee may 
structure any such payments in such a way as it deems appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of 
departure. Any payments of compensation will be subject to negotiation and the 2018 Remuneration Policy 
includes consideration of appropriate mitigation, including phasing of payments.

In the event of a Director’s departure, any outstanding share awards will be treated in accordance with the rules 
of the relevant share plan.  

The following principles apply for the treatment of remuneration elements following loss of office of a Director:

Annual Bonus

Deferred  
Bonus Shares

VCP

There is no automatic entitlement to annual bonus. Taking into account the circumstances 
of leaving, the Remuneration Committee may award a bonus in respect of performance  
in the relevant financial year with appropriate consideration of time pro-rating.

Deferred Bonus Shares are required to be transferred back to the Company (or the 
Director to pay the market value of such shares to the Company) in circumstances  
of resignation or dismissal. In other circumstances the Deferred Bonus Shares would 
normally be retained by the Director.

In the event of a participant’s death, any unvested awards held by that participant will vest 
and be released at that point based on the value growth achieved at the time of cessation 
of employment. Any additional performance conditions will also be tested at the time of 
cessation of employment. The number of Ordinary Shares that vest will be reduced to take 
into account the proportion of the performance period that had elapsed on the date  
of cessation of employment. The holding period would continue to apply unless the 
Remuneration Committee decides that the holding period will be reduced or waived.

If a participant ceases to be an employee because of injury, disability, sale of their 
employer or in any circumstances at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee  
(‘a good leaver’), any unvested awards held by that participant will continue to vest and 
be released in line with the VCP’s ordinary provisions, except that the number of Ordinary 
Shares awarded will be reduced to take into account the proportion of the performance 
period that has elapsed at cessation of employment. Alternatively, the Remuneration 
Committee may determine that unvested Awards will be treated in the same way as  
in the event of a participant’s death, or that the holding period will be reduced or waived.

For all other leavers, all unvested awards will lapse following cessation of employment.
If a participant ceases employment during the holding period applying to a tranche of an 
award, that tranche will normally continue and be released in line with the VCP’s ordinary 
provisions, unless the Remuneration Committee determines that it will be released earlier. 

LTIP

If a Director ceases office or employment with the Company any unvested awards will 
lapse unless the individual is a good leaver.

Good leavers are those participants who leave by reason of injury, disability, retirement 
(with the agreement of the employing company), redundancy, the transfer of the 
individual’s employing company or business out of the Group or such other circumstances 
as the Remuneration Committee may determine. This discretion will not be exercised 
where the individual is dismissed for misconduct. Awards will vest no earlier than the 
normal vesting date subject to performance to the end of the relevant performance 
period and time pro-rating. The Remuneration Committee may determine the extent  
to which the additional holding period will continue to apply post leaving.

If the participant dies, awards will normally vest as soon as practical on a time-
apportioned basis and subject to the Remuneration Committee’s assessment of the 
likelihood that the performance conditions will be met in the ordinary course of events.

Pension

The Director will be eligible to receive the standard contribution to the defined 
contribution pension plan, or cash equivalent, during the notice period. 

Company Sharesave 
Scheme

Benefits

Buyout awards  
and additional 
recruitment awards

Leavers will be treated in accordance with the rules of the approved Scheme.

The Company may make a contribution towards reasonable legal fees incurred in relation 
to any agreement to cease employment.

The Remuneration Committee should determine the leaving terms for any such award  
at the time of grant.

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The Remuneration Committee reserves the right to make any other payments in connection with a Director’s 
cessation of office or employment where the payments are made in good faith in discharge of an existing legal 
obligation (or by way of damages for breach of such an obligation) or by way of a compromise or settlement 
of any claim arising in connection with the cessation of a Director’s office or employment. Any such payments 
may include, but are not limited to, amounts in respect of accrued leave, paying any fees for outplacement 
assistance and/or the Director’s legal or professional advice fees in connection with their cessation of office  
or employment.

In the event of a change of control or winding-up of the Company, the treatment of share awards will be  
in accordance with the rules of the relevant share plan which, in summary, are as follows:
•  LTIP awards may vest upon a change of control, taking into account the Remuneration Committee’s 

assessment of the extent to which the performance targets have been met and the proportion of the 
performance period that has elapsed. 

•  VCP awards will vest and be released on a change of control based on performance achieved to that point. 
The number of Ordinary Shares to which a participant is entitled will be determined by reference to the 
share price on completion of the change of control. The hurdle rate used will be the higher of 8% per annum 
and 25%. The total VCP value cap of £30 million will apply. 

5. Illustrations of Remuneration Policy
The following charts illustrate the different elements of the Executive Directors’ remuneration under five 
performance scenarios: ‘Fixed’, ‘Mid – 8% per annum return’, ‘50% absolute return’, ‘Stretch – 15% per annum 
return’ and ‘Maximum – plan cap’. The assumptions used are provided below the charts.

The VCP awards are tested in three tranches over 3.5 years, 4.5 years and 5.5 years. The VCP award is therefore 
comparable to three LTIP awards. The charts below show the potential VCP payments in aggregate for all three 
tranches of the award, annualised over the average performance period for the three tranches. The maximum 
value available to the Executive Directors under the VCP is shown on page 68 of this Annual Report and 
Accounts 2018.

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Financial Officer 

Director of Corporate Affairs  
& Group Company Secretary

Fixed pay
100%

£495k

Mid - 8% p.a. return
71%
29%

£694k

50% absolute return
47%

38% 15%

Fixed pay
100%

£413k

Mid - 8% p.a. return
71%
29%

£579k

50% absolute return
47%

38% 15%

£1,061k

£876k

Stretch – 15% p.a. return
25%

54%

21%

Stretch – 15% p.a. return
27%

52%

21%

Fixed pay
100%

£321k

Mid - 8% p.a. return
72%
28%

£448k

50% absolute return
47%

38% 15%

£677k

Stretch – 15% p.a. return
27%
21% 52%

Component

Base salary

Pension

Benefits

Annual bonus 
(cash and 
Ordinary Shares)

‘Fixed’

‘Mid – 8% per  
annum return’

‘50% absolute return’

Base salary for 2019

‘Stretch – 15%  
per annum return’

‘Maximum –  
plan cap’

Defined contribution/cash supplement – 20% of salary

Taxable value of annual benefits provided in 2018

0% of salary

50% of salary

100% of salary

100% of salary

100% of salary

VCP 1

No vesting

TSR performance 
assumed to be 
equal to hurdle of 
8% per annum

TSR performance 
assumed to be 
50% over 4.5 
years (the average 
performance 
period for the 
three tranches) 2

TSR performance 
assumed to be 
equal to stretch 
hurdle of 15%  
per annum

TSR performance 
assumed to be at 
a level which 
results in the 
overall VCP cap  
of £30 million 
being met

Notes:
1.  The 50% absolute TSR scenario has been shown on a voluntary basis taking into account the new UK reporting requirements which will be 

formally introduced from 2019 onwards. The 50% absolute TSR performance over 4.5 years translates into 9.4% per annum TSR. This return  
rate is applied to all three tranches of the award for the purpose of the above illustration.

2.   Assuming a start price of £6.30, the maximum amount is achievable if growth of 18.8% per annum is achieved over 3.5 years, 4.5 years and  

5.5 years, assuming constant growth. As each tranche is tested independently, if TSR per annum is lower than 18.8% over either of the 3.5 year or  
4.5 year periods, this would mean that returns of more than 18.8% would be required over the 5.5 year period in order for the cap to be reached.

6. Consideration of Employee Conditions Elsewhere in the Group
The average base salary increase awarded across the workforce provides a key reference point when 
determining levels of increase for the Executive Directors to ensure that all arrangements remain reasonable.

The Group employs 32,000 people in 213 locations globally and the Remuneration Committee therefore did 
not believe it practical or reasonable to consult employees on the 2018 Remuneration Policy. The Remuneration 
Committee took into account employee conditions across the Group when determining the 2018 Remuneration 
Policy.

7. Consideration of Shareholder Views
The Remuneration Committee reviews shareholder feedback on Executive remuneration matters as well as 
developments in investor body guidelines, and has taken these into account in formulating Executive Director 
remuneration policies. The Remuneration Committee consulted with some of its major shareholders in relation 
to the VCP prior to the publication of the 2018 Remuneration Policy. Due to restrictions relating to disclosure of 
inside information prior to announcement of the disposal of Menzies Distribution, the Remuneration Committee 
was limited in its ability to consult more widely with shareholders.

£1,929k

£1,561k

£1,204k

Maximum - plan cap
19%

16% 65%

£2,563k

Maximum - plan cap
20%

64%

16%

Maximum - plan cap
20%

16% 64%

£2,062k

£1,589k

 LTIP     Annual Bonus     Fixed

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Annual Report on Remuneration
Total Remuneration Received for the Year Ended 31 December 2018
The table below provides a single figure of remuneration for each member of the Board, broken down into  
each element of pay and compared to the previous year. 

The table below and the subsequent sections 1 to 9 are subject to audit by the Company’s auditor.

Base salary/fee 
£000

Taxable 
benefits 1  
£000

Annual bonus 
£000

Legacy awards 
£000

LTIP & SMP5 
£000

Total long term 
incentives  
£000

Pension total 
£000

Total 
remuneration 
£000

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

Executive Directors

F Black

368 2 350

G Wilson

329

317

J Geddes

253

250

Non-Executive Directors

D Smurfit

253 3

150 4

P Baines

G Eaton

D Garman

P Joeinig

S Maizey

46

46

52

43

46

44

46

526 

25

46

14

15

15

–

–

–

–

–

–

15

267

329

177

148

252

319

16

189

245

91

91

–

96

96

407 304

584 304

208

297

299

393

172 234

264 330

74

66

51

77

63

80

1,308 1,075

960 1,240

771

921

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

253

150

46

46

52

43

46

44

46

52 6

25

46

Notes:
1.  Taxable benefits offered to Executive Directors include a car allowance and health insurance. Details of the pension arrangements for each  

of the Directors are included on page 82 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018. 

2.  The figure of £368,000 reflects the pro-rated increase of Forsyth’s Black salary from £357,000 to £400,000 upon his appointment as  

Chief Executive Officer on 5 September 2018.

3.  As detailed in section 2 below, the Company’s Remuneration Committee determined that it would be appropriate for part of the Company’s  

fee arrangement with Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit to be a cash fee satisfied by way of issue of up to 20,000 Ordinary Shares, issued on an annual basis 
for three years. Accordingly, in satisfaction of the Chairman’s award for the financial year ending 31 December 2018, the Company transferred 
20,000 Ordinary Shares out of Treasury to Dr. Smurfit on 8 November 2018 at a price of 514.6p per Ordinary Share. The value of these Ordinary 
Shares is included in the fee figure for Dr. Smurfit.

4.  Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit’s fee for 2017 has been restated to include the value of the Chairman’s award for the financial year ending 31 December 

2017 that was subsequently awarded in March 2018. As explained in section 2, the Chairman’s annual fee for 2016, 2017 and 2018 comprises  
a cash fee plus an award of up to 20,000 Ordinary Shares per annum. 

5.  The value of the LTIP and SMP awards that will vest in March 2019 is based on the average share price for the three months to December 2018.
6.  David Garman’s 2017 fee has been restated to include fees that were due to be paid in respect of his Chairmanship of the Nomination Committee 

during 2017 but were subsequently paid in January 2019. 

1. Base Salary
Salaries of Executive Directors and other Company staff are reviewed annually. The current salaries for Executive 
Directors are set out below and are usually updated annually on 1 May. It has been determined that there will be 
no salary increase for Forsyth Black, Giles Wilson or John Geddes in 2019. 

When determining the remuneration of Executive Directors, the Remuneration Committee takes account of pay 
and employment conditions in the Group as a whole.

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

2017 salary

2018 salary

2019 salary

£350,000
£325,000
£250,000

£357,000
£331,500
£255,000

£400,000
£331,500
£255,000

Percentage 
increase for 2019

0
0
0

As previously announced, the Company reverted to a more standard executive structure following completion 
of the sale of Menzies Distribution in September 2018 with Forsyth Black, previously President & Managing 
Director, Menzies Aviation, being appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The Remuneration 
Committee determined that it was appropriate for his salary to be increased from £357,000 to £400,000  
upon his appointment to reflect the increased scope of his role.

2. Non-Executive Directors’ and Chair Fees
For 2018 the fees policy for Non-Executive Directors was as follows: 

Basic payment
Committee Chair
Committee membership 
Senior Independent Director

Fee level

£40,000
£6,000
£2,500
£6,000

Directors receive one fee either for being a Committee Chair or for Committee membership, irrespective  
of the number of Committees on which they serve. The fees paid to Non-Executive Directors in respect of  
each of the positions detailed above are reviewed annually and are currently under consideration for 2019. 

The Chairman’s fees comprise a cash fee of £150,000 per annum plus up to 20,000 Ordinary Shares per annum 
for each of the financial years ended 31 December 2016, 2017 and 2018. This fee arrangement was approved  
by shareholders at the Company’s general meeting convened on 11 October 2016.

3. Annual Bonus Scheme
The Executive Directors participate in a discretionary bonus scheme which is subject to the achievement  
of challenging Group and personal targets designed to encourage excellent performance. Targets are set by 
the Remuneration Committee at the start of the relevant performance period and taking into account market 
expectations at that time. Bonus payments are non-pensionable.

2018 Bonus Awards 
For 2018 bonuses were calculated as follows:

Financial performance

Measure

Weighting 
(percentage of 
salary)

Threshold  

target

Stretch  
target

Performance 
achieved

Overall achieved 
(percentage of 
salary)

Group Underlying Profit before Tax 1 

80

£60.7m

£63.5m

£62.4m

56

KRA performance 
The KRAs for the Executive Directors were set at the start of the year and covered a number of key operational 
and strategic areas including: 

KRA

Finalisation of Group corporate structure, including in respect of Menzies Distribution

Implementation of appropriate internal platforms to provide for enhanced analysis and compliance in areas 
such as Risk, data protection and anti-bribery and anti-corruption

Increasing the Company’s shareholder base

Reduction in the reported health and safety incident rate

Ongoing de-risking of the UK defined benefit pension scheme

Reduction of staff turnover and progress in relation to Operational Excellence system roll-out and cultural 
improvement and alignment

Improved financial internal audit compliance throughout the Group

76

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

77

Governance ReportsRemuneration Committee Report continued

Based on this performance achieved, the KRA outcomes for 2018 are as follows:

Name

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

Annual bonus awards

Name

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

Weighting 
(maximum 
percentage of 
salary)

KRA 
performance 
achieved 
(percentage of 
salary)

20
20
20

16
20
18

Financial 
performance 
achieved 
(percentage of 
salary)

KRA 
performance 
achieved 
(percentage of 
salary)

Overall achieved 
(percentage of 
salary)

Cash value  
of award

£000 2 

56
56
56

16
20
18

72
76
74

267
252
189

Notes:
1. 
2. 

  Calculated in accordance with the Bonus Scheme Rules.
  20% of all bonus awards are deferred in the Ordinary Shares for a three year period to December 2021. 

Operation of policy for 2019 bonus awards 
The performance measures used for 2019 annual bonus awards will be the same as those detailed above. 
Performance targets will be disclosed retrospectively where considered appropriate as the Board considers 
that the disclosure of prospective targets is not appropriate due to their commercial sensitivity. 

4. SMP
Under the SMP, Executive Directors were invited to invest up to 40% of any annual cash bonus into the SMP.  
As detailed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2016, the SMP has been discontinued from 1 January 2018 and 
no further awards granted to Executive Directors.

2016 SMP awards
As detailed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2016, the performance measures and targets for awards made 
under the SMP in March 2016 were set as follows: 

Measurement

EPS v CPI

Threshold target (25% vesting)

Stretch target (100% vesting)

EPS growth equals CPI growth

EPS growth exceeds CPI growth by 3%

Outstanding SMP awards are as follows: 

Name

31 December 
2017

Granted 
during 2018

Market 
price of 
award

Vested 
during 2018

Lapsed 
during 2018

Gain/(loss) 
£000

31 December 
2018

Performance period

F Black

G Wilson

2,385 1

2,757 1

–

–

478.0p

478.0p

–

–

–

–

–

–

2,3852

2,7572

1/1/2016– 
31/12/2018
1/1/2016– 
31/12/2018

Notes:
1.  These award figures have been adjusted to reflect the Rights Issue undertaken by the Company in 2016. 
2.  These awards will vest as appropriate following the Company’s final results announcement on 12 March 2019.

5. LTIP
Under the Company’s LTIP all awards are subject to a three year performance period with appropriate targets. 
The Company’s LTIP targets are designed to align the interests of the Executive Directors with those of the 
Company’s shareholders and promote a long term interest in the success of the Group. As detailed in the 
Annual Report and Accounts 2016, the Company sought to further strengthen alignment with shareholders 
through an additional 12 month retention period for all new LTIP awards, with this holding period normally 
continuing post an Executive leaving employment. The performance criteria are set at threshold and stretch 
level. At threshold, 25% of an LTIP award will vest, increasing on a straight-line basis to 100% for stretch or 
greater achievement.

As detailed in the Company’s Circular dated 30 July 2018, the LTIP has been removed from the remuneration 
‘policy table’ to reflect the fact that from the date of adoption of the 2018 Remuneration Policy no further 
LTIP awards will be made to Executive Directors, although existing awards under the LTIP may be satisfied in 
accordance with their terms and the relevant Directors’ Remuneration Policy in place when they were granted.

2016 LTIP awards
LTIP awards made to Executive Directors during the financial year ending 31 December 2016 are detailed below. 
As the performance criteria has been achieved, these awards will vest as appropriate following the Company’s 
final results announcement on 12 March 2019.

Criteria

TSR v FTSE SmallCap 

Name

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

Weighting

Threshold target 
(25% vesting)

Stretch target 
(100% vesting)

Attainment

Overall vesting 
(percentage of 
maximum)

100% TSR = FTSE 
SmallCap 
median

TSR > FTSE 
SmallCap 
median + 
30%

100%

100%

Performance 
period

1/1/2016– 
31/12/2018

Shares granted/vesting 1

76,736
37,610
33,571

Note:
1.  These award figures have been adjusted to reflect the Rights Issue undertaken by the Company in 2016. 

2018 LTIP awards
As disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2017, performance measures and targets for the LTIP awards 
made in March 2018 were as follows: 

Group performance criteria

Weighting

Threshold target (25% vesting)

Stretch target (100% vesting)

TSR v FTSE SmallCap

100%

TSR = FTSE SmallCap 
median

TSR > FTSE SmallCap + 
30%

Details of the LTIP awards made in March 2018 are shown in the table headed ‘Scheme Interests Awarded 
During 2018’ on page 81 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018. 

78

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79

Governance Reports 
 
 
Remuneration Committee Report continued

Outstanding LTIP awards as at 31 December 2018 are shown below: 

Name

31 December 
2017

Granted 
during 2018

F Black

76,736 1

60,449

–

–

Market 
price of 
award 

443p

579p

–

51,244

683p

G Wilson

37,610 1

51,813

–

–

443p

579p

–

47,584

683p

J Geddes

33,571 1

43,178

–

–

443p

579p

–

36,603

683p

Vested 
during 2018

Lapsed 
during 2018

Gain/(loss) 
£000

31 December 
2018

Performance 
period

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

76,736 2

60,449

51,244

37,610 2

51,813

47,584

33,571 2

43,178

36,603

1/1/2016–
31/12/2018

1/1/2017–
31/12/2019

1/1/2018–
31/12/2020

1/1/2016–
31/12/2018

1/1/2017–
31/12/2019

1/1/2018–
31/12/2020

1/1/2016–
31/12/2018

1/1/2017–
31/12/2019

1/1/2018–
31/12/2020

Notes:
1.  These award figures have been adjusted to reflect the Rights Issue undertaken by the Company in 2016.
2.  These awards will vest as appropriate following the Company’s final results announcement on 12 March 2019. 

6. VCP
As detailed above, the Company’s shareholders approved the adoption of the VCP at the 2018 GM.  
The key features of the VCP are as follows:
•  Participants have a pool over certain of the Ordinary Shares with a value equal to 6.5% of cumulative 
shareholder value created above a compound hurdle rate of 8% per annum. This will increase to 7.5%  
if a stretch TSR hurdle of 15% per annum is achieved. 

•  The starting Ordinary Share price was set at £6.30, being the three month average price prior to  

26 July 2018, the date of the announcement of the disposal of Menzies Distribution.

•  Performance will be measured in three equal tranches over 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 years from 26 July 2018,  

time horizons which emphasise sustained performance over the longer term rather than a short term  
uplift to share price.

•  The VCP contains a significant number of safeguard features, including: 

 – for Executive Directors, a further holding period of two years applies to each tranche, taking the overall 

time horizon of the VCP to 7.5 years;

 – aggregate rewards under the VCP are capped at a maximum of £30 million for all participants and  

£18 million (60%) in aggregate for Executive Directors, with interim aggregate caps of £15 million and  
£20 million applicable in respect of the first and second tranches respectively; 

 – a focus on compliance is central to the Directors’ approach and 20% of any pool is subject to compliance 

measures such as safety and security which, if not met, will reduce the outcome for participants;

 – enhanced malus and clawback provisions apply to any payments made under the VCP; and
 – the Remuneration Committee has discretion on vesting outcomes in accordance with the new UK 

Corporate Governance Code (July 2018).

The number of Ordinary Shares under a VCP award will be determined when performance is measured and  
will be calculated by reference to the Executive Director’s percentage entitlement to growth in value as detailed 
in the following table: 

Name

F Black
G Wilson
J Geddes

Outcome for 
less than 8% p.a. 
TSR 
performance
(£000)

Outcome for  
10% p.a. TSR 
performance 
(£000)

Outcome for 
15% p.a. TSR 
performance 
(£000)

Maximum 
outcome: 18.8% 
p.a. TSR 
performance 
(£000)

0
0
0

1,058
835
643

4,657
3,676
2,828

7,511
5,928
4,560

Allocations  
from pool

25.0%
19.8%
15.2%

The remaining portion of the VCP pool will be granted to other senior members of the Company’s Management 
team.

7. Scheme Interests Awarded During 2018

Maximum 
number of 
Ordinary 
Shares 
awarded

Share price 
on date of 
grant of 
option

Face value of 
Ordinary Shares 

Percentage 
vesting at 
threshold

Performance 
period end

Name

Type of interest

F Black

G Wilson

J Geddes

LTIP 1 – conditional 
shares
Save As You Earn 2
VCP 3

LTIP 1 – conditional 
shares
Save As You Earn 2
VCP 3 

LTIP 1 – conditional 
shares
Save As You Earn 2
VCP 3

Basis on which 
award made

100% of salary
n/a
25.0% of pool

100% of salary
n/a
19.8% of pool

51,244
765
n/a

47,584
765
n/a

100% of salary
n/a
15.2% of pool

36,603
382
n/a

£6.83
£4.70
£6.30

£6.83
£4.70
£6.30

£6.83
£4.70
£6.30

£350,000
£3,600
n/a

£325,000
£3,600
n/a

£250,000
£1,800
n/a

25
n/a
n/a

25
n/a
n/a

25
n/a
n/a

31/12/2020
31/11/2021
26/01/2024

31/12/2020
31/11/2021
26/01/2024

31/12/2020
31/11/2021
26/01/2024

Notes:
1.  The exercise price for Ordinary Shares granted under the LTIP is zero.
2.  The exercise price for Ordinary Shares granted under the Save As You Earn Scheme is the Ordinary Share price at the date of grant  

discounted by 20%.

3.  The number of Ordinary Shares that will be delivered under the VCP will be determined by the absolute TSR performance relative to the 

performance hurdles. 

LTIP awards are subject to performance conditions and the value delivered on vesting depends on performance 
against pre-defined targets over the relevant period and changes in the Ordinary Share price between grant and 
vesting. The face value of awards is calculated using the Ordinary Share price on the date of grant. 

The face value of the Save As You Earn award is calculated using the share option price under the Sharesave 
Scheme in the relevant year. 

The share price shown for VCP awards is the starting price used for the TSR performance assessment, being 
the three month average to 26 July 2018. 

80

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

81

Governance Reports 
Remuneration Committee Report continued

8.  Total Pension Entitlements
Scheme benefits/cash payments in lieu of pension contributions
Both Forsyth Black and John Geddes were members of the Menzies Pension Fund, accruing 1/60th and 1/30th 
respectively of their pensionable salaries (subject to the scheme earnings cap) for each year of pensionable 
service. On 31 March 2017 the Menzies Pension Fund was closed to future accrual. From 1 April 2017 they now 
each receive a cash payment equal to 20% of their salary in lieu of pension contribution. Giles Wilson also 
receives a cash payment equivalent to 20% of his salary in lieu of pension contribution.

Unfunded arrangement
The total of the transfer values for unfunded pension entitlements, held on the Company’s Balance Sheet at 
31 December 2018 for former Directors, totalled £2,000,000 (2017: £1,940,000), from which annual pensions  
of £70,000 were paid to former Directors (2017: £60,000).

9. Directors’ Shareholdings and Share Interests
Executive Directors are expected to build a shareholding in the Company of 200% of salary under the 2018 
Remuneration Policy. The Remuneration Committee believes that shareholding guidelines of 200% of salary, 
coupled with the 12 month holding period for LTIP awards and the two year holding period applicable to 
Ordinary Shares that vest under the VCP, create a strong, but proportionate, alignment with shareholders and 
further align Executive interests with sustained value creation. Executive Directors are given a period of time  
to build their shareholding in the Company.

The following table shows Directors’ shareholdings and share interests as at 31 December 2018 together with 
share options exercised during 2018:

Number of 
Ordinary Shares 
owned 
(including 
Deferred Bonus 
Shares)

Unvested 
conditional 
Ordinary Shares 
subject to 
performance 
conditions (LTIP 
and BCIP/SMP 
awards)

Unvested 
options over 
Ordinary Shares 
subject to 
savings 
contracts  
(SAYE)

Unvested 
conditional 
Ordinary Shares 
not subject to 
performance 
conditions

Vested options 
exercised during 
2018

465,000
65,042
45,384 
41,425
3,000
4,077
13,571
100,000
5,450

–
203,794
149,391
119,499
–
–
–
–
–

–
2,103
2,103
1,055
–
–
–
–
–

–
44,098
43,227
33,928
–
–
–
–
–

–
0
0
0
–
–
–
–
–

D Smurfit
F Black 1
G Wilson 1 
J Geddes 1 
P Baines
G Eaton
D Garman
P Joeinig
S Maizey

Note:
1.  Forsyth Black, Giles Wilson and John Geddes also have an interest in the VCP as described above. 

Legacy awards
The share interests table above includes the following outstanding awards for current Executive Directors 
(granted prior to their appointment to the Board) as at 31 December 2018:  

Name

31 December 
2017

Initial value  
of award

Vested  

Lapsed  

Gain/(loss)  

during 2018

during 2018

£000

31 December 
2018

F Black 1

28,296

£124,250

28,296

G Wilson 1

14,515

£63,740

J Geddes 1

14,515

£63,740

14,515

14,515

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Retention  
period

1/7/2015–
30/6/2018 2
1/7/2015–
30/6/2018 2
1/7/2015–
30/6/2018 2

Notes:
1.  The award figures detailed for each of the Executive Directors have been adjusted to reflect the Rights Issue undertaken by the Company in 2016.
2.  Conditional Ordinary Shares subject to performance conditions (EPS growth of 3% per annum).

10. Ten Year Historical TSR Performance and Executive Director Pay
The following graph compares the Company’s TSR for the ten years to December 2018 with the equivalent 
performance of the FTSE SmallCap Index. 

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0
8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

010

2

011
2

012
2

013
2

014
2

015
2

016
2

017
2

018
2

John Menzies plc              FTSE Small Cap

The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Report) Regulations 2008 (the 
“Regulations”) require companies to show the total remuneration of any director who undertakes the role  
of Chief Executive Officer in each of the last ten years. As the Company’s Executive structure did not include 
the role of Chief Executive Officer prior to October 2014 and between 13 January 2016 and 5 September 2018, 
the following table shows the required figures for the highest paid Director in each year:

Highest paid 
Director in  
the year

Role

Total 
remuneration 
(£000)

Annual  
bonus award 
(percentage  
of maximum)

Long term 
incentive 
vesting 
(percentage  
of maximum)

2009: 
Dollman

2010: 
Dollman

2011:  
Dollman

2012: 
Dollman

2013:  
Smyth

January-
October 
2014:  
Smyth

October-
December 
2014: 
Stafford

2015: 
Stafford

1/1/16-
13/1/16: 
Stafford

13/1/16-
31/12/16: 
Black

2017:  
Wilson

2018:  
Black

Group 
Finance 
Director

Group 
Finance 
Director

Group 
Finance 
Director

Group 
Finance 
Director

MD,  
Menzies 
Aviation

MD,  
Menzies 
Aviation

Chief 
Executive 
Officer

Chief 
Executive 
Officer

Chief 
Executive 
Officer

President & 
MD, Menzies 
Aviation

Chief 
Financial 
Officer

Chief 
Executive 
Officer

757

750

3,578

1,735

1,203

725

167

493

41 1

648

1,240

1,308

75

74

74

63

46

22

40

100

100

84

–

–

45

n/a

–

–

–

–

95

98

72

0

100

100

Note:
1.  A payment of £65,200 (gross) was also made to Jeremy Stafford for loss of office together with a contribution of £4,000 plus VAT towards legal 

fees incurred in connection with his loss of office.

82

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

83

Governance ReportsRemuneration Committee Report continued

11. Percentage Change in Remuneration
The Regulations also require companies to show the annual change in base salary, benefits and annual bonus 
for any director undertaking the role of Chief Executive Officer during the financial year in question, in this case 
Forsyth Black, together with the average change for all Group employees. Whilst the table below details this 
information, given the geographical spread of the Group’s operations and taking into account the different rates 
of wage inflation that exist, the average for Group employees for comparison with Forsyth Black is based on  
a like for like change in basic pay per full-time equivalent in the UK employee base.

Chief Executive Officer
Average for Group employees

Base salary 
(percentage 
change)

Benefits 
(percentage 
change)

Annual bonus 
(percentage 
change)

14
3

-3 
0

-19
-40

12. Relative Importance of Spend on Pay
The total Group spend on employee remuneration during 2018 and the immediately preceding financial year is 
reflected in the following table:

Group employee remuneration costs
Dividend distribution
Share buyback

2017

2018

£857.5m
£15.9m
£Nil

£832.3m
£17.1m
£3.3m

13. The Remuneration Committee
During 2018 the following Non-Executive Directors were members of the Remuneration Committee: 

Name

G Eaton 1 
P Baines
D Garman
S Maizey

Position

Attendance

Chairman
Member
Member
Member

6/6
6/6
6/6
5/6

Note:
1.  Geoff Eaton stepped down as both Chairman and a member of the Remuneration Committee on 31 December 2018. David Garman assumed  

the position of Chairman at this time. 

Advisers to the Remuneration Committee
During 2018 the Remuneration Committee was advised by remuneration consultants from Deloitte LLP. Total 
fees in relation to Executive remuneration consulting were £0.2m. Deloitte also provided advice in relation  
to controls assurance.

Deloitte were appointed by the Remuneration Committee and, as a member of the Remuneration Consultants’ 
Group, voluntarily operates under the Code of Conduct in relation to Executive Remuneration Consulting in the 
UK. Each year the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee agrees the protocols under which Deloitte will 
provide advice to support independence. The Remuneration Committee is satisfied that the advice that it has 
received from Deloitte has been objective and independent.

In addition, legal advice was sought by the Remuneration Committee from the Company’s solicitors, Dentons 
UKMEA LLP, where considered appropriate.

The Chief Financial Officer and Group Company Secretary also provided internal support and guidance to 
the Remuneration Committee where appropriate. They are, however, specifically excluded from any matters 
concerning the details of their own remuneration. Members of the Remuneration Committee have no personal 
financial interest (other than as shareholders) in the matters to be decided by the Remuneration Committee 
and no day-to-day involvement in the running of the business of the Group. 

14. Remuneration Resolutions
The table below provides the results of the 2017 Directors’ Remuneration Report resolution, tabled at the 
Company’s AGM in May 2018, and the 2018 Remuneration Policy resolution, tabled at the Company’s general 
meeting in August 2018:

Resolution

Votes for

Percentage

Votes against

Percentage

Votes total

Votes withheld

2017 Directors’ 
Remuneration Report 
2018 Remuneration 
Policy 

50,057,760

99.37

317,050

0.63

50,374,810

9,097

43,372,005

76.80

13,099,043

23.20

56,471,048

17,559

It can be seen that a significant number of votes were cast against the 2018 Remuneration Policy resolution. 
The Remuneration Committee recognises that while the majority of its shareholders supported the 2018 
Remuneration Policy, a significant number of shareholders did not support the introduction of the VCP. The 
Committee will continue to engage with shareholders to understand their views on the ongoing implementation 
of the Policy.

An advisory resolution to approve this Remuneration Report will be tabled at the Company’s forthcoming AGM. 

The Chairman of the Remuneration Committee will be available to answer questions from the Company’s 
shareholders on this Remuneration Report. 

15. External Appointments
The Board recognises the benefits to the individual and to the Company of involvement by Executive Directors 
as Non-Executive Directors on the boards of other companies. Prior to accepting an invitation to become  
a Non-Executive Director of another company, an Executive Director must receive approval from the Chairman 
of the Company. This approval will not be denied where the Chairman is confident that the appointment in 
question will not interfere with the Director’s ability to perform their duties for the Company or provide a 
conflict of interest. Executive Directors are entitled to retain any fees received under such appointments. 

On behalf of the Remuneration Committee

David Garman
Remuneration Committee Chairman
8 March 2019 

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Governance ReportsDirectors’ Report
For the financial year ended 31 December 2018

The following sections provide information on those items which are required to be included in this Directors’ 
Report, pursuant to the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (“2006 Act”), the Large and Medium-sized 
Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (as amended by the Companies Act 2006 
(Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013) (“2013 Regulations”) and the Financial Conduct 
Authority’s (“FCA”) Listing Rules. Some items are incorporated by reference into this Directors’ Report, as 
detailed below.

Directors
All of the Directors who served during 2018 are shown in the table below. Biographies of those Directors who 
were in office at the end of 2018 are included on pages 46 and 47 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018  
and all of these Directors held office throughout 2018. 

Current and former Directors’ interests in the Company’s ordinary shares of £0.25 each (“Ordinary Shares”) 
were as follows:

Name

Position

D Smurfit
F Black 
G Wilson
J Geddes

P Baines
G Eaton
D Garman
P Joeinig
S Maizey

Chairman
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Corporate Affairs 
& Group Company Secretary
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director

Appointed

Jul. 2016
Jan. 2016
Jun. 2016
Nov. 2016

Jun. 2016
Jun. 2015
Jun. 2015
Jun. 2017
May 2014

Beneficial
Beneficial
Beneficial
Beneficial

Beneficial
Beneficial
Beneficial
Beneficial 
Beneficial

31 December 
2018

31 December 
2017

465,000
65,042
45,384
41,425

3,000
4,077
13,571
100,000
5,450

425,000
35,342
27,800
17,886

3,000
4,077
13,571
20,000
2,035

There have been no subsequent changes to these interests as at 8 March 2019.

No Director had any material interest in any contract, other than a service contract as set out on page 72 of this 
Annual Report and Accounts 2018. 

Substantial Shareholders
In addition to the Directors’ interests set out above, the Company had been notified of the following interests  
of 3% or more in its Ordinary Shares as at 31 December 2018 and 8 March 2019:

Name

Kabouter Management LLC
Axxion S.A. 1
Sterling Strategic Value Fund S.A.
Lakestreet Capital Partners AG
DC Thomson & Company Limited
Premier Asset Management

Number of 
Ordinary Shares 
as at  
8 March  

Percentage of 
issued Ordinary 
Shares as at 
8 March  

2019

9,978,079
8,341,866
5,932,823
5,390,643
5,013,058
3,467,269

2019

11.88
9.93
7.06
6.42
5.97
4.13

Number of 
Ordinary Shares 
as at 
31 December 
2018

9,978,079
8,341,866
5,932,823
5,390,643
5,013,058
3,467,269

Percentage of 
issued Ordinary 
Shares as at 
31 December  

2018

11.88
9.94
7.07
6.42
5.97
4.13

Note:
1.  Axxion S.A. acting on behalf of Frankfurter Aktienfonds für Stiftungen and Frankfurter Stiftungsfonds.

Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance 
In accordance with the 2006 Act and the Company’s Articles of Association (“Articles”), the Company has 
arranged qualifying third party indemnities against financial exposure which the Directors may incur in the 
course of their professional duties for the Company. In addition to these indemnities, the Company places 
Directors’ and Officers’ liability insurance cover for each Director.

Dividends
The Directors recommend the payment of a final dividend of 14.5p per Ordinary Share (2017: 14.5p), payable on 
1 July 2019 to shareholders on the Company’s Register of Members as at the close of business on 24 May 2019. 
The Ordinary Shares will be quoted as ex-dividend on 23 May 2019. This final dividend, together with the interim 
dividend of 6.0p per Ordinary Share (2017: 6.0p) paid on 16 November 2018, makes a total dividend of 20.5p 
per Ordinary Share for the 2018 financial year. 

Political Donations
In accordance with its policy, the Group did not give any money for political purposes nor did it make any 
donations to political organisations or independent candidates or incur any political expenditure during 2018. 

Financial Risk Management Objectives and Policies
The financial risk management objectives and policies, including the policy for hedging each major type of 
forecasted transaction for which hedge accounting is used, are detailed in Note 16 to the Accounts contained 
in this Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which information is incorporated by reference into this Directors’ 
Report. 

Exposure to Risk
The risk exposure of the Group, including the exposure to price risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and cash flow risk, 
is included in Note 16 to the Accounts contained in this Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which information  
is incorporated by reference into this Directors’ Report. 

Financial Instruments
Details of the use of financial instruments and financial risk management are included in Note 16 to the 
Accounts contained in this Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which details are incorporated by reference  
into this Directors’ Report. 

Employee Involvement
Details of how the Company involves its employees in its business are contained in the Strategic Report section 
of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018 (pages 1 to 43), which details are incorporated by reference into this 
Directors’ Report.

Post Balance Sheet Events
The Competition and Markets Authority cleared the acquisition of the trade and assets of Airline Services 
Limited on 17 January 2019 and the business will be treated as an acquisition from that date in the 2019 
consolidated financial statements. 

Outlook
An indication of the likely future developments in the business of the Company (and its subsidiaries) is included 
in the Strategic Report section of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018 (pages 1 to 43), which details are 
incorporated by reference into this Directors’ Report.

Research
The Company is not actively involved in research activities. 

Geographical Spread
The Company operates in 36 countries worldwide and details of this geographical spread can be found on 
pages 2 and 3 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which details are incorporated by reference into this 
Directors’ Report.

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Governance ReportsDirectors’ Report continued

Employment Policies
Policies regarding the hiring, continuing employment and training, career development and promotion opportunities 
for all employees both in the UK and worldwide, together with reports on employee involvement and representation, 
are contained in the Responsible Business section of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018 (pages 30 to 43), which 
details are incorporated by reference into this Directors’ Report.

At the end of 2018 the split of male to female employees in the Group was: 

Employee group

Directors
Decision-makers
All employees

Male

8
231
21,998

Female

1
108
9,866

Full and fair consideration is given to all applications for employment; Group policies dictate that during the 
recruitment process all individuals are treated equitably, including those with disabilities. Where employees 
become disabled whilst employed by the Group we would seek to ensure that their employment could continue 
or alternative employment arranged whenever reasonable and practicable to do so, subject to any necessary 
training taking place and making reasonable adjustments where necessary. All employees, irrespective of 
whether they have a physical or mental disability, are given the same opportunities within the Group in terms  
of training, career development and promotion; our policies and procedures for recruitment, training, promotion 
and reward promote equality of opportunity, regardless of background and personal circumstances.

Policy and Practice on Payment of Creditors
The Group does not operate a standard code in respect of payments to suppliers with each operating business 
responsible for agreeing the terms and conditions under which business transactions with its suppliers are 
conducted, including the terms of payment. It is Group policy that payments to suppliers are made in accordance 
with the agreed terms provided that the supplier has performed in accordance with all relevant terms and conditions. 
The amount owed to trade creditors relating to the 2018 continuing business represented 20 days of purchases from 
suppliers (2017: 25 days restated).

Audit Information
So far as the Directors in office at the date of signing of this Directors’ Report are aware, having made the 
requisite enquiries, there is no relevant audit information in terms of which the Company’s auditor is unaware 
and each Director has taken all reasonable steps to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information 
and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. Resolutions to re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as 
auditor of the Company and to authorise the Board to set its remuneration will be proposed at the Company’s 
forthcoming annual general meeting (“AGM”).

Share Capital and Structure 
The Company has two classes of shares: the Ordinary Shares of £0.25 each and preference shares of £1.00 
each (“Preference Shares”). As at 31 December 2018 the Company had an issued share capital comprising 
1,394,587 Preference Shares and 84,363,714 Ordinary Shares. Of these 84,363,714 Ordinary Shares, 401,766 
were held as treasury shares. Whilst it is the Company’s general policy that shares held in Treasury will be used 
for the satisfaction of share plan awards, the Company transferred 20,000 Ordinary Shares out of Treasury 
to Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit on 15 March 2018 at a price of 661.4p per Ordinary Share and on 8 November 2018 at 
a price of 514.6p per Ordinary Share in respect of financial years ending 31 December 2017 and 31 December 
2018 respectively. These transfers were to reflect the fact that part of the Chairman’s fee arrangement for his 
services would be a cash fee to be satisfied by way of issue of Ordinary Shares, as approved by the Company’s 
shareholders at its general meeting on 11 October 2016.

During 2018 the Company undertook an irrevocable, discretionary programme to purchase up to 500,000 
Ordinary Shares, at an aggregate maximum consideration of £3.5 million, to be placed into Treasury for use in 
meeting future obligations to employees arising from share plan awards. The buy-back was conducted by the 
Company’s broker, Numis Securities Limited, in compliance with, inter alia, the relevant conditions for trading, 
restrictions regarding time and volume, and in accordance with and under the terms of the general authority 
granted by the Company’s shareholders at its AGM in May 2017 and the provisions of the Market Abuse 
Regulation 596/2014/EU dealing with buy-back programmes. 

During 2018 the Company did not purchase any of its own shares for cancellation.

No shares in the capital of the Company can be allotted at a discount nor can they be allotted except as paid 
up both in regard to nominal amount and premium to the minimum extent permitted by the 2006 Act. 

Articles of Association 
Transfer of shares
There are no restrictions on the transfer of shares in the Company other than as contained in the Articles. 
Subject to the Articles, the Admission and Disclosure Standards of the London Stock Exchange and any 
requirements of the FCA, the Directors may refuse to register a transfer of a certificated share which is not  
fully paid provided that this power will not be exercised so as to disturb the market in the Company’s shares.

Voting rights
Deadlines for exercising voting rights and appointing a proxy or proxies to vote on the resolutions to be 
considered at the Company’s forthcoming AGM on 17 May 2019 are specified in the Notes to the Notice of 
AGM. Every ordinary shareholder present in person or by proxy at a general meeting of the Company shall, 
on a show of hands, have one vote unless, in the case of the latter, they have been appointed by more than 
one shareholder and have received instructions to vote both in favour of and against the same resolution in 
which case they will have one vote against that resolution and one vote for. On a poll, every shareholder of the 
Company present in person or by proxy at a general meeting of the Company shall have one vote for every 
share which they hold and, if the holders of the Preference Shares have the right to vote on any resolution,  
each such holder shall have one vote for every Preference Share which they hold.

The holders of the Preference Shares shall have no right to receive notice of or attend or vote at any general 
meeting of the Company unless either:

(i) at the date of the notice convening the meeting the dividend payable on such Preference Shares or a part 

thereof is six months or more in arrears; or

(ii) the business of the meeting includes the consideration of a resolution for reducing the capital of or winding-
up the Company or for altering the objects of the Company as stated in its Articles or for the sale of the 
undertaking of the Company or any substantial part thereof or any resolution altering or abrogating any  
of the special rights or privileges attaching to the Preference Shares, in which circumstances the holders  
of the Preference Shares shall have the right to vote on any such resolution.

The Company is not aware of any arrangement by which, with the Company’s co-operation, financial rights 
carried by its shares are held by persons other than the holders of its Ordinary Shares or Preference Shares.  
The Company is not aware of any agreement between holders of its shares which may result in restrictions  
on the transfer of its shares or on voting rights attaching thereto. 

Allotment and Issue of Shares
The Directors are, by shareholder resolution passed at the Company’s AGM in May 2018, authorised to exercise 
all the powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to 
convert any security into, shares in the Company, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £13,976,170 of which 
any amount in excess of £6,988,085 may only be applied to fully pre-emptive rights issues. Such authority 
and power will expire at the Company’s forthcoming AGM unless previously revoked, varied or renewed. It is 
proposed that such authority and power be renewed by shareholder resolution at the Company’s forthcoming 
AGM but without prejudice to the exercise of any such authority and power prior to the date of such resolution. 
Accordingly, shareholders will be asked to grant an authority to allot relevant securities: (i) up to a nominal 
amount of £7,019,658; and (ii) up to a nominal amount of £14,039,316 (after deducting from such limit any 
relevant securities allotted under (i)), in connection with an offer of a rights issue, such authority to apply  
until the conclusion of the AGM to be held in 2020 or, if earlier, close of business on 30 June 2020. 

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Governance ReportsDirectors’ Report continued

Purchase of Own Shares
The Company is, by shareholder resolution passed at its 2018 AGM, authorised to purchase up to 8,385,702  
of its Ordinary Shares at a maximum price which is the higher of: 
(i) an amount equal to 105% of the average of the middle market quotations for such Ordinary Shares as 

derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days immediately prior  
to the date of conclusion of the contract for any such purchase; and 

(ii) the amount stipulated by Article 5(1) of the EU Buy-back and Stabilisation Regulation 2003 (being the 

higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid for an Ordinary 
Share on the trading venues where the market purchases by the Company will be carried out),

and at a minimum price of £0.25 per Ordinary Share. 

The Company is also, by shareholder resolution passed at its 2018 AGM, authorised to purchase up to  
1,394,587 of its Preference Shares at a maximum price which is the higher of: 
(i) an amount equal to 110% of the average of the middle market quotations for such Preference Shares as 

derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days immediately prior  
to the date of conclusion of the contract for any such purchase; and 

Significant Agreements – Change of Control 
The Group has agreements in place with suppliers and customers, some of which contain change of control 
clauses giving rights to these suppliers and customers on a takeover bid for the Company. A change of control 
of the Company following a takeover bid may cause a number of other agreements to which the Company or 
any of its subsidiaries are a party, such as banking arrangements, property leases and licence agreements, to 
take effect, alter or terminate. Additionally, the Directors’ service agreements and employee share plans would 
be similarly affected upon a change of control. 

Emissions Reporting
The information required to be included in this Directors’ Report pursuant to the 2013 Regulations in respect of 
greenhouse gas emissions is included in the Responsible Business section of this Annual Report and Accounts 
2018 on pages 40 to 43, which information is incorporated by reference into this Directors’ Report. 

Annual General Meeting
Notice of the Company’s forthcoming AGM is contained at the end of this document. 

(ii) the amount stipulated by Article 5(1) of the EU Buy-back and Stabilisation Regulation 2003 (being the 

Approved and issued by the Board of Directors.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

John Geddes
Director of Corporate Affairs & Group Company Secretary
8 March 2019

higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid for a Preference 
Share on the trading venues where the market purchases by the Company will be carried out),

and at a minimum price of £1.00 per Preference Share. 

These authorities will expire at the Company’s forthcoming AGM when it is proposed that they be renewed  
but without prejudice to the exercise of any such authorities prior to the date of such resolutions being put  
to the Company’s shareholders.

Disapplication of Pre-Emption Rights and Notice of General Meetings
In response to shareholder feedback and noting the repeated opposition in past years of more than 20% of 
the shareholder votes cast in respect of proposed resolutions to: (i) disapply pre-emption rights upon the 
allotment of new shares; and (ii) convene general meetings, other than annual general meetings, on short notice 
of 14 days, the Directors have, again, decided not to propose such resolutions, which have been in accordance 
with Investment Association principles and market practice, at the forthcoming AGM.

Directors
Appointment of Directors
Directors may be appointed by the Company by an ordinary resolution of its shareholders. The Board may 
appoint a Director either to fill a vacancy or as an additional Director and any Director so appointed shall  
hold office only until the next AGM of the Company following such appointment and shall then be eligible for 
re-appointment. If not re-appointed at such AGM, such a Director will vacate office at its conclusion except 
where a resolution is passed to appoint someone in their place (other than with effect from a time later than 
the conclusion of the AGM) or a resolution for their re-appointment is put to the AGM and lost (in either which  
case the retirement takes effect from the passing of the relevant resolution). 

An appropriate induction is provided by the Company to all new Directors and ongoing training is supplied as 
and when it may be required, with documentation on the Company and its activities distributed to Directors on 
a regular basis. Further details in respect of the induction and training of Directors can be found on pages 50 
and 51 of this Annual Report and Accounts 2018, which details are incorporated by reference into this Directors’ 
Report. A Director is not required to hold shares in the capital of the Company.

Retirement of Directors
In accordance with best practice principles, all Directors shall retire at each AGM of the Company. 

Directors’ powers
The business of the Company shall be managed by the Board which may exercise all the powers of the 
Company, whether relating to the management of its business or otherwise, subject to any restrictions 
contained in the Articles which detail the specific powers of the Directors. Copies of the Articles may be 
obtained from the Group Company Secretary or from the Company’s website at www.johnmenziesplc.com.  
The Articles can only be amended by a special resolution of the Company’s shareholders in general meeting. 

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Governance ReportsStatement of Directors’ Responsibilities

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Company’s Annual Report, Remuneration Report and its financial 
statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Directors to prepare 
such financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial 
statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company. The 
Directors have prepared the Group and Parent Company financial statements in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted by the European Union.

In preparing those financial statements the Directors are required to:
•  select suitable accounting policies in accordance with IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting 

Estimates and Errors, and then apply them consistently;

•  present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable 

and understandable information;

•  provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS is insufficient to 

enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the Group’s 
financial position and financial performance; and

•  state that the Group has complied with IFRS, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained  

in the financial statements.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and 
explain the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position 
of the Company and of the Group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the 
Companies Act 2006 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets 
of the Company and of the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection  
of fraud and other irregularities. 

The Directors believe that the Annual Report and Accounts 2018, when taken as a whole, is fair, balanced  
and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s position 
and performance, business model and strategy.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Company’s website (www.johnmenziesplc.com). 
Legislation in the United Kingdom concerning the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may 
differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Directors’ Statement Pursuant to the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules
Each of the Directors confirms that to the best of their knowledge and belief: 
•  the financial statements, prepared in accordance with IFRS, give a true and fair view of the assets,  

liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group as a whole; and

•  the Strategic Report contained in the Annual Report and Accounts 2018 includes a fair review of the 

development and performance of the business and the position of the Group as a whole, together with  
a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

Opinion
In our opinion:

•  John Menzies plc’s Group financial statements and parent company financial statements (the “financial 

statements”) give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as  
at 31 December 2018 and of the Group’s loss for the year then ended;

•  the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial 

Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted by the European Union;

•  the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted 

by the European Union as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and
•  the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 

2006, and, as regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

We have audited the financial statements of John Menzies plc which comprise:

Group

Parent company

Consolidated Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2018

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2018

Consolidated Income Statement  
for the year then ended

Statement of Changes in Equity  
for the year then ended

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income  
for the year then ended

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity  
for the year then ended 

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity  
for the year then ended

Related notes 1 to 15 to the financial statements 
including a summary of significant accounting policies

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows  
for the year then ended

Related notes 1 to 28 to the financial statements, 
including a summary of significant accounting policies

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and IFRS as adopted 
by the European Union and, as regards the parent company financial statements, as applied in accordance with the 
provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion 
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable 
law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of 
the financial statements section of our report below. We are independent of the Group and Company in accordance 
with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s 
Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in 
accordance with these requirements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

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Financial StatementsIndependent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc continued

Conclusions relating to principal risks, going concern and viability statement
We have nothing to report in respect of the following information in the Annual Report, in relation to which  
the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you whether we have anything material to add or draw attention to:

•  the disclosures in the Annual Report set out on page 26 that describe the principal risks and explain how 

they are being managed or mitigated;

•  the Directors’ confirmation set out on page 27 in the Annual Report that they have carried out a robust 

assessment of the principal risks facing the entity, including those that would threaten its business model, 
future performance, solvency or liquidity;

•  the Directors’ statement set out on page 23 in the financial statements about whether they considered it 
appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing them, and their identification of  
any material uncertainties to the entity’s ability to continue to do so over a period of at least 12 months from 
the date of approval of the financial statements;

•  whether the Directors’ statement in relation to going concern required under the Listing Rules in accordance 

with Listing Rule 9.8.6R(3) is materially inconsistent with our knowledge obtained in the audit; or 
•  the Directors’ explanation set out on page 23 in the Annual Report as to how they have assessed the 
prospects of the entity, over what period they have done so and why they consider that period to be 
appropriate, and their statement as to whether they have a reasonable expectation that the entity will be 
able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the period of their assessment, 
including any related disclosures drawing attention to any necessary qualifications or assumptions.

Overview of our audit approach

Key audit matters

•  Risk of misstatement due to management override, fraud and error 

specifically around revenue recognition.

•  Accounting for the disposal of the Distribution business.
•  Valuation of defined benefit pension scheme liabilities.

Audit scope

•  We performed an audit of the complete financial information  

of four components and audit procedures on specific balances for  
a further 43 components.

•  The components where we performed full or specific audit procedures 
accounted for 92% of adjusted profit before tax, 91% of revenue and  
84% of total assets.

Materiality

•  Overall Group materiality of £2.1m which represents 5% of adjusted profit 

before tax.

Key audit matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the 
financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement 
(whether or not due to fraud) that we identified. These matters included those which had the greatest effect on: 
the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. 
These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in our opinion 
thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters:

Key observations communicated  
to the Audit Committee

We have concluded that revenue 
recognised in the year is materially 
correct on the basis of procedures 
performed both at Group and by 
component audit teams.

Risk

Our response to the risk

Risk of misstatement due to 
management override, fraud  
and error specifically around 
revenue recognition.

Refer to the Audit Committee 
Report (page 57); Accounting 
policies (pages 106 and 159);  
and Note 2 of the Consolidated 
Financial Statements (page 118).

There is a risk that the financial 
statements as a whole are not 
free from material misstatement 
due to the risk of management 
override of controls whether 
caused by fraud or error. 

Revenue recognition is a 
particular area of focus for our 
audit in considering possible areas 
of management bias and fraud.

We recognise that sales 
arrangements for the Group  
are generally straightforward, 
requiring minimal judgement  
to be exercised. Accordingly,  
we focus on the appropriate 
application of contractual  
rates for Aviation contracts.

We have gained an understanding 
of the key controls and processes 
in place over revenue recognition.

At both full and specific scope 
components we performed 
detailed testing of a sample  
of sales and accrued income  
to ensure that revenue has  
been appropriately recognised. 

We utilised our data analytical  
tools to correlate sales to debtors 
and cash. 

We have used our bespoke billing 
analytics tool to capture all billings 
and reconciled this to the revenue 
recognised in the year. We used 
this tool to select a sample  
for agreement to underlying 
contract terms. 

In addition, for ground handling 
revenue, we utilised data analytical 
tools to focus testing on unusual 
items and outliers (e.g. unusual 
contract rates, new contracts 
identified) from a complete 
population of revenue transactions 
by station and airline at each of the 
full and specific scope locations. 

These procedures were 
supplemented with analytical 
review procedures and enquiry  
of management.

We performed journal entry 
testing, applying particular focus 
to individually unusual and/or 
material revenue manual journals, 
particularly those posted around 
the year end.

All audit work in relation to this 
key audit matter was undertaken 
by the primary and local audit 
teams. 

94

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95

Financial StatementsIndependent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc continued

Key observations communicated  
to the Audit Committee

We are satisfied that the 
accounting for the disposal  
is materially correct and that 
sufficient disclosure is included  
in the financial statements.

Risk

Accounting for the disposal  
of the Distribution business.

Refer to the Audit Committee 
Report (page 57); Accounting 
policies (pages 106 and 159); and 
Note 27 of the Consolidated 
Financial Statements (page 153).

On 4 September 2018, the  
Group completed the sale  
of the Distribution business. 

The key judgments impacting the 
accounting for the loss on sale 
include the determination of the 
date of disposal and assessing 
those costs that are directly 
incremental to the sale of  
the Distribution business.

Our response to the risk

We have reviewed the sale and 
purchase agreement in assessing 
that the sale was subject to three 
conditions, being shareholder 
approval: competition authority 
approval and a property 
restructure.

We have agreed the date of 
disposal and assessed when 
power and exposure to variable 
returns was relinquished based  
on the above conditions.

We performed substantive audit 
testing over in-scope Distribution 
entities to gain assurance over the 
income statement consolidated to 
the date of disposal, and in turn, 
the net assets disposed of.

We have agreed a sample of  
costs related to the sale to  
invoice support and challenged 
management over what is 
classified as directly incremental 
by performing our own 
assessment of these costs.

We reviewed the remaining 
Distribution trial balances at the 
date of disposal to ensure all 
Distribution assets and liabilities 
disposed of were appropriately 
recorded and eliminated as part 
of accounting for the disposal.

We have agreed final cash 
consideration to bank statement 
and agreed the fair value of the 
investment retained to supporting 
documentation.

We have assessed the adequacy 
of the disclosure regarding  
the sale.

All audit work in relation to this 
key audit matter was undertaken 
by the primary audit team.

Key observations communicated  
to the Audit Committee

We have concluded that the 
pension liability is materially 
correct and that management’s 
judgments in relation to underlying 
actuarial assumptions were 
appropriate.

Risk

Valuation of defined benefit 
pension scheme liabilities. 

Refer to the Audit Committee 
Report (page 57); Accounting 
policies (pages 106 and 159); and 
Note 22 of the Consolidated 
Financial Statements (page 146).

The Group makes provision for 
the net pension liability of its 
defined benefit pension scheme.

Our response to the risk

We have obtained an 
understanding and made  
an assessment of the key  
controls and processes  
in place to determine the  
actuarial assumptions.

Through inspection of 
pensionable salary data  
from payroll reports, we  
have assessed the calculation  
of the pension liabilities.

The significant risk relates to  
the potential misstatement of  
the pension liability due to the 
significant judgments being 
exercised by management in 
determining the appropriate 
underlying actuarial assumptions. 
The principal assumptions include 
life expectancies of scheme 
members, discount rate and 
inflation rates.

Our actuarial specialists  
evaluated the consistency of the 
methodology applied to calculate 
the pension liabilities as well as 
the appropriateness of the key 
underlying actuarial assumptions, 
such as life expectancies of 
scheme members, discount  
rate and inflation rates, at the 
year-end, ensuring they are  
within an acceptable range.

Using our actuarial specialists,  
we have assessed management’s 
calculation of the impact of the 
GMP equalisation.

We considered the competency 
and objectivity of management’s 
experts.

We have assessed the adequacy 
of disclosures within the financial 
statements.

All audit work in relation to this 
key audit matter was undertaken 
by the primary audit team.

In the prior year, our auditor’s report included key audit matters in relation to ASIG acquisition accounting  
and assessment of the carrying value of Distribution goodwill and indefinite life intangibles. These matters  
are considered below:
•  ASIG acquisition accounting including identification and valuation of acquisition intangibles – acquisition 

accounting was concluded upon in the prior period. This is therefore not applicable in the year to 
31 December 2018.

•  Assessment of the carrying value of Distribution goodwill and indefinite life intangibles – the disposal  

of the Distribution business concluded on 4 September 2018. This is therefore not applicable in the year  
to 31 December 2018. However, as noted above, we have included a key audit matter in the current year  
in relation to the accounting for the sale of the Distribution business.

96

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97

Financial StatementsIndependent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc continued

Overview of the scope of our audit

Full scope
Specific scope & 
consolidation 
adjustments 

Overall coverage

Components

2018

4

2017

5

43

38

Percentage  

of PBT*

Percentage  
of revenue

Percentage  

of total assets

2018

23

69

92

2017

31

53

84

2018

57

34

91

2017

60

24

84

2018

69

15

84

2017

52

28

80

* Percentage of profit before tax is calculated on an absolute basis against the adjusted profit before tax measure used to calculate materiality.

Tailoring the scope
Our assessment of audit risk, our evaluation of materiality and our allocation of performance materiality 
determine our audit scope for each entity within the Group. Taken together, this enables us to form an opinion 
on the consolidated financial statements. We take into account size, risk profile, the organisation of the Group 
and effectiveness of Group-wide controls, changes in the business environment and other factors such as 
recent internal audit results when assessing the level of work to be performed at each entity.

In assessing the risk of material misstatement to the Group financial statements, and to ensure we had adequate 
quantitative coverage of significant accounts in the financial statements, of the 125 reporting components of the 
Group, we selected 47 components covering entities within the United Kingdom, the United States of America, 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Czech Republic, South Africa, The Netherlands, India, Dominican 
Republic and China, which represent the principal business units within the Group.

Of the 47 components selected, we performed an audit of the complete financial information of 4 components 
(“full scope components”), which were selected based on their size or risk characteristics. For the remaining  
43 components (“specific scope components”), we performed audit procedures on specific accounts within 
that component that we considered had the potential for the greatest impact on the significant accounts in  
the financial statements either because of the size of these accounts or their risk profile. 

Our application of materiality
We apply the concept of materiality in planning and performing the audit, in evaluating the effect of identified 
misstatements on the audit and in forming our audit opinion.

Materiality
We determined materiality for the Group to be £2.1m (2017: £2.6m), which is 5% (2017: 5%) of adjusted profit 
before tax. We believe that adjusted profit before tax provides us with the appropriate measure for determining 
the materiality based on the focus of the user of the financial statements. 

We determined materiality for the Company to be £1.7m (2017: £1.7m), which is 1% (2017: 1%) of equity. We believe 
that equity provides us with the appropriate measure for determining the materiality based on the focus of the 
user of the financial statements.

During the course of our audit we reassessed initial materiality and have deemed this still to be appropriate  
at the year end.

Performance materiality
On the basis of our risk assessments, together with our assessment of the Group’s overall control environment, 
our judgement was that performance materiality was 75% (2017: 75%) of our planning materiality, namely 
£1.6m (2017: £1.9m). We have set performance materiality at this percentage due to our understanding of the 
perspective of the users of the financial statements.

Audit work at component locations for the purpose of obtaining audit coverage over significant financial 
statement accounts is undertaken based on a percentage of total performance materiality. The performance 
materiality set for each component is based on the relative scale and risk of the component to the Group as 
a whole and our assessment of the risk of misstatement at that component. In the current year, the range of 
performance materiality allocated to components was £0.3m to £0.9m (2017: £0.3m to £1.1m).

Reporting threshold
We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to them all uncorrected audit differences in excess 
of £0.1m (2017: £0.1m), which is set at 5% of planning materiality, as well as differences below that threshold 
that, in our view, warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.

The audit scope of specific scope components may not have included testing of all significant accounts of the 
component but will have contributed to the coverage of the accounts tested for the Group.

We evaluate any uncorrected misstatements against both the quantitative measures of materiality discussed 
above and in light of other relevant qualitative considerations in forming our opinion.

Of the remaining 78 components that together represent 8% of the Group’s adjusted profit before tax, none 
is individually greater than 5% of the Group’s adjusted profit before tax. For these components, we performed 
other procedures, including analytical review, testing of consolidation journals and intercompany eliminations  
to respond to any potential risks of material misstatement to the Group’s consolidated financial statements.

Other information 
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, including the five year review 
and shareholder information set out on pages 164 to 189, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s 
report thereon. The Directors are responsible for the other information.

Involvement with component teams 
In establishing our overall approach to the Group audit, we determined the type of work that needed to be 
undertaken at each of the components by us, as the primary audit engagement team, or by component auditors 
from other EY global network firms operating under our instruction. Of the four full scope components, audit 
procedures were performed on four of these directly by the primary audit team. For the 43 specific scope 
components, where the work was performed by component auditors, we determined the appropriate level  
of involvement that we, as the primary audit team, needed to have to enable us to determine that sufficient  
audit evidence had been obtained as a basis for our opinion on the Group as a whole.

The audit work on the UK and North America full scope reporting units was performed directly by the primary 
audit team covering all full scope locations. The primary audit team interacted regularly with all component 
teams through emails and teleconferencing where appropriate during various stages of the audit, reviewed key 
working papers and were responsible for the scope and direction of the audit process. The audit partner also 
visited the Australian component team this year which is the largest component of the Group after the US and 
UK. This, together with the additional procedures performed at Group level, gave us appropriate evidence for 
our opinion on the financial statements.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent 
otherwise explicitly stated in this report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and,  
in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or  
our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material 
inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material 
misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the 
work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of the other information, we are 
required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

98

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

99

Financial StatementsIndependent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc continued

In this context, we also have nothing to report in regard to our responsibility to specifically address the 
following items in the other information and to report as uncorrected material misstatements of the other 
information where we conclude that those items meet the following conditions:
•  Fair, balanced and understandable set out on page 92 – the statement given by the Directors that they 

consider the Annual Report and financial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable 
and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s performance, business model 
and strategy, is materially inconsistent with our knowledge obtained in the audit; or

•  Audit Committee reporting set out on page 57 – the section describing the work of the Audit Committee 

does not appropriately address matters communicated by us to the Audit Committee is materially 
inconsistent with our knowledge obtained in the audit; or

•  Directors’ statement of compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code set out on page 45 – the parts 
of the Directors’ statement required under the Listing Rules relating to the Company’s compliance with the 
UK Corporate Governance Code containing provisions specified for review by the auditor in accordance with 
Listing Rule 9.8.10R(2) do not properly disclose a departure from a relevant provision of the UK Corporate 
Governance Code.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited has been properly prepared in 
accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
•  the information given in the Strategic Report and the Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the 
financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and those reports have been 
prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements;

•  the information about internal control and risk management systems in relation to financial reporting 

processes and about share capital structures, given in compliance with rules 7.2.5 and 7.2.6 in the Disclosure 
Rules and Transparency Rules sourcebook made by the Financial Conduct Authority (“the FCA Rules”), 
is consistent with the financial statements and has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal 
requirements; and
information about the company’s corporate governance code and practices and about its administrative, 
management and supervisory bodies and their committees complies with rules 7.2.2, 7.2.3 and 7.2.7 of the 
FCA Rules.

• 

Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the parent company and its environment 
obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in:
•  the Strategic Report or the Directors’ Report; or
•  the information about internal control and risk management systems in relation to financial reporting 

processes and about share capital structures, given in compliance with rules 7.2.5 and 7.2.6 of the FCA Rules.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 
requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
•  adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit 

have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

•  the parent company financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited 

are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

•  certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
•  we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
•  a Corporate Governance Statement has not been prepared by the Company

Responsibilities of Directors
As explained more fully in the Directors’ Responsibilities Statement set out on page 92, the Directors are 
responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and  
fair view, and for such internal control as the Directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of 
financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the Company’s 
ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the 
going concern basis of accounting unless the Directors either intend to liquidate the Group or the Company or 
to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free 
from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our 
opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in 
accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise 
from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be 
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud 
The objectives of our audit, in respect to fraud, are: to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of 
the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed 
risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses; 
and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary 
responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both those charged with governance of  
the entity and management. 

Our approach was as follows: 
•  We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the Group and 

determined that the most significant include IATA regulations, UK Department for Transport, applicable health 
& safety and data protection regulations, competition and consumer protection laws, labour regulations and 
employee rights laws.

•  We understood how the Company is complying with those frameworks by making enquiries of management, 

internal audit, those responsible for legal and compliance procedures and the Company Secretary. We 
corroborated our enquiries through our review of board minutes, papers provided to the Audit Committee 
and correspondence received from regulatory bodies.

•  We assessed the susceptibility of the Group’s consolidated financial statements to material misstatement, 
including how fraud might occur by meeting with management within various parts of the business to 
understand where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud. We also considered performance targets 
and their influence on efforts made by management to manage earnings or influence the perceptions of 
analysts. Where this risk was considered to be higher, we performed audit procedures to address each 
identified fraud risk. These procedures included testing manual journals and were designed to provide 
reasonable assurance that the financial statements were free from fraud or error.

•  Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws 
and regulations. Our procedures included a review of board minutes to identify any non-compliance with 
laws and regulations and enquiries of senior management.

•  We identified any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations at Group components through 

the direction and oversight of our component audit teams. We discussed any potential findings with senior 
management.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial 
Reporting Council’s website at https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of  
our auditor’s report.

Other matters we are required to address
•  Following the recommendation of the Audit Committee, we were appointed as auditors and signed an 

engagement letter on 20 August 2018. We were reappointed by the Company at the Annual General Meeting 
in 2018 to audit the financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2018 and subsequent financial 
periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments  
is ten years, covering the years ending 31 December 2009 to 31 December 2018.

•  The non-audit services prohibited by the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard were not provided to 

the Group or the Company and we remain independent of the Group and the Company in conducting the audit.

•  The audit opinion is consistent with the additional Report to the Audit Committee. 

100

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

101

Financial StatementsIndependent Auditor’s Report to the Members of John Menzies plc continued

Consolidated Income Statement
for the year ended 31 December 2018 (year ended 31 December 2017)

Use of our report
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the 
Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s members 
those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest 
extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and  
the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Kevin Weston 
Senior Statutory Auditor 
for and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP, Statutory Auditor
Edinburgh
11 March 2019

Notes:
1.  The maintenance and integrity of the John Menzies plc web site is the responsibility of the Directors; the work carried out by the auditors does 

not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the 
financial statements since they were initially presented on the web site.

2.  Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Continuing operations
Revenue
Net operating costs

Operating profit before joint 

ventures and associates

Share of post-tax results of joint 

ventures and associates

Operating profit

Analysed as:
Underlying operating profit (i)
Non-recurring items – transaction 

related and integration

Non-recurring item – impairment, 

pension related and other
Acquired intangible asset 

amortisation

Share of joint ventures and 

associates interest

Share of joint ventures and 

associates tax

Operating profit 

Finance income
Finance charges excluding retirement 

benefit obligation interest

Retirement benefit obligation interest

Profit before taxation
Taxation

Profit/(loss) for the year from 

continuing operations

5

5

5

6

6
22

7

Discontinued operations
Profit/(loss) for the period from 

discontinued operations

27

Profit/(loss) for the year

Attributable to equity shareholders
Attributable to non-controlling interests

Earnings per ordinary share
Continuing operations
Basic
Diluted
Continuing and discontinued 

operations

Basic 
Diluted 

9
9

9
9

Before 
exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

Exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

Notes

Before 
exceptional  
and other items 
Restated (Note 1) 
£m

2018 
£m

Exceptional  
and other items  
Restated (Note 1) 
£m

2017 
Restated 
(Note 1) 
£m

2
1,291.0 
3 (1,244.0)

–
(19.8)

1,291.0 
(1,263.8)

1,273.6 
(1,228.5)

– 

1,273.6 
(29.7) (1,258.2)

47.0 

(19.8)

27.2 

12

2 

8.1 

55.1 

(1.3)

(21.1)

6.8 

34.0 

55.1 

–

55.1 

–

–

–

–

–

55.1 

1.0 

(11.2)
(0.8)

44.1 
(12.4)

(11.7)

(11.7)

(1.8)

(1.8)

(6.3)

(6.3)

0.7 

0.7 

(2.0)

(21.1)

(2.0)

34.0 

–

1.0 

(1.4)
–

(22.5)
3.3 

(12.6)
(0.8)

21.6 
(9.1)

45.1 

8.0 

53.1 

53.1 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

53.1 

1.2 

(10.2)
(1.8)

42.3 
(14.8)

(29.7)

15.4 

(1.0)

7.0 

(30.7)

22.4 

– 

53.1 

(18.5)

(18.5)

(4.1)

(4.1)

(7.1)

(7.1)

0.9 

0.9 

(1.9)

(1.9)

(30.7)

22.4 

– 

1.2 

(1.7)
– 

(32.4)
4.4 

(11.9)
(1.8)

9.9 
(10.4)

31.7 

(19.2)

12.5 

27.5 

(28.0)

(0.5)

13.6 

45.3 

45.0 
0.3 

45.3 

(31.5)

(50.7)

(50.7)
–

(50.7)

(17.9)

(5.4)

(5.7)
0.3 

(5.4)

19.6 

47.1 

47.7 
(0.6)

47.1 

(7.1)

(35.1)

(35.1)
– 

(35.1)

12.5 

12.0 

12.6 
(0.6)

12.0 

37.6p 
37.5p 

(23.0)p
(22.9)p

14.6p 
14.6p 

33.7p 
33.6p 

(33.6)p
(33.5)p

0.1p 
0.1p 

53.8p 
53.7p 

(60.6)p
(60.5)p

(6.8)p
(6.8)p

57.2p 
57.0p 

(42.1)p
(41.9)p

15.1p 
15.1p 

102

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

Note:
(i)  Underlying operating profit adjusts for non-recurring exceptional items, impairment charges associated with non-current assets, amortisation 
relating to acquired contract, customer relationship and brand intangibles and the Group’s share of interest and tax on joint ventures and 
associates to provide an appreciation of the impact of those items on operating profit.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

103

Financial StatementsConsolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
for the year ended 31 December 2018 (year ended 31 December 2017)

Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017)

(Loss)/profit for the year
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss
Continuing operations:
Actuarial gain on defined benefit retirement obligation
Actuarial loss on unfunded retirement benefit obligation
Income tax effect on defined benefit retirement obligation
Discontinued operations:
Actuarial (loss)/gain on defined benefit retirement obligation
Income tax effect on defined benefit retirement obligation
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss
Continuing operations:
Movement on cash flow hedges
Income tax effect on cash flow hedges
Movement on net investment hedges
Income tax effect on net investment hedges
Exchange loss on translation of foreign currency net assets
Income tax effect of exchange loss on foreign currency net assets

Other comprehensive (loss)/income for the year

Total comprehensive (loss)/income for the year 

Attributable to equity shareholders
Attributable to non-controlling interests

Notes

22 

27

2017 
Restated 
(Note 1)
£m

12.0 

15.5 
(0.1)
(2.7)

0.2
–

0.5 
(0.1)
2.0 
(0.4)
(3.7)
0.7 

11.9 

23.9 

24.5 
(0.6)

23.9

2018 
£m

(5.4)

3.1
(0.1)
(0.5)

(7.2)
1.1

0.6
(0.1)
0.4
(0.1)
(4.3)
1.0

(6.1)

(11.5)

(11.8) 
0.3 

(11.5) 

104

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets
Property, plant and equipment
Investments in joint ventures and associates
Other investments
Deferred tax assets
Derivative financial assets

Current assets
Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Derivative financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents

Liabilities
Current liabilities
Borrowings
Derivative financial liabilities
Trade and other payables
Current income tax liabilities
Provisions

Net current assets

Total assets less current liabilities

Non-current liabilities
Borrowings
Other payables
Deferred tax liabilities
Provisions
Retirement benefit obligation

Net assets

Ordinary shares
Share premium account
Treasury shares
Other reserves
Merger relief reserve
Retained earnings
Capital redemption reserve

Total shareholders’ equity
Non-controlling interest in equity

Equity

Notes

2018 
£m

2017 
Restated 
(Note 1)
£m

10
11
12
12
13
16

14
16
18

16
16
15

21

16
15
13
21
22

23

159.2 
116.0 
19.3 
5.2 
23.2 
1.5 

324.4 

5.6 
359.0 
0.6 
78.0 

443.2 

203.7 
155.6 
27.5 
0.2 
24.2 
0.9 

412.1 

20.9 
354.3 
1.1 
72.8 

449.1 

(34.7)
(0.5)
(290.5)
(11.6)
(49.3)

(5.1)
(0.5)
(325.3)
(13.5)
(39.4)

(386.6)

(383.8)

56.6 

381.0 

65.3 

477.4 

(244.5)
(3.7)
(2.9)
(10.6)
(18.0)

(283.6)
(4.6)
(4.7)
(2.5)
(49.5)

(279.7)

(344.9)

101.3 

132.5 

21.1 
23.1 
(2.6)
(8.1)
67.3 
(17.2)
21.6 

105.2 
(3.9)

101.3 

21.0 
21.9 
(1.3)
(5.6)
67.3 
11.4 
21.6 

136.3 
(3.8)

132.5 

The accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 March 2019 and signed on its behalf by:

Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit 
Chairman 

Giles Wilson
Chief Financial Officer

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

Company No. SC34970
105

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
as at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017)

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
for the year ended 31 December 2018 (year ended 31 December 2017)

Ordinary
shares 
£m

Share
premium
account 
£m

Treasury
shares 
£m

Translation 
and hedge
reserves 
£m

Merger 
relief
reserve 
£m

Retained
earnings 
£m

Capital 
redemption 
reserve 
£m

Total 
shareholders’ 
equity 
£m

Non- 
controlling 
equity 
£m

Equity 
£m

21.0 

21.9 

(1.3)

(5.6)

67.3 

11.4 

21.6 

136.3 

(3.8) 132.5 

(5.7)

0.3 

(5.4)

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
Interest received
Interest paid
Tax paid

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.1 

1.2 

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(5.0)

3.7 

–

(2.5)

(2.5)

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(5.7)

(3.6)

(9.3)

–

1.6 

(0.1)

–

(17.1)

–

(3.7)

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(6.1)

–

(6.1)

Net cash flow from operating activities

(11.8)

0.3 

(11.5)

1.3 

1.6 

(0.1)

–

–

–

1.3 

1.6 

(0.1)

–

0.3 

0.3 

Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisitions 
Advance payment for acquisition
Cash acquired with subsidiaries
Disposal of subsidiaries
Cash held by disposed subsidiaries
Investment in joint ventures
Disposal of joint venture
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Intangible asset additions
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment
Dividends received from equity accounted investments

(17.1)

(0.7)

(17.8)

Net cash flow from/(used in) investing activities

At 31 December 2017
(Loss)/profit for  

the year

Other comprehensive 

loss

Total comprehensive 

(loss)/income

New share capital 

issued

Share-based 
payments

Income tax effect  
of share-based 
payments
Subsidiaries 

acquired (Note 24)

Dividends paid 

(Note 8)

Repurchase of 

Company’s shares

Disposal of 

Company’s shares

At 31 December 2016
Profit/(loss) for  

the year

Other comprehensive 

(loss)/income

Total comprehensive 

(loss)/income

New share capital 

issued

Share-based 
payments

Income tax effect  
of share-based 
payments
Subsidiaries 

acquired (Note 24)

Dividends paid 

(Note 8)
Disposal of 

Company’s shares

At 31 December 2018

21.1 

23.1 

(2.6)

(8.1)

67.3 

(17.2)

21.6 

105.2 

(3.9) 101.3 

(5.0)

–

–

–

(5.0)

–

Ordinary
shares 
£m

Share
premium
account 
£m

Treasury
shares 
£m

Translation 
and hedge
reserves 
£m

Merger 
relief
reserve 
£m

Retained
earnings 
£m

Capital 
redemption 
reserve 
£m

Total 
shareholders’ 
equity 
£m

Non- 
controlling 
equity 
£m

Equity 
£m

20.9 

20.5 

(1.6)

(4.6)

67.3 

0.1 

21.6 

124.2 

1.0 

125.2 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

0.1 

1.4 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

0.3 

– 

(1.0)

(1.0)

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

12.6 

12.9 

25.5 

– 

1.4 

0.6 

– 

(15.9)

(0.3)

11.4 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

12.6 

(0.6)

12.0 

11.9 

– 

11.9 

24.5 

(0.6) 23.9 

1.5 

1.4 

– 

– 

1.5 

1.4 

0.6 

– 

0.6 

– 

(4.2)

(4.2)

(15.9)

– 

(15.9)

– 

– 

– 

21.6 

136.3 

(3.8)

132.5 

At 31 December 2017

21.0 

21.9 

(1.3)

(5.6)

67.3 

Cash flows from financing activities
Net proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital
Purchase of Company’s shares
Proceeds from borrowings
Repayment of borrowings
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
Dividends paid to ordinary shareholders

Net cash flow (used in)/from financing activities

(Decrease)/increase in net cash and cash equivalents
Effects of exchange rate movements
Opening net cash and cash equivalents (i)

Closing net cash and cash equivalents (i)

Note:
(i)  Net cash and cash equivalents include cash at bank and in hand and bank overdrafts.

Notes

17

24
14
24
27
27
24
12

8

18

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

54.9
1.0
(11.8)
(15.3)

28.8

(1.0)
(20.2)
– 
51.2
(5.9)
(1.2)
6.3
(29.0)
(3.2)
14.9
4.8

70.2 
1.2 
(13.7)
(17.0)

40.7 

(171.3)
– 
12.9 
– 
– 
– 
– 
(29.8)
(2.8)
0.8 
6.3 

16.7

(183.9)

1.3
(5.0)
1.0
(41.7)
(0.7)
(17.1)

(62.2)

(16.7)
0.3
70.9

54.5

1.5 
– 
293.4 
(101.3)
– 
(15.9)

177.7 

34.5
(1.7)
38.1 

70.9 

106

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

107

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

1. Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of preparation
The consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared under the historical cost convention and 
in accordance with EU Endorsed International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRIC interpretations and the 
Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS, incorporate the financial statements of  
the Company and its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates from the effective date of acquisition or to the 
date of deemed disposal.

During the current year, the Group disposed of Menzies Distribution Ltd and its subsidiaries on 4 September 
2018. This business is therefore presented as a discontinued operation. As a result of this, these consolidated 
financial statements have been represented and restated where required as if operations discontinued during 
the current year had been discontinued from the start of the comparative year. Note 27 sets out the details  
and impact of discontinued operations.

The Group has restated the prior year comparatives to reclassify certain liabilities from accruals to provisions, 
largely in respect of the Group’s insurance, legal and employee related claims as set out in Note 21 to reflect 
the uncertain timing or amount and nature of these liabilities. The Group has comprehensive cover in respect 
of aviation motor, property and individual insurance claims. The Group previously measured insurance claim 
accruals based on the cost it expected to incur net of any amounts to be settled directly by insurers. Having 
reclassified these accruals as provisions the Group has adjusted its prior year Balance Sheet presentation to 
show its gross insurance claims in provisions and a reimbursement asset in receivables in respect of amounts 
recoverable from the insurers. This has resulted in an increase in other receivables in the prior year of £4.1m 
(2016: £2.3m), a corresponding increase in the insurance provision of £18.3m (2016: £15.5m) and a net reduction 
in accruals of £14.2m (2016: £13.2m) with no impact on the consolidated net assets or Income Statement in 
either year. Other liabilities of £5.3m (2016: £4.3m) have also been reclassified from accruals to provisions  
as set out in Note 21 with no impact on the consolidated net assets or Income Statement in either year.

New accounting standards and amendments 
Four new accounting standards and amendments are applicable for the first time in 2018. They have no material 
impact on the consolidated financial statements of the Group. These are:
IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers – effective 1 January 2018
IFRS 9 Financial Instruments – effective 1 January 2018
IFRS 2 Classification and Measurement of Share Based Payment Transactions – effective 1 January 2018
IFRIC 22 Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration – effective 1 January 2018
Further details on IFRS 15 and IFRS 9 are set out below.

Standards and amendments to standards that have been issued that are applicable for the Group but are  
not effective for 2018 and have not been early adopted in these financial statements are:
IFRS 16 Leases – effective 1 January 2019
IFRIC 23 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments – effective 1 January 2019
Annual improvements to IFRS 2015-2017 cycle (i) – effective 1 January 2019
Amendments to IAS 19 Plan Amendment, Curtailment or Settlement (i) – effective 1 January 2019
Amendments to IAS 28 Long-term Interests in Associates and Joint Ventures (i) – effective 1 January 2019
Amendment to IFRS 3 Business Combinations (i) – effective 1 January 2020
Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8 Definition of Material (i) – effective 1 January 2020

Note:
(i)  Annual improvements 2015-2017, IAS 19 amendments, IAS 28 amendments, IFRS 3 amendment and IAS 1/IAS 8 amendments are not yet adopted 

for use in the European Union.

Standards and amendments that are not effective for 2018 will be adopted in accordance with their effective 
dates and for standards with a future effective date, the Group is in the process of assessing the likely impact 
and look to finalisation of the standards before formalising a view. The impact of IFRS 16 Leases has been 
assessed separately and is set out below. 

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers
On 1 January 2018 the Group adopted IFRS 15 using the modified retrospective method. Results for reporting 
periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018 have and will be presented under IFRS 15, while prior period 
amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with historic accounting under IAS 18.  

The Group has not identified any changes to revenue recognition practices under IFRS 15. The Group’s 
continuing revenue is primarily based on fees for services. 

The presentation of trade and other receivables and trade and other payables has been amended by the new 
standard. There is no impact on the measurement of the total balances recognised with accrued income and 
deferred income being separately presented in the receivables and payables notes respectively. Revenue from 
contracts with customers disaggregated by the timing of performance obligations being satisfied is presented  
in Note 2. The estimate of sales returns in the Group’s discontinued operation is based on past experience and  
has required judgement.

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments 
With regard to IFRS 9, there are no significant changes to the Group. The impact on accounting for hedging 
arrangements is minimal and the expected credit loss model for impairment reviews does not have an overall 
impact on the consolidated financial statements. There have been no classification changes and the hedging 
requirements of IAS 39 continue to be applied. The expected credit loss approach has resulted in an impact on 
the retained earnings of individual entities within the Group due to the potential additional impairment provision 
for some of the longer term intercompany receivables. These intragroup provisions for potential impairments  
do not impact the consolidated financial statements. 

IFRS 9 requires equity investments that fall within the scope of the standard to be measured at fair value with 
changes in fair value charged through profit and loss or recognised within Other Comprehensive Income under an 
irrevocable election. As part of the disposal arrangement relating to the Distribution business in the current year 
the Group acquired a 10% equity investment in Endless Newco1 Ltd, the company established to hold the trade of 
the Distribution business disposed of during the year. The Group has elected to recognise future changes in the 
fair value of this equity investment within Other Comprehensive Income.

IFRS 16 Leases
Ahead of the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases on 1 January 2019, Management has been collating information to ensure 
compliance with the new standard for lessees. The standard removes the distinction between operating leases 
and finance leases and will result in a significant number of leased assets being recognised as non-current assets 
representing the right to use the underlying asset with a corresponding liability shown as debt. This will materially 
gross up the Balance Sheet with the recognition of a new right of use asset which will be depreciated through the 
Income Statement and a lease liability on which interest will be charged through the Income Statement. There will 
be no change to the reporting of net cash flows.

The Group plans to utilise the modified retrospective method of application on 1 January 2019 and anticipates 
recognising approximately £190m of lease liabilities and approximately the same amount of right of use assets. 
Although going forward the aggregate Income Statement impact of each lease over its life will not change, the 
Income Statement impact of generally straight line profile of operating lease expenses will be recognised earlier 
under IFRS 16 due to the interest on the lease liability being higher in the first year of adoption. Therefore, subject 
to any material changes in the portfolio of leases, annual operating lease expenses are expected to be replaced by 
higher levels of depreciation and interest expense such that an adverse impact on profit before tax in the region 
of £3m is expected in 2019, the year of transition. 

The practical expedients expected to be utilised under the modified retrospective approach are that: there will be 
no restatement of comparative periods; recognition exemptions for leases ending within 12 months of 1 January 
2019 and for low value assets; a single discount rate to a portfolio of leases with reasonably similar characteristics 
will be applied; the standard will only be applied to contracts that were previously classified as leases; and no  
new onerous lease assessments will be required on transition due to the ability to rely on previous assessments. 

Judgement will be required to determine the non-lease component for one significant leasing vendor. This non-
lease component will be 50% of the lease cost resulting in the remainder of the commitments being capitalised  
as a right of use asset.

For the majority of the Group’s right of use assets the initial lease liability will equal the right of use asset on 
1 January 2019. For one long term property lease, the Group will utilise the option to measure the initial lease 
liability and right of use asset at the inception of the lease. As the lease liability will exceed the right of use asset  
a minor amount will be recognised in equity as a transition adjustment.

108

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

109

Financial Statements1. Significant Accounting Policies continued
Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements of the Group comprise the assets, liabilities and results of the Company 
and subsidiary undertakings in which John Menzies plc has a controlling interest using accounts drawn up to 
31 December except where entities do not have coterminous year ends. In such cases the information is based on 
the accounting period of these entities and is adjusted for trading results and material changes up to 31 December. 

Controlled interests
Control is achieved when the Group is exposed or has rights to variable returns from its involvement with the 
investee and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the investee. Specifically, the Group 
controls an investee if the Group has all of the following: power over the investee (i.e. existing rights that give  
it the current ability to direct the relevant activities of the investee); exposure or rights to variable returns from 
its involvement with the investee; and the ability to use its power over the investee to affect its returns.

Generally, there is a presumption that a majority of voting rights results in control. To support this presumption 
and when the Group has less than a majority of the voting or similar rights of an investee, it considers all 
relevant facts and circumstances in assessing whether it has power over an investee, including: contractual 
arrangement with other vote holders of the investee, rights arising from other contractual arrangements, and 
the Group’s voting rights and potential voting rights.

The Group reassesses whether or not it controls an investee if facts and circumstances indicate that there are 
changes to one or more of the three elements of control. Consolidation of a subsidiary begins when the Group 
obtains initial control over the subsidiary and ceases when the Group loses control of the subsidiary. Assets, 
liabilities, income and expenses of a subsidiary acquired or disposed of during the year are included in the 
consolidated financial statements from the date the Group first obtains control until the date the Group ceases 
to control the subsidiary.

Profit or loss and each component of Other Comprehensive Income are attributed to the Company’s equity 
holders and to the non-controlling interests, even if this results in the non-controlling interest having a deficit 
balance. When necessary adjustments are made to the financial statements of subsidiaries to bring their 
accounting policies into line with the Group’s accounting policies. All intragroup assets and liabilities, equity, 
income, expenses and cash flows relating to transactions between members of the Group are eliminated on 
consolidation.

A change in the ownership interest of a subsidiary without a loss of control is accounted for as an equity 
transaction. If the Group loses control over a subsidiary the related assets including goodwill, liabilities,  
non-controlling interests and other components of equity are derecognised, while any resultant gain or  
loss is recognised in the Income Statement. Any investment retained is recognised at fair value.

Joint ventures and associates
A joint venture is a type of joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the arrangement 
have rights to the net assets of the joint venture. Joint control is the contractually agreed sharing of control  
of an arrangement, which exists only when decisions about the relevant activities require unanimous consent  
of the parties sharing control. 

An associate is an entity over which the Group has significant influence. Significant influence is the power to 
participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of the investee, but is not control or joint control over 
those policies. The considerations made in determining significant influence or joint control are similar to those 
necessary to determine control over subsidiaries. 

The Group’s investments in its associates and joint ventures are accounted for using the equity method. The 
investments in an associate or a joint venture are initially recognised at cost. The carrying amount of investments 
are adjusted to recognise changes in the Group’s share of net assets of the associate or joint venture since the 
acquisition date. Goodwill relating to the associate or joint venture is included in the carrying amount of the 
investment and is not tested for impairment individually. 

The Income Statement reflects the Group’s share of the results of operations of the associate or joint venture. 
Any change in other comprehensive income of those investees is presented as part of the Consolidated 
Statement of Comprehensive Income. In addition when there has been a change recognised directly in the 
equity of the associate or joint venture, the Group recognises its share of any changes when applicable in the 
Statement of Changes in Equity. Unrealised gains and losses resulting from transactions between the Group 
and the associate or joint venture are eliminated to the extent of the interest in the associate or joint venture.
The aggregate of the Group’s share of profit or loss of an associate and a joint venture is shown on the face 
of the Income Statement outside operating profit and represents profit or loss after tax and non-controlling 
interests in the associate or joint venture. 

At each reporting date, the Group determines whether there is objective evidence that the investment  
in the associate or joint venture is impaired. If there is such evidence, the Group calculates the amount of 
impairment as the difference between the recoverable amount of the associate or joint venture and its  
carrying value, and then recognises the loss within the share of the profit of an associate and joint venture  
in the Income Statement.

Upon loss of significant influence over the associate or joint control over the joint venture, the Group measures 
and recognises any retained investment at its fair value. Any difference between the carrying amount of the 
associate or joint venture upon loss of significant influence or joint control and the fair value of the retained 
investment and proceeds from disposal is recognised in the Income Statement. 

In India, Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services Private Ltd is 51% owned, Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) 
Private Ltd is 49% owned and Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd in China is 29% owned. They are treated as 
joint ventures in the consolidated financial statements as the parties to each of the ventures work together with 
equal powers to control the entities. Each venturer in the respective entity retains the power of veto and overall 
key strategic, operational and financial decisions require the consent of all parties. 

The financial statements of each associate or joint venture are prepared for the same reporting period as 
the Group. The Group’s two Indian joint ventures have a statutory year end of 31 March. Where necessary, 
adjustments are made to bring the accounting policies in line with those of the Group. 

Revenue recognition
Ramp, passenger, into-plane fuelling and other aviation related services income is recognised at the time the 
service is provided in accordance with the terms of the relevant contract. Cargo handling and cargo forwarding 
revenue is recognised at the point of departure for exports and at the point that the goods are ready for despatch 
for imports. Revenue excludes value added and sales taxes and charges collected on behalf of customers.

The timing of customer billing in relation to the satisfaction of performance obligations results in amounts 
being recorded in the Balance Sheet for accrued and deferred income. Individual billing arrangements vary by 
customer and contract. Accrued income is recognised on contracts for which performance obligations have 
been satisfied but have not yet been billed to customers at the Balance Sheet date. When the recovery of such 
amounts becomes unconditional the customer is billed and the amounts are transferred to trade receivables. 
Deferred income is recognised in respect of payments received from customers in advance of the Group 
fulfilling its performance obligations under contracts.

In the discontinued Distribution business revenue has been recognised on the despatched value of goods sold, 
excluding value-added tax. Product has been sold to retailers on a sale or return basis. Revenue for goods supplied 
with a right of return has been stated net of the value of any returns.

Foreign currencies
Foreign currency assets and liabilities are translated at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet 
date. The trading results of overseas subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates are translated at the average 
exchange rate ruling during the year, with the exchange difference between average rates and the rates ruling 
at the balance sheet date being taken to reserves. 

Any differences arising on the translation of the opening net investment, including goodwill, in overseas 
subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, and of applicable foreign currency loans, are dealt with as 
adjustments to reserves. All other exchange differences are dealt with in the Income Statement.

110

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

111

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued1. Significant Accounting Policies continued
Exceptional items
Exceptional items are those material items which, by virtue of their size or incidence, are presented separately 
in the Income Statement to enable a full understanding of the Group’s financial performance. These exclude 
certain elements of intangible asset impairment and amortisation which are also presented separately in  
the Income Statement.

Transactions that may give rise to exceptional items include restructuring of business activities in terms 
of rationalisation costs and onerous lease provisions, one off costs relating to reducing long term pension 
liabilities, gains or losses on the disposal of businesses and significant assets and acquisition transaction  
and other related costs including changes in deferred consideration.

Intangible assets
Goodwill
Business combinations are accounted for using the acquisition method. The cost of an acquisition is measured 
as the aggregate of the consideration transferred, measured at the acquisition date fair value, and the amount 
of any non-controlling interest in the acquiree. Acquisition costs incurred are expensed and included in 
exceptional items.

Goodwill acquired is recognised as an asset and reviewed for impairment at least annually by assessing the 
recoverable amount of each cash generating unit to which the goodwill relates. When the recoverable amount 
of the cash generating unit is less than the carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognised. Any impairment 
is recognised in the Income Statement. Goodwill arising on the acquisition of joint ventures and associates  
is included within the carrying value of the investment.

Contracts, customer relationships and brands
The fair value of intangible assets attributed to contracts, customer relationships and brands at the point of 
acquisition is determined by discounting the expected future cash flows to be generated from that asset at  
the relevant risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital for the Group. Values are not attributed to internally 
generated customer relationships.

Most contracts are amortised on a straight line basis over ten years as this period is the minimum timeframe 
management considers when assessing businesses for acquisition. Certain other intangible assets are amortised 
over the remaining life as appropriate.

Computer software
Costs associated with developing or maintaining computer software programs are recognised as an expense as 
incurred. Costs that are directly attributable to the production of identifiable software products controlled by 
the Group, and that are expected to generate economic benefits exceeding costs, are recognised as intangible 
assets. Computer software assets are amortised over their estimated useful lives, usually three to seven years.

Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment is stated at cost, including costs to acquire, less accumulated depreciation. 
Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis at the following rates:
Freehold and long leasehold properties – over the shorter of the remaining lease term and 50 years.
Short leasehold properties – over the remaining lease term.
Plant and equipment – over the estimated life of the asset between three and 20 years.

Leases
Leases are classified as finance leases whenever the terms of the lease transfer substantially all the risks  
and rewards of ownership to the lessee. All other leases are classified as operating leases.

Assets acquired under finance leases are capitalised in the Balance Sheet at their fair value or, if lower, at the present 
value of the minimum lease payments, each determined at the inception of the lease. The corresponding liability 
to the lessor is recorded in the Balance Sheet as a finance lease obligation. The lease payments are apportioned 
between finance charges to the Income Statement and a reduction of the lease obligations.

Rental payments under operating leases are charged to the Income Statement on a straight line basis over the 
applicable lease periods.

As noted above, the accounting for leases will change from 1 January 2019 with the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases.

Inventories
Inventories are goods for resale and consumables and are stated at the lower of purchase cost and net 
realisable value.

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and in hand and short-term deposits with an original maturity 
of three months or less. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Financial instruments
A financial instrument is any contract that gives rise to a financial asset of one entity and a financial liability  
or equity instrument of another entity.

Financial assets
Financial assets are classified at initial recognition and subsequently measured at amortised cost or fair value 
through Other Comprehensive Income. 

In order for a financial asset such as a debt instrument to be classified and measured at amortised cost it needs 
to give rise to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and where applicable interest on the principal 
amount outstanding. This assessment is performed at an instrument level. For the purposes of subsequent 
measurement, the Group measures financial assets at amortised cost if the financial asset is both held in order to 
collect contractual cash flows and the contractual terms of the financial asset give rise on specified dates to cash 
flows that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding. Financial assets at 
amortised cost are subject to impairment assessment and comprise trade receivables and accrued income as set 
out in Note 14. Where a provision is recognised the carrying value of the receivable is reduced with the amount  
of the loss recognised in the Income Statement.

Financial assets such as equity instruments and derivatives held for hedging purposes are measured through 
Other Comprehensive Income. In addition to the remeasurement of hedging derivatives being taken through Other 
Comprehensive Income, the Group has elected to irrevocably classify its equity investment in Endless Newco1 Ltd 
as an equity instrument designated at fair value through Other Comprehensive Income. The Group has utilised 
this category as the investment is not held for trading purposes. Gains and losses on this financial asset will not 
be recognised in the Income Statement. Dividends from this investment will be recognised as other income in the 
Income Statement when the right of payment is established. Equity instruments designated at fair value through 
Other Comprehensive Income are not subject to impairment assessment. 

A financial asset is derecognised when the rights to receive cash flows from the asset have expired or the  
Group has transferred its rights to receive cash flows from the asset to a third party. Further disclosures relating 
to impairment of financial assets are set out as follows: Note 14 includes disclosures relating to trade receivables 
including accrued income and Note 16 includes disclosures relating to instruments at fair value through Other 
Comprehensive Income.

The Group recognises an allowance for expected credit losses (“ECLs”) based on the difference between the 
contractual cash flows due in accordance with the contract and the cash flows that the Group expects to receive, 
discounted if material. For trade receivables and contract assets the Group has adopted the simplified approach in 
calculating ECLs. The Group recognises a loss allowance based on lifetime ECLs at each reporting date. Provisions 
are calculated based on the Group’s historical credit loss experience, adjusted for forward looking factors specific 
to the debtors and the economic environment. Further information specific to credit risk management is set out  
in Note 14.

112

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

113

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued1. Significant Accounting Policies continued
Financial instruments continued
Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are classified at initial recognition as borrowings, payables or derivatives designated as 
hedging instruments as an effective hedge. All financial liabilities are recognised initially at fair value and, in the 
case of borrowings and payables, net of directly attributable transaction costs. The Group’s financial liabilities 
include trade and other payables, borrowings including bank overdrafts, and derivative financial instruments.

After initial recognition, interest-bearing borrowings are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest rate method. Gains and losses are recognised in the Income Statement when the liabilities are 
derecognised. Amortised cost is calculated by taking into account any discount or premium on acquisition and 
fees or costs, with the charge included as finance costs in the Income Statement. 

A financial liability is derecognised when the obligation under the liability is discharged or cancelled or expires.

Derivative financial instruments and hedging
For the purpose of hedge accounting, hedges are classified as either cash flow hedges when hedging the 
exposure to variability in cash flows or hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation.

Cash flow hedges comprise interest rate swaps and foreign exchange forward contracts that are used to hedge 
the risks arising from interest rates and the retranslation of foreign currency denominated items. Changes in 
the fair value of the effective portion of cash flow hedges are recorded in equity until such time as the forecast 
transaction occurs, at which time they are recognised in the Income Statement. If the transaction results in a 
non-financial asset or liability, amounts recycled from equity are included in the cost of the non-financial asset or 
liability. If the forecast transaction remains probable but ceases to be highly probable, from that point changes in 
fair value are recorded in the Income Statement within finance costs. Similarly if the forecast transaction ceases 
to be probable, the entire fair value recorded in equity and future changes in fair value are recognised in the 
Income Statement within finance costs. 

Net investment hedges comprise derivatives that are designated as hedges of overseas net investments in foreign 
currency denominated entities. Changes in the fair value of the effective portion of net investment hedges are 
recorded in equity and are only recognised in the Income Statement on disposal of the overseas net investment.

Derivative financial instruments are initially recognised at fair value on the date on which a derivative contract  
is entered into and are subsequently remeasured at fair value. Derivatives are carried as financial assets when  
the fair value is positive and as financial liabilities when the fair value is negative. At inception the hedge 
relationship is designated and documented and the risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the 
hedge is noted. Derivative contracts entered into are expected to continue to be highly effective until they expire.  
The effectiveness of these contracts is monitored during the year. 

Taxation
Current tax is the amount of tax payable or recoverable in respect of the taxable profit or loss for the period.

Deferred tax is provided in full, using the liability method, on temporary differences between the carrying amount 
of an asset or liability in the Balance Sheet and its tax base. Deferred tax arising from the initial recognition of an 
asset or liability in a transaction, other than a business combination, that at the time of the transaction affects 
neither accounting nor taxable profit or loss, is not recognised. Deferred tax liabilities represent tax payable in 
future periods in respect of taxable temporary differences. Deferred tax assets represent tax recoverable in future 
periods in respect of deductible temporary differences, the carry forward of unused tax losses and the carry 
forward of unused tax credits.

Deferred tax is determined using the tax rates and tax laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the 
balance sheet date and are expected to apply when the deferred tax asset is realised or the deferred tax liability is 
settled. Deferred tax is provided on temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries, joint ventures and 
associates, except where the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference can be controlled and it is probable 
that the temporary difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future. A deferred tax asset is recognised only to 
the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the asset can be utilised.

Current and deferred tax is recognised in the Income Statement except if it relates to an item recognised 
directly in equity or in Other Comprehensive Income, in which case it is recognised directly in the Statement  
of Changes in Equity or in the Statement of Comprehensive Income as appropriate.

Provisions
Provisions are liabilities of uncertain timing and amount. Provisions are recognised when the Group has 
a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that an outflow of 
resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can  
be made of the amount of the obligation.

Retirement benefit obligation
For the defined benefit pension scheme, the operating and financing costs of pensions are charged to the 
Income Statement in the period in which they arise and are recognised separately. The costs of past service 
benefit enhancements, settlements and curtailments are recognised in the period in which they arise. The 
difference between actual and expected returns on assets during the year, including changes in actuarial 
assumptions, is recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income. Pension charges are assessed in 
accordance with the advice of a qualified actuary. 

For the defined contribution pension schemes, the Income Statement charge represents contributions made.

Share capital
Ordinary shares are classed as equity. Where the Company purchases its own shares the consideration paid, 
including any directly attributable incremental costs, is deducted from the equity attributable to the Company’s 
equity holders until the shares are cancelled, reissued or disposed.

Share-based payments
Equity settled share-based payments are measured at fair value at the date of grant and recognised as an 
expense over the vesting period. The amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect the actual number 
of share options that vest unless the options do not vest as a result of a failure to satisfy market conditions.  
Fair value is measured by use of a relevant pricing model.

Dividend distributions
Final ordinary dividends are recognised as liabilities in the period in which the dividends are approved by the 
Company’s shareholders.

Assumptions, estimates and judgements 
The preparation of the consolidated accounts requires Management to make assumptions, estimates and 
judgements that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, 
income and expenses. These estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results, particularly 
given changes in economic conditions and the level of uncertainty regarding their duration and severity. 

Assumptions and estimates
Management has made a number of accounting assumptions and estimates which, if they transpire to be 
materially incorrect, have a risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and 
liabilities in the future. Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to 
accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods 
affected. The most important assumptions and estimates are set out below.

114

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115

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued1. Significant Accounting Policies continued
Assumptions, estimates and judgements continued
Assumptions and estimates continued
Fair value of intangible assets
On the acquisition of a business it is necessary to attribute fair values to any intangible assets acquired, provided 
they meet the criteria to be recognised. The fair values of these intangible assets are dependent on estimates 
of attributable future revenues, margins and cash flows, as well as appropriate discount rates. In addition, the 
allocation of useful lives to acquired intangible assets requires the application of judgement based on available 
information and Management expectations at the time of recognition. See Note 10 for further details.

Impairment of intangible assets and investments
Management performs an impairment review on any assets that show indications of impairment and annually 
on goodwill and intangibles that are deemed to have indefinite lives. Management’s impairment review of 
goodwill and indefinite life intangibles involves exercising judgement about future cash flows and other events 
that are by their nature uncertain. Management has disclosed the pre-tax discount rates used when performing 
this review in Note 10. Management’s review of other significant assets identified an impairment relating to 
Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services Private Ltd as set out in Note 5.

Retirement benefit obligation
Management is responsible for making a number of financial and demographic assumptions in relation to the 
defined benefit pension scheme that has a direct impact on the pension deficit recognised within the financial 
statements. The assumptions underlying the calculation of the retirement benefit obligation are important 
and Management has determined the appropriate estimates based on independent actuarial advice. Changes 
in these assumptions could have a material impact on the measurement of the Group’s retirement benefit 
obligation. See Note 22 for further details.

Judgements
The following are key judgements, apart from those involving estimations which are dealt with separately 
above, that Management has made in the process of applying the accounting policies and that have  
a significant effect on the amounts recognised within the financial statements. 

Provisions
Judgement is exercised in determining whether provisions are required in relation to onerous property leases. 
Judgement is necessary in assessing the likelihood of whether or not an alternative use can be found for these 
properties or a suitable tenant can be found in order to cover the cost of the lease. This likelihood will vary 
depending on the size, location and type of property. Management has performed a review of all leases at year  
end and concluded that a small minority are deemed to be onerous and such leases have been fully provided for. 

Judgement is exercised in determining whether provisions are required in relation to workers’ compensation 
claims and legal claims. Judgement is necessary in assessing the veracity, measurement and probability of the 
claims. Management has reviewed available external and internal information relating to these types of claims 
and has made appropriate provisions accordingly.

A provision is held against a claim for a reduced rate of tax in an overseas territory based on the nature  
of its activities in that territory, which is subject to enquiry by the relevant tax authority. The potential benefit  
to the effective tax rate from that claim is not recognised until the agreement of the relevant tax authority  
is obtained and therefore an appropriate provision is held until that point. Other uncertain tax provisions are 
held for potential tax authority challenge of transfer pricing arrangements, deemed distributions of profits,  
the tax treatment of interest and foreign exchange differences on certain intercompany loans and for tax 
authority challenge against the interpretation of local tax legislation where the application of that legislation  
is unclear. Whilst there is a range of potential outcomes for these uncertain tax positions, based on Management’s 
experience of such issues, on conclusion of the open positions it is believed that a likely range of outcomes  
is an additional tax liability of up to £1.9m (2017: £2.0m) and a reduction in the tax liability of around £2.3m 
(2017: £0.2m).

An assessment of the use of tax losses has been used in calculating the Group’s deferred tax asset and liability 
including losses in the United States of America that may be subject to section 382 restrictions should the 
ownership of the Company change significantly in the future. Deferred tax assets on unutilised tax losses 
carried forward within the United Kingdom of £6.2m and in the United States of America £3.6m have been 
recognised despite current year losses being incurred in those jurisdictions. The deferred tax assets have been 
recognised as there is sufficient evidence in the form of projected future profitability to conclude that these 
losses will be recoverable in the foreseeable future.

See Notes 7 and 13 for further details.

Non-GAAP measures
The Group’s consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the 
European Union and applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006. In measuring our 
performance, the financial measures that are used include those which have been derived from the reported 
results in order to eliminate factors which distort period-on-period comparisons. These are considered non-
GAAP financial measures. This information, along with comparable GAAP measurements, is useful to investors 
in providing a basis for measuring our operational performance. Management uses these financial measures, 
along with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, in evaluating performance and value 
creation. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial 
information in compliance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures as reported by the Group may not be 
comparable with similarly titled amounts reported by other companies. 

Contract, customer relationship and brand amortisation
As disclosed above, contract, customer relationship and brand amortisation relates to intangible assets 
recognised on historic acquisitions and since it is transaction related it is presented separately in order  
to provide stakeholders and Management with an appreciation of underlying business performance. 

Share of earnings from joint ventures and associates
As disclosed in the Income Statement, the Group’s share of post-tax profit relating to joint ventures and associates  
is included within operating profit given the similarity of those operations to other wholly owned businesses.

Judgement is exercised in determining whether provisions are required in relation to insurance, warranties and 
claims. Management has reviewed available external and internal information relating to these items and has 
made appropriate provisions accordingly.

Turnover
Turnover is no longer employed as a non-GAAP measure as the metric is less meaningful following the step 
acquisitions of the joint ventures in the Distribution business in the prior year.

See Note 21 for further details.

Income taxes
The Group is subject to income tax in a number of jurisdictions and judgement is required in determining the 
provision for tax. There are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is 
uncertain. Provisions for tax are recognised by estimating the taxes that are likely to become due, based on 
Management’s interpretation of country specific tax law and the likelihood of settlement. Management uses 
the services of a professional firm together with the expertise and historic experience of the Group’s in-house 
tax team when assessing tax risks. Where the final tax outcome is different from the amounts that were initially 
recorded, such differences will impact the current income tax and deferred tax provisions in the period in which 
such determination is made. 

Underlying operating profit 
As disclosed on the face of the Income Statement, underlying operating profit adjusts for non-recurring 
exceptional items, impairment charges associated with goodwill, joint venture assets and other intangibles, 
contract, customer relationship and brand amortisation and the Group’s share of joint ventures and associates 
interest and tax to provide an appreciation of the impact of those items on operating profit. 

Underlying operating profit and the reconciliation to operating profit are set out on the face of the Income Statement.

Underlying profit before taxation 
As disclosed on the face of the Income Statement, underlying profit before taxation is defined as underlying 
operating profit, less net finance charges and before exceptional and other items.

116

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117

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued1. Significant Accounting Policies continued
Non-GAAP measures continued
Underlying earnings per share
As disclosed on the face of the Income Statement, underlying earnings per share is defined as profit after 
taxation and non-controlling interest before intangible amortisation and impairment and exceptional items, 
divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue. The calculation of underlying earnings  
per share is set out in Note 9.

Free cash flow 
Free cash flow is defined as the cash generated after net capital expenditure, interest and taxation, before 
special pension contributions, acquisitions, disposals, exceptional items, cash raised, ordinary dividends and  
net spend on shares. 

Cash generated from operations
Adjusted for:
Net interest paid
Exceptional interest paid
Tax paid
Dividends received from equity accounted investments
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Intangible asset additions
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment
Additional retirement benefit obligation contribution
Exceptional cash spend

Free cash flow

2018
£m

54.9

(10.8)
0.6
(15.3)
4.8
(29.0)
(3.2)
14.9
24.8
10.4

52.1

2017
£m

70.2 

(12.5)
0.6 
(17.0)
6.3 
(29.8)
(2.8)
0.8 
11.3 
22.1 

49.2 

Underlying operating cash flow
Underlying operating cash flow is free cash flow before net capital expenditure, net interest paid and taxation. 

Free cash flow as set out above
Adjusted for:
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Intangible asset additions
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment
Net interest paid excluding exceptional interest
Tax paid

Underlying operating cash flow

2018 
£m

52.1 

29.0 
3.2 
(14.9) 
10.2 
15.3 

2017 
£m

49.2 

29.8 
2.8 
(0.8)
11.9 
17.0 

2. Segment Information
For management purposes the Group has historically been organised into two operating divisions, Aviation 
and Distribution, and a central Corporate function. The two operating divisions were organised and managed 
separately based upon their key markets. The Aviation division provides ground handling and cargo services 
as well as into-plane fuelling and fuel farm management services across the world. Prior to disposal on 
4 September 2018 the Distribution division provided newspaper and magazine distribution and other services  
in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Following this disposal the Corporate function was 
subsumed into the Aviation division on 31 December 2018. 

The information presented to the Board for the purpose of resource allocation and assessment of segment 
performance has been focused on the performance of each of the two divisions and the performance information 
on a number of operating segments within the Aviation division. From 31 December 2018 onwards the resource 
allocation and assessment will be focused on the operating segments within the Aviation division. The Board 
assesses the performance of the operating segments based on a measure of adjusted segment result before 
exceptional items, intangible amortisation and share of interest and tax on joint ventures and associates. 

Segment information is presented in respect of the Group’s reportable segments together with additional 
geographic and Balance Sheet information. Transfer prices between segments are set on an arm’s length basis.

Business segment information

Continuing operations
Aviation
Americas
EMEA
Rest of World
Cargo Forwarding

Corporate

The reconciliation of segmental underlying operating profit/(loss) to profit/(loss) is provided below.

2018

Operating profit/(loss) before joint ventures and associates
Share of post-tax results of joint ventures and associates

Revenue

Underlying operating  
profit/(loss)

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

463.8 
517.3 
157.6 
152.3 

1,291.0 
– 

460.4 
508.2 
162.6 
142.4 

1,273.6 
– 

1,291.0 

1,273.6 

19.2
18.7
15.9
7.2

61.0 
(5.9)

55.1 

Notes

Aviation 
£m

Corporate 
£m

33.7 
6.8 

40.5 

61.0 
(11.3)
(1.6)
(6.3)
0.7 
(2.0)

40.5 

(6.5)
–

(6.5)

(5.9)
(0.4)
(0.2)
–
–
–

(6.5)

5 
5 
10 

23.0 
14.9 
15.5 
5.4 

58.8 
(5.7)

53.1 

Total 
£m

27.2 
6.8 

34.0 

55.1 
(11.7)
(1.8)
(6.3)
0.7 
(2.0)

34.0 

(12.4)

21.6 
(9.1)

  12.5 

94.9

109.9 

Operating profit/(loss) 

Analysed as:
Underlying operating profit/(loss)(i)
Exceptional transaction related items
Exceptional impairment and other items
Acquired intangible asset amortisation 
Share of joint ventures and associates interest
Share of joint ventures and associates tax

Operating profit/(loss) 

Net finance expense

Profit before taxation
Taxation

Profit for the year from continuing operations

118

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119

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued2. Segment Information continued
Business segment information continued

2017

Operating profit/(loss) before joint ventures and associates
Share of post-tax results of joint ventures and associates

Operating profit/(loss) 

Analysed as:
Underlying operating profit/(loss) (i)
Exceptional transaction related items
Exceptional pension de-risking costs
Acquired intangible asset amortisation 
Share of interest on joint ventures and associates
Share of tax on joint ventures and associates

Operating profit/(loss)

Net finance expense

Profit before taxation
Taxation

Loss for the year from continuing operations

Notes

Aviation 
£m

Corporate 
£m

28.2 
7.0 

35.2 

58.8 
(15.5)
–
(7.1)
0.9 
(1.9)

35.2 

(12.8)
– 

(12.8)

(5.7)
(3.0)
(4.1)
– 
– 
– 

(12.8)

5 
5 
10 

Total 
£m

15.4 
7.0 

22.4 

53.1 
(18.5)
(4.1)
(7.1)
0.9 
(1.9)

22.4 

(12.5)

9.9 
(10.4)

(0.5)

Note:
(i)  Underlying operating profit/(loss) is defined as operating profit/(loss) excluding intangible amortisation as shown in Note 5 and exceptional 

items but including the pre-tax share of results from joint ventures and associates.

At 31 December 2018 the assets and liabilities of the Group were that of the Aviation business. The prior year 
comparative information is set out below.

2017

Segment assets
Unallocated assets

Total assets (i)

Aviation 
£m

Corporate 
£m

Distribution 
£m

578.1 

6.9 

179.2 

Segment liabilities
Unallocated liabilities including retirement benefit obligation

(245.7)

(25.9)

(100.2)

Total liabilities (i)

Segment net assets/(liabilities)
Unallocated net liabilities including retirement benefit obligation

332.4 

(19.0)

79.0 

Net assets

Note:
(i)  As set out in Note 1 assets and liabilities have both been restated to include £4.1m of insurance related items. 

Group 
£m

764.2 
97.0 

861.2 

(371.8)
(356.9)

(728.7)

392.4 
(259.9)

132.5 

Unallocated assets comprise deferred tax assets, cash and cash equivalents. Unallocated liabilities comprise 
retirement benefit obligation, borrowings, current income tax liabilities and deferred tax liabilities.

2018

Capital expenditure – property, plant and equipment
Capital expenditure – intangible assets
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment

2017

Capital expenditure – property, plant and equipment
Capital expenditure – intangible assets
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Continuing operations
Aviation
Americas
EMEA
Rest of World
Cargo Forwarding

Corporate

Geographic information

Continuing operations
United States of America
United Kingdom
Australia
Others

Continuing operations

Discontinued 
operations

Aviation 
£m

Corporate 
£m

Distribution 
£m

26.8 
1.7 
(1.6)

0.5 
0.1 
–

1.9
0.7
–

Aviation 
£m

Corporate 
£m

Distribution 
£m

26.5 
1.9 
–

0.3 
–
–

2.1 
0.9 
(0.1)

Total 
£m

29.2
2.5
(1.6)

Group 
£m

28.9 
2.8 
(0.1)

Depreciation

Amortisation

2018 
£m

2017  
£m

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

12.1 
6.6 
4.1 
0.5 

23.3 
0.7 

24.0

11.6 
7.0 
4.2 
0.5 

23.3 
0.8 

24.1

4.1 
2.1 
0.9 
0.3 

7.4 
–

7.4

3.8 
3.0 
0.9 
0.4 

8.1 
–

8.1

Revenue

Non-current assets (i)

2018 
£m

2017  
£m

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

370.0
264.5
164.0
492.5

362.0 
287.6 
168.2 
455.8 

1,291.0

1,273.6

140.7
55.1
18.7
85.2

299.7

136.3 
70.7 
27.3 
93.9 

328.2

Note:
(i)  Non-current assets exclude deferred tax assets and derivative financial assets. Prior year figures have been restated for discontinued operations.

Revenue by performance obligation

Continuing operations
At the point of service
Franchise and consortia fees

2018 
£m

1,268.6
22.4

1,291.0

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121

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued2. Segment Information continued
Revenue by performance obligation continued
The Aviation business provides customers with a comprehensive handling service whilst aircraft are on the 
ground, encompassing a variety of critical support services including baggage handling, cleaning, fuelling, 
de-icing and towing. The level of service required can vary according to conditions therefore judgement is 
exercised in determining the distinct performance obligations under the contract. Performance obligations 
under ground handling and cargo handling contracts constitute a package of services provided together  
within a single aircraft turnaround. The interrelated activities are considered to be integrated in providing  
a single turnaround to customers. Revenue on these contracts is recognised according to the actual work 
carried out, typically governed by a schedule of agreed rates, at the time the service is provided.

In addition, the cargo forwarding business contracts with customers to fulfil the single performance obligation 
to facilitate the transportation of goods from one location to another. The business directs the performance  
of this obligation, selecting carriers to use. Revenue is recognised at the point of delivery as this is the point  
at which the revenue is significantly assured.

Franchise and consortia fees represent revenue earned from periodic management fees for fuel farms and 
franchising arrangements, which are recognised in accordance with contractual rates.

3. Net Operating Costs

Goods for resale and other direct operating costs
Employment costs
Operating leases and hire charges – plant and equipment
Rent of properties 
Depreciation 
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment
Exceptional items
Intangible assets amortisation 
Other operating charges

Continuing operations

The Group obtained services from the Group’s auditor at costs as provided below.

Audit of the Company and consolidated accounts
Audit of the Company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation
Transaction advisory services

Notes

4

5

2018 
£m

175.8 
780.1 
48.9 
41.7 
24.0 
(1.6)
13.5 
7.3 
174.1 

2017 
£m

158.1 
777.7 
46.6 
42.5 
24.1 
–
22.6 
8.1 
178.5 

1,263.8 

1,258.2

2018 
£m

0.3 
1.0 
0.7

2017 
£m

0.3 
1.0 
0.7

4. Employee Costs 

Wages and salaries
Share-based payments
Social security costs

Pension charge 

Less: discontinued operations employee costs 

Continuing operations employee costs 

The average number of people employed during the year is provided below.

Aviation 
Corporate

Continuing operations
Discontinued operations

2018 
£m

745.4 
1.6 
64.1 

811.1 
21.2 

832.3 
(52.2)

780.1 

2017 
£m

768.3 
1.4 
66.6 

836.3 
21.2 

857.5 
(79.8)

777.7 

2018

2017

32,683 
36 

32,719 
3,592 

33,054 
36 

33,090 
3,563 

36,311 

36,653 

The above includes 26,649 people employed outside the United Kingdom (2017: 26,235). 

Retirement benefit obligation charge
Certain subsidiaries participate in a number of pension schemes which are of a defined contribution nature and 
some of which operate overseas. The Income Statement charge for defined contribution schemes represents 
the contributions payable. A defined benefit scheme is operated in the United Kingdom as set out in Note 22.

The retirement benefit obligation charge to underlying operating profit is provided below.

Defined contribution schemes 
Defined benefit scheme

Retirement benefit obligation charge
Less: discontinued operations retirement benefit obligation charge

Continuing operations retirement benefit obligation charge

2018 
£m

19.8 
1.4 

21.2 
–

21.2 

2017 
£m

19.0 
2.3 

21.3 
(0.1)

21.2 

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123

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continuedExceptional items included in finance charges

Transaction related finance costs (i)
Unwind discount costs (ii)

2018 
£m

(0.6)
(0.1)

2017 
£m

(0.7)
(0.1)

Deferred tax on actuarial gain on retirement benefit obligation
Current tax on share-based payments
Deferred tax on share-based payments
Current tax on net exchange adjustments
Deferred tax on net exchange adjustments

5. Exceptional and Other Items
Exceptional items included in operating profit

Acquisition and transaction related costs (i)
Acquisition integration costs (ii)
Acquisition warranties and claims (iii)
Impairment (iv)
Property and pension items (v)

2018 
£m

(2.9)
(2.1)
(6.7)
(3.7)
1.9

2017 
£m

(4.6)
(13.9)
–
–
(4.1)

(13.5)

(22.6)

Notes:
(i)  Acquisition and transaction related costs comprise £1.5m relating to the acquisition of the trade and assets of Airline Services Ltd, £0.8m loss on 
disposal of Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Private Ltd and £0.6m other transaction related costs. In the prior year transaction related costs reflect 
£2.2m pre-acquisition costs relating to the ASIG acquisition, £1.2m increase in onerous lease provision, £0.4m transaction related costs relating  
to the disposal of Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Private Ltd, and £0.8m other transaction related costs.

(ii)  Acquisition integration costs £2.1m (2017: £13.9m) relate to the ASIG acquisition where the costs comprise integration team, IT consultancy and 

systems related costs and rationalisation. 

(iii) Acquisition warranty claims recognised during the year of £6.7m relate to provisions for employee and customer claims for identified items 

relating to ASIG that occurred prior to the Group’s ownership and are expected to become payable. These costs are stated before the expected 
recovery of these costs from the vendor under warranty and indemnity undertakings given in the sale and purchase agreement.

(iv) Impairment costs comprise a £3.3m write-down in the investment in Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services Private Ltd to its recoverable 

amount of fair value less costs to sell of £2.5m and £0.4m of related tax receivables. The impairment of the investment has been performed 
based on the investment being categorised at Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy with the recoverability being assessed using the estimated  
net realisable value of the Group’s share of the net assets of the company. 

(v) Property and pension items comprise £2.1m gain on disposal of property partly offset by £0.2m of pension de-risking costs and past service 
costs relating to the need to equalise men’s and women’s pension entitlement for some of the members in the Menzies Pension Fund. In the  
prior year costs related to fees to close the Company’s defined benefit pension scheme in the United Kingdom to future accrual and in relation  
to the sectionalisation of the scheme ahead of the disposal of the Distribution business.

Notes:
(i)  Transaction related finance costs comprise syndicated facility fees and break costs relating to the disposal of the Distribution business. In the 
prior year, acquisition related financing costs comprised of the write off of bilateral facility fees, pre-acquisition ticking fees and amortisation  
of underwriting fees on the financing facilities to fund the ASIG acquisition.

(ii)  Unwind discount costs relate to deferred consideration and onerous lease provisions.

Acquired intangible assets amortisation included in operating profit
Acquired intangible asset amortisation costs incurred were £6.3m (2017: £7.1m). The amortisation relates  
to contract, customer relationship and brand assets recognised on the acquisition of businesses.

Tax effect of exceptional items
The taxation effect of the exceptional items is a net credit of £1.0m (2017: net credit of £1.9m) in relation to  
tax deductions available for a proportion of the exceptional costs arising during the year.

6. Finance Costs 

Finance income
Bank deposits

Finance charges
Bank loans and overdrafts
Preference dividends

2018 
£m

1.0

(11.1)
(0.1)

(11.2)

2017 
£m

1.2 

(10.1)
(0.1)

(10.2)

(10.2) 

(9.0)

7. Taxation
Tax charge in continuing operations in Income Statement

Current tax
UK corporation tax on profits from continuing operations for the year
Overseas tax
Adjustments to prior years’ liabilities

Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of temporary differences
Adjustments to prior years’ liabilities

Retirement benefit obligation

2018 
£m

(0.9)
11.5 
0.3 

10.9 

(4.1)
(1.4)

(5.5)
3.7 

(1.8)

2017 
£m

(5.3)
16.6 
(1.2)

10.1 

(0.9)
0.2 

(0.7)
1.0 

0.3 

Tax on profit from continuing operations

9.1 

10.4 

Tax related to items charged/(credited) outside Income Statement

2018 
£m

0.5 
–
0.1 
(0.5)
(0.3)

(0.2)

2017 
£m

2.7 
(0.1)
(0.3)
(0.2)
–

2.1 

Effective tax rate
The reconciliation between tax charge and the product of accounting profit multiplied by the Group’s domestic 
tax rate is provided below. 

Profit before tax from continuing operations

Profit before tax multiplied by standard rate of UK corporation tax of 19% (2017: 19.25%)
Non-deductible expenses including intangible amortisation
Depreciation on non-qualifying assets
Unrelieved overseas losses
Deferred tax assets written off/(recognised) on overseas losses carried forward
Exceptional items
Utilisation of previously unrecognised losses 
Higher tax rates on overseas earnings
Share of joint venture and associate post-tax result included in profit before tax 
Adjustments to prior years’ liabilities
Impact of tax rate changes

2018 
£m

21.6 

4.1 
0.7 
0.3 
2.0 
0.6 
1.6 
(0.6)
3.1 
(1.6)
(1.1)
–

9.1 

2017 
£m

9.9 

1.9 
1.9 
0.3 
0.9 
(0.3)
2.7 
(1.4)
4.8 
(1.5)
(1.0)
2.1 

10.4 

The main rate of UK corporation tax reduced from 20% to 19% from 1 April 2017 and will further reduce to 17% 
from 1 April 2020. 

All of the above net finance cost of £10.2m (2017: £9.0m) relates to continuing operations.

124

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

125

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued7. Taxation continued
Factors that may affect future tax charges
The Group has tax losses carried forward that arose in subsidiary companies operating in the undernoted 
jurisdictions and are available for offset against future profits of those subsidiaries. Deferred tax assets have 
not been recognised in respect of these losses as they have arisen in subsidiaries where it is not probable that 
future taxable profits will be available against which such assets could be utilised. The losses carried forward 
are set out below. 

United States of America
Colombia
Germany
Ireland
Norway
Sweden
The Netherlands
Namibia
South Africa
Indonesia
Thailand

Expiry

Carry forward for up to 20 years
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward for 4 years
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward indefinitely
Carry forward for 5 years
Carry forward for 5 years

2018 
£m

40.0 
–
15.0 
0.2 
16.7 
–
0.1 
0.3 
14.6 
0.2 
1.2 

2017 
£m

23.2 
1.2 
20.2 
–
16.5 
2.2 
1.6 
0.5 
14.7 
–
–

The Group has capital losses in the United Kingdom of approximately £10.0m (2017: £10.4m) that are available 
for offset against future taxable gains arising in the United Kingdom. No deferred tax asset has been recognised 
in respect of these losses.

8. Dividends

Dividends paid on ordinary shares

Interim paid in respect of 2018, 6.0p per share
Final paid in respect of 2017, 14.5p per share
Interim paid in respect of 2017, 6.0p per share
Final paid in respect of 2016, 13.1p per share

2018 
£m

5.0 
12.1 
–
–

17.1 

2017 
£m

–
–
5.0 
10.9 

15.9 

Dividends of £0.1m were waived on Treasury shares (2017: £Nil).

The Directors are proposing a final dividend in respect of the year to 31 December 2018 of 14.5p per ordinary 
share, which will absorb an estimated £12.2m of shareholders’ funds. Payment will be made on 1 July 2019 to 
shareholders on the register at the close of business on 24 May 2019.

9. Earnings Per Share

(Loss)/profit for the year after tax as set out in the  

Income Statement

Adjustment to exclude result relating to non-controlling interests

(Loss)/earnings for the year attributable to equity shareholders

Basic earnings per ordinary share
(Loss)/earnings per ordinary share
Diluted (loss)/earnings per ordinary share

Underlying earnings per ordinary share (i)
Earnings per ordinary share 
Diluted earnings per ordinary share 

Number of ordinary shares in issue 
Weighted average (million)
Diluted weighted average (million)

Basic

2018 
£m

(5.4)
(0.3)

(5.7)

2017 
£m

12.0 
0.6 

12.6 

Underlying (i)

2018 
£m

45.3 
(0.3)

45.0 

2017 
£m

47.1 
0.6 

47.7 

(6.8)p
(6.8)p

15.1p 
15.1p 

83.7 
83.8 

83.4 
83.7 

53.8p 
53.7p 

57.2p 
57.0p 

Continuing operations
(Loss)/profit for the year after tax as set out in the  

Income Statement

Adjustment to exclude result from discontinued operations
Adjustment to exclude result relating to non-controlling interests

Earnings for the year attributable to equity shareholders

(5.4)
17.9 
(0.3)

12.2 

12.0 
(12.5)
0.6 

0.1 

45.3 
(13.6)
(0.3)

31.4 

47.1 
(19.6)
0.6 

28.1 

Basic
Earnings per ordinary share
Diluted earnings per ordinary share 

Underlying
Earnings per ordinary share 
Diluted earnings per ordinary share

14.6p 
14.6p 

0.1p 
0.1p 

37.6p 
37.5p 

33.7p 
33.6p 

Discontinued operations
(Loss)/profit for the year after tax as set out in the  

Income Statement

Adjustment to exclude result from continuing operations

(Loss)/earnings for the year attributable to equity shareholders

(5.4)
(12.5)

(17.9)

12.0 
0.5 

12.5 

45.3 
(31.7)

13.6 

47.1 
(27.5)

19.6 

Basic
(Loss)/earnings per ordinary share
Diluted (loss)/earnings per ordinary share 

Underlying
Earnings per ordinary share 
Diluted earnings per ordinary share

(21.4)p
(21.4)p

15.0p 
14.9p 

16.2p 
16.2p 

23.5p 
23.4p 

Note:
(i)  Underlying earnings is presented as an additional performance measure and is stated before exceptional items, intangible amortisation  

and impairment charges.

126

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

127

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued9. Earnings Per Share continued
The weighted average number of fully paid shares in issue during the year excludes those held by the employee 
share trusts. The diluted weighted average is calculated by adjusting for all outstanding share options that are 
potentially dilutive (i.e. where the exercise price is less than the average market price of the shares during the 
year). The impact of these share options is to increase the diluted weighted average number of shares by 0.1m 
(2017: 0.3m) and there is no anti-dilutive impact on basic EPS.

10. Intangible Assets

Cost
At 31 December 2017
Subsidiaries sold (Note 27)
Additions
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

Amortisation and impairment
At 31 December 2017
Subsidiaries sold (Note 27)
Amortisation charge
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2017

Cost
At 31 December 2016
Acquisitions (Note 24)
Additions
Disposals
Currency translation

At 31 December 2017

Amortisation and impairment
At 31 December 2016
Amortisation charge
Released on disposal
Currency translation

At 31 December 2017

Net book value
At 31 December 2017

At 31 December 2016

Contracts, 
customer 
relationships  
and brands 
£m

Computer 
software 
£m

138.1 
(36.7)
0.7 
1.7 

35.9 
(23.8)
2.5 
– 

Goodwill 
£m

147.7 
(15.5)
– 
4.6 

Total 
£m

321.7 
(76.0)
3.2 
6.3 

136.8 

103.8 

14.6 

255.2 

23.0 
– 
– 
1.4 

24.4 

112.4 

124.7 

68.3 
(14.0)
7.2 
– 

61.5 

26.7 
(18.3)
1.6 
0.1 

10.1 

118.0 
(32.3)
8.8 
1.5 

96.0 

42.3 

69.8 

4.5 

9.2 

159.2 

203.7 

Contracts, 
customer 
relationships  
and brands 
£m

Computer 
software 
£m

Goodwill 
£m

77.1 
78.0 
– 
– 
(7.4)

147.7 

25.3 
– 
– 
(2.3)

23.0 

124.7 

51.8 

101.1 
42.4 
– 
(3.1)
(2.3)

138.1 

58.7 
10.5 
– 
(0.9)

68.3 

69.8 

42.4 

Total 
£m

213.2 
120.4 
2.8 
(5.0)
(9.7)

321.7 

109.2 
13.9 
(1.9)
(3.2)

118.0 

35.0 
– 
2.8 
(1.9)
– 

35.9 

25.2 
3.4 
(1.9)
– 

26.7 

9.2 

9.8 

203.7 

104.0 

Goodwill acquired through business combinations has been allocated at acquisition to cash generating units 
(“CGUs”) that are expected to benefit from the business combination. The carrying amount of the goodwill has 
been allocated to the operating units as provided below.

Americas 

EMEA

Rest of World
Cargo Forwarding (i)

Ground handling
Cargo handling
Ground handling
Cargo handling

2018

2017

Pre-tax 
discount 
rate used in 
impairment 
review

11%
11%
11%
9%
10%
11%

Pre-tax 
discount 
rate used in 
impairment 
review

11%
11%
9%
9%
10%
11%

Goodwill 
£m

57.4 
9.8 
30.3 
2.9 
4.0 
8.0 

112.4 

Goodwill 
£m

54.1 
9.3 
30.4 
3.0 
4.0 
8.4 

109.2 

Note:
(i)  Cargo Forwarding South Africa has been combined with USA, Australia and New Zealand as the business is managed by one central team.

The Group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that these might 
be impaired. The basis of these impairment tests including key assumptions are set out below.

The recoverable amounts of the CGUs are determined from value in use calculations. These calculations use 
future cash flow projections based on financial forecasts approved by Management. The key assumptions for 
these forecasts are those regarding revenue growth, net margin, capital expenditure and the level of working 
capital required to support trading, which Management estimates based on past experience and expectations 
of future changes in the market. 

The value in use calculations use a post-tax discount rate assumption in a range from 7% to 9% (2017: 7% to 
9%) based on the Group’s weighted average post-tax cost of capital and having considered the uncertainty risk 
attributable to individual CGUs. The equivalent pre-tax discount rate is a range from 9% to 11% (2017: 9% to 11%) 
as shown in the table above. The pre-tax rate has been applied to pre-tax cash flows.

Value in use calculations are based on Board approved budgets and plans for a three year period and 
extrapolated for a further two year period. Growth rates in the cash flows beyond the three year period have 
been assumed to be Nil% (2017: Nil%). Net margin assumptions are based on historic experience.

Base case forecasts show significant headroom above carrying value for each CGU. Sensitivity analysis has 
been undertaken for each CGU to assess the impact of any reasonably possible change in key assumptions. 
For all significant CGUs there is no reasonably possible change that would cause the carrying values to exceed 
recoverable amounts.

128

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

129

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued11. Property, Plant and Equipment 

Freehold 
property 
£m

Leasehold 
property 
£m

Plant and 
equipment 
£m

Cost
At 31 December 2017
Subsidiaries sold (Note 27)
Additions
Disposals
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

Depreciation
At 31 December 2017
Subsidiaries sold (Note 27)
Charge for the year
Disposals
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2017

Cost
At 31 December 2016
Acquisitions (Note 24)
Additions
Disposals
Currency translation

At 31 December 2017

Depreciation
At 31 December 2016
Charge for the year
Disposals
Currency translation

At 31 December 2017

Net book value
At 31 December 2017

At 31 December 2016

Total 
£m

386.9 
(87.0)
29.2 
(47.6)
0.2 

51.9 
(1.5)
1.1 
(0.1)
0.4 

298.9 
(66.5)
28.1 
(42.2)
(0.2)

51.8 

218.1 

281.7 

31.1 
(0.6)
3.0 
– 
(0.1)

187.0 
(53.0)
21.4 
(27.6)
(1.1)

231.3 
(60.0)
24.9 
(29.3)
(1.2)

33.4 

126.7 

165.7 

36.1 
(19.0)
– 
(5.3)
– 

11.8 

13.2 
(6.4)
0.5 
(1.7)
– 

5.6 

6.2 

22.9 

18.4 

20.8 

91.4 

111.9 

116.0 

155.6 

Freehold 
property 
£m

Leasehold 
property 
£m

Plant and 
equipment 
£m

Total 
£m

337.6 
31.9 
28.9 
(5.4)
(6.1)

263.2 
21.1 
26.4 
(5.4)
(6.4)

298.9 

386.9 

169.9 
24.0 
(4.7)
(2.2)

187.0 

210.3 
27.8 
(4.7)
(2.1)

231.3 

34.9 
– 
1.2 
– 
– 

36.1 

12.5 
0.7 
– 
– 

13.2 

39.5 
10.8 
1.3 
– 
0.3 

51.9 

27.9 
3.1 
– 
0.1 

31.1 

22.9 

22.4 

20.8 

11.6 

111.9 

93.3 

155.6 

127.3

12. Investments 
The movement of the net book value of investments is set out below.

2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2017
Share of profits after tax
Dividends received during the year
Additions (i)
Disposal (ii)
Impairment (iii)
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

2017

Net book value 
At 31 December 2016
Share of profits after tax
Dividends received during the year
Additions
Currency translation
Other

At 31 December 2017

Interest in 
joint 
ventures 
£m

Interest in 
associates 
£m

Other 
£m

Total 
£m

27.1 
6.8 
(5.0)
1.2 
(7.4)
(3.3)
(0.5)

18.9 

0.4 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

0.4 

0.2 
– 
– 
5.0 
– 
– 
– 

5.2 

27.7 
6.8 
(5.0)
6.2 
(7.4)
(3.3)
(0.5)

24.5 

Interest in 
joint 
ventures 
£m

Interest in 
associates 
£m

Other 
£m

Total 
£m

30.3 
7.8 
(7.3)
– 
(2.8)
(0.9)

27.1 

0.4 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

0.4 

0.2 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

0.2 

30.9 
7.8 
(7.3)
– 
(2.8)
(0.9)

27.7

Notes:
(i)  Additions in the year comprise investments of £1.0m in Menzies Aviation Cairns Pty Ltd and £0.2m in Smarter Asset Management Ltd. As set 

out in Note 27, as part of the disposal arrangement relating to the Distribution business in the current year the Company acquired a 10% equity 
investment of £5.0m in Endless Newco1 Ltd, the company established to hold the trade of the Distribution business disposed of during the year. 
There was no change in the valuation recognised in the current year.

(ii)  Investment in Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Private Ltd was disposed on 31 October 2018 for £6.3m resulting in a loss of £0.8m before tax  

as set out in Note 5.

(iii) The investment in Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services Private Ltd was impaired by £3.3m following the loss of licence to operate ground 

handling services in Hyderabad as set out in Note 5.

130

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

131

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued12. Investments continued
Material joint ventures

2018

Country of incorporation

Menzies Bobba 
Ground Handling 
Services  
Private Ltd 
£m

Menzies Aviation 
Bobba 
(Bangalore) 
Private Ltd 
£m

India

India

Hyderabad 
Menzies  
Air Cargo 
Private Ltd (ii) 

£m

India

Menzies Macau 
Airport  
Services Ltd 
£m

China

Statutory year end

31 March

31 March

31 March 31 December

Ground 
handling 
services in 
Hyderabad

Cargo 
handling 
services in 
Bangalore

Cargo 
handling 
services in 
Hyderabad

Ground 
handling 
and cargo 
handling in 
Macau

Business activity

Interest held – ordinary shares
Interest held – preference shares
Group’s share of total comprehensive income
Group’s share of net assets

Summarised Balance Sheet 
Current assets (i)
Non-current assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities

Net assets

51%
0%
51%
46%

5.9 
0.6 
(0.7)
– 

5.8 

Notes:
(i)  Includes cash and cash equivalents
(ii)  Investment in Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Private Ltd was disposed on 31 October 2018

3.9

Reconciliation of net assets to carrying value
Net assets
Partners’ share of net assets

Carrying amount of the investment

Summarised Income Statement
Revenue
Depreciation and amortisation
Other operating costs
Interest income
Income tax

Profit from continuing operations

Comprehensive income for the year
Group’s share of total comprehensive income

Carrying amount of investment
At 31 December 2017
Group’s share of total comprehensive income
Dividends received during the year
Disposal
Impairment
Currency translation

At 31 December 2018

132

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

5.8 
(3.3)

2.5 

4.4 
– 
(3.5)
0.2 
(0.2)

0.9 

0.9 
0.5 

5.8 
0.5 
(0.3)
– 
(3.3)
(0.2)

2.5 

49%
100%
49%
68%

12.5 
4.4 
(2.1)
– 

14.8 

10.3

14.8 
(4.7)

10.1 

15.3 
(0.9)
(8.3)
0.6 
(2.3)

4.4 

4.4 
2.2 

10.4 
2.2 
(2.3)
– 
– 
(0.2)

10.1 

– 
– 
– 
– 

–
– 
– 
– 

– 

–

– 
– 

– 

8.5 
(0.3)
(5.8)
0.5 
(0.8)

2.1 

2.1 
1.0 

6.7 
1.0 
– 
(7.4)
– 
(0.3)

– 

29%
0%
29%
29%

11.2 
9.0 
(7.3)
(0.5)

12.4 

6.0

12.4 
(8.7)

3.7 

40.6 
(1.2)
(28.8)
– 
(1.3)

9.3 

9.3 
2.7 

3.2 
2.7 
(2.4)
– 
– 
0.2 

3.7 

2017

Interest held – ordinary shares
Interest held – preference shares
Group’s share of total comprehensive income
Group’s share of net assets

Summarised Balance Sheet 
Current assets (i)
Non-current assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities

Net assets

Note:
(i)  Includes cash and cash equivalents

Reconciliation of net assets to carrying value
Net assets
Partners’ share of net assets
Unpaid dividends

Carrying amount of the investment

Summarised Income Statement
Revenue
Depreciation and amortisation
Other operating costs
Interest income
Income tax

Profit from continuing operations

Comprehensive income for the year
Group’s share of total comprehensive income

Carrying amount of investment
At 31 December 2016
Group’s share of total comprehensive income
Dividends received during the year
Currency translation

At 31 December 2017

Menzies Bobba 
Ground Handling 
Services  
Private Ltd 
£m

Menzies Aviation 
Bobba 
(Bangalore) 
Private Ltd 
£m

Hyderabad 
Menzies  
Air Cargo  
Private Ltd 
£m

Menzies Macau 
Airport  
Services Ltd 
£m

51%
0%
51%
47%

5.7 
0.6 
(0.7)
– 

5.6 

49%
100%
49%
69%

12.3 
4.6 
(1.8)
– 

15.1 

49%
100%
49%
54%

5.7 
6.8 
(0.1)
– 

12.4 

29%
0%
29%
29%

9.5 
7.3 
(5.9)
(0.1)

10.8

3.8 

10.3 

3.9 

4.0 

5.6 
(3.0)
3.2 

5.8 

3.8 
(0.1)
(3.2)
0.3 
(0.1)

0.7 

0.7 
0.4 

5.7 
0.4 
(0.2)
(0.1)

5.8 

15.1 
(4.7)
– 

10.4 

14.3 
(0.9)
(7.6)
0.6 
(1.8)

4.6 

4.6 
2.2 

11.0 
2.3 
(2.6)
(0.3)

10.4 

12.4 
(5.7)
– 

6.7 

10.9 
(0.3)
(7.1)
1.0 
(1.1)

3.4 

3.4 
1.8 

5.9 
1.7 
(0.7)
(0.2)

6.7 

2018 
£m

3.0

0.4

0.4

10.8 
(7.6)
– 

3.2 

36.9 
(1.1)
(26.5)
– 
(1.1)

8.2 

8.2 
2.4 

3.2 
2.4 
(2.1)
(0.3)

3.2

2017 
£m

1.4

0.5 

0.5 

Individually immaterial joint ventures and associates

Carrying amount of interests in joint ventures and associates

Share of profit from continuing operations

Total comprehensive income

The increase in the carrying value primarily relates to the investment of £1.0m in Menzies Aviation Cairns Pty Ltd.

The listing of joint venture and associates, along with all subsidiary undertakings, is presented on pages 166 to 179.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

133

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued13. Deferred Tax 

Deferred tax assets
Retirement benefit obligation
Share-based payments
Tax losses
Other temporary differences (i)

Deferred tax liabilities
Intangible assets
Other overseas temporary differences

Net recognised in Balance Sheet

Movement in net deferred tax assets in the year:
Income Statement: retirement benefit obligation
Income Statement: other
Income Statement: discontinued operations
Exchange adjustments
Transaction related movements
Reclassification of corporation tax
Tax related to items charged/(credited) outside Income Statement

2018 
£m

3.1
1.1
11.1
7.9

2017 
£m

8.4 
1.3 
5.9 
8.6 

23.2

24.2 

(1.7)
(1.2) 

(2.9)

(4.6)
(0.1)

(4.7)

20.3 

19.5 

(3.7)
5.5 
(0.7)
–
(1.1)
–
0.8 

0.8 

(0.9)
0.8 
1.1 
(0.7)
(2.6)
2.4 
(2.0)

(1.9)

Note:
(i)  Other temporary differences comprise temporary differences arising on property, plant and equipment, share-based payments,  

accruals and provisions.

The value of unremitted earnings of the Group’s subsidiaries on which no deferred tax liability has been provided 
is £27.0m (2017: £20.1m). No deferred tax liability has been recognised on the basis that the Group can control 
the timing of the remittance of these reserves and there are currently no plans for these reserves to be remitted.

14. Trade and Other Receivables 

Trade receivables
Less: sales returns 
Less: provision for doubtful debts

Net trade receivables
Accrued income
Consortium related receivables
Prepayments
Current income tax receivables
Other receivables 

2018
£m

174.7 
–
(3.9)

170.8 
22.2 
97.9 
15.4 
0.8 
51.9 

359.0 

2017 (i)
£m

287.5 
(23.7)
(4.4)

259.4 
34.8 
27.4 
17.1 
–
15.6 

354.3 

Note:
(i)  As set out in Note 1 other receivables have been restated to include £4.1m of insurance receivables.

The average credit period on sale of goods is 48 days (2017: 42 days). Interest is not charged on trade receivables.

Consortium related receivables include re-billable expenses and restricted cash related to fuel farm management 
services. Restricted cash represents funding received from customers and held in a fiduciary capacity to be 
used on their behalf to satisfy fuel farm management expenses within 12 months and is therefore classified  
as a current asset.

Included within other receivables is a total of £20.2m relating to the planned acquisition of the trade and 
assets of Airline Services Ltd in the United Kingdom. The Group made a payment of £14.4m to the vendor 
on 4 April 2018 but was not able to control the business until the conclusion of an investigation by the UK 
Competition and Markets Authority. The transaction has not been treated as a business combination in the 2018 
consolidated financial statements with the payment to acquire the business and the funding of its activities 
since being included in other receivables. The Competition and Markets Authority cleared the transaction on 
17 January 2019 and the business will be treated as an acquisition in the 2019 consolidated financial statements 
from that date.

Credit risk management
Customer credit risk is managed by each business unit subject to the Group’s established policy, procedures 
and controls relating to customer credit risk management. All new customers are subject to formal credit 
checks. Credit terms for new customers cannot exceed 30 days without prior approval. New contracts and 
renewals with existing customers are subject to credit worthiness checks. Any existing or previous trading 
experiences are taken into account before making a recommendation on terms. All receivables 12 months 
overdue are provided in full unless there is a justified business reason and clear evidence of collectability.  
Any bad debts written off require prior approval.

An impairment analysis is performed at each reporting date using a provision matrix to measure expected 
credit losses. The provision rates are based on days past due. The Group evaluates the concentration of risk 
with respect to trade receivables and contract assets as low due to its wide customer base. There is no risk 
relating to consortium related receivables due to funding received in advance for fuel farm operations. 

The credit risk exposure on the Group’s trade receivables and accrued income is set out below.

2018

Estimated credit loss rate
Estimated total gross carrying amount at default
Expected credit loss

Allowance for expected credit losses

Trade receivables

Accrued 
income 
£m

–
22.2 
–

Current
£m

31-60 days
£m

61-90 days
£m

over 90 days
£m

Total
£m

0.2%
109.3 
0.2 

0.2%
44.2 
0.1 

2.4%
4.2 
0.1 

20.6%
17.0 
3.5 

174.7 
3.9 

At beginning of year
Amounts provided
Amounts released
Amounts utilised
Subsidiaries sold
Currency translation

At end of year

2018 
£m

4.4 
1.6 
(0.6)
–
(1.6)
0.1 

3.9 

2017 
£m

3.8 
1.8 
(0.5)
(0.7)
–
–

4.4 

134

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

135

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued15. Trade and Other Payables

Due within one year
Trade payables
Less: sales returns 

Net trade payables
Accruals
Deferred income
Consortium related payables
Other taxes and social security costs
Other payables

Due after more than one year
Other payables 

2018 
£m

2017 (i) 
£m

39.9 
–

39.9 
109.3 
2.4 
108.0 
7.8 
23.1 

119.4 
(20.2)

99.2 
144.6 
3.1 
39.1 
6.6 
32.7 

290.5 

325.3 

3.7 

4.6 

Note:
(i) As set out in Note 1 accruals have been restated to include £14.2m of insurance related items and £5.3m of other items.

The carrying value of trade and other payables approximates fair value.

Included within other payables is contingent consideration and other contingent acquisition related amounts as 
disclosed in Note 16. Such amounts included within other payables due within one year are £3.7m (2017: £0.4m) 
and other payables due after more than one year are £Nil (2017: £3.6m).

During the year £3.1m of deferred income at 31 December 2017 was recognised in the Income Statement.

16. Financial Instruments
Derivative financial instruments 
Recognised in Balance Sheet

Non-current asset
Current asset
Current liability

Net fair value

Adjusted to fair value through the Statement of Other Comprehensive Income

Cash flow hedges:
Foreign exchange forward contracts
Interest rate swaps
Foreign currency net investment hedges:
Foreign exchange forward contracts

Net fair value

2018 
£m

1.5 
0.6 
(0.5)

1.6 

2017 
£m

0.9 
1.1 
(0.5)

1.5 

2018 
Level 2 
£m

2017 
Level 2 
£m

0.2 
1.5 

(0.1)

1.6 

0.1 
0.9 

0.5 

1.5 

The Group is exposed to certain risks relating to its ongoing business operations. The primary risks managed 
using derivative instruments are foreign currency risk and interest rate risk. The Group only enters into derivative 
financial instruments that are designated as hedging instruments. The fair values of foreign currency instruments 
are calculated by reference to current market rates. During the year, all derivative financial instruments were 
measured using Level 2 fair value measurements.

The Group uses a hierarchy for determining and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments by valuation 
technique as set out below.

Level 1: quoted (unadjusted) prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2: other techniques for which all inputs that have a significant effect on the recorded fair value are 
observable, either directly or indirectly.
Level 3: techniques which use inputs that have a significant effect on the recorded fair value that are not based 
on observable market data.

For financial instruments that are recognised at fair value on a recurring basis, the Group determines whether 
transfers have occurred between levels in the hierarchy by re-assessing categorisation (based on the lowest 
level input that is significant to the fair value measurement as a whole) at the end of each reporting period.

Cash flow hedges 
Foreign exchange forward contracts
At 31 December 2018 the Group held foreign currency forward contracts designated as hedges of transaction 
exposures arising from revenue in foreign currencies. These contracts were in line with the Group’s policy to 
hedge significant forecast transaction exposures for a maximum 18 months forward. The cash flow hedges 
for revenue in foreign currencies were assessed to be highly effective therefore there is no ineffectiveness 
recognised within the Income Statement.

The notional value of forward contracts utilised to hedge forecast foreign currency transaction exposures at 
31 December is £22.0m (2017: £25.6m) all of which expire within 12 months. The cash flow hedge reserve records the 
portion of the gains or losses on hedging instruments used as cash flow hedges that are determined to be effective.

Interest rate swaps
During the year the Group maintained US$125m of interest rate swaps with an amortising profile to match  
50% of the US$250m term loan maturing in June 2021. At 31 December 2018, 35.5% (2017: 34.9%) of the interest 
on the Group’s borrowings were fixed.

Fair value of cash flow hedges – currency forward contracts
Fair value of cash flow hedges – interest rate swaps

Current value
Non-current value

2018

Assets 
£m

2017

Assets 
£m

Liabilities 
£m

0.2 
1.5 

1.7 

0.2 
1.5 

1.7 

0.3 
0.9 

1.2 

0.3 
0.9 

1.2 

(0.2)
– 

(0.2)

(0.2)
– 

(0.2)

Foreign currency net investment hedges
The Group’s policy is to hedge the exposure of foreign currency denominated assets to minimise foreign 
exchange risk. This is primarily achieved using forward contracts denominated in the relevant foreign currencies. 
Gains or losses on the retranslation of these hedges are transferred to reserves to offset any gains or losses  
on translation of the net investments in the subsidiary undertakings. The foreign currency net investment 
hedges were assessed to be highly effective therefore there is no ineffectiveness recognised within the  
Income Statement.

Fair value of foreign currency net investment hedges

Current value

2018 
Assets 
£m

0.4 

0.4 

Liabilities 
£m

(0.5) 

(0.5) 

2017 
Assets 
£m

0.8

0.8

Liabilities 
£m

(0.3)

(0.3)

136

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

137

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued16. Financial instruments continued
Cash flow hedges  continued
Foreign currency net investment hedges continued
The notional value of forward contracts designated as foreign currency net investment hedges at 31 December 
2018 is £41.4m (2017: £50.3m), all of which expire within 12 months. 

The notional principal amounts of the outstanding forward foreign exchange contracts relating to the most 
significant currencies for the Group is provided below.

Australian dollar
Canadian dollar
Colombian peso
Czech koruna
Danish krone
Euro
Indian rupee
Mexican peso
New Zealand dollar
Norwegian krone
South African rand
Swedish krona

Currency value

Sterling equivalent

2018 
m

2017 
m

2018 
£m

13.0
11.5
5,100
115.0
15.0
2.1
574
51.0
3.0
35.0
30.0
50.0

23.9
5.5
4,000
115.0
10.0
3.6
810
51.0
6.0
35.0
30.0
50.0

7.2
6.6
1.2
4.0
1.8
1.9
6.4
2.0
1.6
3.1
1.6
4.4

2017 
£m

13.8
3.2
1.0
4.0
1.2
3.2
9.4
1.9
3.2
3.2
1.8
4.5

Other financial instruments
Contingent consideration
The acquisition of Gold Coast Air Terminal Services Pty Ltd included an earn-out target based on annualised 
EBITDA, which should it be met would require the Group to pay the vendor up to an additional £0.4m in 
2019. The difference between the fair value at the date of acquisition and the maximum payable contingent 
consideration is not considered to be material. Management expects that the target will be met and therefore 
the contingent consideration has been provided for. During the year ended 31 December 2018, contingent 
consideration of £0.4m was cash settled. 

The acquisition of PlaneBiz 2015 Ltd in 2014 included options in relation to the 40% shareholding owned by a 
third party. These options take the form of a put option in favour of the third party shareholders for up to 30% 
of the share capital, exercisable during 2019. Following the expiry of this put option the Group then has a call 
option, exercisable for a 60 day period, for the remaining shares that have not been exercised under the put 
option. The fair value of the put option has been calculated based on the expected discounted cash flows of 
the underlying value, which is the expected average annual EBITDA over the preceding three years multiplied 
by 5.5. The call option is considered to have a negligible fair value. 

The liabilities for contingent consideration and other acquisition related amounts are Level 3 derivative financial 
instruments. The fair value of contingent acquisition related amounts is set out below.

PlaneBiz 2015 Ltd
Gold Coast Air Terminal Services Pty Ltd

2018 
£m

3.3
0.4 

2017 
£m

3.2
0.8 

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings

Bank overdrafts
Amortising sterling term loan 
Non-amortising sterling bank loans
Amortising US dollar term loan
Preference shares

Current value
Non-current value

Maturity

On demand
Settled
June 2021
June 2021
Non-redeemable

2018
£m

23.5 
–
59.0 
195.3 
1.4 

2017
£m

1.9 
7.1 
93.6 
184.7 
1.4 

279.2 

288.7 

34.7 
244.5 

279.2 

5.1 
283.6 

288.7 

The Group’s current bank facilities were drawn down on 1 February 2017 and comprise a US$250m amortising 
term loan and a £150m revolving credit facility, both with a maturity of June 2021. At 31 December 2018 the 
average interest rates on these US dollar and sterling loans were 4.1% and 2.7%, respectively.

The amortising US dollar term loan is repayable between 2019 and 2021. The loan has a weighted average 
maturity of three years.

Non-amortising bank loans are drawn against unsecured, committed revolving bank credit facilities maturing  
in June 2021.

The Company has issued 1,394,587 cumulative preference shares of £1 each. These shares are not redeemable 
and pay an interest coupon of 9% semi-annually.

Net debt

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
Derivative financial instruments

Total borrowings
Less: cash at bank, cash in hand and short-term deposits

The book and fair values of net debt is provided below. 

Short-term borrowings
Medium-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings
Derivative financial instruments
Bank overdrafts

Total financial liabilities
Less: cash at bank, cash in hand and short-term deposits

Net debt

2018 
£m

279.2 
(1.6)

277.6 
78.0 

199.6 

2017 
£m

288.7 
(1.5)

287.2 
72.8 

214.4

2018

2017

Book value
£m

Fair value
£m

Book value
£m

Fair value
£m

11.2 
16.7 
227.8 
(1.6)
23.5 

277.6 
78.0 

199.6 

11.2 
16.7 
227.8 
(1.6)
23.5 

277.6 
78.0 

199.6 

3.2 
14.1 
269.5 
(1.5)
1.9 

287.2 
72.8 

214.4 

3.4
14.3
269.5
(1.5)
1.9

287.6
72.8

214.8 

138

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

139

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued 
16. Financial instruments continued
Net debt continued
The fair value of the fixed term, amortising borrowing is calculated as the present value of all future cash flows 
discounted at prevailing market rates.

Credit risk
Credit risk is the risk that a counterparty will not meet its obligations under a financial instrument or customer 
contract, leading to a financial loss. The Group is exposed to credit risk from its operating activities, primarily 
trade receivables, and from its financing activities, including deposits with banks as set out below.

Other than trade and other receivables and payables, there are no financial assets or liabilities excluded from 
the above analysis. No financial assets or liabilities were held or issued for trading purposes.

The currency and interest rate profile of financial liabilities is provided below.

Bank deposits
Trade receivables
Accrued income

2018
£m

78.0 
170.8 
22.2 

271.0 

2017
£m

72.8 
259.4 
34.8 

367.0 

Sterling denominated
US dollar denominated
Thai baht denominated

Floating
rate
financial
liabilities 
£m

79.0 
100.5 
0.6

180.1 

2018

Fixed
rate
financial
liabilities 
£m

1.4 
97.7 
– 

99.1 

Floating
rate
financial
liabilities 
£m

95.4
92.4
–

187.8

2017

Fixed
rate
financial
liabilities 
£m

8.5
92.4
– 

100.9

Total 
£m

80.4 
198.2 
0.6

279.2 

Total 
£m

103.9
184.8
–

288.7

Undrawn committed facilities of £91.0m expire between two and five years (2017: £56.5m between two and  
five years).

Trade and other receivables and payables
Trade and other receivables and trade and other payables carrying values of £222.7m (2017: £275.0m) and 
£172.3m (2017: £276.5m), respectively, in respect of the Group which approximate their fair values due to their 
short-term nature.

Sensitivity and risk information
Foreign currency sensitivity
Foreign currency risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of an exposure will fluctuate because 
of changes in foreign exchange rates. The Group’s exposure to the risk of changes in foreign exchange rates 
relates primarily to the Group’s operating activities and the Group’s net investments in foreign subsidiaries. 
The impact of sterling weakening/strengthening by 10% on currencies that have a significant impact on the 
consolidated profit before tax and equity, with all other variables held constant, the effect is set out below.

US dollar
US dollar
Australian dollar
Australian dollar
Euro
Euro
Indian rupee
Indian rupee

2018

2017

Changes in rate

Effect on profit 
before tax
£m

Effect on 
equity
£m

Effect on profit 
before tax
£m

Effect on 
equity
£m

+10%
–10%
+10%
–10%
+10%
–10%
+10%
–10%

1.8 
(1.5)
1.5 
(1.2)
1.4 
(1.1)
0.7 
(0.6)

(0.9)
1.1 
1.3 
(1.1)
(0.1)
0.1 
1.0 
(0.8)

2.0 
(1.6)
1.4 
(1.2)
1.1 
(0.9)
0.7 
(0.6)

1.6 
(1.3)
1.6 
(1.3)
(0.8)
0.7 
1.3 
(1.1)

Capital risk
The Group capital structure is managed in order to minimise the cost of capital whilst ensuring that it has 
access to ongoing sources of finance such as the debt capital markets. The Group defines capital as the sum 
of net debt (as set out in Note 18) and equity attributable to equity holders of the Company (as set out in the 
Group and Company Statement of Changes in Equity). The only externally imposed capital requirements for 
the Group are debt to EBITDA and interest cover covenants under the terms of the bank facilities, with which 
the Group has fully complied during both the current year and the prior year. To maintain or adjust its capital 
structure, the Group may adjust the dividend payment to shareholders and/or issue new shares. 

For banks and financial institutions, the Group’s policy is to transact with independently rated parties with a 
minimum rating of ‘A’. If there is no independent rating the credit quality of the counterparty is assessed taking 
into account factors including its financial position and past experience. For trade receivables and accrued 
income the Group’s credit risk policy and management process is set out in Note 14.

Liquidity risk
Liquidity risk is managed by maintaining adequate reserves and banking facilities by continuously monitoring 
forecast and actual cash flows. The following is an analysis of the maturity of the consolidated financial liabilities 
and derivative financial liabilities based on the remaining period at the balance sheet date to the contractual 
maturity date. The amounts disclosed in the table are the contractual undiscounted cash flows. Floating rate 
interest is estimated using the prevailing rate at the balance sheet date. Net values of transaction hedging are 
disclosed in accordance with the contractual terms of these derivative instruments.

2018

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
Preference shares
Trade and other payables
Financial derivatives

2017

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
Preference shares
Trade and other payables
Financial derivatives

Due under  
1 year 
£m

Due between  
1 and 2 years
£m

Due between  
2 and 5 years
£m

Due over  
5 years
£m

20.8 
0.1 
63.0 
40.7 

124.6 

19.1 
0.1 
3.7 
(0.9)

22.0 

237.5 
0.4 
–
(0.3)

237.6 

–
1.5 
–
–

1.5 

Due under 
1 year 
£m

Due between  
1 and 2 years 
£m

Due between  
2 and 5 years 
£m

Due over  
5 years 
£m

14.6 
0.1 
131.9 
50.3 

196.9 

23.3 
0.1 
4.6 
(0.1)

27.9 

281.7 
0.4 
– 
(0.2)

281.9 

– 
1.5 
– 
– 

1.5

Interest rate risk
Interest rate risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of a financial instrument will fluctuate because 
of changes in market interest rates. The Group’s exposure to the risk of changes in market interest rates relates 
primarily to the Group’s long-term debt obligations with floating interest rates. The Group’s policy is to minimise 
exposures to interest rate risk by ensuring an appropriate balance of long-term and short-term floating rates 
and by maintaining interest rate swaps with an amortising profile to match 50% of the US$250m term loan 
maturing in June 2021.

If interest rates on sterling denominated borrowings had been 0.5% higher/lower with all other variables held 
constant, post-tax profit for the year would have been £0.5m (2017: £0.4m) lower/higher, mainly as a result of 
higher/lower interest expense on floating rate borrowings.

If interest rates on US dollar denominated borrowings had been 0.5% higher/lower with all other variables held 
constant, post-tax profit for the year would have been £0.5m (2017: £0.5m) lower/higher, mainly as a result of 
higher/lower interest expense on floating rate borrowings.

140

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

141

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued17. Cash Generated from Operations

Continuing and discontinued operations

Operating profit before joint ventures and associates
Depreciation 
Amortisation of intangible assets
Share-based payments expense
Non-exceptional onerous lease provision release
Cash spend on onerous leases
Gain on sale of property, plant and equipment
Pension charge
Pension contributions in cash
Transaction and related exceptional items
Loss on disposal and other related costs
Cash spend on exceptional items
(Increase)/decrease in working capital 

2018 
£m

13.1 
24.9 
8.8 
1.6 
–
(1.5)
(1.6)
1.4 
(24.9)
13.5 
30.3 
(8.9)
(1.8)

54.9

2017 
£m

31.4 
27.8 
13.9 
1.4 
(0.8)
(1.0)
(0.1)
2.2 
(12.5)
27.1 
–
(21.1)
1.9 

70.2 

18. Changes in Net Borrowings

Cash at bank and in hand
Bank overdrafts

Net cash and cash equivalents
Bank loans due within one year
Preference shares
Debt due after one year
Net derivative liabilities

Net debt

31 December 
2017 
£m

Cash flows 
£m

Fair value 
movements 
£m

Currency 
translation 
£m

31 December 
2018 
£m

72.8 
(1.9)

70.9 
(3.2)
(1.4)
(282.2)
1.5 

(214.4)

4.9 
(21.6)

(16.7)
(8.0)
– 
49.6 
(0.9)

24.0 

– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
1.0 

1.0 

0.3 
– 

0.3 
– 
– 
(10.5)
– 

(10.2)

78.0 
(23.5)

54.5 
(11.2)
(1.4)
(243.1)
1.6 

(199.6)

As set out in the cash flow statement, proceeds from borrowings were £1.0m (2017: £293.4m) and repayments 
of borrowings were £41.7m (2017: £101.3m).

Currency translation movements result from the Group’s policy of hedging overseas net assets, which are 
denominated mainly in US dollars, euros and Australian dollars. The translation effect on net debt is offset by 
the translation effect on net assets which resulted in an overall net exchange loss of £3.0m (2017: loss of £1.4m). 
The net loss is recognised in other comprehensive income.

19. Operating Lease Commitments 
The future aggregate minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is provided below.

Within one year
Between one and five years
After five years

Property

Other

2018
£m

29.7
38.3
15.1

83.1 

2017 
£m

35.4 
61.4 
47.3 

144.1 

2018
£m

59.9
140.2
7.6

207.7

2017
£m

39.2 
67.2 
7.1 

113.5 

Property commitments relate to leases of offices and buildings around the world. Other commitments primarily 
relate to leases of equipment and vehicles which generally have a contractual period of three to four years.

As set out in Note 1 the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases in 2019 will remove the distinction between operating 
leases and finance leases and bring most of the assets subject to lease onto the Balance Sheet as fixed assets with 
the corresponding liability shown as debt. This will materially gross up the Balance Sheet with the recognition of 
a new right of use asset which will be depreciated through the Income Statement and a lease liability on which 
interest will be charged through the Income Statement. 

20. Capital Commitments

Contracted but not provided – property, plant and equipment

2018
£m

0.4

2017
£m

0.8 

21. Provisions

At 31 December 2017 restated
Provided/(released) during year
Utilised during year
Reclassifications
Subsidiaries sold
Currency translation loss

At 31 December 2018

Current
Non-current

At 31 December 2016 restated
Provided during year
Utilised during year
Reclassifications
Subsidiaries acquired
Currency translation gain

At 31 December 2017 restated

Current
Non-current

Insurance
£m

Legal and 
employee related
£m

Property 
and 
equipment
£m

18.3 
12.3 
(4.5)
–
–
0.9 

27.0 

27.0 
–

27.0 

12.3 
17.8 
(7.2)
3.4 
–
0.5 

26.8 

19.5 
7.3 

26.8 

6.0 
1.5 
(2.6)
0.2 
(0.2)
–

4.9 

2.1 
2.8 

4.9 

Insurance
£m

Legal and 
employee related
£m

Property 
and 
equipment
£m

13.2 
11.2 
(5.1)
–
–
(1.0)

18.3 

18.3 
–

18.3 

6.5 
2.8 
(0.3)
(0.5)
4.2 
(0.4)

12.3 

12.3 
–

12.3 

5.9 
0.4 
(1.2)
–
1.0 
(0.1)

6.0 

3.5 
2.5 

6.0 

Other
£m

5.3 
(1.8)
(0.2)
(2.2)
–
0.1 

1.2 

0.7 
0.5 

1.2 

Other
£m

0.1 
0.3 
(1.4)
0.4 
6.1 
(0.2)

5.3 

5.3 
–

5.3 

Group
£m

41.9 
29.8 
(14.5)
1.4 
(0.2)
1.5 

59.9 

49.3 
10.6 

59.9 

Group
£m

25.7 
14.7 
(8.0)
(0.1)
11.3 
(1.7)

41.9 

39.4 
2.5 

41.9 

As set out in Note 1 insurance provisions have been reclassified from accruals with effect from 31 December 2016. 
Additionally other reclassifications of provisions from accruals were recognised during the current year and prior year.

Legal and employee related provisions include amounts in respect of claims for costs likely to be incurred in 
relation to pre-acquisition ASIG customer and employee claims not immediately reclaimable from the vendor 
and the cost of settling workers’ compensation claims in the United States of America. The timing and amount 
of these liabilities is uncertain and is based on estimates using available information on the claims and historical 
experience of similar claims. The pre-acquisition ASIG related claims exclude any expected reimbursement from 
the vendor under warranty and indemnity undertakings given in the sale and purchase agreement.

The property related provisions are in respect of obligations for vacated leasehold properties where applicable sublet 
income may be insufficient to meet obligations under head leases. The provisions for property costs unwind over the 
period between 2019 and 2043. Other provisions include warranty claims, onerous contracts and redundancy costs. 

142

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

143

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued21. Provisions continued
Contingent liabilities
The Group has a number of claims in the normal course of business that Management believes should not 
result in a material impact to the consolidated financial statements. In addition there are a number of employee 
and customer related claims against the ASIG business relating to practices prior to the Group’s acquisition 
of the business in February 2017 that Management is assessing. To the extent that the financial impact can be 
reliably measured these amounts are included in provisions, whilst for certain claims where Management has 
determined that the outcome is currently less certain and therefore the liability cannot be reliably measured 
these items constitute contingent liabilities. In accordance with the applicable accounting standards the Group 
has not recognised an asset in respect of the recovery of any losses from these claims from the vendor under 
the warranty and indemnity undertakings given in the sale and purchase agreement.

22. Retirement Benefit Obligation
Defined benefit scheme
The principal Group-funded defined benefit pension scheme is the Menzies Pension Fund (“the Fund”) in the United 
Kingdom. The Fund closed to future accrual in March 2017. In the prior year the Fund was split into two sections, 
Section A and Section B. Section B transferred to the new owner of the Distribution business on completion of the 
disposal transaction. The information presented below in the current year relates to Section A only. 

The scheme valuations were assessed in accordance with independent actuarial advice from 
PricewaterhouseCoopers (“the Actuary”). 

Fund financial assumptions and information
The Actuary undertook a valuation of the Fund as at 31 December 2018 (2017: 31 December 2017) based on the 
Fund’s membership data as at 31 March 2018. In deriving the results the Actuary used the financial assumptions 
as set out below.

2018
%

2017
%

Price inflation
Discount rate
Rate of increase on pensions accrued before 2006
Rate of increase on pensions accrued after 2006

3.2
2.8
3.6
2.2

3.1 
2.5 
3.6 
2.2

Assumptions regarding future mortality experience are set based on advice that uses published statistics and 
experience in the business.

The average future life expectancy for a pensioner aged 65 is set out below.

Male
Female

The average future life expectancy at age 65 for a non-pensioner aged 45 is set out below.

Male
Female

The membership of the Fund is set out below.

Deferred members
Pensioners

The liability split of the Fund by membership is set out below.

Deferred members
Pensioners

144

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

2018
Years

21
23

2018
Years

22
24

2017
Years

22
23

2017
Years

23
24

2018

2017

3,348 
1,676 

5,024 

3,556 
2,148 

5,704

2018

53%
47%

2017

49%
51%

The average liability duration of the Fund by membership is set out below.

Deferred members
Pensioners

2018
Years

21 
12 

2017
Years

21 
12

Overall weighted average liability duration is 17 years (2017: 17 years).

Future Fund benefit payments 
Estimated undiscounted benefit payments expected to be paid from the Fund over its life is set out below.

)

m
£
(

s
t
n
e
m
y
a
p
t
fi
e
n
e
b

d
e
t
n
u
o
c
s
i

d
n
U

20

15

10

5

0

2019

2049

2079

Pensioner members (Section A)

Deferred members (Section A)

Prior year

The fair value of Fund assets and liabilities is set out below.

Equities
Bonds
Investment funds
Liability driven investment funds
Property
Annuity contracts (ii)
Cash
Other

Assets
Defined benefit obligation

Recognised in Balance Sheet
Related deferred tax asset (Note 13)

Net retirement obligation

Quoted 
£m

74.6 
90.7 
6.6 
–
–
–
8.3 
–

2018

Unquoted (i) 

£m

–
–
38.3 
57.2 
24.4 
4.9 
–
–

180.2 

124.8 

Total 
£m

74.6 
90.7 
44.9 
57.2 
24.4 
4.9 
8.3 
–

305.0 
(323.0)

(18.0)
3.1 

(14.9)

Quoted 
£m

120.1 
80.8 
6.3 
– 
– 
– 
6.9 
0.4 

2017

Unquoted (i) 

£m

– 
– 
– 
127.4 
26.4 
6.1 
– 
– 

214.5 

159.9 

Total 
£m

120.1 
80.8 
6.3 
127.4 
26.4 
6.1 
6.9 
0.4 

374.4 
(423.9)

(49.5)
8.4 

(41.1)

Notes:
(i)  The valuations of unquoted assets have been determined by reference to the latest available manager valuation reports.
(ii)  The Fund holds annuity contracts in respect of a number of members that provide cash flows to the Fund which match the benefit payments to 

these members.

The value of Fund liabilities at various assumptions is set out below.

0.5% decrease in discount rate
One year increase in life expectancy
0.5% decrease in inflation
0.25% increase in pensions

2018
£m

350.7 
335.1 
309.4 
331.9 

2017
£m

462.1 
441.2 
404.9 
451.2

Actuarial gains and losses are recognised immediately through the remeasurement of the net defined  
benefit liability.

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

145

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued 
 
 
22. Retirement Benefit Obligation continued
Pension expense
The charge to the Income Statement is assessed in accordance with independent actuarial advice from  
the Actuary using the projected unit method. The components of pension expense are set out below.

Amounts charged to operating profit 
Past service cost (Note 5)
Current service cost
Administrative costs
Effect of curtailments and settlements (Note 5)

Total service cost

Amounts included in finance costs 
Interest cost on defined benefit obligation
Interest income on Fund assets

Net finance charge

Pension expense

2018
£m

0.1 
– 
1.3 
– 

1.4 

8.7 
(7.9)

0.8 

2017
£m

–
0.6 
1.6 
2.7 

4.9 

11.5 
(9.7)

1.8 

2.2 

6.7

The components of the actuarial gain/(loss) in the consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income is  
set out below.

Returns on assets excluding interest income
Changes in demographic assumptions
Changes in financial assumptions
Experience

Actuarial gain

Changes in Fund assets and defined benefit obligation

Fair value of assets at start of year
Interest income 
Returns on assets excluding interest income
Company contributions
Employee contributions
Benefits and expenses paid

Fair value of assets at end of year

2018
£m

(16.7)
2.1 
17.4 
0.3 

3.1 

2018 (i)
£m

309.9 
7.9 
(16.7)
23.6 
– 
(19.7)

305.0 

2017
£m

18.2 
7.1 
(6.2)
(3.4)

15.7

2017
£m

368.9 
9.7 
18.2 
12.5 
0.2 
(35.1)

374.4 

Return on scheme assets including interest income

(8.8)

27.9

Defined benefit obligation at start of year
Service cost
Exceptional curtailments
Interest cost
Employee contributions
Benefits and expenses paid
Changes in demographic assumptions
Changes in financial assumptions
Experience

Defined benefit obligation at end of year

Note:
(i)  Current year excludes discontinued operations.

2018 (i)
£m

352.4 
1.4 
– 
8.7 
– 
(19.7)
(2.1)
(17.4)
(0.3)

323.0 

2017
£m

439.9 
2.2 
2.7 
11.5 
0.2 
(35.1)
(7.1)
6.2 
3.4 

423.9

Benefits, regulatory framework and governance of the Fund
The Fund is a registered defined benefit career average revalued earnings scheme subject to the UK regulatory 
framework for pensions, including the statutory funding regime. The Fund is operated under trust and, as such, 
the Trustee of the Fund is responsible for operating the Fund and it has a statutory responsibility to act in 
accordance with the Fund’s Trust Deed and Rules in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the Fund and  
UK legislation including trust law. The Trustee and the Company have the joint power to set the contributions 
that are paid to the Fund.

Risks of the Fund 
The nature of the Fund exposes the Company to the risk of paying unanticipated additional contributions  
to the Fund in times of adverse experience. 

The most financially significant risks are likely to be: the risk that movements in the value of the Fund’s liabilities 
are not met by; corresponding movements in the value of the Fund’s assets; lower than expected investment 
returns; members living for longer than expected; and higher than expected actual inflation and pension 
increase experience. 

The sensitivity analysis disclosed above is intended to provide an indication of the impact on the value of the 
Fund’s liabilities of the risks highlighted. 

Asset-liability matching strategies 
In the prior year the Trustee agreed to de-risk and increase hedging of liabilities on a gilts basis across interest 
rates (40% hedged) and inflation (30% hedged) using leveraged Liability Driven Investment (LDI) funds. This 
was funded by reducing the Fund’s UK equity allocation and moving a proportion of the Fund’s index-linked 
gilts into the LDI funds. 

The Trustee’s current investment strategy is to invest the majority of the Fund’s assets in a mix of equities and 
bonds in order to strike a balance between maximising the returns on the Fund’s assets and minimising the 
risks associated with lower than expected returns on the Fund’s assets.

The Trustee has implemented a de-risking process such that the Fund’s assets are gradually switched out of 
equities and into bonds as funding improves. This should lead to better matching of assets and liabilities as 
the Fund matures whilst at the same time locking in favourable asset performance. The Trustee is required 
to regularly review its investment strategy in light of the revised term and nature of the Fund’s liabilities and 
is currently being considered following the conclusion of the 2018 triennial valuation exercise. The current 
benchmark is to hold 60% in growth assets such as equities and 40% in bonds including index-linked and  
fixed interest Government bonds and corporate bonds. The Trustee has also increased the hedging of liabilities 
across interest rates (50% hedged) and inflation (50% hedged) using LDI funds.

146

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

147

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued22. Retirement Benefit Obligation continued
Asset-liability matching strategies continued
The triennial valuation process in which the Trustee and the Company agree the long term funding strategy was 
concluded for 31 March 2018 and a schedule of contributions agreed and dated 29 November 2018. The schedule 
of contributions sets out the additional contributions required to meet the funding shortfall between the value 
of the Fund’s assets and liabilities. The additional contributions have been agreed as monthly contributions 
totalling £9.4m per annum rising with the higher of the UK retail price index or the annual percentage change 
in dividends beginning in December 2018 and continuing to the year ended 31 March 2026. The Company and 
the Trustee have agreed that reasonable adjustment be made for the impact of any equity raising or change in 
equity, recognising the actual percentage increase in dividend per share. 

The value of the net liabilities of the Fund at 31 March 2018 as measured on the Fund Trustee’s technical 
provisions basis was approximately £73m and the funding level, being the ratio of assets to liabilities measured 
on the technical provisions basis was 80%. The Company and the Trustee have agreed that the schedule of 
contributions may be revised should the funding level reach 98% following any quarter end before 31 March 
2026. The purpose of any revision would be to ensure that contributions are sufficient to reach 100% by 
31 March 2026 without the possibility of overfunding at that time. The next triennial valuation of the Fund  
will be effective as at 31 March 2021.

The Company expects to contribute around £9.5m (2017: £11.8m) to the Fund during the year to  
31 December 2019.

The Group has an unconditional right to a refund of a projected future surplus at some point in the future.  
There is no requirement for the Group to adjust the Balance Sheet to recognise the future agreed deficit 
recovery contributions.

Other information
Small settlements of members’ retirement obligations have occurred over the year. As set out in Note 5, £0.2m 
of pension de-risking costs and past service costs relating to the need to equalise men’s and women’s pension 
entitlement for some of the members in the Fund have been recognised as an exceptional cost (2017: £2.7m 
curtailment costs).

23. Share Capital

Allotted, called up and fully paid
Opening – 83,955,951 ordinary shares of 25p each
Allotted under share option schemes (i)

Closing – 84,363,714 ordinary shares of 25p each

2018
£m

21.0 
0.1 

21.1 

2017
£m

20.9 
0.1 

21.0

Note:
(i)  As a result of share scheme allotments, 397,000 (2017: 329,600) ordinary shares having a nominal value of £0.1m (2017: £0.1m) were issued 

during the year at a share premium of £1.2m (2017: £1.4m).

Employees hold options to subscribe for shares in the Company under the Savings related Share Option 
Scheme approved by the shareholders, details of which are shown below. Options on 396,262 shares were 
exercised in 2018 and 258,462 options lapsed.

Year of grant

Exercise price

2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

437p
309p
424p
567p
470p

Exercise 
period

2017-2018
2018-2019
2019-2020
2021-2022
2022-2023

2018 
Number

– 
75,705 
344,011 
660,942 
661,113 

2017 
Number

43,325 
415,660 
474,413 
787,310 
–

1,741,771 

1,720,708

Company share schemes
The Company operates the following share-based payment arrangements as set out below. 

Savings related Share Option Scheme
The Company operates a Savings related Share Option Scheme which is open to all full and part-time 
employees in the United Kingdom. Annual grants of options are made in September or October each year and 
become exercisable after three years. Employees enter into a savings contract administered by a third party. 
The options are granted at a 20% discount of the share price at the date of grant and lapse if not exercised 
within six months of maturity. Special provisions apply to employees who leave their employment due to 
ill health, redundancy or retirement.

Value Creation Plan
On 26 July 2018 the Board sought approval for a new long term Management incentive plan to reflect the 
significant change that the Group had undertaken in the last two years, which has resulted in it being a pure 
play aviation services company in a high growth, high return market and the resultant need to ensure that both 
Executive Directors and senior management are appropriately incentivised and focused on opportunities to 
create long term shareholder value. 

The shareholders approved the proposed 2018 Value Creation Plan (“VCP”) at a general meeting on  
22 August 2018. Under the terms of the VCP participants are given the opportunity to receive a number of 
ordinary shares equal in value to a proportion of the total return, comprising share price growth and dividend 
returns, generated for shareholders of the Company above a specified performance hurdle over relevant 
performance periods. The performance periods are split into three equal tranches over 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 years 
from 26 July 2018 the date of the announcement of the disposal of the Distribution business. The value created 
will be allocated to a pool to be split 60% to Executive Directors and 40% to senior management. 20% of any 
pool value will be subject to compliance measures such as safety and security which if not met will reduce  
the pool value accordingly. For Executive Directors upon any awards vesting a further two year holding period 
will apply to each tranche. 

The performance hurdle referred to above is an 8% annual compound growth in total shareholder return over 
the performance period. To the extent this 8% hurdle is exceeded the VCP pool value is either 6.5% of the value 
of growth above 8% annual compound growth or to the extent total shareholder returns exceed compound 
annual growth of 15% the value is based on 7.5% of the value of the growth. 

This VCP value is converted to a number of shares based on the number of shares in issue and share price 
at the end of each performance period of the three tranches and is also subject to caps at the end of the 
performance periods. Further information is set out in the Remuneration Committee Report.

Bonus Co-investment Plan (“BCIP”)/Share Matching Plan (“SMP”)
The BCIP and, in 2016, the SMP offered Executive Directors and other Senior Executives selected by the Board 
the opportunity to invest part of their annual cash bonus for a financial year in the Company’s shares, entitling 
them, provided certain performance targets are met, to a grant of additional matching shares. Since 2010 
the ratio of matching shares to contributory shares has been set at 1:1. The maximum amount of the annual 
cash bonus which may be eligible for matching has been set at 40%. The net of tax amount is applied in the 
purchase of shares.

The first bonus award that qualified for investment in shares under the plan was the award for the financial 
year ended December 2004 and the last qualifying bonus award was for the financial year which commenced 
ten years after the adoption of the Plan. A revised plan was approved at the Annual General Meeting of the 
Company on 15 May 2014 and the SMP was discontinued in 2017. 

148

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

149

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued23. Share Capital continued
Company share schemes continued
Bonus Co-investment Plan (“BCIP”)/Share Matching Plan (“SMP”) continued
Performance targets are based on real growth in earnings measured over three financial years. For awards 
in 2016, if the percentage growth in the Company’s EPS is Consumer Prices Index +3% p.a. or more, then the 
number of matching shares that will vest is one. If the threshold growth in EPS is achieved (CPI +0%) then 25% 
of the matching shares will be paid. For EPS growth of between CPI +0% p.a. and CPI +3% p.a., the number 
of matching shares vesting will be calculated on a straight-line basis. No matching shares will vest for EPS 
percentage growth below CPI +0% p.a. for any award.

Long-term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”)
The LTIP enables divisional and senior management to align more closely with the achievement of target Group 
and divisional financial results. A detailed description of this plan is included in the Directors’ Remuneration 
Report on page 73.

Shares will vest at the end of three year financial periods. A £Nil award will be achieved where the financial 
results are below the threshold performance target, 25% if at threshold and 100% will vest where the results 
are equal to or greater than the stretch performance target, with a result between threshold and stretch being 
made on a straight-line basis. Actual performance targets for Executive Directors are disclosed in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report in the year following the expiry of the performance period.

Fair values of share options
Options are valued using the Black-Scholes option-pricing and the Monte Carlo simulation models.  
No performance conditions are included in the fair value calculations.

The fair value per option granted and the assumptions used in the calculation is set out below.

Date of grant (October)

Share price at grant date
Exercise price 
Vesting period (years)
Expected volatility
Option life (years)
Expected life (years)
Risk-free rate
Expected dividends expressed as a dividend yield (i)
Fair value per option
Charge per option (ii)

Savings related Option Scheme

2018

588p
470p
3
23%
3.5
3.5
1.0%
3.7%
97p
68p

2017

709p
567p
3
33%
3.5
3.5
1.0%
3.0%
184p
129p

2016

592p
424p
3
33%
3.5
3.5
1.0%
3.0%
152p
106p

2015

412p
309p
3
33%
3.5
3.5
1.0%
6.0%
90p
63p

The expected volatility is based on the historical volatility over the last three years. The expected life is the 
average expected period to vesting. The risk free rate of return is the zero coupon UK government bonds of  
a term consistent with the assumed award life.

Notes:
(i)  Based on the daily 12 month trailing dividend yield averaged over the 12 months prior to valuation date.
(ii)  The difference between the fair value and charge per option is due to adjustments for forfeiture risk.

Share price at date of grant
Contractual life (for Executive Directors)
Total fair value attributed to each tranche (£m)

Date of grant (March)

Share price at grant date 
Contractual life (years)
Expected leavers
Expected outcome of meeting  

performance criteria

Fair value per share
Charge per share award (i)

Note:
(i)  Adjusted for forfeiture risk.

Movement in share options

Outstanding at start of year
Granted
Forfeited/expired
Exercised

Outstanding at end of year

Exercisable 
Range of exercise prices
Weighted average remaining contractual life (years)

VCP

Tranche 1

Tranche 2

Tranche 3

586p

586p

586p
5.5 years 6.5 years 7.5 years
1.0 

0.8 

1.0 

BCIP/SMP

2017

637p
3
0%

31%
199p
199p

2018

– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 

2016

478p
3
0%

51%
245p
245p

2018

683p
3
0%

n/a
225p
225p

LTIP

2017

579p
3
0%

n/a
151p
151p

2016

443p
3
0%

n/a
169p
169p

Savings related Option Scheme

2018

2017

Weighted
average
exercise
price 
(pence)

Number

462  1,588,893 
799,919 
470 
(330,127)
482 
336  (337,659)

Number

1,721,026 
675,469 
(258,462)
(396,262)

1,741,771 

491 

1,721,026 

75,705 

2.0 

309-567

44,170 

2.1 

Weighted
average
exercise
price 
(pence)

411 
567 
449 
484 

462 

309-567

As referred to above the VCP does not award a specific number of shares but rather determines that a 
number of shares will be issued to the participants in the event that the value of shareholder returns over the 
performance periods exceed certain predetermined hurdles. The actual number of shares issued will depend  
on the Company’s issued share capital and share price at the time any award vests. 

150

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

151

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued23. Share Capital continued
Movement in share options continued

BCIP/SMP

LTIP

2018

2017

2018

2017

Weighted
average
price 
(pence)

452 
–
547 
412 

Number

37,224 
–
(1,352)
(26,419)

Number

38,719 
5,486 
(436)
(6,545)

Weighted
average
price 
(pence)

Weighted
average
price 
(pence)

Number

Weighted
average
price 
(pence)

Number

461  1,302,399 
637 
270,483 
647 
(14,997)
647 
(617,539)

1,034,867 
470 
683  399,989 
(123,017)
509 
(9,440)
429 

451 
579 
654 
654 

9,453 

550 

37,224 

452 

940,346 

557 

1,302,399 

470 

376-637

376-637

404-683

404-579

0.7 

0.9 

1.1 

1.1

Outstanding at start  

of year

Awards made
Lapsed
Exercised

Outstanding at end  

of year

Range of award  

date prices

Weighted average 

remaining contractual 
life (years)

Charge for share-based incentive schemes
The total charge for the year relating to employee share-based plans was £1.6m (2017: £1.4m), all of which 
related to equity-settled share-based payment transactions. After tax the total charge was £1.5m (2017: £1.1m).

Treasury shares
Ordinary shares are held for employee share schemes. At 31 December 2018, the Company held 401,766  
(2017: 257,523) ordinary shares with a market value of £2.1m (2017: £1.8m).

24. Acquisitions
There were no acquisitions during the year. Details relating to the prior year are set out below.

Purchase consideration:
Cash paid
Impact of assets not transferred
Contingent consideration
Fair value of existing equity interest in joint ventures

Less: non-controlling interest acquired
Less: fair value of net assets acquired

Goodwill

2017
£m

172.8 
(2.2)
0.8 
5.8 

177.2 
4.2 
95.0 

78.0 

The fair value of assets and liabilities arising from the acquisitions are:

Intangible assets – contracts and customer relationships 
Intangible assets – brand
Deferred tax assets
Property, plant and equipment
Inventory
Trade and other receivables
Cash
Trade and other payables
Provisions
Current income tax liabilities
Deferred tax liability

Net assets acquired at fair value

2017
£m

35.8 
6.6 
3.6 
31.9 
5.0 
101.5 
12.9 
(83.6)
(11.3)
(1.1)
(6.3)

95.0

There have been no changes to the provisional fair values of the net assets acquired in the prior year.

The Group invested £0.4m for a controlling share of a new start-up operation in Indonesia and recognised 
£0.3m of non-controlling interest on acquisition. The Group also invested £1.0m in Menzies Aviation Cairns Pty 
Ltd, a 50% joint venture, and £0.2m in Smarter Asset Management Ltd, a 26% joint venture.

As set out in Note 14, an advance payment was paid during the year for the trade and assets of Airline Services 
Ltd. Following regulatory approval on 17 January 2019 this transaction will be recognised as an acquisition  
in the 2019 consolidated financial statements.

Contingent and deferred consideration
Contingent consideration in continuing operations of £0.4m relating to the acquisition of Gold Coast Air 
Terminal Services Pty Ltd was cash settled in April 2018. Deferred consideration in discontinued operations  
of £0.2m relating to the acquisition of AJG Parcels Ltd was cash settled in May 2018. 

25. Related Party Transactions
During the year the Group transacted with related parties in the normal course of business and on an  
arm’s length basis. These sales to and from related parties are made at normal market prices and details  
are set out below.

Related party

Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services Private Ltd
Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) Private Ltd
Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd

Group 
share 
holding
%

Sales to 
related 
party
£m

51
49
29

0.1 
0.1 
0.3 

Amounts owed 
to related  
party at  

31 December
2018
£m

Amounts owed
by related

party at  

31 December
2018
£m

–
–
–

–
–
0.1 

Key Management personnel include individuals who are Directors of the Company and those having authority 
and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling activities of the business as disclosed in the segmental 
analysis. Remuneration of key Management personnel is:

Short-term employee benefits
Post-employment pension and medical benefits
Share-based payments

2018
£m

5.3
0.4
1.6

7.3

2017
£m

6.8 
0.5 
1.4 

8.7 

152

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

153

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued26. Related Undertakings
The subsidiary entities and entities in which the Company has a significant interest at 31 December 2018 are 
disclosed as an appendix to these financial statements.

27. Discontinued operations
On 26 July 2018 the Group announced the conditional disposal of Menzies Distribution Ltd and its subsidiaries 
to Endless LLP. Completion occurred on 4 September 2018 for a total consideration of £56.2m including cash 
of £51.2m and with the Group receiving a 10% equity interest in Endless Newco1 Ltd, the holding company of 
the disposed business, valued at £5.0m. The sale consisted of 100% of ordinary shares, 100% of 6% cumulative 
preference shares and 100% of 3% non-cumulative preference shares of £1 each in the capital of the disposed 
holding company.

At the half year to 30 June 2018 the Distribution business was classified as held for sale and the operations 
were classified as discontinued in the half year financial statements with the disposal group being held at the 
lower of its carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell. The comparative consolidated income statement 
has been restated to show the discontinued operation separately from continuing operations.

The post-tax loss on disposal of discontinued operations was determined as set out below.

Consideration received (i)
Less: net assets disposed
Intangibles
Property, plant and equipment
Deferred tax asset
Inventories
Trade receivables
Cash
Trade payables
Current income tax liabilities
Provisions
Retirement benefit obligation

Costs of disposal

Loss on disposal of discontinued operations
Taxation

Loss on disposal of discontinued operations after tax

Note:
(i) Consideration received includes cash of £51.2m.

2018
£m

56.2

(43.7)
(27.0)
(1.1)
(17.1)
(102.6)
(5.9)
112.9 
0.8 
0.2 
13.0 

(70.5)
(13.6)

(27.9)
(0.4)

(28.3)

Results of discontinued operations

Revenue
Net operating costs

Operating profit before joint ventures  

and associates

Share of post-tax results of joint ventures  

and associates

Operating profit/(loss)

Analysed as:
Underlying operating profit (i)
Non-recurring items – transaction related 
Non-recurring items – pension related 
Acquired intangible asset amortisation
Share of tax on joint ventures and associates

Operating profit/(loss)

Other finance charge – pensions

Profit/(loss) before taxation
Taxation

Profit/(loss) for the period

Loss on disposal of discontinued operations 

after tax

Profit/(loss) for the period from 

discontinued operations 

Before 
exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

Exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

Before 
exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

Exceptional 
and other 
items 
£m

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

789.5 
(772.4)

–
(3.3)

789.5 
(775.7)

1,186.9 
(1,163.0)

–
(7.9)

1,186.9 
(1,170.9)

17.1 

–

17.1 

17.1 
–
–
–
–

17.1 

(0.1)

17.0 
(3.4)

13.6 

(3.3)

13.8 

23.9 

(7.9)

16.0 

–

–

(3.3)

13.8 

–
(2.4)
–
(0.9)
–

(3.3)

–

(3.3)
0.1 

(3.2)

17.1 
(2.4)
–
(0.9)
–

13.8 

(0.1)

13.7 
(3.3)

10.4 

0.9 

24.8 

24.8 
–
–
–
–

24.8 

–

24.8 
(5.2)

19.6 

(0.1)

(8.0)

–
(3.2)
(1.3)
(3.4)
(0.1)

(8.0)

–

(8.0)
0.9 

(7.1)

0.8 

16.8 

24.8 
(3.2) 
(1.3)
(3.4)
(0.1)

16.8 

–

16.8 
(4.3)

12.5 

–

(28.3)

(28.3)

–

–

–

13.6 

(31.5)

(17.9)

19.6 

(7.1)

12.5 

Note:
(i)  Underlying operating profit adjusts for non-recurring exceptional items, impairment charges associated with non-current assets, amortisation 
relating to acquired contract, customer relationship and brand intangibles and the Group’s share of interest and tax on joint ventures and 
associates to provide an appreciation of the impact of those items on operating profit.

Exceptional items

Transaction related costs (i)
Pension related costs (ii)

2018
£m

(2.4)
–

(2.4)

2017
£m

(3.2)
(1.3)

(4.5)

Notes:
(i)   The £2.4m transaction related costs comprise separation costs incurred subsequently to the disposal of the Distribution business. In the prior 
year transaction costs of £3.2m related to the aborted demerger of the Distribution business and the step acquisition of EM News Distribution 
(Ireland) Ltd and EM News Distribution (NI) Ltd.

(ii)  In the prior year pension related costs incurred were fees and charges incurred in order to close the defined benefit scheme to future accrual.

Acquired intangible assets amortisation
Acquired intangible asset amortisation costs incurred were £0.9m (2017: £3.4m). The amortisation relates to 
contract intangible assets recognised on the acquisition of businesses. Amortisation ceased from 31 March 2018 
when the business was classified as held for sale.

154

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

155

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued27. Discontinued operations continued
Tax effect of exceptional items
The taxation effect of the exceptional items is a net debit of £0.4m (2017: net credit of £0.3m) in relation  
to tax deductions available for a proportion of the exceptional costs arising during the year.

Cash flows from/(used in) discontinued operations

Net cash inflow from operating activities
Net cash outflow used in investing activities

Net cash flows for the period

Retirement benefit obligation of discontinued operations

Pension expense
The components of pension expense are set out below.

Amounts charged to operating profit 
Administrative costs

Amounts included in finance costs 
Interest cost on defined benefit obligation
Interest income on Fund assets

Net finance charge

Pension expense

2018
£m

8.9 
(0.2)

8.7 

2017
£m

31.9 
(5.0)

26.9 

2018
£m

–

1.1 
(1.0)

0.1 

2017
£m

0.1

0.9 
(0.8)

0.1 

0.1 

0.2 

The components of the actuarial gain/(loss) in the consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income are set 
out below.

Returns on assets excluding interest income
Changes in demographic assumptions
Changes in financial assumptions
Experience

Actuarial (loss)/gain

2018
£m

(8.5)
(0.4)
1.4 
0.3 

(7.2)

2017
£m

1.2 
–
(0.7)
(0.3)

0.2 

28. Events after the reporting period
The acquisition of the trade and assets of Airline Services Ltd will be recognised on 17 January 2019 following 
clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority. As set out in Note 14, cash consideration of £14.4m 
along with £5.8m incurred funding the business from 4 April 2018 to 31 December 2018 has been included 
within other receivables in the consolidated financial statements. The business provides de-icing and aircraft 
presentation services at various UK airports together with ground handling operations at London Gatwick 
airport. This acquisition expands coverage into four new UK airports. The acquisition accounting is not  
yet complete as control has recently been obtained. No further disclosures are provided on the assets and 
liabilities acquired.

COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Balance Sheet
as at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017)

Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment
Investments in subsidiaries
Other investments
Deferred tax assets
Derivative financial assets

Current assets
Trade and other receivables
Current income tax receivable
Derivative financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents

Liabilities
Current liabilities
Borrowings
Derivative financial liabilities
Trade and other payables
Current income tax payable
Provisions

Net current assets

Total assets less current liabilities

Non-current liabilities
Borrowings
Provisions
Retirement benefit obligation

Net assets

Ordinary shares
Share premium account
Treasury shares
Other reserves
Merger relief reserve
Retained earnings (i)
Capital redemption reserve

Equity

Notes

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

5
6
7
8
11

9

11

11
11
10

12

11
12
14

15

5.6 
121.6 
5.0 
6.5 
1.5 

23.4 
306.1 
– 
5.8 
0.9 

140.2 

336.2 

427.2 
–
0.6 
5.5 

433.3 

499.9 
4.6 
1.1 
5.0 

510.6 

(31.2)
(0.5)
(94.0)
(0.1)
(8.7)

(3.3)
(0.5)
(338.0)
–
(2.7)

(134.5)

(344.5)

298.8 

439.0 

166.1 

502.3 

(244.5)
(2.3)
(18.0)

(283.6)
–
(42.5)

(264.8)

(326.1)

174.2 

176.2 

21.1 
23.1 
(2.6)
–
67.3 
43.7 
21.6 

21.0 
21.9 
(1.3)
(0.5)
67.3 
46.2 
21.6 

174.2 

176.2 

Note:
(i)  Profit after tax for the year was £14.2m (2017: loss £0.1m).

The accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 March 2019 and signed on its behalf by: 

Dr. Dermot F. Smurfit 
Chairman 

Giles Wilson
Chief Financial Officer

Company No. SC34970

156

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

157

Financial StatementsNotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements continued 
 
 
 
 
 
COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Statement of Changes in Equity
as at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017)

COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Statement of Cash Flows
for the year ended 31 December 2018 (year ended 31 December 2017)

At 31 December 2017
Profit for the year
Other comprehensive gain

Total comprehensive 

income

New share capital issued
Share-based payments
Income tax effect of 

share-based payments

Dividends paid
Repurchase of own shares
Disposal of own shares

Ordinary
shares
£m

21.0 
–
–

–

0.1 
–

–
–
–
–

Share
premium
account
£m

21.9 
–
–

–

1.2 
–

–
–
–
–

At 31 December 2018

21.1 

23.1 

At 31 December 2016
Loss for the year
Other comprehensive gain

Total comprehensive 

income

New share capital issued
Share-based payments
Income tax effect of 

share-based payments

Intragroup transfer of 
pension obligation 

Dividends paid
Disposal of own shares

Ordinary
shares
£m

20.9 
– 
– 

Share
premium
account
£m

20.5 
– 
– 

– 

0.1 
– 

– 

– 
– 
– 

– 

1.4 
– 

– 

– 
– 
– 

At 31 December 2017

21.0 

21.9 

Treasury
shares
£m

Hedge
reserve
£m

(1.3)
–
–

–

–
–

–
–
(5.0)
3.7 

(2.6)

(0.5)
–
0.5 

0.5 

–
–

–
–
–
–

–

Treasury
shares
£m

Hedge
reserve
£m

Merger 
relief
reserve
£m

67.3 
–
–

–

–
–

–
–
–
–

Retained
earnings
£m

Capital
redemption
reserve
£m

46.2 
14.2 
2.6 

16.8 

–
1.6 

(0.1)
(17.1)
–
(3.7)

21.6 
–
–

–

–
–

–
–
–
–

Equity
£m

176.2 
14.2 
3.1 

17.3 

1.3 
1.6 

(0.1)
(17.1)
(5.0)
–

67.3 

43.7 

21.6 

174.2 

Retained
earnings
£m

Capital
redemption
reserve
£m

Merger 
relief
reserve
£m

67.3 
– 
– 

– 

– 
– 

– 

– 
– 
– 

(0.9)
– 
0.4 

0.4 

– 
– 

– 

– 
– 
– 

(1.6)
– 
– 

– 

– 
– 

– 

– 
– 
0.3 

(1.3)

Equity
£m

170.0 
(0.1)
13.0 

12.9 

1.5 
1.4 

0.1 

6.2 
(15.9)
– 

21.6 
– 
– 

– 

– 
– 

– 

– 
– 
– 

42.2 
(0.1)
12.6 

12.5 

– 
1.4 

0.1 

6.2 
(15.9)
(0.3)

46.2 

(0.5)

67.3 

21.6 

176.2

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
Interest paid
Tax paid

Net cash flow used in operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities
Disposal of subsidiaries
Investment in subsidiary
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment

Net cash flow from/(used in) investing activities

Cash flows from financing activities
Net proceeds from issue of ordinary share capital
Purchase of own shares
Proceeds from borrowings
Repayment of borrowings
Dividends paid to ordinary shareholders
Net amounts repaid by/(lent to) subsidiaries

Net cash flow (used in)/from financing activities

Increase/(decrease) in net cash and cash equivalents
Opening net cash and cash equivalents (i)

Closing net cash and cash equivalents (i)

Note:
(i)  Net cash and cash equivalents include cash at bank and in hand and bank overdrafts.

Notes

13

4

2018 
£m

2017 
£m

(38.8)
(10.9)
(0.1)

(49.8)

51.2 
(14.3)
(0.5)
6.6 

43.0 

1.3 
(5.0)
1.0 
(41.7)
(17.1)
48.8 

(12.7)

(19.5)
5.0 

(14.5)

(9.4)
(12.4)
(2.7)

(24.5)

– 
– 
(0.3)
– 

(0.3)

1.5 
– 
293.4 
(101.3)
(15.9)
(148.9)

28.8 

4.0
1.0 

5.0 

158

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

159

Financial StatementsCOMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Notes to the Financial Statements

The financial statements of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2018 were approved and authorised 
for issue in accordance with a resolution of the Directors on 11 March 2019. John Menzies plc, a public company 
with registered number SC34970 and registered address of 2 Lochside Avenue, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh 
EH12 9DJ is a limited company incorporated in Scotland and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

1. Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of preparation
The principal accounting policies adopted by the Company are the same as those set out in the consolidated 
financial statements. They have consistently been prepared under the historical cost convention and in 
accordance with EU Endorsed International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRIC interpretations and the 
Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS.

As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, no Income Statement is presented by the Company.

The Company has restated the prior year comparatives to reclassify certain liabilities from accruals to 
provisions, largely in respect of the Company’s insurance related claims as set out in Note 21 to reflect the 
uncertain timing or amount and nature of these liabilities. The Company previously measured insurance  
claim accruals based on the cost it expected to incur net of any amounts to be settled directly by insurers.  
The prior year insurance provision has been increased by £7.2m (2016: £5.6m) and accruals reduced by £7.2m 
(2016: £5.6m) with no impact on the consolidated net assets or Income Statement in either year.

New accounting standards and amendments
The new accounting standards and amendments applicable for the Company for the first time in 2018 are the 
same as those set out in the consolidated financial statements. Only IFRS 9 Financial Instruments has an impact 
on the Company. 

IFRS 9 introduced a new impairment model whereby credit losses are recognised on an expected basis 
rather than an incurred basis. Accordingly, the Company has recognised a £6.0m provision for impairment 
against two long-term intragroup receivables where a credit loss is expected due to the financial position of 
the counterparty. Although this reduces the distributable reserves of the Company, there is no impact to the 
consolidated financial statements as these are intragroup items.

IFRS 9 requires equity investments that fall within the scope of the standard to be measured at fair value with 
changes in fair value charged through profit and loss or recognised within other comprehensive income under 
an irrevocable election. As part of the disposal arrangement relating to the Distribution business in the current 
year the Company acquired a 10% equity investment in Endless Newco1 Ltd and the Company has elected to 
recognise future changes in the fair value of this equity investment within other comprehensive income.

There have been no classification changes under IFRS 9 with regard to hedging and the requirements of IAS 39 
continue to be applied.

Standards and amendments to standards that have been issued that are applicable for the Company but  
are not effective for 2018 and have not been early adopted in these financial statements are set out in the 
Group accounts. The only standard expected to have a material impact on the accounts of the Company  
is IFRS 16 Leases.

Ahead of the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases on 1 January 2019, Management has been in the process of collating 
information to ensure compliance with the new standard for lessees. The standard removes the distinction 
between operating leases and finance leases and brings most of the assets subject to lease on to the Balance 
Sheet as fixed assets representing the right to use the underlying asset with the corresponding liability shown 
as debt. This will materially gross up the Balance Sheet with the recognition of a new right of use asset which 
will be depreciated through the Income Statement and a lease liability on which interest will be charged 
through the Income Statement. The Company plans to utilise the modified retrospective method of application 
on 1 January 2019 and anticipates recognising approximately £4m of lease liabilities, approximately £2m of 
right of use assets and a decrease in equity of approximately £2m. Although the aggregate Income Statement 
impact of each lease over its life will not change, the Income Statement impact of generally straight line profile 
of operating lease expenses will be recognised earlier under IFRS 16 due to the interest on the lease liability 
being higher in the first year of adoption. Therefore, subject to any material changes in the portfolio  

of leases, annual operating lease expenses are expected to be replaced by slightly higher levels of depreciation 
and interest expense such that an immaterial adverse impact on profit before tax is expected in the year of 
transition. There will be no net impact on cash flows.

Assumptions, estimates and judgements
The preparation of the Company’s financial statements requires Management to make assumptions, estimates 
and judgements that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, 
income and expenses. These estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results, particularly 
given changes in economic conditions and the level of uncertainty regarding their duration and severity. 

Management considers the items where the largest estimates and judgements have been made in the 
Company’s accounts relate to the retirement benefit obligation and income taxes. Details are set out in the 
consolidated financial statements.

2. Audit Fees
During the year, the Company obtained services from the Group’s auditor at costs set out in the consolidated 
Financial Statements. 

3. Directors’ Emoluments

Salary and fees
Bonus
Pension salary supplement

2018
£m

1.5 
0.7 
0.2 

2.4 

2017
£m

1.5 
0.9 
0.2 

2.6 

Gains made on the exercise of Long Term Incentive Plan awards were £0.8m (2017: £1.0m). There were nine 
employees of the Company, all of whom were members of the Board (2017: nine). Key Management personnel 
is the same as the individuals who are Directors of the Company. 

Further details of the Directors’ remuneration are disclosed in the Directors’ Remuneration Report.

4. Dividends
Details of the dividends paid are set out in Note 8 of the consolidated financial statements.

5. Property, Plant and Equipment

Cost
At beginning of year
Additions
Disposals

At end of year

Depreciation
At beginning of year
Charge for the year
Disposals

At end of year

Net book value
At end of year

At beginning of year

2018
£m

33.2 
0.5 
(26.0)

7.7 

9.8 
0.7 
(8.4)

2.1 

2017
£m

32.9 
0.3 
– 

33.2 

9.0 
0.8 
– 

9.8 

5.6 

23.4 

23.4 

23.9 

160

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

161

Financial StatementsCOMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Notes to the Financial Statements continued

6. Investments in subsidiaries 

At beginning of the year
Additions
Disposals

At end of the year

2018 
£m

306.1 
402.9 
(587.4)

121.6 

2017 
£m

292.6 
13.5 
–

306.1 

9. Trade and Other Receivables

Accrued income
Prepayments
Amounts owed by other Group companies
Other receivables

2018 
£m

0.3 
3.6 
422.3 
1.0 

427.2 

2017 
£m

0.3 
4.2 
494.9 
0.5 

499.9 

An intragroup restructure was undertaken during the year in advance of the disposal of the Distribution business. 
As part of the restructure the Company acquired a direct 100% shareholding of Menzies Distribution Ltd, the 
holding company of the Distribution business. This investment was subsequently disposed on 4 September  
2018 for a consideration of £56.2m as set out in Note 27. Other transactions involved the acquisition of the 
ordinary share capital of John Menzies (108) Ltd from another subsidiary undertaking and the acquisition of  
the remaining 35% ordinary share capital of Princes Street (Jersey) Ltd from other subsidiary undertakings.

7. Other investments
Details of other investments are set out in Note 12 of the consolidated financial statements.

8. Deferred Tax 

Deferred tax assets
Retirement benefit obligation
Share-based payments
Tax losses
Other temporary differences

Deferred tax liabilities
Accelerated capital allowances and other temporary differences

Net recognised in the Balance Sheet

Movement in net deferred tax assets in the year:
Income Statement: retirement benefit obligation
Income Statement: other
Tax related to items (credited)/charged outside Income Statement
Loss on disposal of discontinued operations

2018
£m

3.1 
0.3 
2.7 
0.4 

6.5 

2017
£m

7.2 
0.2 
0.6 
0.4 

8.4 

–

–

(2.6)

(2.6)

6.5 

5.8 

(3.7)
3.0 
(0.5)
1.9 

0.7 

(0.9)
0.6 
(4.0)
–

(4.3)

During the year an impairment of £6.0m relating to two intragroup receivables was provided for (2017: £Nil).

10. Trade and Other Payables

Accruals
Amounts owed to other Group companies (ii)
Other payables

2018 
£m

7.3 
84.2 
2.5 

94.0 

2017 (i) 
£m

9.8 
317.4 
3.6 

330.8 

Note:
(i)  As set out in Note 1 accruals have been restated to exclude £7.2m of insurance related provisions.
(ii)  The net intercompany receivable position set out in Note 9 and Note 10 has increased to £338.1m (2017: £177.5m). The principal causes of  

this increase relate to intragroup dividend receipts of £131.4m, the £66.8m impact of the intragroup restructure set out in Note 2 partly offset  
by amounts repaid by subsidiaries of £48.8m as set out in the Cash Flow statement.

11. Financial Instruments
Details relating to financial instruments are set out in Note 16 of the consolidated financial statements. 
Information specific to the Company is set out below.

Net debt

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
Derivative financial instruments

Total borrowings

Less: cash at bank, cash in hand and short-term deposits

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings

Bank overdrafts
Amortising sterling term loan 
Non-amortising sterling bank loans
Amortising US dollar term loan
Preference shares

Maturity

On demand
March 2020
June 2021
June 2021
Non-redeemable

Current value
Non-current value

2018
£m

276.3 
(1.6)

274.7 

5.5 

269.2 

2018 
£m

20.0 
– 
59.0 
195.3 
1.4 

2017
£m

288.0 
(1.5)

286.5 

5.0 

281.5 

2017 
£m

0.1 
7.1 
93.6 
184.7 
1.4 

275.7 

286.9 

31.2 
244.5 

275.7 

3.3 
283.6 

286.9 

162

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

163

Financial StatementsFive Year Summary

Revenue
Americas
EMEA
Rest of World
Cargo Forwarding

Underlying operating profit
Exceptional and other items
Share of joint ventures and associates interest and tax

Profit before interest
Net finance costs

Profit before taxation

Per ordinary share
Dividends paid
Underlying earnings
Basic earnings

2018
£m

2017
£m

2016
£m

2015
£m

2014
£m

463.8 
517.3 
157.6 
152.3 

460.4 
508.2 
162.6 
142.4 

219.8 
376.8 
130.0 
116.8 

173.7 
338.2 
104.3 
111.8 

145.4 
344.3 
111.4 
117.7 

1,291.0

1,273.6

843.4

728.0

718.8

55.1 
(19.8)
(1.3)

34.0 
(12.4)

21.6 

53.1 
(29.7)
(1.0)

22.4 
(12.5)

9.9 

30.5 
(23.7)
(0.9)

5.9 
(7.8)

(1.9)

19.8 
(11.2)
(1.2)

7.4 
(7.6)

(0.2)

27.0 
(8.8)
(1.1)

17.1 
(7.4)

9.7 

20.5p 
37.6p 
14.6p 

19.1p 
33.7p 
0.1p 

17.2p 
21.8p 
(11.2)p

13.1p 
11.2p 
(3.6)p

26.9p 
17.3p 
4.1p

The above analysis has been adjusted to exclude the Distribution business that was disposed on  
4 September 2018.

COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Notes to the Financial Statements continued

11. Financial Instruments continued
Trade and other receivables and payables
Trade and other receivables and trade and other payables carrying values of £423.3m and £94.0m (2017: 
£495.4m and £330.8m) approximate their fair values.

Credit risk
Exposure to credit risk is set out in the table below.

Bank deposits

2018
£m

5.5

2017
£m

5.0

For banks and financial institutions, the Company’s policy is to transact with independently rated parties  
with a minimum rating of ‘A’. If there is no independent rating, the Company assesses the credit quality of  
the counterparty taking into account its financial position, past experience and other factors.

In addition to the relevant items above the Company is exposed to credit risk in relation to on demand amounts 
owed by other Group companies. The amounts owed to and due by the Company from dealings with subsidiary 
companies are disclosed in Notes 9 and 10. Transactions between the Company and other Group companies 
primarily related to financing activities.

12. Provisions
The Company carries an insurance provision of £7.5m (all current). In the prior year this provision was £7.2m 
(all current). As set out in Note 1 insurance provisions have been reclassified from accruals with effect from 
1 January 2017.

The Company also carries an onerous lease provision of £3.5m (£1.2m current and £2.3m non-current).  
In the prior year this provision was £2.7m (£0.9m current and £1.8m non-current). 

13. Cash Generated from Operations

Operating loss before exceptional items (i)
Depreciation 
Share-based payments expense
Pension contributions in cash
Net movement relating to exceptional items
Increase in working capital 

2018
£m

(6.2)
0.7 
1.6 
(23.6)
(8.9)
(2.4)

(38.8)

2017
£m

(2.3)
0.8 
1.4 
(12.5)
3.2
–

(9.4)

Note:
(i)  Excludes non-cash exceptional costs relating to the loss on disposal of the Distribution business and related costs.

14. Retirement Benefit Obligation
Details of the Company’s defined benefit pension scheme in the United Kingdom are set out in Note 22 of the 
consolidated financial statements.

15. Share Capital
Details of Company share capital, including issuance of new shares in the year, are set out in Note 23 of the 
consolidated financial statements. Details of share based payments are set out in Note 23 of the consolidated 
financial statements.

164

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

165

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings
At 31 December 2018

Interests in all of the companies listed below are in ordinary share capital of these undertakings, except where 
otherwise stated.

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Administracion de Servicios 
en Tierra, S.A. de C.V.

Mexico

Aeroground, Inc.

United States

Air Marketing Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Air Menzies International 
(Aust) Pty Ltd

Australia

Air Menzies International 
(Cape) Proprietary Ltd

South Africa

Air Menzies International 
(India) Private Ltd

India

Air Menzies International 
(Netherlands) B.V.

Air Menzies International 
(NZ) Ltd

The Netherlands

New Zealand

Air Menzies International 
(USA), Inc.

Air Menzies International 
Holding (NZ) Ltd

United States

New Zealand

Air Menzies International Ltd United Kingdom

Air Menzies International SA 
Proprietary Ltd

South Africa

Airbase Flight Support Ltd

Isle of Man

Airbase Flight Support Ltd

United Kingdom

Plaza Alamos Local 2, SM 
311, MZ 26 Lote 03-01 
Boulevard Luis Donaldo 
Colosio C.P. 77560, Cancun, 
Quintana Roo

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Unit 12, Discovery Cove,  
1801 Botany Road, 
Banksmeadow NSW 2019

New Agents Road, Unit 6, 
Air Cargo Centre, Cape 
Town International Airport, 
Cape Town 

Cargo Terminal 1, 
Kempegowda International 
Airport, Bangalore 560300

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

c/o Buddle Findlay, Level 18, 
PwC Tower, 188 Quay Street, 
Auckland 1140

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

c/o Buddle Findlay, Level 18, 
PwC Tower, 188 Quay Street, 
Auckland 1140

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Unit 3 Aviation Park,  
17 Pomona Road, Kempton 
Park, Johannesburg

66 Athol Street, Douglas  
IM1 1JE

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Aircraft Service International 
Group, Inc.

United States

Aircraft Service 
International, Inc.

United States

Airports Bureau Systems Ltd United Kingdom

AMI Ocean Ltd

United Kingdom

ASIG (Thailand) Co. Ltd

Thailand

Indirect (59%)

ASIG (U.K.) Limited

United Kingdom

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

ASIG Canada Limited

Canada

ASIG Ground Handling 
Canada Ltd

Canada

ASIG Holdings  
(Barbados) Ltd

Barbados

ASIG Holdings Corp.

United States

ASIG Holdings Ltd

United Kingdom

ASIG Lounge, Inc.

United States

ASIG Manchester Ltd

United Kingdom

ASIG Nassau Fueling 
Services Ltd.

Bahamas

Australian Air Support  
Pty Ltd

Australia

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

Windmill House,  
91-93 Windmill Road,  
Sunbury-on-Thames  
TW16 7EF

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

7th-9th & 16th Floor, 
Bubhajit Building, 20 North 
Sathorn Road, Silom, 
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

6500 Silver Dart Drive,  
Suite 257, Mississauga, 
Ontario L5P 1B2

6500 Silver Dart Drive,  
Suite 257, Mississauga, 
Ontario L5P 1B2

Suite 1, Ground Floor,  
The Financial Services 
Centre, Bishop’s Court Hill, 
St. Michael

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

3rd Floor, Shirley House,  
253 Shirley Street,  
P.O. Box N-624

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect (51%)

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

166

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

167

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Aviation Consultancy 
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Aviation Service Leader 
(Chile) S.A.

Chile

Boker Aeroclean Ltd

United Kingdom

Cargo 2000 Ltd

United Kingdom

Cargosave Ltd

United Kingdom

Coronet Aviation  
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Cranford Forwarders  
Bond Ltd

United Kingdom

Czech GH s.r.o.

Czech Republic

DNDS Ltd

United Kingdom

Elmdon Cargo Handling Ltd United Kingdom

Express Handling  
(Scotland) Ltd

United Kingdom

Gold Cost Air Terminal 
Services Pty

Australia

Heathrow Aviation  
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

HO/Menzies Investimentos  
& Transportes Investments 
Limitada

China

168

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Est. Arturo Alessandri, 
Amunategui 277, 3F, 
Santiago 

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

K Letisti 1049/57, 161 00 
Prague 6

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Avenida da Praia Grande 
665, Edificio Great Will, 
Macau

Indirect

JM Nominees Ltd

United Kingdom

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

JM Secretaries Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies (108) Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies  
(Birmingham) Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies  
(Edinburgh) Ltd

United Kingdom

Indirect

John Menzies (GB) Ltd

United Kingdom

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

John Menzies Corporate 
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies  
Distribution Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies Finance Ltd

United Kingdom

John Menzies  
Holding GmbH

John Menzies  
International Ltd

Germany

United Kingdom

John Menzies Property 1 Ltd United Kingdom

John Menzies Property 2 Ltd United Kingdom

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Carl-Theodor- 
Strasse 6,  
40213, Düsseldorf

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Direct

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

169

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

John Menzies Property 3 Ltd United Kingdom

John Menzies USA  
Holdings, Inc.

United States

John Menzies USA, Inc.

United States

London Cargo Group Ltd

United Kingdom

London Cargo Handling Ltd United Kingdom

London Cargo Imports Ltd

United Kingdom

Lonsdale Universal Ltd

United Kingdom

Lonsdale Universal  
Trustees Ltd

United Kingdom

Luton Ramp Ltd

United Kingdom

Luton Services Ltd

United Kingdom

MA Secretaries Ltd

United Kingdom

MAG Nominees Ltd

United Kingdom

Mancargo Ltd

United Kingdom

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington,  
Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Direct

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Manchester Cargo  
Centre Ltd

United Kingdom

Manchester Handling Ltd

United Kingdom

MCS Trustee Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation – Portugal 
– Servicos De Carga, 
Unipessoal, LDA

Portugal

Menzies Aviation (Africa) 
Pty Ltd

South Africa

Menzies Aviation  
(Asia Pacific) Ltd

British Virgin Islands

Menzies Aviation  
(ASIG Ground Handling) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (ASIG) Ltd United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (Australia) 
Pty Ltd

Australia

Menzies Aviation  
(Aviation) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(Brasil) Ltda

Menzies Aviation  
(Canada) Ltd

Menzies Aviation  
(Cargo) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(Chengdu) Ltd

The Netherlands

Brazil

Canada

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Avenida Antonio  
Augusto de Aguiar,  
No. 183, R/C Dto.,  
1050-014 Lisbon

Unit F4, CTX Business Park, 
Cape Town International 
Airport, Cape Town

Newhaven Corporate 
Services (BVI) Limited,  
3rd Floor, Omar Hodge 
Building, Wickhams Cay I, 
PO Box 362, Road Town, 
Tortola

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Avenida Nove de Julho no. 
4865, 5 Andar, Conjunto 51, 
Sala A, Sao Paulo

100 King Street West, Suite 
1600, 1 First Canada Place, 
Toronto, Ontario M5X 1G5

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

170

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

171

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Menzies Aviation  
(Czech) s.r.o.

Czech Republic

Menzies Aviation (DEL), Inc. United States

Menzies Aviation  
(Denmark) A/S

Denmark

Menzies Aviation 
(Dominicana) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation  
(EMEA) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(EMEA) Ltd

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (FR9) B.V.

The Netherlands

Menzies Aviation  
(France) SAS

Menzies Aviation  
(Freighter Handling) B.V.

France

The Netherlands

Menzies Aviation (Fuelling) 
Deutschland GmbH

Germany

Menzies Aviation  
(Fuelling) France

Menzies Aviation (Ground 
Services) Australia Pty Ltd

France

Australia

Menzies Aviation (Handling) 
Proprietary Ltd

South Africa

Menzies Aviation  
(Hungary) Kft.

Hungary

Menzies Aviation  
(Ibérica) S.A.

Menzies Aviation (India) 
Private Ltd

Spain

India

Menzies Aviation  
(Ireland) Limited

Republic of Ireland

K Letisti 1049/57, 161 00 
Prague 6

251 Little Falls Drive,  
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

Copenhagen Airport, 
Terminal 2, 
Lufthavnsboulevarden 6, 
2770 Kastrup

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Aeroport Toulouse Blagnac, 
Hall C, 31700 Blagnac

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Kronenstrasse 73, 10117 
Berlin

Aeroport Toulouse Blagnac, 
Hall C, 31700 Blagnac

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

Unit F4, CTX Business Park, 
Cape Town International 
Airport, Cape Town

Liszt Ferenc Nemzetkozi 
Repuloter, Repules Oktatasi 
Kozpont, 17, sz H-1185 
Budapest

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

Plot No-C-04L, Cargo 
Terminal-1, Kempegowda 
International Airport, 
Devanahalli, Bangalore 
560300

First Floor, Riverside Two, 
43/49 Sir John Rogerson’s 
Quay, Dublin 2

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect (56%)

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Menzies Aviation (Italy) srl

Italy

Via Carducci 11, 20123, Milan

Indirect

Menzies Aviation (LCC) B.V.

The Netherlands

Menzies Aviation  
(Lounge) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(Luton) Ltd

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (Mexico) 
S.A. de C.V.

Mexico

Menzies Aviation (Mumbai) 
Passenger Ltd

Mauritius

Menzies Aviation (Namibia) 
Proprietary Ltd

Namibia

Menzies Aviation (New 
Zealand) Ltd

New Zealand

Menzies Aviation (NL) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (Oslo) AS Norway

Menzies Aviation (Poland) 
Sp. z.o.o.

Poland

Menzies Aviation  
(Romania) S.A.

Romania

Menzies Aviation  
(Santo Domingo) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation  
(Schiphol) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(South Africa) (Cargo) 
Proprietary Ltd

Menzies Aviation  
(South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

Menzies Aviation 
(Stockholm) AB

Menzies Aviation  
(Support Services) B.V.

The Netherlands

South Africa

South Africa

Sweden

The Netherlands

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Plaza Alamos Local 2, SM 
311, MZ 26 Lote 03-01 
Boulevard Luis Donaldo 
Colosio C.P. 77560, Cancun, 
Quintana Roo

5th Floor, Ebene Esplanade, 
24 Cybercity, Ebene

Bougain Villas, 78 Sam 
Nujoma Drive, Windhoek

George Bolt Memorial Drive, 
Auckland Airport, Auckland 
2022

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Sigrid Undsets plass, 
Terminalen, 2060 
Gardermoen, 0235 
Ullensaker

ul. Sienna 72/3, 00-833 
Warsaw

Henri-Coanda International 
Airport, Calea Bucurestilor 
no 224E, Otopeni City, Ilfov

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Unit F4, CTX Business Park, 
Cape Town International 
Airport, Cape Town

Unit F4, CTX Business Park, 
Cape Town International, 
Airport, Cape Town

Box 197, SE 190-45, 
Stockholm, Arlanda

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect (59%)

Indirect (59%)

Indirect

Indirect

172

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

173

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

The Netherlands

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Menzies Aviation  
(Support) B.V.

Menzies Aviation  
(Sverige) AB

Menzies Aviation  
(Sweden) AB

Menzies Aviation  
(Texas), Inc.

Sweden

Sweden

United States

Menzies Aviation (UK) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation (USA), Inc. United States

Menzies Aviation 
(Venezuela) S.A.

Menzies Aviation 
(Washington), Inc.

Venezuela

United States

Menzies Aviation (Windhoek 
Lounge) (Pty) Ltd

Namibia

Menzies Aviation  
Alicante UTE

Menzies Aviation  
Almeria UTE

Menzies Aviation  
Bermuda Ltd

Menzies Aviation Cargo 
(Bangalore) Ltd

Menzies Aviation Cargo 
(Hungary) Kft.

Menzies Aviation Cargo 
(Hyderabad) Ltd

Menzies Aviation Cargo 
(Romania) S.R.L.

Spain

Spain

Bermuda

Mauritius

Hungary

Mauritius

Romania

Menzies Aviation Colombia 
Holdings S.A.S.

Colombia

Menzies Aviation  
Colombia S.A.S.

Colombia

Menzies Aviation Contracts 
(NL) B.V.

Menzies Aviation Corporate 
Services Ltd

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

Box 197, SE 190-45, 
Stockholm, Arlanda

Box 51, 230 32 Malmo, 
Sturup

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

Aeropuerto Internacional 
Simon Bolivar, Nivel 1,  
Sector 1, Maiquetia

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

Bougain Villas, 78 Sam 
Nujoma Drive, Windhoek

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

Thistle House, 4 Burnaby 
Street, Hamilton HM 11

5th Floor, Ebene Esplanade, 
24 Cybercity, Ebene

H-2220 Vecses, Lorinci str. 
59, C Building, Budapest

5th Floor, Ebene Esplanade, 
24 Cybercity, Ebene

Henri-Coanda  
International Airport,  
Calea Bucurestilor no 224E, 
Otopeni City, Ilfov

Carrera 7, No 71 – 21 Torre A, 
Oficina 602, Bogota

Carrera 7, No 71 – 21 Torre A, 
Oficina 602, Bogota

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Menzies Aviation Denmark 
Lounges A/S

Denmark

Menzies Aviation 
Deutschland Verwaltungs 
GmbH

Menzies Aviation Finance 
(USA) LLC

Germany

United States

Menzies Aviation Fuelling 
(Canada) Ltd

Canada

Menzies Aviation Group 
(Philippines) B.V.

The Netherlands

Menzies Aviation Fuelling 
Panama, Inc.

Panama

Menzies Aviation  
Handling Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation Holdings 
(Asia Pacific) Ltd 

British Virgin Islands

Menzies Aviation Holdings 
(Australia) Pty Ltd

Australia

Menzies Aviation Holdings 
(Brasil) Ltda

Brazil

Menzies Aviation  
Holdings Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation Holdings 
(Venezuela) S.A.

Venezuela

Menzies Aviation Hyderabad 
(Passenger) Ltd

Mauritius

Menzies Aviation, Inc.

United States

Menzies Aviation 
International Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation Jerez UTE Spain

Menzies Aviation, 
Copenhagen Airport, 
Petersdalvej 13, 1st, 2770 
Kastrup

Carl-Theodor-Strasse 6, 
40213 Dusseldorf

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

6500 Silver Dart Drive, Suite 
257, Mississauga, Ontario 
L5P 1B2

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

c/o Patton, Moreno & Asvat, 
Capital Plaza, 8th Floor, 
Roberto Motta Ave., Costa 
del Este, Panama City

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Newhaven Corporate 
Services (BVI) Limited, 3rd 
Floor, Omar Hodge Building, 
Wickhams Cay I, PO Box 
362, Road Town, Tortola

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

Avenida Nove de Julho no. 
4865, 5 Andar, Conjunto 51, 
Sala A, Sao Paulo

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Aeropuerto Internacional 
Simon Bolivar, Nivel 1,  
Sector 1, Maiquetia

5th Floor, Ebene Esplanade, 
24 Cybercity, Ebene

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Indirect

Indirect (75%)

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

174

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

175

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Menzies Aviation Leasing 
(Mexico) S.A. de C.V.

Mexico

Menzies Aviation Murcia-San 
Javier UTE

Spain

Menzies Aviation plc

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation Puerto 
Plata S.A.

Dominican Republic

Menzies Aviation Services 
(Asia Pacific) LLC

United States

Menzies Aviation  
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation  
Services SL 

Spain

Menzies Aviation Services 
Venezuela S.A.

Venezuela

Menzies Aviation Spain SL

Spain

Menzies Aviation  
St. Maarten B.V.

Sint Maarten

Menzies Aviation Washing 
Denmark A/S

Denmark

Menzies Aviation Washing 
Oslo AS

Norway

Menzies Cargo Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Cargo Services Ltd United Kingdom

Plaza Alamos Local 2, SM 
311, MZ 26 Lote 03-01 
Boulevard Luis Donaldo 
Colosio C.P. 77560, Cancun, 
Quintana Roo

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

7 and 8 of General Gregorio 
Luperón, International 
Airport, Sosua, Puerto Plata

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Calle Nunez Morgado  
6-Bj Dc, 28036 Madrid

Aeropuerto Internacional 
Simon Bolivar, Nivel 1,  
Sector 1, Maiquetia

Calle Nunez Morgado 6-Bj 
Dc, 28036 Madrid

P.O. Box 2003, Princess 
Juliana Airport

Menzies Aviation, 
Copenhagen Airport, 
Petersdalvej 13, 1st, 2770 
Kastrup

Sigrid Undsets plass, 
Terminalen, 2060 
Gardermoen, 0235 
Ullensaker

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Menzies Client Solutions 
(USA), Inc.

United States

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

Indirect

Menzies Client Solutions Ltd United Kingdom

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Menzies Express  
Baggage Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Group Holdings Ltd United Kingdom

Menzies Security  
Services B.V.

The Netherlands

Menzies Services, Inc.

United States

Menzies Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Wholesale Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies World Cargo 
(Amsterdam) B.V.

Menzies World Cargo 
(Rotterdam) B.V.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands

Menzies World Cargo Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Worldwide 
Distribution Ltd

United Kingdom

Moose Aviation Services AB Sweden

Indirect

MPF Trustee Ltd

United Kingdom

Indirect

Indirect

Ogden Aviation Services 
(Chile) Ltda

Chile

Ogden Cargo Ltd

United Kingdom

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Anchoragelaan 50, 1118 LE 
Luchthaven Schiphol

Brandenburghbaan 2b, 3045 
AK Rotterdam

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Box 2, 190 45 Stockholm, 
Arlanda

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Est. Arturo Alessandri, 
Amunategui 277, 3F, 
Santiago 

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

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177

Financial StatementsSubsidiary, Joint Venture and Associate Undertakings continued

Subsidiary undertakings

Country of incorporation

Registered address

Perth Cargo Centre Pty Ltd Australia

PlaneBiz 2015 Ltd 

New Zealand

Princes Street (Jersey) Ltd

Jersey

Rose Street Nominees Ltd

United Kingdom

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

George Bolt Memorial Drive, 
Auckland Airport,  
Auckland 2022

47 Esplanade, St. Helier  
JE1 0BD

2 Lochside Avenue, 
Edinburgh Park,  
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Simplicity Ground  
Services, LLC

United States

251 Little Falls Drive, 
Wilmington, Delaware 19808

Skycare Ltd

United Kingdom

Skyport Handling Ltd

United Kingdom

Skyport Handling  
Services Ltd

United Kingdom

Skystar Airport Services  
NZ Pty Ltd

New Zealand

Skystar Airport Services  
Pty Ltd

Australia

Southampton Airport  
Cargo Services Ltd

United Kingdom

The London Cargo  
Centre Ltd

United Kingdom

The Menzies Group Ltd

United Kingdom

Wyng Group Ltd

United Kingdom

Wyng Roadflight Ltd

United Kingdom

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

George Bolt Memorial Drive, 
Auckland Airport, Auckland 
2022

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Direct or indirect holding  

(100% unless otherwise stated)

Indirect

Joint venture or associate undertaking Country of incorporation

Registered address

Aircraft Service  
International Group  
Holdings (Thailand) Ltd

Thailand

Indirect (60%)

AMI Asia HK Ltd

China

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Indirect

ASIG Tanking (Thailand) Ltd Thailand

Aviation Service (Iraq) Ltd

United Kingdom

Menzies Aviation Bobba 
(Bangalore) Private Ltd

India

Menzies Aviation Cairns  
Pty Ltd

Australia

Menzies Aviation Pakistan 
(Private) Ltd

Pakistan

Menzies Bobba Ground 
Handling Services  
Private Ltd

India

Menzies Macau Airport 
Services Ltd

China

PT. Menzies Aviation 
Indonesia

Indonesia

Smarter Asset  
Management Ltd

United Kingdom

Swissport Menzies  
Handling PMR UTE

Spain

Zaankracht Uitzendbureau 
Schiphol B.V. 

The Netherlands

7th-9th & 16th Floor, 
Bubhajit Building, 20 North 
Sathorn Road, Silom, 
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Room 1403, Causeway 
Commercial Building,  
3 Sugar Street, Causeway 
Bay, Hong Kong

7th-9th & 16th Floor, 
Bubhajit Building, 20 North 
Sathorn Road, Silom, 
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Plot No-C-04L, Cargo 
Terminal-1, Kempegowda 
International Airport, 
Devanahalli, Bangalore 
560300

c/o Norton Rose Fulbright, 
Level 21, 111 Eagle Street, 
Brisbane QLD 4000

Office No. 311, 3rd Floor,  
The Forum, Khayaban-e-
Jami, Clifton, Block 9, Karachi

H.No.6-3-345/1/2,  
Flat No. 102, Apurupa Classic, 
Road No. 1, Banjara Hills, 
Hyderabad 500034

Avenido de Aeroporto, 
Edificio Airport Logistic 
Business Centre, 1 andar,  
sala 52, Taipa, Macau

Area Cargo Bandara 
Soekarno Hatta, Kel. Pajang, 
Kec. Benda, Jakarta Barat, 
Jakarta

2 World Business Centre 
Heathrow, Newall Road,  
London Heathrow Airport, 
Hounslow TW6 2SF

Avenida Central 25, 28042 
Madrid

Stationsplein 979, 1117 CE 
Schiphol

Holding

Indirect (49.6%)

Indirect (50%)

Indirect (40%)

Indirect (40%)

Indirect (49%); 
100% of preference 
shares

Indirect (50%)

Indirect (60%)

Indirect (51%)

Indirect (29%)

Indirect (51%)

Indirect (26%)

Indirect (19.5%)

Indirect (30%)

178

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

179

Financial StatementsNotice of Annual General Meeting

This document is important and requires your immediate attention. If you are in any doubt about what 
action you should take you are recommended to consult your independent financial adviser authorised 
under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or, if outside the United Kingdom, another appropriately 
authorised financial adviser. If you have sold or transferred all of your ordinary shares in John Menzies plc, 
you should forward this document, together with accompanying documents, to the purchaser or transferee 
or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected, for transmission 
to the purchaser or transferee.

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of John Menzies plc (“Company”) will be held in the 
Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, 38 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4HQ on Friday 17 May 2019 at 2:00pm 
(“Meeting”) to transact the following business:

Ordinary Resolutions
To consider and, if thought fit, pass Resolutions 1–13, each of which will be proposed as an ordinary resolution:

1. Report and Accounts
To receive the Annual Accounts of the Company for the financial year ended 31 December 2018, the Strategic 
Report and the Reports of the Directors and Auditor thereon.

2. Remuneration Report
To approve the Report on Directors’ Remuneration (excluding the Directors’ Remuneration Policy) as set out  
in the Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2018.

3. Dividend
To declare a final dividend of 14.5p per ordinary share in the Company for the financial year ended  
31 December 2018.

4 – 10. Re-election of Directors
4.  To re-elect Paul Baines as a director of the Company.

5.  To re-elect David Garman as a director of the Company.

6.  To re-elect John Geddes as a director of the Company.

7.  To re-elect Philipp Joeinig as a director of the Company.

8.  To re-elect Silla Maizey as a director of the Company. 

9.  To re-elect Dermot Smurfit as a director of the Company.

10. To re-elect Giles Wilson as a director of the Company.

11. Re-appointment of auditor
To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as the Company’s auditor to hold office from the conclusion of this Meeting 
until the conclusion of the next general meeting at which Annual Accounts are laid before the Company.

12. Remuneration of auditor
To authorise the directors of the Company to fix the remuneration of the Company’s auditor.

13. Authority to allot shares
That the directors of the Company (“Directors”) be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised, 
pursuant to section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (“2006 Act”), to exercise all powers of the Company to 
allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the 
Company, such rights and shares together being “relevant securities”:

(a)   otherwise than pursuant to paragraph (b) below, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £7,019,658 (such 

amount to be reduced by the aggregate nominal amount of any equity securities (as defined by section 
560 of the 2006 Act) allotted under paragraph (b) below in excess of £7,019,658; and 

(b)   comprising equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £14,039,316 (such amount to 

be reduced by the nominal amount of any relevant securities allotted under paragraph (a) above) in 
connection with an offer by way of a rights issue to: (i) holders of ordinary shares in the capital of the 
Company in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their respective holdings; and (ii) holders 
of equity securities in the capital of the Company as required by the rights of those securities or as the 
Directors otherwise consider necessary, but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the 
Directors may deem necessary or expedient to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record 
dates, legal or practical problems arising under the laws of any overseas territory or the requirements of 
any regulatory body or stock exchange or by virtue of shares being represented by depository receipts  
or any other matter;

and provided that (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked) this authority shall expire at the conclusion 
of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020 save 
that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such authority which 
would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to 
allot relevant securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not 
expired. This authority is in substitution for and to the exclusion of all unexercised existing authorities previously 
granted to the Directors under the 2006 Act but without prejudice to any allotment of shares or grants of 
rights already made, offered or agreed to be made pursuant to such authorities.

Special Resolutions
To consider, and if thought fit, pass Resolutions 14 and 15, each of which will be proposed as a special 
resolution:

14. Purchase of own ordinary shares by the Company
That the Company be and is hereby authorised pursuant to section 701 of the Companies Act 2006 (“2006 
Act”) to make market purchases (within the meaning of section 693(4) of the 2006 Act) of its own ordinary 
shares of 25p each (“Ordinary Shares”), on such terms and in such manner as the directors of the Company 
may from time to time determine, provided that:

(a)   the maximum number of Ordinary Shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 8,423,590, representing 

approximately 10% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 29 March 2019; 

(b)   the maximum price which may be paid for each such Ordinary Share under this authority shall be the 

higher of: 
(i)    an amount equal to 105% of the average of the middle market quotations for any such Ordinary Share 
as derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days immediately 
prior to the date of conclusion of the contract for any such purchase; and 

(ii)    an amount equal to the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current 
independent bid for an Ordinary Share on the trading venue where the market purchases by the 
Company pursuant to the authority conferred by this Resolution 14 will be carried out, 

and the minimum price which may be paid for any such Ordinary Share is 25p, in each case exclusive of the 
expenses of purchase (if any) payable by the Company; and 

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John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

181

Shareholder InformationNotice of Annual General Meeting continued

(c)    the authority hereby conferred shall expire (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked) at the conclusion of 
the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020 except 
in relation to the purchase of Ordinary Shares for which a contract was concluded before the authority expired 
and which might or will be executed wholly or partly after its expiration and the Company may make such a 
purchase in pursuance of such contract as if the authority hereby conferred had not expired.

15. Purchase of own preference shares by the Company
That the Company be and is hereby authorised pursuant to section 701 of the Companies Act 2006 (“2006 
Act”) to make market purchases (within the meaning of section 693(4) of the 2006 Act) of its own 9% 
cumulative preference shares of £1 each (“Preference Shares”), on such terms and in such manner as the 
directors of the Company may from time to time determine, provided that:

(a)   the maximum number of Preference Shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 1,394,587, representing 

100% of the issued Preference Share capital of the Company as at 29 March 2019; 

(b)   the maximum price which may be paid for each such Preference Share under this authority shall be the 

higher of: 
(i)    an amount equal to 110% of the average of the middle market quotations for any such Preference Share 
as derived from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days immediately 
prior to the date of conclusion of the contract for any such purchase; and 

(ii)    an amount equal to the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current 
independent bid for a Preference Share on the trading venue where the market purchases by the 
Company pursuant to the authority conferred by this Resolution 15 will be carried out, 

and the minimum price which may be paid for any such Preference Share is £1, in each case exclusive of the 
expenses of purchase (if any) payable by the Company; and

(c)    the authority hereby conferred shall expire (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked) at the conclusion of 
the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020, except 
in relation to the purchase of Preference Shares for which a contract was concluded before the authority 
expired and which might or will be executed wholly or partly after its expiration and the Company may  
make such a purchase in pursuance of such contract as if the authority hereby conferred had not expired.

Approved and issued by the Board of Directors.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

John Geddes
Director of Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary
29 March 2019

Explanatory Notes
The following information provides additional background information to several of the proposed Resolutions:

Resolution 2: Remuneration Report
In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 (“2006 Act”), the Company’s Report on 
Directors’ Remuneration (excluding the Directors’ Remuneration Policy (“Remuneration Policy”)) will be put 
to an annual shareholder vote by ordinary resolution. This vote is advisory in nature and is in respect of the 
overall remuneration package which is in place for directors of the Company (“Directors”) – it is not specific to 
individual levels of remuneration nor is the entitlement of a Director to remuneration conditional on the vote 
being passed.

The Remuneration Policy is, however, subject to a binding shareholder vote by ordinary resolution at least every 
three years. A new Remuneration Policy was proposed and approved at a general meeting of the Company held 
on 22 August 2018, further details of which are set out on pages 67 to 75 of the Annual Report and Accounts 
2018. The Company cannot make a remuneration payment to a current or prospective Director or a payment 
for loss of office to a current or past Director unless such payment is consistent with the Remuneration Policy 
or has been approved by a resolution of the Company’s shareholders.

Resolutions 4 – 10: Re-election of Directors
Biographical details of the Directors to be re-elected at this year’s annual general meeting (“AGM”) can be 
found on pages 46 and 47 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2018. In accordance with the principles of good 
governance set out in the UK Corporate Governance Code (April 2016) and as prescribed by the UK Corporate 
Governance Code (July 2018), all Directors who will continue following the AGM will seek re-election. As 
previously announced by the Company, Geoff Eaton will not stand for re-election at the AGM and Forsyth Black 
resigned as a Director in March 2019. 

In proposing the re-election of the Directors, the Chairman has confirmed that, following the most recent 
rigorous external performance evaluations (described on pages 50 and 51 of the Annual Report and Accounts 
2018), each individual continues to make an effective and valuable contribution to the Board and demonstrates 
commitment to their role.

Resolution 13: Authority to allot shares 
The Investment Association’s Share Capital Management Guidelines (“IA Guidelines”) permit, and regard as 
routine, an authority to allot up to two thirds of a company’s existing issued share capital. They provide that any 
amount in excess of one third of a company’s issued share capital should only be applied to fully pre-emptive 
rights issues.

At the Company’s AGM in May 2018, the Directors were given authority to allot shares in the capital of the 
Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of £13,976,170, representing approximately two thirds of the 
Company’s issued ordinary share capital as at 30 March 2018. To the extent not utilised, this authority is due to 
expire at the end of this year’s AGM. 

It is considered appropriate that the Directors again be granted authority to allot shares in the capital of the 
Company up to a maximum nominal amount of £14,039,316, which amount represents approximately two thirds 
of the Company’s issued ordinary share capital as at 29 March 2019 and thus complies with the IA Guidelines. 
Accordingly, 28,078,635 ordinary shares of 25p each (“Ordinary Shares”), representing approximately one third 
of the Company’s issued ordinary share capital, may be allotted pursuant to a fully pre-emptive rights issue.

The authority sought by Resolution 13 will last until the conclusion of the next AGM of the Company or, if earlier, 
the close of business on 30 June 2020. The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority, 
although they have confirmed that should the power authorised in Resolution 13 be utilised then all Directors 
would stand for re-election at the next AGM (as they currently do in accordance with the principles of good 
governance).

As at 29 March 2019, the Company held 198,334 of its Ordinary Shares in Treasury. 

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183

Shareholder InformationNotice of Annual General Meeting continued

Resolutions 14 and 15: Authority to buy-back shares
Special Resolutions 14 and 15 give the Company authority to make market purchases of its Ordinary Shares 
and 9% cumulative preference shares (“Preference Shares”) in the market, as permitted by the 2006 Act. 
The authorities set the minimum and maximum prices and limit the number of Ordinary Shares that can be 
purchased to 8,423,590 (representing approximately 10% of the issued Ordinary Shares as at 29 March 2019) 
and the number of Preference Shares to 1,394,587 (representing 100% of the issued Preference Shares as at 
29 March 2019).

The authorities, if granted, will expire at the conclusion of the next AGM of the Company or, if earlier, at 
the close of business on 30 June 2020. The Directors have no present intention of exercising the authority 
to purchase the Preference Shares but will keep the matter under review, taking into account the financial 
resources of the Company, the Company’s share price and future funding opportunities. The authority would 
only be exercised if the Directors believed that to do so would result in an increase in earnings per share  
and would be in the interests of the Company’s shareholders generally.

As at 29 March 2019, the Company held 198,334 Ordinary Shares in Treasury. The Company may make 
purchases of its Ordinary Shares, taking into account the financial resources of the Company, the Company’s 
share price and future funding opportunities. No voting rights attach to Ordinary Shares whilst held in Treasury 
nor are dividends payable on them. The authority sought under Resolution 14 will only be exercised if the 
Directors believe that to do so would result in an increase in earnings per share and would be in the interests 
of the Company’s shareholders generally. Any purchase of Ordinary Shares would be by means of market 
purchase through the London Stock Exchange.

Recommendation
The Directors consider that all the above Resolutions are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders 
as a whole and are most likely to promote the success of the Company. Accordingly, they unanimously recommend 
that you vote in favour of all proposed Resolutions.

Notes to the Notice of AGM
1.  Information about the AGM is available from the Company’s website found at www.johnmenziesplc.com.

2.  As a shareholder, you are entitled to appoint one or more proxies to exercise all or any of your rights to 

attend, speak and vote at the AGM. A proxy need not be a shareholder of the Company. You may appoint 
more than one proxy provided each proxy is appointed to exercise rights attached to different shares.  
You may not appoint more than one proxy to exercise the rights attached to any one share.

3.  A Form of Proxy is enclosed. To be valid, your Form of Proxy and any power of attorney or other authority, 

if any, under which it is signed or a notarially certified copy of that power of attorney or authority should be 
sent to Computershare Investor Services (“Computershare”) at The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 
6ZY so as to arrive no later than 48 hours before the commencement of the AGM. No amendments to, or 
submission or withdrawal of, any Form of Proxy shall be effective if lodged with Computershare less than 
48 hours before the time appointed for the holding of the AGM or any adjourned meeting.

8.  Any person to whom this notice is sent who is a person nominated under section 146 of the 2006 Act 
to enjoy information rights (a “Nominated Person”) may, under an agreement between them and the 
shareholder by whom they were nominated, have a right to be appointed (or to have someone else 
appointed) as a proxy for the AGM. If a Nominated Person has no such proxy appointment right or does not 
wish to exercise it, they may, under any such agreement, have a right to give instructions to the shareholder 
as to the exercise of voting rights.

9.  The statement of the rights of shareholders in relation to the appointment of proxies in Notes 2, 3 and 4 
above does not apply to Nominated Persons. The rights described in these Notes can only be exercised  
by shareholders of the Company.

10. As at 29 March 2019, the issued ordinary share capital of the Company comprised 84,434,239 Ordinary 

Shares and the Company held 198,334 of these Ordinary Shares in Treasury. Each Ordinary Share carries  
the right to one vote at a general meeting of the Company and, therefore, the total number of voting rights 
in the Company as at 29 March 2019 is 84,235,905.

11.  CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the CREST electronic proxy 

appointment service may do so for the AGM and any adjournment(s) thereof by utilising the procedures 
described in the CREST Manual. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those 
CREST members who have appointed a voting service provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor  
or voting service provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf.

12. In order for a proxy appointment made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message 
(“CREST Proxy Instruction”) must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland 
Limited’s specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in  
the CREST Manual. The message must be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer’s agent (ID 3RA50) 
so as to arrive no later than 48 hours before the commencement of the AGM or any adjourned meeting.  
For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied  
to the shareholder information message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the issuer’s agent  
is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.

13. CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that 
Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular 
messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy 
Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a 
CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure 
that their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure 
that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, 
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers are referred,  
in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system 
and timings.

14. The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 

4.  It is possible for you to submit your proxy votes online. Further information on this service can be found  

35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.

on your Form of Proxy or, if you receive communications electronically, voting information will be contained 
within your email broadcast. 

5.  If you appoint a proxy, this will not prevent you attending the AGM and voting in person if you wish to do so.

6.  The right to vote at the AGM is determined by reference to the Company’s Register of Members as at the 
close of business on Wednesday 15 May 2019 or, if the AGM is adjourned, on the day two days prior to the 
adjourned meeting. Changes to entries on the Register of Members after that time shall be disregarded in 
determining the rights of any shareholder to attend and vote at the AGM. 

7.  As a shareholder, you have the right to put questions at the AGM relating to the business being dealt with  

at the AGM.

15. Under section 338 of the 2006 Act, shareholders may require the Company to give, to shareholders of 

the Company entitled to receive this Notice of AGM, notice of a resolution which may properly be moved 
and is intended to be moved at the AGM. Under section 338A of the 2006 Act, shareholders may request 
the Company to include in the business to be dealt with at the AGM any matter (other than a proposed 
resolution) which may properly be included in the business. 

184

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

185

Shareholder InformationNotice of Annual General Meeting continued

General Information

16. It is possible that, pursuant to requests made by shareholders of the Company under section 527 of the 

2006 Act, the Company may be required to publish on a website a statement setting out any matter relating 
to: (i) the audit of the Company’s accounts (including the auditor’s report and the conduct of the audit) that 
are to be laid before the AGM; or (ii) any circumstances connected with an auditor of the Company ceasing 
to hold office since the previous meeting at which annual accounts and reports were laid in accordance 
with section 437 of the 2006 Act. The Company may not require the shareholder requesting any such 
website publication to pay its expenses in complying with sections 527 or 528 of the 2006 Act. Where the 
Company is required to place a statement on a website under section 527 of the 2006 Act, it must forward 
the statement to the Company’s auditor not later than the time when it makes the statement available on the 
website. The business which may be dealt with at the AGM includes any statement that the Company has 
been required to publish on a website under section 527 of the 2006 Act. 

17. You may not use any electronic address provided either in this Notice of AGM or any related documents  

to communicate with the Company for any purpose other than as expressly stated.

Documents
The following documents will be available for inspection during usual business hours on any day (except 
Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays) from the date of sending this Notice of AGM up to and including the date 
of the AGM at the registered office of the Company and at the offices of the Company’s solicitors, Dentons UK 
and Middle East LLP, at One Fleet Street, London EC4M 7RA: 

(a)  copies of the Directors’ service contracts with the Company; and 

(b)  the terms of appointment of the Non-Executive Directors of the Company.

On the date of the AGM, these documents will be available for inspection at the venue of the AGM from 12 noon 
until the conclusion of the AGM.

Internet
The Company operates a website which can be found at www. johnmenziesplc.com. This site is regularly 
updated to provide you with information about the Company and its activities. In particular, all of the 
Company’s press releases and announcements can be found on this site together with copies of its Annual 
Reports and Accounts. 

Share Register and Shareholder Enquiries
Any enquiry concerning your shareholding should be directed to the Company’s Registrar, Computershare 
Investor Services PLC (“Computershare”), and should clearly state your name, address and Shareholder 
Reference Number (“SRN”). The contact details are as follows:

Telephone: 
Web: 
Email: 
Post: 

+44 (0) 370 703 6303
www.investorcentre.co.uk
www.investorcentre.co.uk/contactus
The John Menzies plc Registrar, Computershare Investor Services PLC, The Pavilions, 
Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZZ

Computershare should be notified promptly in writing of any change in a shareholder’s address. 
Computershare’s online Investor Centre also enables you to view your shareholding and update your address 
and payment instructions online. You can register at www.investorcentre.co.uk. In order to register, you will  
need your SRN which you can find on your share certificate or dividend confirmation.

Share Price
The current price of the Company’s ordinary shares of 25p each (“Ordinary Shares”) can be viewed on the 
Company’s website at www.johnmenziesplc.com.

Telephone Share Dealing Service
A share dealing service has been arranged with Jarvis Investment Management Limited which provides a simple 
way of buying or selling shares in the Company. To use this service you should visit www.dialndeal.co.uk or  
call the following telephone number and quote reference ‘John Menzies plc dial and deal’:

Telephone:

+44 (0) 1892 700849

Commission for this share dealing service will be at a fixed rate of £27.50. Additionally, UK share purchases  
will be subject to a 0.5% stamp duty charge whilst a levy of £1.00 will be imposed by the Panel on Takeovers 
and Mergers for single trades in excess of £10,000. 

You will be required to pay for any shares purchased by debit card at the time of the transaction. You must 
therefore ensure you have sufficient cleared funds available in your debit card account to pay for the shares  
in full.

ShareGift
If you only have a small number of shares which may be uneconomic to sell, you may wish to consider donating 
them to the charity ShareGift (Registered Charity No. 1052686) which specialises in accepting such shares as 
donations. There are no implications for UK Capital Gains Tax purposes (no gain or loss) on gifts of shares to 
charity and it is also possible to obtain income tax relief. If you wish to do this then the details are as follows:

Telephone: 
Web: 
Email: 

+44 (0) 20 7930 3737
www.sharegift.org
help@sharegift.org

186

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

187

Shareholder InformationGeneral Information continued

Analysis of Shareholdings
At 31 December 2018

Shareholding (Ordinary Shares)

1-1,000
1,001-5,000
5,001-10,000
10,001-100,000
Over 100,000

Total

Number of 
shareholders

Percentage of 
shareholders

Total number of 
Ordinary Shares 
held

Percentage of 
Ordinary Shares 
held

3,003
502
59
123
73

3,760

79.87
13.35
1.57
3.27
1.94

731,304
1,033,078
433,638
4,688,250
77,477,444

100

84,363,714

0.87
1.22
0.51
5.56
91.84

100

Payment of Dividends
It is in the interests of both the Company and its shareholders for dividends to be paid directly into bank 
or building society accounts. Any shareholder who wishes to receive dividends in this way should contact 
Computershare to obtain a dividend mandate form.

9% Cumulative Preference Shares
Dividends will be paid on 1 April 2019 and 1 October 2019. 

Ordinary Shares
A final dividend of 14.5p per Ordinary Share was proposed by the Directors on 11 March 2019 and, subject  
to shareholder approval, will be paid on 1 July 2019 to shareholders on the Company’s Register of Members  
as at the close of business on 24 May 2019.

Any interim dividends for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 will be paid on 15 November 2019  
to shareholders on the Company’s Register of Members as at close of business on 18 October 2019.

Investor Relations
For any Investor Relations enquiries, please contact the Company by one of the following means:

Telephone: 
Email: 
Post: 

+44 (0) 131 225 8144
investor.relations@johnmenziesplc.com
John Menzies plc, 2 Lochside Avenue, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh EH12 9DJ,  
marked for the attention of John Geddes, Director of Corporate Affairs &  
Group Company Secretary

Principal Advisers
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
3rd Floor, 144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh EH3 8EX

Corporate advisers and joint broker
Numis Securities Limited
The London Stock Exchange Building
10 Paternoster Row
London EC4M 7LT

Joint broker
Berenberg
60 Threadneedle Street
London EC2R 8HP

Principal Business Addresses
John Menzies plc
2 Lochside Avenue
Edinburgh Park 
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Telephone: 
Email: 

+44 (0) 131 225 8555
info@johnmenziesplc.com

Menzies Aviation
2 Lochside Avenue
Edinburgh Park 
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ

Telephone: 

+44 (0) 131 225 8555

Corporate Calendar
(Provisional dates)

12 March 2019

Preliminary announcement of Annual Results

1 April 2019

5 April 2019

17 May 2019

24 May 2019

1 July 2019

13 August 2019

1 October 2019

Payment of dividend on Preference Shares 

Annual Report and Accounts 2018 and Notice of AGM released

AGM

Record date for final dividend on Ordinary Shares

Payment of final dividend on Ordinary Shares

Announcement of Interim Results

Payment of dividend on Preference Shares 

18 October 2019

Record date for interim dividend on Ordinary Shares

15 November 2019

Payment of interim dividend on Ordinary Shares

188

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

189

Shareholder Information 
Notes

Notes

190

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

191

Shareholder InformationNotes

192

John Menzies plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018

JOHN MENZIES PLC
Registered office:
2 Lochside Avenue
Edinburgh Park
Edinburgh EH12 9DJ
Tel: +44 (0) 131 225 8555
Fax: +44 (0) 131 220 1491
Email: info@johnmenziesplc.com
Web: www.johnmenziesplc.com
Registered in Scotland with 
company number SC34970