Mears Grp PLC - Launch of Share Buyback Programme of up to £20m

Mears Group PLC

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

Launch of Share Buyback Programme of up to £20m

Mears (LSE: MER) previously announced that the Board approved an additional return of surplus capital of up to £20 million to shareholders to be implemented through a new share buyback programme of Mears' ordinary shares of 1p each ("Ordinary Shares") (together the 'Sixth Buyback Programme').

This new Buyback Programme will take place within the limitations of the authority granted to the Board of Mears Group PLC at its Annual General Meeting, held on 4 June 2025, pursuant to which the maximum number of Ordinary Shares to be bought back by Mears is 8,644,262.

The Group's capital allocation policy prioritises the allocation of capital to support our organic growth strategy, augmented by strategic acquisitions to further enhance our service offering and accelerate the delivery of our plan. The excellent visibility of future revenue and profits, combined with strong cash generation underpins a progressive dividend and other routes for returning surplus funds to shareholders remain in focus. Consistent with the Group's capital allocation strategy, the Board approved a new £20m share buyback programme which was announced on 26 March 2026, and this is to be launched today.

Over the three years since May 2023, buybacks have reduced the Group's ordinary share count by 27.4m at an average price of 325p and a total cash cost of c.£89m. In addition, the Employee Benefit Trust ('EBT') has purchased 5.3m shares over that same period at a cash cost of c.£18m, of which 4.1m shares remain held at this time, and which will be utilised in the future to settle share-based employee remuneration. 

Mears has entered into non-discretionary arrangements with Deutsche Bank AG ('Deutsche Bank') and Panmure Liberum Limited ('Panmure Liberum') to conduct the Sixth Buyback Programme on its behalf from 1 April 2026. Under these arrangements, Deutsche Numis and Panmure Liberum will make trading decisions in relation to the buyback of the Company's Ordinary Shares independently of the Group within the programme's terms and pre-set parameters.

The purpose of this Sixth Buyback Programme is to return additional surplus capital to shareholders and reduce the Group's share capital. As such, all Ordinary Shares repurchased by the Group under this Sixth Buyback Programme will be cancelled.

Purchases of Ordinary Shares under the Sixth Buyback Programme will take place in open market transactions and may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price and trading volumes. The Sixth Buyback Programme will be conducted within the parameters prescribed by the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (as in force in the UK, from time to time, including, where relevant, pursuant to the UK's European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019) as well as applicable laws and the regulations of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (including Chapter 12 of the Listing Rules). 

Deutsche Bank and Panmure Liberum will monitor the level of liquidity in the issued Ordinary Shares and may determine that, in order to proceed with the Sixth Buyback Programme in an effective and timely manner, the Sixth Buyback Programme may on any given trading day exceed 25 per cent but remain below 50 per cent of the average daily trading volume. Should this occur, the Group may not benefit from the exemption contained in Article 5(1) in MAR.

The Company intends to make use of the FCA's updated notification deadline under UKLR 9.6.6R, which permits post-trade notifications of purchases of own shares to be made no later than the end of the seventh daily market session following the date of execution. Accordingly, the Company expects to move from daily to weekly market notifications in respect of shares purchased under the Programme.

About Mears

Mears is a leading provider of services to the Housing sector, providing a range of services to individuals within their homes. We manage and maintain around 450,000 homes across the UK and work predominantly with Central Government and Local Government, typically through long-term contracts. We equally consider the residents of the homes that we manage and maintain to be our customers, and we take pride in the high levels of customer satisfaction that we achieve.

Mears currently employs over 5,000 people and provides services in every region of the UK. In partnership with our Housing clients, we provide property management and maintenance services. Mears has extended its activities to provide broader housing solutions to solve the challenge posed by the lack of affordable housing and to provide accommodation and support for the most vulnerable.

We focus on long-term outcomes for people rather than short-term solutions and invest in innovations that have a positive impact on people's quality of life and on their communities' social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. Our innovative approaches and market leading positions are intended to create value for our customers and the people they serve while also driving sustainable financial returns for our providers of capital, especially our shareholders.