The Company intends to cancel the purchased shares. In addition, the Company has today issued 40,000 ordinary shares of 5 pence each in connection with the scrip dividend alternative in respect of the 2024 first interim dividend (the "Scrip Issuance"). Following the Purchase and the Scrip Issuance, the Company will have 2,689,029,060 shares in issue. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 2,689,029,060 and this figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator when determining whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. All shares were purchased from the Bank as an on-exchange transaction subject to the rules of the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Code on Share Buy-backs. |