The holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends as declared from time to time and are entitled to one vote per share at meetings of the Company. All shares rank equally with regard to the Company's residual assets.

During the current period the Company has not changed its share capital but during the prior period it increased by 53,410 shares, following the issue of shares in relation to the exercise of options under the Company's Sharesave Scheme. There was no significant impact on share premium as a result of the transaction, which has remained at £151.0m (2016: £151.0m).

In total the Company received proceeds of £1.4m (2016: £2.7m) from the exercise of share options.

Investment in Own Shares

At 31 March 2017 the Company held in Trust 2,097,863 (2016: 2,984,289) of its own shares with a nominal value of £20,979 (2016: £29,843). The Trust has waived any entitlement to the receipt of dividends in respect of its holding of the Company's ordinary shares. The market value of these shares at 31 March 2017 was £7.4m (2016: £11.7m). In the current period nil (2016: nil) were repurchased and transferred into the Trust, with 886,426 (2016: 1,761,344) reissued on exercise of share options.

Other Reserves

Capital Redemption Reserve

The capital redemption reserve has arisen following the purchase by the Company of its own shares and comprises the amount by which the distributable profits were reduced on these transactions in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

Hedging Reserve

The hedging reserve comprises the effective portion of the cumulative net change in the fair value of cash flow hedging instruments related to hedged transactions that have not yet occurred.