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Share capital and share premium

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

27. Share capital and share premium


	Number of shares 000s			Share capital £m			Share premium £m
At 1 January 2018		802,054			200			2,602
Issue of ordinary shares – share option schemes		864			1			5
Purchase of own shares		(21,840	)		(6	)		—

At 31 December 2018		781,078			195			2,607
Issue of ordinary shares – share option schemes		1,021			—			7
Purchase of own shares		—			—			—

At 31 December 2019		782,099			195			2,614

The ordinary shares have a par value of 25p per share (2018: 25p per share). All issued shares are fully paid. All shares have the same rights.

The £300m share buyback programme announced in October 2017 was completed on 16 February 2018. A further 22m shares were purchased under the programme in 2018. The shares bought back have been cancelled and the nominal value of these shares transferred to a capital redemption reserve. The nominal value of shares cancelled at 31 December 2019 was £11m (2018: £11m).

The Group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the Group will be able to continue as a going concern while maximising the return to shareholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance.

The capital structure of the Group consists of debt (see note 18), cash and cash equivalents (see note 17) and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent, comprising issued capital, reserves and retained earnings.

The Group reviews its capital structure on a regular basis and will balance its overall capital structure through payments of dividends, new share issues as well as the issue of new debt or the redemption of existing debt in line with the financial risk policies outlined in note 19.