Notes to the Company financial statements
7. Called up share capital
| Called up and fully paid | ||
|---|---|---|
| millions | £m | |
| At 31 March 2006 | 2,720 | 310 |
| Issued during the year | 4 | – |
| Repurchased during the year (i) | (23) | (2) |
| At 31 March 2007 | 2,701 | 308 |
| Issued during the year (ii) | 8 | 1 |
| Repurchased during the year (iii) | (127) | (15) |
| At 31 March 2008 | 2,582 | 294 |
(i) From 20 November 2006 to 22 March 2007, the Company repurchased, and subsequently cancelled, under its share repurchase programme 22,388,381 ordinary shares for aggregate consideration of £169m, including transaction costs. The shares repurchased have a nominal value of £2m and represented approximately 1% of the ordinary shares in issue as at 31 March 2007. The consideration has been charged against retained earnings.
(ii) Included within issued share capital was 3,705,193 ordinary shares that were issued following the conversion of the Company’s B shares to ordinary shares on 28 September 2007.
(iii) From 30 May 2007 to 27 November 2007, the Company repurchased, and subsequently cancelled, under its share repurchase programme 126,817,712 ordinary shares for aggregate consideration of £946m, including transaction costs. The shares repurchased have a nominal value of £15m and represented approximately 5% of the ordinary shares in issue as at 31 March 2008. The consideration has been charged against retained earnings.
For further details on share capital, refer to note 25 in the consolidated financial statements.