Good morning, and welcome to the 2022 annual general meeting of Breville Group Limited. My name is Tim Antonie, and I'm the Chairman of the company. As it's now 10:00 A.M. and a quorum is present, I declare the meeting open. I would like to begin by acknowledging and paying respects to the traditional custodians of the land and waters in which we work. The Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and their elders, past, present, and emerging. We celebrate the continuing contribution of their food culture and seek to support it in Australia and the world. I would now like to introduce the board of directors and other attendees. I'm joined at the table on my right by Peter Cowan, Sally Herman, our Managing Director and CEO, Jim Clayton. On my left, our Deputy Chairman, Lawrence Myers, Kate Wright, and our Group CFO, Martin Nicholas.
Our new director, Tim Baxter, is also present, but joins us virtually from the United States. Joining us today are Craig Robinson and Sasha Kitto, our joint company secretaries [inaudible] the back. [Ayesha Kundra], our audit partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Today, we have seven items of formal business. The receipt and consideration of the 2022 annual report, the adoption of the remuneration report, the re-election and election of Non-Executive Directors' Sally Herman, Kate Wright, and Tim Baxter. The grant of rights to our Managing Director and CEO, Jim Clayton. The grant of NED rights to nonexecutive directors.
Before we turn to the formal business of the meeting, Jim Clayton and I would like to take the opportunity to discuss the 2022 financial year and recent performance. We are happy to take any questions on the presentations when we consider the 2022 Annual Report. I'll start my presentation by noting that last Tuesday was Breville's 90th birthday. Any history of Breville is automatically linked with the history of the name who founded it, Bill O'Brien and Harry Norville. They started Breville Radio in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932. The Breville name is a combination of their surnames. From the first-time radios and washing machines to the ultimate in 21st century technology and design, what has carried Breville forward is a passion for innovation and a laser focus on serving its loyal customers.
Those simple moments of Breville brilliance have made all shared experience in the kitchen so much more enjoyable and rewarding. Turning to the 2022 financial year, Breville delivered record sales and EBIT in a dynamic trading environment, particularly in the second half with the direct impact of the war in Ukraine on our European business and growing global inflation and economic uncertainty. The business was nimble and reactive to changing conditions to deliver our EBIT guidance for the year. The group delivered a 19.4% increase in sales to over AUD 1.4 billion and a 14.6% increase in EBIT to AUD 156.4 million.
Over the last seven years, revenue and EBIT have grown at a very impressive compound average growth rate of 16.2% and 13.4%, respectively. Whilst growing revenue and EBIT in FY 2022, the group increased investment in R&D, marketing, and technology by 22.3% to support the long-term growth of the business. Net profit after tax increased by 16.2% to AUD 105.7 million. Earnings per share increased by 15.3% to AUD 0.759. And in line with the Board's target payout ratio of 40% of EPS, dividends per share increased by 13.2% to AUD 0.30.
Breville ended the 2022 financial year with a solid balance sheet, including net debt of AUD 4 million. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our CEO, Jim Clayton, and our team across the globe for their dedication and prowess in delivering another stellar performance and positioning Breville for long-term growth. I would also like to thank my fellow directors, our shareholders, customers, retail partners and suppliers for their continued support. We look forward to sharing the next exciting chapter with you. I'll now hand over to Jim.
Thank you, Tim. I'd like to welcome everyone to Breville's AGM, and thank you for taking the time to join us. Turning to slide 13. Today, I'm gonna walk you through our FY 2022 year-end results, give you a short update on the first half of 2023, and end with some closing remarks. Turning to slide 14. Given we've reported these numbers in August, I will focus on the highlights. FY 2022, as reported, looks like a fairly normal year for Breville. Solid top-line growth resulting in on-guidance EBIT growth. Behind these numbers, it was anything but normal. FY 2022 was a year of supply chain disruptions, cost inflation, and the war in Ukraine, just to hit the highlights.
The results, AUD 1.4 billion in revenue, stable gross margins, and 14.6% EBIT growth is an expression of the Breville Sage team's sense and respond approach to navigating through a dynamic environment. Turning to slide 15. Breaking down the revenue across the two segments. The global product segment grew 18% in constant currency on top of 37% growth in the prior year. The distribution segment grew 17.7%. Next slide.
All three theaters delivered solid growth numbers in the global product segment. The Americas led with 22.7% in constant currency, EMEA grew 14.8%, and APAC grew 18.9%. Across the theaters, we saw revenue diversification play through. As the Ukraine war knocked EMEA off its normal trajectory, the Americas performance basically closed the gap. Turning to slide 17. The EBIT bridge between FY 2021 and 2022 shows we generated an incremental AUD 72.2 million of gross profit, of which AUD 35.8 million was invested back into marketing and R&D and technology, AUD 16.6 million went to other functions, and AUD 20 million dropped to the EBIT line. This waterfall is the scorecard that shows the level of control we have over the business.
As our growth rate slowed in the second half, we were able to make running adjustments to our expense pattern to end the year on guidance. Moving to slide 18. The balance sheet shows that we have finally made it back to an equilibrium working capital level, coupled with two items of note. In the second half of 2021, we made the explicit decision to de-risk the supply chain challenges we were wrestling with by phasing our first half 2023 inventory build much earlier, resulting in a higher inventory number as of June 30. This created a fair bit of discussion when we announced our results on August 23. One week after our announcement, Shenzhen, where most of our products are manufactured, went into COVID lockdown, exactly the scenario we were hedging against. The second item of note is the increase in intangibles.
As a general rule, this is a leading indicator of new products lining up to come to market. Slide 19. It's been a while since I pulled together the acceleration program scorecard. Behind these numbers sits an underlying market environment that is the most dynamic I've experienced in my career. Brexit, Trump's tariffs, COVID lockdowns, inflation, war, wild currency swings, et cetera. Despite all of this, we have continued to stay on task, methodically executing our long-term strategy while tactically dealing with the challenges presented. Our underlying strategic cadence has continued to support the progression of the business within the envelope of EBIT growth. On to a quick update on the first half of 2023. Slide 21, please. In the first half of FY 2023, we have continued the rollout of the Aboriginal Culinary Journey range.
We executed launch events at the Australian High Commission in Berlin, an aboriginal art gallery in Brussels, and at Australia House in London. Currently, the limited edition range is available online and at Harrods in London and KaDeWe in Berlin. The team also received the Best- in- Class award from Good Design. We're very proud of this project and look forward to continuing the rollout of the range in France and the United States in the second half. Turning to slide 22. Winning a Good Design Award with the Aboriginal Culinary Journey is a much appreciated recognition for Breville's prowess in product design. The team has won countless global product design awards throughout the years. In October, we experienced a first for Breville in its 90-year history. Breville received three global digital design awards from W3 Awards.
Best Homepage, Best Structure and Navigation of a Product Description Page, and Best Use of Video or Motion Graphics on the Joule Oven Page. For those who are not familiar with W3, it is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. The importance of this recognition means the sophistication of our digital execution is catching up to our product execution. Turning to slide 23. Looking at the first half of 2023, I can provide a few updates. Despite the August lockdown in Shenzhen and other logistics issues, we successfully landed the inventory we needed to support the first half. The supply chain is becoming more predictable. We expect to transition back to a flow model in the second half of 2023, so we should see a working capital release when we report our annual results.
Our Launch 2.0 processes worked exceptionally well with the Barista Express Impress in all markets. In general, retailers are cautious but leaning into brands they trust, including Breville Sage. Surveying the territories year- to- date, sell-in is performing as expected on a relative basis. Americas is solid, APAC is steady, and EMEA continues to be challenging, where sell- out continues to outpace sell- in. We are seeing input costs trending in the right direction, which is down. From a planning perspective, the business is currently performing between the goalposts, our low case and high case. We continue to be on plan for the year. Slide 24. Finally, a few closing remarks. It is with great humility that we recognize Breville's 90th anniversary. I certainly feel a privilege to be a participant on this journey.
Not many companies last this long, with even fewer global success stories from Australia. It is an accomplishment that should be celebrated. Besides, what can be more Australian? A company whose founding capital came from winning a 4-to-1 bet at the Melbourne Cup in 1932. I'd like to welcome Tim Baxter to the board. I personally appreciate his willingness to lend his expertise to the road ahead. I would like to thank every single employee of the company, both new and old, for tackling through yet another challenging year. As best I can tell, the bigger the challenge, the better this team performs. It is truly an honor to be a part of this team. With that, thank you to everyone for joining us today, and I will now hand back to Tim for the rest of the agenda.
Thank you, Jim. Before proceeding further, I would like to discuss the procedures I will follow today. I propose calling a poll on each resolution be put to this meeting. The final results of the poll will be released to the ASX and will be displayed on the company's website as soon as they are available after the close of the meeting. A representative of our share registry, Boardroom, will act as returning officer for the purposes of conducting and determining the results of the poll. Shareholders and proxy holders who are eligible to vote at the meeting have received an orange voting card. During the meeting, I'll advise you when it is time for you to fill in your voting cards. If you need assistance filling in your voting card, please see the Boardroom staff at the registration desk in the foyer.
Boardroom staff will collect voting cards at the end of the meeting. Shareholders who have a blue card are eligible to speak but are ineligible to vote at this meeting. Guests holding a white card are ineligible to vote or speak at this meeting. If you believe you have not received the correct card, please see a Boardroom staff member in the foyer. There are a couple of seats up the front here. After each item of business has been put to the meeting, I will ask the questions. If you would like to address the meeting on the item of business, please raise your attendance card and I will call on you. Please then identify yourself by name and state whether you're a shareholder or a proxy holder. Does anyone need any more time to register?
Shareholders were sent a copy of the notice of meeting and annual report with details of how to access these documents on 10 October 2022. Unless there are objections, I will take the notice of meeting as read. Shareholders unable to attend the meeting had the option of appointing a proxy. Before a vote is taken on each resolution, I will display on screen the total number of valid proxies, cast for that resolution, and the manner in which they have been directed. These figures have been determined as at 10 A.M., Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, 8 November 2022, which was the closing time for receipt of proxies. I'd also like to advise the meeting that all eligible undirected proxies given to the chairman will be voted in favor of these resolutions, and this number will also be displayed on the screen.
I now turn to the first item of business being to receive and consider the annual report. It is not a requirement that the annual financial report and reports of the directors and auditor for the year ended 30 June 2022 be formally adopted. However, all shareholders have had the opportunity to receive and consider them. We will now take any questions on the annual report and on earlier presentations from Jim and I. Our auditors are also available to answer any questions on the conduct of the audit and the content of the auditor's report. Are there any questions on this item? Thank you. I'll now move to item two, the resolution for the adoption of the company's remuneration report. The remuneration report has been made available or provided to shareholders together with the annual report.
I would remind shareholders that the vote on this resolution is advisory only and is not binding on the company. Please note that voting exclusions apply to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. Proxies have been lodged in respect of the resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the adoption of the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2022 be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the adoption of the remuneration report. Next, we have item 3A, the resolution for the re-election of Sally Herman as a director. I will now invite Sally to address the room and make some brief comments on her re-election.
Thank you, Tim. Good morning, fellow shareholders. I'm delighted to be in Sydney with many of you today. When you re-elected me to the board in 2019, I don't believe any of us could have predicted what was to come for the world, for Australia, and for our company. Nonetheless, your board and employees have used all of our strategic and operational capabilities to ensure that Breville was able to navigate economic, societal, and geopolitical issues with certainty and prudence. I've also been able to bring my experience on other listed boards to work through these challenges. I'm a full-time non-executive director, sitting on boards in a range of industries and geographies, which enables me to share learnings with my board colleagues at Breville in such areas as risk, compliance, sustainability, and corporate governance.
When I joined the Breville board in 2013, your company had revenue of just under AUD 500 million, compared to the year to June 30, when revenue was AUD 1.4 billion. International revenue in 2013 was AUD 272 million, while this year it was AUD 900 million. We are truly a global company now. One of the best decisions we have made as a board since I joined was to hire Jim Clayton to be our CEO.
Jim has brought together a fantastic team who today run our company with great skill and are always looking for ways to enhance the lives of our customers through thoughtful design and brilliant innovation. We spend time at the board discussing the potential impacts on our company of global and local competitors, emerging market opportunities and consumer trends, as well as discussing our key strategic and operational risks. It has been very rewarding to see the hard work by Jim and his team to increase diversity in all its forms across our company, and also to continue to focus on the sustainability of our products. These are both areas that are very important to me. To have an alignment of my core values with Breville's values is incredibly rewarding.
Should I be fortunate enough to be re-elected to the Breville board, you have my commitment that I will continue to bring my full experience, strategic thinking and passion for customers to the role. Thank you in advance for your ongoing confidence in me.
Thank you, Sally. The board, excluding Ms. Herman, unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Resolution 3A. Proxies have been lodged in respect of this resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the re-election of Sally Herman be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the re-election of Sally Herman. I'll now move to item 3B, the resolution for the re-election of Kate Wright as a director. I will now invite Kate to address the room and make some brief comments on her re-election.
Thank you, Chairman. Good morning to my fellow shareholders. It's a privilege to serve as one of your directors and to seek your approval today to continue as your representative. A responsibility I take very seriously. I've been a non-executive director of Breville since September 2016, and I'm a member of the Audit and Risk and Sustainability Committees, and I chair the People, Performance, Remuneration, and Nominations Committee, something that I'm passionate about. I've worked both locally and internationally in the consumer goods space for over 30 years, and I've had the privilege of working closely with many boards and senior executives, particularly on their talent agenda. One of the most important things that the Breville board can do is to ensure that we have the right leadership team in place at the right time.
To that point, I'm proud of the talented global team that we have in place running our business. Our CEO, Jim, and his team's vision, expertise, execution and passion have propelled Breville to become a much larger, truly global, more innovative and quality-obsessed company than ever before. The journey is far from over. It's an exciting time to be a Breville shareholder, a customer, an employee, and a partner of Breville. I'd like to reinforce to you that your board's people, performance, remuneration, and nominations committee is focused on nurturing our Breville talent, whether that's from attraction and retention, ensuring our people are engaged, their development and promotion, diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing, and their remuneration. As a non-executive director, I am dedicated to acting independently, understanding stakeholder priorities and acting with integrity and transparency.
Like you, I'm a shareholder of Breville, and I'm well aware of the importance of delivering sustainable shareholder returns. With your support, I look forward to continuing to acting as your representative on the Breville board. Thank you.
The board, excluding Ms. Wright, unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Resolution 3B. Proxies have been lodged in respect of this resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the re-election of Kate Wright be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the re-election of Kate Wright. I will now move to item 3C, the resolution for the election of Tim Baxter as a director. Tim will address the room via an audio channel, hopefully, and make some brief comments on his election.
Good morning. I hope you can hear me okay.
We can, Tim.
Great. Well, good morning, shareholders, and I'm sorry I can't be there in person, but given I live 10,000 miles away, I hope you can understand. I am truly honored to be considered for a board role at Breville. Having spent 2/3 of my 35-year career working for multinational companies not based in the U.S., I'm excited about the opportunity to help Breville continue its global expansion with a global perspective and a globally-oriented board. I'm really impressed with the strong growth of the company over the past decade.
Having helped Samsung grow its large appliance business from roughly $100 million to nearly $5 billion, its TV market share from 13% to over 35%, its North American business from $6 billion to over $30 billion, and its brand to a top five global ranking over a similar period of time, I believe I can offer a perspective on both the opportunities and challenges in scaling businesses, teams, processes and brands. Jim Clayton and his team have not only executed this growth exceptionally well, but they also have a real clear strategy in terms of connected devices like the smart ovens and a real ecosystem play in the coffee business with a great portfolio of products, coupled with an exciting beans marketplace strategy.
Having spent years involved with the Internet of Things/Connected Devices and living with the marriage of hardware, user interfaces, content, and partnerships, I hope to lend some assistance with both of these strategies. I also believe my more recent board experience with both public and privately held tech and consumer companies demonstrates strategic and thought leadership skills that could be of value to Breville as well. I thank you for the consideration of my candidancy for the Breville board.
Thank you, Tim. Tim's been on the board for three or four months, and I can say he's already adding considerable value. We're also honored that Tim has chosen to come on the Breville board. The board, excluding Mr. Baxter, unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Resolution 3c. Proxies have been lodged in respect of this resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the election of Tim Baxter be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the election of Tim Baxter. The next item of business is item 4, the resolution for the grant of rights to our Managing Director and CEO, Jim Clayton.
As part of Mr. Clayton's annual remuneration package, it's proposed that Mr. Clayton be granted a long-term incentive of 115,741 performance rights with a three-year performance period. The number of performance rights that ultimately vest will depend upon the extent to which performance conditions are satisfied over the performance period. It's also proposed that Mr. Clayton be granted a total of 46,296 deferred share rights as part of the fixed remuneration component of his employment package for the 2027 financial year. The number of deferred share rights that ultimately vest will depend upon Mr. Clayton completing the service period 26 August 2026 to 25 August 2027. Full details of how the number of rights to be granted was calculated, together with the terms of each grant, are contained in the notice of meeting.
If Resolution 4 is passed, the company intends to grant the performance rights and deferred share rights to Mr. Clayton as soon as practical after the AGM. The board, excluding Mr. Clayton, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Resolution 4. Please note that voting exclusions apply to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. Proxies have been lodged in respect of this resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the grant of rights to the Managing Director and CEO be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the grant of rights to the Managing Director and CEO. Our final item of business is the resolution for the grant of NED rights to Non-Executive Directors.
Breville has recently established a non-executive director fee sacrifice scheme to enable non-executive directors to sacrifice a percentage of their director fees into NED rights, which will convert into shares in Breville. Full details of the proposed grants, as well as each of the non-executive directors' current director fees are included in the notice of meeting. Please note that the voting exclusions apply to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. Proxies have been lodged in respect of this resolution as displayed on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? As there are no questions, I now direct that the poll for the approval of the grant of NED rights to non-executive directors be taken. Please fill in your orange voting card in respect of the grant of NED rights to the non-executive directors.
Before I close today's AGM, I ask everyone to complete their orange voting cards and hand them to a boardroom staff member who will collect the cards.
I now declare the poll closed. That concludes the formal business of this year's AGM, and I declare the meeting closed. I would like to invite everyone to share in morning tea with the management team and the board. Thank you.