Welcome to the Capral AGM. Good morning. I'm Rex Wood-Ward, Chairman of Capral. On behalf of the board, I'd like you to welcome you to Capral's 2024 virtual AGM. To meet the requirements of Capral's constitution, a quorum of three shareholders is physically present here at the Huntingwood venue: Capral's Managing Director, Tony Dragicevich; Capral's CFO, Tertius Campbell; and a Capral employee shareholder. On my left is Tony, and on my right I've got Mark White, who's standing for re-election today. The other members of the board, Katherine Ostin and Bryan Tisher, are present online. Accordingly, I declare the 2024 AGM open. Today's meeting is being held online via the Computershare Meeting Platform. This allows shareholders, proxies, and guests to meet to attend the meeting virtually. All attendees can watch a live webcast of the meeting.
In addition, shareholders and proxies have the ability to ask questions and submit votes. The notice of meeting and Capral's 2023 annual report have been provided to shareholders, and copies are available on Capral's website. The notice sets out the items to be considered at this meeting and will be taken as read. In front of you, you will see instructions on how to ask a question. Online attendees can submit questions at any time. To ask a question, select the Q&A icon, type your question into the text box. Apologies. Once you've finished typing, please hit the send button. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together.
To ask a verbal question, please follow the instructions written below the broadcast. Please insert the agenda item at the front of your question to enable us to collect questions quickly. Finally, due to time constraints, we may run out of time to answer all your questions. If this happens, we will answer them in due course via email, posting responses on our website. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. On the screen, we now show the instructions on how to vote. If you are eligible to vote, once voting opens, press the vote icon, and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options.
There is no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. I do now declare a poll and voting open on all items of business. I will give you a warning before I move to close the poll and voting. Prior to considering the first agenda item, Tony Dragicevich, Capral CEO and Managing Director, and myself would like to take the opportunity to address the meeting. Capral delivered earnings per share of AUD 1.77 for the year ended 31 December 2023. This compared to 2022 earnings per share of AUD 2.31, noting that 2022 included AUD 0.47 of income tax benefit per share. Underlying earnings per share for 2023 of AUD 1.83 compared to AUD 1.196 in 2022.
Revenues of AUD 657 million in 2023 were 5% lower than the comparative year, on 1% lower volume. The lower sales revenue was primarily due to a 12% reduction on average metal cost as a result of lower global aluminium prices, LME. Despite the lower revenues, Capral delivered underlying EBITDA of AUD 62.5 million, up slightly on the AUD 62.2 million in the prior year and ahead of our guidance. Underlying EBIT fell 3% to AUD 39.5 million as compared to AUD 40.8 million in 2022. Reported net profit after tax, NPAT, of AUD 31.8 million compares to AUD 40.8 million in 2022. The previous year NPAT included AUD 8.4 million arising from recognition of deferred tax assets brought to account. Underpinned by the benefits from the operational restructure completed in 2019, Capral continued to leverage the capacity utilization of its extrusion plants.
This high productivity and operational leverage, combined with favorable sales mix, contributed to near-record profitability.
Demand in our key non-residential sectors, especially transport and industrial, remained robust, while we continue to retain some of the share gains previously won against imports. As previously foreshadowed, residential construction, particularly in the detached dwelling segment, weakened in the second half and is expected to decline further in the current year. A substantial reduction in working capital during the year contributed to the increase of AUD 35 million in net cash to AUD 59 million at 31st of December 2023. The company's balance sheet is strong, allowing us to continue to balance our utilization of free cash between funding both external and internal growth, as well as returning cash to our shareholders through share buybacks and/or dividends. Capital allocation.
Your board is committed to ensuring that capital allocation priorities are balanced between investment opportunities for growth through acquisitions, capital expenditure, funding working capital, and sustaining maintenance capital expenditure, and finally returns to shareholders through share buybacks and/or cash dividends. Having prioritized the return of franking credits to shareholders for several years, the payment of the fully franked dividend of AUD 0.35 per share for the year ended 2023 has now exhausted the company's franking credits. As Capral has substantial tax losses to carry forward, any dividends which may be paid in the foreseeable future will therefore be unfranked. The company declared a fully franked final dividend in respect to the financial year ended 31st December of 2023 of AUD 0.35 per ordinary share. In 2022, that was AUD 0.50. That was paid on the 22nd of March 2024.
Capral returned a total of AUD 0.725 per share relating to the 2023 year, consisting of AUD 0.55 in cash dividends and AUD 0.175 by way of share buybacks completed during the 2023 year. Capral commenced an on-market share buyback of up to 10% of its issued share capital on the 11th of March 2024. As at the 30th of April 2024, the company has returned AUD 1.1 million to shareholders, which equates to approximately AUD 0.06 per share through the buyback of 114,000 shares. The company will continue to ensure that distributions to shareholders remain a key component of Capral's capital allocation priority policy. Share buybacks will form the major portion of value returned for the benefit of our shareholders. Capral is committed to pursuing excellence in its delivery of effective safety for all employees and sustainability across all parts of its business.
Following up on the excellent safety results achieved in 2023, the Capral team has maintained that performance and continues to better the comparative results of our listed peers. The environment is a key priority for Capral. From an environmental, social, and governance perspective, we have committed to net zero by 2050. That is on Scope 1 and 2 emissions by driving sustainability best practice throughout the business. Emission reduction targets are on track, and diversity targets have been established. New waste management system trials are underway, and environmental, social, and governance plans rolled out to all major Capral facilities. I urge shareholders to read their sustainability report in the annual report, which details the many well-advanced initiatives. Looking ahead. Whilst we expect the detached housing sector to decline further, the non-residential and industrial segments of our business should remain relatively firm.
Capral is facing some headwinds and challenges in the year ahead, including ongoing cost inflation and margin maintenance in the softer market, which we anticipate will impact on earnings in 2024. Despite the softer market and lower earnings outlook, Capral is committed to investing in growth and returning capital to shareholders going forward. As previously advised, I will be retiring from the board at the conclusion of today's AGM, thus completing the comprehensive renewal of your board. Tirelessly to develop and embrace the Capral vision and maintaining Capral's values while transforming your company into the strong, innovative leader in its field. The past five years in particular have seen Capral deliver consistently strong and sustainable earnings for shareholders. As announced on April the 2nd, Mark White has been appointed to succeed me as chair and at the conclusion of today's meeting.
My co-directors and I are confident that Mark will be an effective leader of the board. As an active member of the board since 2021, Mark has worked with his co-directors and the management team and has contributed to the company's success and record performance during his tenure at Capral. On behalf of the board, I wish to thank all at the Capral team and our stakeholders for their ongoing support during 2023. Thank you to my co-directors for their strong backing and many contributions throughout the past years. Thank you. Tony will now address the meeting.
Thank you, Rex. Just gonna talk about the market first, 2023. Market conditions were strong in the first half of 2023, with volumes assisted by a healthy pipeline of work in the residential housing sector. Conditions softened in the second half as the market slowed and import supply chains normalized.
However, overall volume for 2023 remained solid, which allowed Capral's manufacturing plants to run at good levels of efficiency. As interest rates lifted, the housing market slowed from its record highs that were driven by post-COVID government stimulus programs. Housing starts for 2023 finished at 163,000, the lowest level in a decade, 10% lower than 2022, and down around 30% from the 2021 peak. Commercial construction activity also slowed during the year. However, our key industrial markets remained relatively strong, underpinned by robust levels of economic activity and infrastructure spend. The international LME price of aluminium eased during 2023 from the elevated highs of 2022, which were impacted by global supply factors. Capral's LME average LME cost for 2023 was 12% below the prior year. This flowed through to lower selling prices and working capital levels.
Capral delivered another strong profit result in 2023 with underlying EBITDA of AUD 62.5 million on par with the previous year, on slightly lower sales volume, and an underlying net profit after tax of AUD 31.8 million, also on par, slightly under 2022. An excellent result demonstrating how far Capral has progressed over the last five years in being able to deliver strong, sustainable earnings. Debtors collections were good and inventory reduced. The lower working capital level contributed to a very strong cash flow, resulting in a net cash balance of AUD 59 million at year end. As Rex said, Capral paid fully franked dividends for FY23 of AUD 0.55 per share. Capral also completed an on-market share buyback equivalent to AUD 0.175 per share, taking total distribution to shareholders for 2023 to AUD 0.725 per share, AUD 0.025 higher than the prior year.
Our key high-level strategies remain consistent with prior years. That is, build on our strengths, optimize what we do, and grow for the future. In the year ahead, we will continue to focus on our Smithfield and Penrith extrusion plants and our new plant paint line at Huntingwood. During 2023, we successfully completed the first stage of the Penrith extrusion plant upgrade, a major undertaking replacing the press line, hydraulics, and control systems. The second stage, involving the replacement of the billet furnace and billet saw, will take place late this year. These recent investments provide Capral an enhanced manufacturing presence in New South Wales, delivering freight savings and improved service to customers. We will continue to grow Capral's aluminium distribution business with the objective of increasing the volume and profitability of Capral's direct distribution channel.
Over the past 18 months, we added 2 aluminium centres to the Capral distribution footprint with the acquisitions of existing businesses in North Brisbane and Wollongong. In addition, we recently announced the acquisition of the Aluminium Trade Centre business in Melbourne, adding 2 more trade centres to our network. We will continue to seek opportunities to expand our footprint into the future. Capral continues to lead the local aluminium industry in the pursuit of fair trade. Recent activities included a review of measures on Chinese imports resulting in increased floor prices. It should be noted that the continuation of measures will be reviewed again in 2025. Also, successfully appealed the withdrawal of measures against Malaysia and Vietnam, resulting in measures being reinstated. These decisions are currently being challenged by foreign exporters through their import partners in Australia. Market share gains have been made against imports over the last few years.
However, imports continue to represent over 30% of the total Australian extrusion market. Now that supply chains have normalized, we will need to continue the fight to retain a fair share for the local extrusion industry, which contributes over 2,000 direct jobs to the Australian economy. Moving now to safety. Safety first is the most important of Capral's five key values. We continue our focus on risk assessment, training, safety systems, and culture. Capral's safety performance was exceptional again this year, recording a total reported injury frequency rate of 4.4, well below the peer average for listed building products manufacturers in Australia. Capral's journey to net zero emissions by 2050, including a 20% reduction by 2030, is progressing well.
During the 2023 financial year, Capral's Scope 1 and 2 emissions per tonne of aluminium produced fell by 6.1% as a result of operational energy efficiencies and a partial transition to renewable sources. Capral achieved Aluminium Stewardship Initiative certification during the year, making us the only extruder in the region to secure this globally recognized accreditation. This has enabled Capral to offer certified lower carbon aluminium options to the Australian market through our trademark brand LocAl. Capral has considered the overall impact of current ESG issues and has not discovered any resulting material impact on their financial statements at this point. Capral has a robust risk assessment process and active risk mitigation program. Key risks include significant slowdown in economic activity, particularly the new housing market, increased level of imported aluminium extrusion, and increased local competition. External threats, external IT threats such as cyber.
Construction methodology to meet more stringent sustainable building codes. Now, turning to the outlook. Forecasts for the residential market show continued weakness, particularly in detached housing. Total residential starts in 2024 are forecast to be slightly down on 2023, and the pipeline of work that had sustained volumes has fallen away. The non-residential market is forecast to be reasonably firm in 2024, as are our key industrial markets. LME is volatile and subject to international influences. Based on external forecasts, we had expected LME to moderate slightly throughout the 2024 year on the back of lower global demand. However, recently announced sanctions and tariff increases by the U.K. and USA impacting Russian and Chinese metals have resulted in a recent spike in the LME price. However, we do not expect this to have a material impact on Capral's profitability this year.
The overall market for Capral's aluminium products is forecast to fall modestly in 2024. Underlying EBITDA is forecast, absent any unforeseen events, to be between AUD 50 million and AUD 54 million, with underlying net profit after tax between AUD 23 million and AUD 27 million, which is in line with our current guidance. On that basis, Capral would be in a position to continue to return capital to shareholders by way of unfranked dividends and/or share buybacks. The focus in the year ahead will be to deliver benefits from our recent capital investments in New South Wales, increase productivity in our extrusion operations, and grow our distribution business through acquisition and organic growth. We plan to enhance our range, service, and capability to grow our customer base and deliver strong, ongoing profitability. I wish to thank the Capral team for their contribution to the outstanding 2023 result.
Capral remains in a strong position to capitalize on its extensive capabilities and take opportunities as they present and develop the business for the future. In closing, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize the significant contribution that our retiring chairman, Rex Wood-Ward, has made to the business and to thank him for his unwavering confidence and support. Thank you, Rex.
Thanks, Tony. Let's move on to agenda item two, which is the statutory reports and accounts. The first item of business in this relates to our consideration of Capral's 2023 annual report. Ms. Xenia Delaney of Deloitte, Capral's auditor. We did not receive any written questions on the audit ahead of today's meeting. We will now address any question on the annual report or the audit.
Just a reminder to please insert the agenda item on the front of your question to enable us to collate questions quickly. I'm just checking if there are any questions received. On the financial report, we have not received any. There is a general question, which we will be dealing with at the end of the at the end of the meeting. We will now consider the items which require voting. As indicated in Capral's notice of meeting, voting on each of the resolutions being put to the meeting will be conducted by a poll. The majority of shareholders who submitted proxy forms appointed the chair of the meeting as their proxy. As indicated in Capral's notice of meeting, the chair will vote undirected proxy votes in favor of all the resolutions. The first resolution, agenda item three, is the re-election of Director Mark White.
The first voting item is the re-election of Mark as a director, and the wording of this resolution is shown on the screen. Prior to considering this item, Mark White, who is the chair-elect and director up for re-election, would like to take the opportunity to address the meeting. I'll hand over to Mark.
Thank you, Rex. Good morning, shareholders. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say a few words prior to my re-election as a non-executive director. As you're aware from the April ASX announcement, I've also been appointed chair of the Capral board, subject to my re-election. I'm honored to be appointed chair and to seek re-election from you today as a non-executive director of Capral.
Since joining the Capral board in September 2021, I've been an active member of the board and have been able to utilize the more than 25 years' experience I've gained at Boral and CSR across the building product sectors and the global aluminium market. This experience has helped support and guide Capral's strategic direction and governance structures. In addition, I've also served on Capral's audit and risk and remuneration and nomination committees. As a director, I've developed a strong working relationship with my fellow directors, Tony, and his executive team. Capral has a significant history, and following the business being restructured in recent years, Capral is now delivering consistent returns. The company is also well-positioned to manage the forecast slowdown in construction activity and is looking to grow by leveraging off the substantial improvements the team has made in recent years.
It is a privilege to serve on the Capral board, and I'm looking forward to working with my fellow directors and the Capral team to continue improving the business and deliver value for all shareholders. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rex for the significant contribution he has made to Capral over the 15 years and also for the time that he has taken to support me in the handover to chair. I wish him the very best in his retirement. Thank you for your trust and support. I'm excited about the future of Capral and the opportunities that lie ahead.
I will ask the CFO, Tertius Campbell, to read any questions that we have prior to addressing the resolution as such.
The resolution wording has been on the board, and we now have the proxy votes up to advise shareholders of the situation with those votes for Mark. We've received two questions, and I'll ask Tertius Campbell to read those questions to us.
Thanks, Chair. We've received two questions from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The first is, do any of the five main proxy advisors, ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS, and ASA, follow us, and did they recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions? Also, thanks for disclosing the proxy position with the formal addresses.
Any reports published by the proxy advisors are available for shareholders to purchase from those proxy advisors. We have no votes against any of the recommendation we've had received, basically all votes for, on the proxy advisors.
The second question, also relating to Mr.
White's selection, is, what was the selection process that led to Mark's appointment as chair? Did an external search firm assist with the process, and was he recruited in September 2021 with the view of becoming chair today?
Okay. The board undertook a comprehensive and rigorous process led by me as chair and with the assistance, particularly, of the chair of the remuneration and nomination committee, Bryan Tisher. It was a process that was conducted over a number of months. The process included discussions with each of the board members and some members of senior management. The discussions were supported by meetings of the board at which there was clear consensus that the proposed chair would be a good fit for the Capral board and would be able to contribute significantly to the future direction of the board and the company. That really was the process.
It was a vigorous process, and I and the board are all fully, fully supportive of the process and the outcome. And I'd like to mention as well that the board is very, very confident that there would be a very smooth transition given Mark's history with the company as a non-executive director.
Thank you. We'll now proceed to the resolution one, and you will please submit your votes. The next item of business is a non-binding resolution on the adoption of the 2023 remuneration report, which is on your screen. The total number of valid proxies received is displayed on the screen. Have we received any questions on this? No questions. No questions have been received on this resolution.
The next agenda item of business seeks shareholder approval to issue share rights under Capral's long-term incentive plan to Tony, Capral's CEO and Managing Director, and subject to the vesting of those share rights on 1st of March 2027. The wording of that resolution is now before you on the screen. The total number of proxy votes received on this item is displayed on the screen. We have one question on this item, and I'll get Tertius to read that question.
Chair, the question is again from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on the incentive schemes to build his equity position in the company? Tony? Okay. Right. Question without notice.
I've been CEO for 10 years, been over 10 years at Capral. Over that period, we have, certainly in the early days, our long-term incentives lapsed. But in recent years, as the company has performed more strongly and our returns have been better to shareholders, we have received senior management team, including myself, have received rights under the LTIP plan. So overall, there has been a mixture of vested and lapsed shares under the long-term incentive scheme. In terms of the second part of that question, whether I have invested myself, that's correct. Okay. I believe I have a bit over 600,000 shares in Capral, making me currently the number five largest shareholder, I believe.
A bit over 60% of those have been purchased on my own account directly on market, with the other around 40% of those shares either being vested through the long-term incentive plan over the last decade and including short-term incentives, which have been reinvested in Capral shares. So hopefully, that answers the question. Is that what you're saying? You have sold? Oh, and have I sold any shares? I have sold shares. The shares I have sold have been to pay the tax on the shares that have been issued. So as everyone will probably know, these shares are typically issued gross off tax, so there has been tax payable at the top marginal rate on the issuance of any vested shares. So the only shares that I have sold over the period have been to pay tax liabilities. Hopefully, that answers the question. Thank you, Tony.
So we have on the screen now the proxy votes on this resolution. Finally, the last item of business seeks shareholder approval to appoint KPMG as company auditor with effect from the conclusion of this meeting. The total number of valid proxy votes received is displayed on the screen. Do we have any questions, Andrew?
Yeah. There's one question, but again, from Mr. Stephen Mayne. How long has the current external auditor been in place, and when do we intend to run a full tender for this job?
The current auditor has been in place. I am indicating approxim ately 20+ years. We have already conducted a search and been through the process of appointing new auditors, and we have announced those results. Which is what this resolution is about, which is the subject of this resolution. Exactly. The last item is questions.
If there are any questions that have been submitted that we have not dealt with, I'll get Tertius to read that out now.
We do have one question. This is from Mr. Sloanaker and Hung. What can you provide to show that the funds applied to share buybacks were the best use possible of those funds, as viewed from the perspective of the average long-term shareholder seeking good dividends and a stable share price? Share buybacks for non-capital-regulated companies seem self-serving.
Thanks for the question. This board has deliberated long and hard about its capital allocation policy over the last year, year and a half, in fact. The company historically has had large tax losses and still has large tax losses going forward. The company also, over the last 10 years or so, has started out with approximately AUD 27 million worth of franking credits.
Over the years, those franking credits have been utilized, particularly over the last four years, where we've paid cash dividends fully franked. The dividend paid as a final for the 2023 year of AUD 0.35 has exhausted those franking credits. So the board is faced then with, how do we return capital to shareholders? The return of capital by way of unfranked dividends is not particularly efficient to all shareholders. Many of our long-term shareholders are individuals, and many of them are institutional holders, and they have different needs as shareholders. But we have considered that. We have spoken to many of our shareholders, and the guidance we got, particularly from the shareholders as well as our financial advisors, was to look to return capital where we had excess cash. We also consider where we're going as a company.
Clearly, our vision is to move this company and grow the company, both by internal growth and also by acquisition. You will see in the last couple of years, we have made some acquisitions, and this year, we've already acquired a number of companies. However, our business generates very good cash flow. So we're left with excess cash, which we don't want sitting on our balance sheet. And the board believes that the best way to deal with that is to utilize that cash by buying back shares, which will benefit shareholders in a number of ways. It will increase their percentage ownership of the company, and it will also enhance the net asset value of the company as we go forward. On that basis, that program that we have of share buybacks is monitored very closely by the board and will continue to be monitored.
The second element of returning capital to shareholders is by unfranked dividends. It's more than likely that we will be paying unfranked dividends as a small percentage or relatively small percentage of our total return to shareholders going forward. I hope that answers the question. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our discussion on the items of business. In a couple of minutes, I will close the poll and voting on all resolutions. Please ensure that you have cast your vote on all the resolutions, and I will now pause to allow you time to finalize those votes. We'll now show you a Capral Canning Vale video featuring our Canning Vale operations.
Welcome to Capral Canning Vale, our manufacturing and distribution site for Capral in Western Australia.
This 18,000-square-meter site is home to the only aluminium extrusion press in WA, along with a state-of-the-art vertical paint line, CNC plate routers, and a comprehensive warehouse and distribution facility. Let's take a look around.
Subsequent to the end of the meeting, I have received two more questions, which I will get Tertius to read.
Yes. We've got two more questions from Mr. Stephen Mayne. First is, why is the voting turned out only 45% on all resolutions? Who's not voting? Is this largely retail shareholders, or have some of our biggest shareholders not bothered to vote today? I don't have the detail of that, but what we will do is I will get Tertius to, once he has that information, respond to that question. The second question, Tertius? Second question. Thank you, Rex, for your service.
It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspective from retiring independent directors, particularly chairs. In your final contribution as Capral director, could you please comment on what you regard as the best decisions Capral made during this time on board, and do you have any regrets? Thank you for that question and your kind words. The best decisions in Capral, I believe, were the appointment of not only Tony, but the appointment of Phil Jobe prior to Tony's appointment. The company, once that happened, was taken out of a very heavy loss situation and started to stabilize under Phil. Tony then came on board in 2013 and has done an incredible job with this company. He has not only built the vision and the spirit of the company, but he's pulled the management team together.
I've watched as that management team has grown closer and closer together. Capral's really the university of aluminium in Australia. These people, many of them, have got 30, 40 years of service. What I've observed is that we've started to make use of that knowledge and experience to the benefit of Capral. The best decision, I think, that has been made at Capral has been the decision to downsize Bremer. It really took it out of its huge exposure to the cyclical business that it was. It's still in a cyclical industry, but it's a much, much better place to handle any downturns, as we've witnessed and we will witness, I believe, going forward in the short term. Do I have any regrets?
My only regret is that I couldn't stay on for another five years because I've enjoyed my time at Capral immensely, and I've enjoyed watching it develop under Tony's guidance. Thank you. Thank you, Rick. There being no further business, the 2024 AGM. It's actually the 2024 or 2023. 2024. 2024 AGM of Capral is closed. Thank you all for your attendance.