Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, from our registered offices in Perth, Western Australia, and welcome to this meeting. My name is Timothy Jugmans, and I'm the Chairman of Cash Converters International Limited. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2022 annual general meeting of the company. I'm advised that the necessary quorum of five shareholders is present, and I declare the annual general meeting of the company open. Before I commence with the formal parts of the meeting, today's AGM is a virtual meeting being held online via the Computershare meeting platform. This allows shareholders, proxies, and guests to attend the meeting virtually. In addition, shareholders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes. If you experience any difficulties during the meeting, we have published a virtual meeting guide on the ASX and our website, which includes how to seek assistance.
I will explain the virtual voting process when we get to the formal items of business. I declare the poll open now, and shareholders can vote on all items of business at any time until the poll closes at the end of the meeting. The board recommends that the shareholders vote in favor of all items of business. If you are eligible to vote, a new polling icon will now appear on your screen. Shareholders can submit questions online now and any time up to the close of the meeting. Questions will be addressed at the relevant item of business, so please state the item number at the beginning of your question. Finally, in the event of any technical difficulties, we ask you for your patience while we work to address the issue as quickly as we can.
I would now like to introduce you to my fellow directors, company secretary and auditors joining us today. From our board, joining us today, we have Sam Budiselik, Peter Cumins, Lachlan Given, Julie Elliott, Robert Hines, Henry Shiner, Susan Thomas, Leslie Crockett, our CFO and company secretary. I also welcome the company's auditors, Mrs. Leanne Carnfiles and Mr. Nicholas Gordon from Deloitte, who have joined the meeting. I will now provide some brief commentary on the 2022 financial year before we proceed to the formal business of the meeting. Following the formal close of the meeting, I will introduce the company's managing director and chief executive officer to provide his address. With my appointment to the role of non-executive chairman of Cash Converters International Limited on April 1st 2022, I've been encouraged to experience the continued cultural focus that places our customers at the heart of our business.
We also welcome Sue Thomas to the board as independent non-exec director. Sue's appointment as our fourth independent director ensures the company has the right mix of skilled board members to continue to oversee the execution of a disciplined growth strategy on behalf of all shareholders. The board and I remain optimistic about the future of the company. The strategy remains a simple but effective plan to build upon Cash Converters' strong domestic operations, optimize current product and service offerings, and identify and attract new opportunities for expansion. Considerable progress has been made towards each strategic pillar of product development, network expansion, and operational excellence. These pillars combine to allow Cash Converters to consolidate, optimize, and grow its position at the forefront of subprime lending and secondhand retail. We were pleased to announce we have entered into an agreement to acquire the Cash Converters New Zealand Master Franchise Hold.
As previously advised to investors, other selected domestic and international franchise acquisition targets remain under review. Stated objective being to acquire earnings accretive store networks based on sensible valuation metrics which will accelerate group earnings. At the conclusion of the AGM, the managing director will present on the past financial year and provide an update on early FY 2023. FY 2022 has been noted as a watershed year for Cash Converters as we navigated the final stages of COVID related store closures and government stimulus across the first half of the financial year. Delivering a solid operating profit in these challenging times ensures our business is well-positioned to support our customers as we enter a period where cost of living pressures continue to increase in line with inflation.
The payment of a fully franked AUD 0.01 final dividend for FY 2022 was supported by the board based on the financial performance of the company during the period. I would like to thank my fellow board members, company management and employees for their continued resilience amidst prolonged period of challenge and uncertainty within the broader economy. Finally, I acknowledge and thank our shareholders for their continued support and look forward to the year ahead. Before proceeding to the formal business of meeting as described in the notice of meeting, I will outline the process for voting and asking questions. Voting on all resolutions will be conducted by way of poll. The proxy votes submitted for each resolution will be shown on your screen at the relevant time. If you are eligible to vote, a polling icon will have appeared on your screen.
Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with the voting options. Select one of the options to cast your vote. There is no need to click a Submit or Enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You can change your vote up until that time the poll closes at the end of the meeting. Rob Soames from Computershare has agreed to be the Returning Officer today and following confirmation by Computershare, final results will be announced to the ASX later today. This will also be available on the company's website. You can submit questions at any time, and you do not need to wait until the relevant item of business. We encourage you to submit your questions as soon as possible so that you can be reviewed by our moderators.
We will seek to address your questions during the relevant item of business. If we are unable to provide an answer during the meeting, we will endeavor to provide an answer once the meeting has closed. Online attendees can submit questions at any time. To ask a question, select the Q&A icon, type in your question in the text box. Once you have finished typing, please hit the Send button. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, we will address them at the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that your questions will be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together. You will receive a confirmation when your question has been sent.
In the interest of an orderly discussion, shareholders should limit themselves to submitting one question at a time, ensure that questions are as succinct as possible, and ensure your questions are relevant to the business of the meeting. Questions sent via the online meeting platform may be moderated to avoid repetition. If questions are particularly lengthy, we may need to summarize them in the interest of time. To ask a verbal question, please follow the instructions written below the broadcast. The purpose of today's meeting is to present the accounts of the company, together with director's report from year-end, June 30th 2022 , and to deal with the ordinary business and special business set out in the notice of meeting.
Shareholders will be asked to vote on formal resolutions for the re-election of one director and election of two directors who have joined the board since the last AGM. The adoption of the remuneration report, the approval of the increase to the non-exec director's fee pool, and the approval of grant of performance rights of the Managing Director and CEO . The first item of business deals with the financial statements and reports. These financial statements and reports for the financial year ended June 30th 2022 are taken as laid before the meeting. Please note there is no resolution for this item of business. I will now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to the matters related to this agenda item.
As I advised, Leanne Carnfiles, representing incumbent auditors Deloitte, is in attendance to answer any questions shareholders may wish to direct to her in relation to the conduct of their audit or in relation to the preparation of the financial statements.
Question is, business continues to generate strong cash flow, the majority of which the board has decided to reinvest on behalf of shareholders through the loan book expansion and recent acquisition of the New Zealand Master Franchise. Cash Converters traded at a significant discount to NTA for multiple years with no defined dividend payout ratio. A reluctance to buy back shares and the share price is lower today than this time 12 months ago. What steps are the board taking to ensure shareholders are benefiting from the decision to reinvest rather than returning capital to the owners? I'm happy to take that question, Chair. We have established an investment committee framework that enables a disciplined review of all opportunities that present to the company in consideration of our weighted average cost of capital or our WACC.
We'll assess the opportunities that present, and in addition to shareholder capital returns. I think the reinstatement of the dividend shows that we are committed to returning capital to shareholders, but we do balance the opportunity to continue growing our business with that objective. I feel that process works well, provided an element of discipline is hopefully seen in the market with the updates that are coming through about the work undertaken, reviewing opportunities and with the New Zealand announcement, earnings accretive, and enabling us to grow our business in a low risk manner, purchasing in our stores are the sort of opportunities that we're looking for to continue growing our earnings. No further questions.
Thanks, Sam. There being no more questions, we'll now move on to the second item of business and the formal resolutions. I confirm that I'm holding open proxies in my capacity as Chair of the meeting and intend to vote all these open proxies in favor of each formal resolution. First resolution is ordinary business and relates to the re-election of Ms. Julie Elliott as Director. It reads that Ms. Julie Elliott, being a Director of the company who retires by rotation under the clause 52.1 of the company's constitution and being eligible, is re-elected as Director of the company. Ms. Elliott's biography and experience is set out in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the notice of meeting. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to matters related to this agenda item.
Please refer to the screen for results of the proxy voting on formal resolution.
No questions received, Chair.
There being no questions, I'll put the resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. I will now move to the next order of business. The second resolution in ordinary business and relates to the election of Ms. Susan Thomas as a director. It reads that Ms. Susan Thomas, who was appointed as a director on April 1st 2022, retires under Clause 51.2 of the company's constitution, and being eligible, is elected as director of the company. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to the matters related to this agenda item. Ms. Thomas's biography and experience is set out in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the notice of meeting. Please refer to the screen for results of the proxy voting on the formal resolution.
No questions received, Chair.
There being no questions, I'll put resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. I will now move to the next order of business. The third resolution in the ordinary business and relates to my election, so I will ask Mr. Cumins to chair this part of the meeting.
Thank you, Tim. The third resolution is of ordinary business and relates to the election of Mr. Timothy Jugmans as a director. It reads that Mr. Timothy Jugmans, who was appointed a director on April 1st 2022, retires under Clause 51.2 of the company's constitution, and being eligible, is elected as a director of the company. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to matters related to this agenda item. Mr. Jugmans biography and experience is set out in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the notice of the meeting. Please refer to the screen for the results of the proxy voting on the formal resolution.
No questions received in relation to the resolution.
There being no questions, I'll put the resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. I will now hand you back to Mr. Jugmans to chair the remainder of the meeting.
Thank you, Peter. The next item of business asks shareholders to adopt the company's remuneration report for the year ended 30th of June, 2022. The fourth resolution is an advisory resolution only. It reads that the remuneration report of the company for the financial year ended 30th of June, 2022, be adopted. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to matters related to this agenda item. Please refer to the screen for the results of the proxy voting on the formal resolution.
No questions received, Chair.
There being no questions, I put the resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. The next item of business asks shareholders to approve the increase in the non-exec directors' fee pool. The fifth resolution is an ordinary resolution only. It reads that for the purpose of ASX Listing Rule 10.17 and clause 57.1 of the company's constitution, the maximum aggregate amount of directors' fees that may be paid to the company's non-exec directors per annum is increased by AUD 200,000 from AUD 800,000 to AUD 1 million. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions. Please limit your questions at this time to matters related to this agenda item. Please refer to the screen for results of the proxy voting on the formal resolution.
No questions received, Chair.
There being no questions, I'll put the resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. We now move to the special business of the meeting. The next item of business asks shareholders to approve the grant of performance rights to the chief executive officer and managing director. The sixth resolution is an ordinary resolution only. It reads that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and all other purposes, approval to be given for the grant of 3,615,538 performance rights to Mr. Sam Budiselik, CEO and Managing Director of the company, under the company's equity incentive plan on the terms described in the explanatory memorandum. I now invite shareholders to comment and ask any questions.
Please limit your questions at this time to matters related to this agenda item. Please refer to the screen for results of the proxy voting on the formal resolution. No questions received. There being no questions, I'll put the resolution to the meeting. If you haven't already done so, please now cast your vote on this item. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the resolution to be presented to the meeting. The poll on all items will close in 30 seconds. I now ask you, all shareholders, to complete their voting before the poll closes. I now declare the poll closed. As noted earlier, these results will be posted on the company's website on the ASX later today. With the formal proceedings over, I now formally declare the meeting closed and hand over to Sam to provide his address. Thank you.
Thank you, Tim, and good morning, fellow shareholders. I'd like to start by briefly summarizing our achievements in financial year 2022, prior to providing an update on the momentum that has continued into the Q1 of financial year 2023. As Tim touched upon in his address, your management team is pleased to have delivered a strong operating profit during what was a difficult and disrupted financial year, 2022. This result was a product of an ongoing focus on our customer as we continue to grow our market share in our key product verticals, whilst continuing the disciplined execution of our strategic plan. These actions taken not only ensure that we remain in a strong financial position to sustain on, sustainably continue shareholder returns, but enables us to capitalize on the strategic opportunities to grow as they present.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone across our business who contributed to the result. Looking forward now to the new financial year, 2023, I am pleased to report the momentum we have built in the business has continued into the new financial year. I should note that unless otherwise stated, comparisons to the previous corresponding period, PCP, refer to the first quarter of the prior financial year, 2022 as at 30 September 2021. While lending volumes and gross loan books were not at September 2020 COVID lows, PCP period was impacted by COVID-related stimulus payments and ongoing credit demand weakness because of continuing lockdowns at that time. We've had a strong start to the new financial year, with the first quarter consolidated revenue of AUD 69 million, up 24.5% on PCP.
The strength of this first quarter continues to demonstrate the momentum of our diversified business model, with elevated demand for credit continuing across our customer segment. Table summarizing the most recent value of our loan books is now on screen and included in the documents lodged on the ASX this morning. Lending momentum continued with all loan books growing on a comparative basis, as combined lending volumes lifted to AUD 73.2 million for the quarter, up 38% from AUD 52.9 million PCP. Our gross loan books continued to grow as a result, up 28% on a PCP basis, now sitting at AUD 214.6 million. Future contracted revenue on this combined loan book now sits at AUD 66.2 million.
Our SACC book continues to fall in terms of overall book composition, with our MACC book growing strongly, up 49% on a PCP basis. This reflects our ongoing focus on looking to offer our unsecured borrowers a longer term, lower cost product option where credit quality makes this possible. Pleasingly, our vehicle business is growing, with the Green Light Auto, GLA book now sitting at almost AUD 50 million, up 15% on a PCP basis and 7% since the close of FY 2022. Application momentum in this business continues to build as a result of our return to market strategy, with newly released technology that enables instant rate quotes and application fulfillment across the broker and dealer network that we serve. We remain confident in our credit risk models and loan book quality.
However, it is important to note that our customers are impacted by rising living costs, as reflected in appropriate expected credit loss allowances. Looking forward, we remain prepared to support our personal finance customers during these difficult times, and we remain committed to providing longer-term, lower-cost solutions to our borrowers where possible. After an interrupted couple of years, our store segment has returned to profitability in the first quarter of the new financial year as value-conscious consumers return to our business, participating in the circular economy that is our retail business model. Throughout the previous financial year, we purchased over 1.4 million items that were repurposed for use and in many cases prevented from entering landfill. Our pawnbroking business also continues to recover, with loan book growth of 14% on a PCP basis as the normal trading environment continues to resume.
As we head into the second quarter of the financial year, we are preparing for a busy Christmas period, with activity across the first quarter implying elevated demand can be expected across our business in the second quarter in comparison to prior years. We continue a disciplined execution of our strategy with new product development, network expansion, and operational excellence initiatives progressing well. Looking forward, we anticipate continued MACC and vehicle finance lending growth and the contribution from new product development as we establish new loan books across a growing store distribution network. As announced last Friday, we have entered into an agreement to acquire the Cash Converters New Zealand Master Franchise Hold. The company currently holds a 25% equity interest in the New Zealand enterprise and will acquire the remaining 75% interest upon completion.
This is an exciting opportunity to add a network of Cash Converters branded stores as we continue to review other domestic and international franchise acquisition targets. The stated objective of these acquisitions is to add earnings accretive store networks in a measured way based on sensible valuation metrics that will accelerate group earnings over future years. Moving to full ownership of our New Zealand network aligns to this objective. With the CC NZ Master Franchise Hold making a profit before tax of AUD 3.42 million in FY 2022, expected to grow over future years, with a number of other similar opportunities across our global network under review. A new Earned Wage Access, EWA, online-only product innovation called Pay Advance was successfully piloted in FY 2022, with a national launch now underway.
Designed as a low-cost advance on earned income, this product is repaid in a single low-cost 5% installment and intended to address a short-term customer need while originating new customers into our business. In addition to the PayAdvance release, a new Line of Credit product release is planned early in H2 FY 2023, ensuring our customers have a wider range of product options with access to longer-term, lower-cost credit options where possible. Shareholders may be aware the Federal Labor Government has tabled a Financial Services Reform Bill potentially impacting the regulation of Small Amount Credit Contracts, SACC. The company supports a majority of the proposed changes and in many instances has already implemented many of the proposals. The loan product is often confused with unregulated credit products such as Buy Now, Pay Later, or BNPL, and almost always portrayed as something that it isn't.
Unlike BNPL, SACC are highly regulated, borrowing costs are capped, consumer protections are in place, and importantly, this is a product that helps many thousands of Australians meet life's unexpected events in a safe, responsible, and transparent manner. Each of Cash Converters applicants undergoes an extensive affordability assessment that results in only about one in five applicants being approved for a SACC loan. A proposal introduced by the government to restrict employed borrowers from accessing credit with the introduction of an arbitrary earnings cap, we believe will make small loans between 50%-70% more expensive for borrowers. Importantly, however, this move will further restrict access to credit for a segment of the economy that is already excluded from the mainstream financial system.
We believe these changes will likely result in significant industry consolidation, leaving many of the smaller lenders without the scale and technological capability of Cash Converters unable to meet the new obligations being considered. Sadly, it is the voice of the customer that has been lost in this debate, with over 20,000 Cash Converters customers alone having already signed a petition opposing these changes. We continue to encourage the government to consult with those most impacted by this proposal. Cash Converters' unique business model continues to demonstrate its strength, leveraging an extensive store network and online network to serve a growing number of customers within Australia and overseas. Looking forward, we anticipate continued MACC and vehicle finance loan book growth and the contribution from new product development as we establish new and growing loan books.
As many millions of Australian households work to meet rising living costs, we are proud to remain central to supporting a large part of the population that many other lenders won't. There is a real need in the community for our business service and products, delivering a trusted and respectful service to our customers in a responsible and regulated manner. From a position of balance sheet strength, we remain focused on assessing inorganic growth opportunities, both domestically and internationally, to acquire our franchise store operations, continuing to grow our business in the markets in which we operate. We remain committed to a capital management program that provides a balance, paying shareholders a dividend whilst cash funding acquisition opportunities. In closing, I would like to thank my colleagues across the business for their unwavering focus on our customers. To our shareholders, I thank you for your continued support.
I look forward to providing another strategy execution and trading update at the conclusion of the half year period. That now draws our meeting to a close. Thank you for your attendance.