Ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders, good morning. My name is Peter Hearl, and I'm Chairman of the Board of Endeavour. Before we commence today's meeting, I'd like to introduce Aunty Donna Ingram to deliver the Welcome to Country. Aunty Donna's First Nation family connections are the Wiradjuri central, of central west New South Wales, and she was born and raised here in Sydney on Gadigal land. Aunty Donna is proud to be a cultural representative of the local indigenous community in Sydney and has worked in Aboriginal affairs, government, and community organizations for the last 35 years, predominantly in education. I thank Aunty Donna for making the time available to be with us here today. Aunty Donna, please come up.
Good morning, everyone. It's my great pleasure to be here with permission from my elders and on behalf of the Tribal Warrior Association to offer you Welcome to Country for the Endeavour Group AGM 2022. It gives me pride to represent my community in this important cultural protocol. It shows respect for and recognition to the unique position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australian culture and history. We are gathered on the traditional land of the Gadigal, who are one of 29 clans of the Eora Nation, which is bordered by the Hawkesbury, the Georges, and the Nepean rivers. I'm an Aboriginal woman who proudly identifies with the Wiradjuri Nation from central west New South Wales. I was born on Gadigal land, and I've had the privilege to live, work, and raise my four children on this land for most of my life.
My family has grown, and I'm now a proud grandmother to Aliyah, Elijah, Kalila, Lakota, Jake Jr, Anaki, with another one arriving next year. My wish for my grandchildren is to grow up happy and healthy in a safe and inclusive society, and that they believe that their dreams can come true. I acknowledge the Gadigal, their spirits and ancestors, who will always remain with the land, Mother Earth, and I thank them for their ongoing custodianship. I pay my respects to our elders, both past and present, for we must never forget the sacrifices made by our leaders to create a better future for Aboriginal people. I do this as a reminder and as a tribute to elders and those who have gone before us to fight for land rights, justice, and equity for our communities.
I extend my respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from all clans and nations who are present this morning. I also recognize our non-Aboriginal sisters and brothers who walk beside us to bring people together. I now offer you a warm and sincere welcome to the land of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, wish you a safe stay on the land and safe travel from the land. On behalf of the Tribal Warrior Association and the Gadigal, I wish you a successful and productive day to share your successes and challenges over the past year and hear about focus areas for the year ahead to further support your purpose of creating a more sociable future together. In closing, we remember that this is, was, and always will be Aboriginal land. Thanks, everyone. Have a fantastic day.
Thank you. Thank you, Aunty Donna, for that Welcome to Country. I think you and I might be in a race for the number of grandchildren we might have. I hope you win. I too acknowledge the Gadigal people and pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging. I also extend this acknowledgement to any First Nations people who are joining us on the call or who are in the room today. On behalf of my fellow directors, I welcome all shareholders to Endeavour's annual general meeting. You may recall that our first AGM in 2021 was held virtually. Today, our board and management are delighted to be able to meet with you here in person. As we have a quorum, I declare the 2022 annual general meeting open.
For those who are not able to be here in person, we're pleased that technology allows us to connect with you through a live webcast, as well as the online platform and by telephone. Instructions to participate in today's meeting via the online platform and telephone, including how to vote and ask questions, are in the virtual meeting guide available on our website. If you have issues during the meeting, please call Link on 1-800-990-363. This number is also in the virtual meeting guide. Before introducing my colleagues, I will outline the procedures for today's meeting. Only shareholders and proxies and corporate representatives may speak and vote during the meeting. All others are welcome observers. A number of shareholders submitted questions prior to the meeting. I will endeavor to cover most of the issues raised by shareholders as we get to each relevant agenda item.
I will introduce each item of business separately and then invite questions and comments. I ask that questions and comments be confined to the business of the meeting. If your question relates to a particular item of business, I will address the question when we come to that item, even if you have submitted your question earlier in the meeting. For specific questions relating to your experience as an Endeavour customer, I ask that you contact one of our customer service representatives at the desk located in the foyer outside this room. To ensure that all shareholders and proxy holders have an opportunity to comment and ask questions, I will take one comment or question at a time.
Please be concise as possible with your comments and questions and limit your questions to no more than two per item of business. For each item, I will take questions in the room first, then move to telephone questions, and finally, I will take online questions. If you are in the room and wish to ask a question, please move to one of the microphones. There are six of them around the room, and one of the attendants will introduce you. To ask a question over the telephone, press star one on your handset. Please tell the operator whether your question relates to a specific item of business or to a general business matter. At the relevant time, the operator will introduce you to the meeting and unmute your line. If you change your mind and no longer wish to ask a question, press star two on your handset.
To ask a question through the online platform, click on the Ask a Question button, type your question, and click Submit. For you to submit a question online, it cannot be longer than 512 characters. Questions can be submitted online at any time. I'll endeavor to answer all relevant questions during today's meeting. However, I reserve the right as Chairman to determine that questions on a certain topic have been answered adequately and should no longer be asked. Following discussion on each item of business, valid direct and proxy votes will be displayed on the screen. I will then ask you to vote on the item. You can vote at any time once the poll is open. Shareholders, proxies, and corporate representatives can vote by marking For, Against, or Abstain on the voting card you were handed upon registration or through the online portal.
For those in the room, yellow cards are for shareholders and proxies who may speak and vote. Blue cards are for shareholders who may speak, but not vote. All other attendees with a red card are welcome, but may not address the meeting or otherwise participate. As Chairman, I intend to vote all available undirected proxies on and in favor of all items. The voting exclusions for items three and four are set out in the notice of meeting. Voting on the resolutions will be conducted by way of poll, which I now declare open. The poll will close 10 minutes following the meeting's close. Please place your voting card in the poll box as you leave the room, or if you are voting online, click the Submit Vote button to lodge your votes.
As the results of the poll will not be available before the meeting closes, they will be released on the ASX later today and on our website. Every effort has been made to ensure the meeting runs smoothly. If we experience a significant technological issue during the meeting, I will call a short recess of the meeting until we're able to recommence. If we're unable to recommence within a reasonable time, I'll adjourn the meeting to another day and time. We will provide shareholders with details of the adjournment via the ASX. I'd now like to introduce your board and the company secretary. From my far right or your left, we've got Colin Storrie, Anne Brennan, and Taryn Morton, the company secretary. To my immediate left and your right, we have Steve Donohue, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Pollard, Duncan Makeig, and Holly Kramer.
Bruce Mathieson Jr., currently a director-elect, awaiting regulatory approvals, also joins us today with members of Endeavour's management team who are seated in the front rows of the room. Taryn Elliott from our auditor, Deloitte, is available to respond to any specific questions you may have on the conduct of the audit. A notice of meeting has been distributed and we'll take it as read. The agenda for today's meeting is as follows. Firstly, I will address the meeting. Steve Donohue will then speak, and after Steve's address, we will proceed to the formal items of business as set out in the notice of meeting. FY22 has been a year of great significance for Endeavour, given that it was our foundational year as a standalone listed entity. At the beginning of FY22, we executed one of the largest demergers in Australian history.
We've built on the foundations we laid going into our demerger, living our culture, purpose, values, and ways of working, reinforcing our corporate infrastructure and governance, and embedding our customer-focused strategy. These foundations have helped us navigate a financial year in which disruption was the only constant. I want to publicly congratulate and thank Steve and his entire team for delivering a strong financial result and making progress against our strategy in a year marked by natural disasters, lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and incredibly unpredictable market conditions. In light of these challenges, I am particularly proud of the progress we've made in delivering our sustainability commitments. Despite the challenges of the year, the business maintained group sales while growing group earnings before tax and interest by 2.8% versus FY21.
We delivered a group profit for the year after income tax of AUD 495 million, an increase of over 11% on FY21, and an operating cash flow of AUD 940 million. We also delivered a final dividend of AUD 0.077 per share, taking the total dividend for the year to AUD 0.202 per share, fully franked. We know that the culture of Endeavour is key to continuing to build on our success in this first year. Our purpose, values, and ways of working define that culture. We're currently striving to build a culture that activates our purpose of creating a more sociable future together, and we're dedicated to anchoring our values and our ways of working in everything we do, and leaving a positive imprint on each other, our customers, and the broader community.
Our purpose guides us to focus our strategy on what matters most, bringing people together to share memorable moments. Our vision is to create those moments by becoming the leader in enabling social occasions. We aim to deliver strong returns for our shareholders by operating as an interconnected group using our assets, customer understanding, and industry partnerships to achieve this vision. Our strategy is to achieve our vision via three core pillars. One, creating leading customer offers. Two, driving an efficient end-to-end business. Three, building partnerships that grow our industry. Understanding, connecting with, and meeting the needs of our customers are all key to our strategy. We'll continue investing in our digital data and insights capabilities to help us understand our existing and our emerging customers. These insights help us drive engagement and create leading customer brands, omni-channel, channel experiences, and product trends.
By optimizing our business end to end, we create customer and shareholder value and deliver a better, more connected team experience. Our partnerships with suppliers, other industry players, and our communities will unlock outcomes that benefit our customers and drive growth across the industry. These three strategic pillars are supported by a continuous focus on acting as one team, living our purpose and values to create a positive and sustainable imprint. This brings me to our sustainability strategy. We're passionate about creating a more sociable future and equally passionate in our belief that the way we create this future really matters. Our first independent sustainability strategy, launched in October 2021, shared our ambition and plans to make a positive, lasting imprint in the areas of responsibility and community, people, and planet, with long-term goals and actionable commitments to keep us on track.
We follow that strategy with the recent launch of our inaugural sustainability report and modern slavery statement and are making progress in each of the three pillars of our sustainability strategy. Our commitment to responsibility and community is a cornerstone of our business. We know that our social license to operate relies on our continued commitment to demonstrating leadership by advocating responsible choices in our communities and supporting positive change in our industry. This year, we continued to demonstrate leadership in the responsible service of alcohol and gaming, going above and beyond regulatory obligations by training and mobilizing our team of over 28,000 to enable that leadership and responsibility. 92% of all team members, including those in support office roles, are now trained in leading in responsibility.
In addition, based on industry-leading practices and latest research, we've developed and rolled out additional training modules for our hotels team in the responsible service of gaming and gambling, and for hotel managers, advanced responsible service of gambling training. We're committed to ensuring that our products end up in the right hands. Our ID25 program and supporting awareness campaigns help dissuade attempted purchase of alcohol by minors. We also aim to help our customers make responsible choices. We now range over 340 low and zero-alcohol products. We partnered with DrinkWise in an Australian-first pilot to investigate the role of in-store layout, category positioning, and product marketing plays in changing awareness, consideration, and purchase behaviors.
The trial put zero, low, and mid-strength products at the front and center of store design in BWS stores, improving awareness of and access to lower alcohol by volume and zero-alcohol products available on the market. We're also rolling out market-leading technology to help support and identify gaming customers who display potentially risky patterns of play and making voluntary pre-commitment available on all of the gaming machines that we operate in mainland states and territories. In the area of people, we are focused on building a positive, safe, and inclusive workplace, one team with a shared purpose. Our people are listening and learning from each other and those in our communities to make meaningful strides towards true inclusion and working collaboratively to protect human rights in our operations and supply chain.
For our shared planet, we're making progress towards decarbonization and remain committed to building climate resilience through innovation and energy efficiency throughout our operations. In FY 2022, we focused on getting the foundations right in this area as we work towards the targets we set in our sustainability strategy, including sourcing 100% renewable electricity to power our business by 2030. We now have 104 sites with solar panels installed, and our Chapel Hill and Oakridge vineyards and wineries are Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certified, something we aspire to achieve in all of our Australian vineyards. While we're proud of what we've been able to achieve in our first 12 months, we don't have all the answers. Earlier this calendar year, we established the Darwin Community Advisory Committee, a locally based panel of diverse community leaders in a market with potentially vulnerable customers.
This is just one example of our collaborative approach, addressing priority areas we can influence and emerging issues that we can address. We'll continue to learn, refine, and adapt our approach along the way and ensure our strategy and commitments align to community expectations and priorities. During the year, we've continued to embed our corporate governance framework and have spent significant time on developing our sustainability strategy and reporting, developing our risk management practices, and fostering a strong corporate culture of responsibility and accountability. We've also had a couple of changes to the board. In April, Catherine West stepped down from the board, and Jo Pollard, who is seeking re-election today, took over the role as Chair of the People, Culture and Performance Committee. In June, Bruce Mathieson Senior retired from the board, and we welcomed Anne Brennan. Anne is seeking election today.
She is an experienced public company director with deep financial and business experience across a wide range of industries. She assumed the role of Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee in August 2022. Looking to the future, we announced in June 2022 that Bruce Mathieson Jr. will join the board once his regulatory approvals have been received. As we said at demerger, we are focused on adhering to the highest standards of corporate governance. This includes our board having the appropriate diversity and skills being comprised of a majority of independent directors. To this end, we'll appoint an additional independent director to the board and are currently undertaking an externally facilitated search to identify suitable candidates for our board.
In closing, I would again like to thank Steve, his management team, and indeed all 28,000 members of the Endeavour team for delivering a successful first year for Endeavour as a listed company. I'd also personally like to thank my fellow directors who have been so generous with their time in this first very busy year of operations. We'd originally scheduled 13 board meetings in FY 2022, but in order to ensure we had a fit for purpose governance structure and to ensure we were collectively educated in Endeavour's operations, we actually held 20 board meetings in FY 2022. A measure I think of the dedication and commitment of your board to both lead and set the right tone.
Finally, but most importantly, I want to thank our customers, the communities we're part of, and you, our shareholders, who have continued to choose to invest with us as we work on creating a more sociable future together. We expect FY 2023 to be another year of both challenge and progress for Endeavour. As a company, we have a clear purpose, a team of exceptional people, a customer-focused strategy, and a disciplined approach to financial management. We're well-placed and stand ready to deliver for all stakeholders and all shareholders. Thank you for your time and attention so far, and I look forward to answering your questions shortly. I'll now ask our CEO, Steve Donohue, to address the meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. I'd also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we're meeting today and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. As Endeavour's CEO, I'm honored to lead this business for you. I'm also immensely proud to share with you today what Endeavour's achieved throughout this first year. The 2022 financial year's been a memorable one for the group, establishing ourselves as a standalone listed business and navigating the continued impacts of COVID-19 while delivering strong results. During our foundational year, we've progressed our strategic agenda and delivered earnings growth while investing in necessary corporate infrastructure and investing for future growth. Simultaneously, we've progressed our impact journey by launching our first sustainability strategy and releasing our first sustainability and modern slavery reports.
Like many businesses, COVID-19 impacted our operations significantly in the first half of the year, with nationwide trading restrictions and lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria. However, the business's resilience, the commitment of our team, and the natural hedge between our retail and hotel segments supported us achieving strong results despite these challenges. As the Chair has highlighted, we delivered group sales of AUD 11.6 billion in line with last year, while increasing net profit after tax by 11.2% to AUD 495 million for the period. Our popular retail brands and our investment in innovation, particularly in EndeavourX and Pinnacle Drinks, supported customers' accelerated demand for digital engagement and new product discovery.
This helped us deliver retail results in line with the elevated FY21 levels, despite retail demand softening as hospitality venues reopened in the second half of the financial year. Retail sales of AUD 10.1 billion were 0.91% below FY21, while retail EBIT of AUD 666 million was 0.41% below the prior year. This was supported by gross margin expansion and somewhat offset by standalone technology investments and some inflationary pressures. Our hotels business recovered strongly and we successfully welcomed back enthusiastic patrons back into our hotels as restrictions eased. Previous hotel renewals, fleet upgrades and strategic partnerships across our hotel portfolio strengthened our overall proposition and enabled a 6.6% increase in sales to AUD 1.5 billion and a 20.7% increase in EBIT to AUD 315 million.
We achieved this result in a year in which we had only 231 days when all hotels were open. We delivered this year's result by focusing on progressing across our strategic pillars, creating leading customer offers, driving efficient end-to-end businesses, and building partnerships that grow our industry. As always, we remain focused on acting as one team, living our purpose and values, and creating a positive and sustainable imprint. We continued to build on our market-leading customer propositions and customer engagement across all businesses, growing our active My Dan's membership base to 4.5 million members and increasing voice of the customer scores across Dan Murphy's, BWS, and ALH Hotels. We improved our digital capabilities to better engage with our customers while also gaining insights to further improve their overall experience.
Over 70% of customer transactions at Dan Murphy's come from My Dan's members, and the BWS app-enabled Cooler campaign was the most successful we've executed to date. Meanwhile, strategic technology partnerships have also enabled the rollout of tap order and pay at table convenience across our hotels. We've now seen more than 3.7 million order and pay at table transactions following the rollout of the service earlier in the year. We invested in our existing network, executing over 120 renewals in hotels and retail, which included developing innovative formats such as Dan Murphy's The Cellar and upgrading more than 2,000 gaming machines. We also expanded the network, adding 32 net new retail stores and five hotels, and welcomed Josef Chromy Wines to our fine wine portfolio, expanding our collection of premium award-winning wineries, which we call Paragon Wine Estates.
We continued innovating to maintain trend leadership with 40% of our retail sales coming from drinks that didn't exist eight years ago. Our Pinnacle Drinks brand portfolio has been key to ensuring we keep pace with fast-changing customer product preferences with a variety of successful product launches across all categories. We remain focused on optimizing our business across the value chain. We continue to build structural resilience into our margins, investing in advanced analytics capabilities, and have started on the path to building future-focused, scalable, and flexible technology platforms to support future growth. We believe that growing our business relies on deep partnerships across our industries. We've remained focused on continuing to strengthen those relationships, reflected in our positions as the number one and number three retailer to do business with as voted by our suppliers.
We continue to broaden our partnership base, adding 496 mostly small suppliers in F22. We're also focused on evolving our arrangements with Woolworths Group to maintain a strong partnership for joint long-term growth in areas such as supply chain and logistics, while beginning to invest in our own standalone capabilities in areas such as technology and people services. Importantly, our continuous focus on sustainability and our team underpins our strategy and all of our business operations. Throughout the 2022 financial year, we've built on a culture that lives our purpose of creating a more sociable future together and supports our aspiration to leave a positive and sustainable imprint. We've worked hard to attract, retain, and develop a talented team to unlock our growth ambitions, and we're pleased that our team recognized that with a voice of the team engagement score of 76%.
We also work closely with our team to develop a sustainability strategy. It lays out our plan for the next stage of our impact journey and builds on the efforts to lead in the responsible service of alcohol and gambling. I'm proud of the achievements of all of our teams over the last year, and I sincerely thank everybody for their constant agility and resilience. We certainly couldn't have navigated the volatility of COVID-19 as well as we did without the effort and energy that our team provided their customers, their communities, and one another. Looking forward, we're excited and we're ready to continue creating a more sociable future together. After three turbulent and volatile COVID-19 affected years, we anticipate the continued normalization of both the retail and hotels markets in F23, but also recognize that we now face evolving operating environments with new challenges.
Inflation and team shortages are both factors across the economy and we'll continue to work hard to mitigate both. While these pressures create a complex environment for everyone in the industry, we're well-positioned with a competitive cost base, efficient businesses, and strong margins. Moreover, we're continuously focused on cost management and the optimization of our operations. We're focused on unlocking value in our property portfolio and continuing to improve our retail stores and hotels. Much of our progress with improving customer experience also relies on our core technology and digital technology capabilities, and these are also important priorities for us in the years ahead. Finally, delivering progress on our sustainability ambitions, particularly leadership and responsibility, all of which is delivered by our committed team.
While it's difficult for any of us to accurately predict what lies ahead, we remain focused and committed to being agile and responsive to every challenge, and we're deeply committed to helping our customers across Australia enjoy their much-needed social occasions with family and friends. To conclude, I'd like to once again recognize our team for their efforts and their passion. I'd also like to thank our board for their support and guidance in this first year. Of course, thank you to all Endeavour Group shareholders for your continued support. Now I'll hand back to Peter.
Thank you, Steve. We'll now move to the first formal item of business, which is to discuss the financial report, the director's report, and the auditor's report for the year ended June 26th, 2022. While there's no resolution for this item, it is an opportunity for shareholders to ask general questions. I'd highlight that this is the time for questions on the reports, excluding the remuneration report, which we'll deal with separately, the management and operations of Endeavour generally, as well as the conduct of the audit. Prior to taking questions, I will respond to a number of questions and comments raised by shareholders prior to this meeting. First question is: Will the board be implementing a dividend reinvestment plan or a DRP? In response, I advise the board will review the implementation of a DRP when it next considers paying a dividend and when considering paying dividends thereafter.
Any decision to implement a DRP will align to our disciplined approach to capital management in seeking to optimize returns to our shareholders. Activation of any DRP will be announced to the ASX, along with details of how shareholders can participate. Another question high on shareholders' minds was: Why did the board give a nil vesting to the leadership and responsibility measure in the long-term incentive plan this year? For those who did not join us last year, I will take a brief moment to recap on this important measure in our long-term incentive plan. Our leadership and responsibility measure is our commitment to advance the responsible sale, service, and consumption of alcohol and the responsible conduct of gambling to operate a sustainable business for the long term.
The commitment is measured by the advancement of initiatives that go beyond legal compliance and advance the industries in which we operate, as well as managing compliance with alcohol and gambling regulations and our own higher standards. In assessing the measure this year, the board acknowledged there has been strong early progress made in our responsibility initiatives in managing compliance and in the implementation of industry codes and practices. Board is very proud of the commitment shown by all levels of the business and its momentum and passion to lead the industry in responsibility. On balance, however, the board believed that a twelve-month period was simply too short to demonstrate a clear leadership position in responsibility, and conservatively, we decided that a nil vesting was appropriate for our first year of operation. A position I'd add that was fully supported by management.
Management has laid solid groundwork to enable the vesting of this measure in future grants should the business's momentum and progress continue. Another question asked was. How are you confident that Endeavour is not going to face the same troubles as casinos? Well, there are significant differences in the operations and environments of casinos compared to pubs. We operate hotels that largely offer electronic gaming machines along with some sports wagering and keno. Our gaming rooms are far smaller than casinos, meaning we have a different set of options for player observance and interaction. Our customers are very different. We do not operate in the high roller market that international destinations like casinos do. We're focused on our range of responsible gaming initiatives, such as advanced training and new technology, which are detailed in our sustainability report.
As we've done in the past, we'll continue to engage constructively with regulators on the areas of responsible service of alcohol and the responsible conduct of gaming. I now invite you to ask a question or make a comment. As I indicated at the commencement of the meeting, I'll take questions from those in the room first, followed by the telephone, and then those online. For those in the room, if you have a comment or a question, please move to the closest microphone. Okay, we'll take microphone two first.
Chairman, I would like to introduce to you Julieanne Mills.
Sorry. Hi, Chairman. It's Julieanne Mills from the ASA.
Oh, hi, Julianne. How are you?
Good, thank you. Money laundering has been a significant reputational, regulatory, and financial problem for the Australian casino industry and their shareholders, as illustrated by Crown and Star and the AUD 100 million fine. There's reportedly a problem with money laundering in pubs and clubs in New South Wales, with an inquiry currently underway by the New South Wales Crime Commission. Endeavour is the third largest owner of poker machines in Australia through their pubs and clubs. How does Endeavour manage any potential money laundering issues? Is it raised to board level, and have there been any incidents? I've actually got three questions, sorry. Do you want me to run through them?
Let's take them one at a time.
Okay. That's the first one.
Well, look, firstly, the board and management are very focused on operational risk management in general, and including any risks associated with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. As a board, we spend time regularly discussing AML issues. With regards to AML, we have an extensive program involving policies, training and controls, and this program is independently reviewed every two years by an outside audit firm. Since becoming a listed company, all directors have been through Endeavour's very comprehensive AML and counter-terrorism financing training. As recently as last Friday, in fact, we, as a board, spent two to three hours being updated on the status of our responsible gaming activities and increasing our knowledge in the areas of money laundering and counter-terrorism.
Sorry, have you had any money laundering incidents that you know of?
Not that I'm aware of, Steve. None have been reported through to the board. We do track those stats regularly, and we have close contact with AUSTRAC in terms of any suspicious activities within our gaming rooms.
Second question. Endeavour acknowledges that AGMs face a potential risk to reputational and financial returns for the company. Given this, the ASA would like to know why you don't report the revenue from AGMs.
Sorry, I missed that last part.
The question is why you don't report the revenue from AGMs?
Well, we report the revenue in accordance with accounting standards. We have four main streams of revenue within our hotel operations, food, beverages, gaming, and accommodation. We also have events and entertainment. In fact, pre-COVID, we were the biggest booker of live music, which includes bands and DJs in Australia. For competitive reasons, we do not disclose the breakdown of these streams, and the treatment of gaming revenue and taxes, as I've said, is in accordance with accounting standards. The revenue is reported net of any gaming taxes. Other operations like casinos report it differently. We'll continue to review our disclosures to ensure that we inform our stakeholders appropriately. Right now we are complying with the accounting standards, and we'll probably continue to do so.
Thank you. Just one more question around that. Cashless gaming machines are being trialed in New South Wales clubs. Do you see this as an option for Endeavour?
You said facial recognition?
Cashless gaming machines.
Yes. We're a supporter of the digital wallet that the New South Wales government is trialing. We have an application in to participate in that trial and look forward to it. We think there's gonna be operational efficiencies and obviously greater harm minimization outcomes. Yeah, we're supportive of it.
Great. Thank you.
Okay. I think we've got a question over here. Number six.
Yes.
Chairman-
The mic's a bit high.
Sorry. I'd like to introduce Jane Marks, a shareholder.
Hello. Look, I'd just like to say I'm so thrilled that you have four women on the board, and I'd also make a suggestion. Could we meet at 10:00 A.M. next time, not 9:00 A.M.? It's just a bit hard with peak hour.
Okay. Thank you for your comments and we'll certainly look at the timing for next year. We chose nine, I guess, because we weren't sure how long this meeting was gonna go. We wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to participate in the meeting before we served refreshments. Your point's well noted. Thanks for the comment about the diversity. We're very proud of the focus we've got on diversity. Currently, three of our six non-executive directors are women, and long may that continue.
Thank you.
I'm a card-carrying feminist. Oh, well, sorry. My apologies. Microphone one.
Chair, I'd like to introduce Sue, a shareholder to the meeting.
Hi, Sue. How are you?
Good morning. Just interested in looking at the business segment results and the quite different profile of your retail versus hotels business. Wanting to know what your future capital expenditure sort of allocation is between those businesses and what the main emphasis will be in each site, whether it's efficiency or growth or.
Well, it's a little bit of both. You know, we've got a strong growth agenda for both our retail outlets and our hotel networks. We see opportunities in both retail and hotels to upgrade our facilities. We've got an aggressive program of remodeling underway in both retail and in hotels, which are yielding good results. We also want to expand the number of retail outlets and hotels we have, and that's about making very wise and decisive choices around where we invest. We have a model around the types of demographics we go after and the types of trade zones that we look at. We're also focused investing in online experiences, growing our digital platform.
We've got Pinnacle, our own brand of products, both alcohol and low, no alcohol products. That's we're looking to increase the penetration of those in our retail stores and in our hotels. We're not opportunity limited. You know, like, we're roughly we'd be splitting the CapEx on between retail and hotels probably 50/50 over the next 12 months or close to it. We've got a bit of catch up to do in the hotel space. I mean, under Woolies' ownership, there was a deliberate conscious decision not to invest a lot of money in the hotels, which quite frankly need some upgrading, a bit of TLC.
Under Bruce Mathieson Jr.'s leadership and now Mario Volpe, our new managing director for hotels, they have amped up that focus since we've been a standalone company, and I'm very confident that we're gonna get good returns out of those. We've got a very disciplined approach to investment making decisions. Thank you. It doesn't look like there's any more questions in the room, so I might turn to... Oh, sorry, there is one.
Chairman.
Julieanne's back.
This time I'm gonna not talk about gambling. The ASA wants to congratulate you on the EndeavourX impressive growth and in your digital platform. The enormous amount of data that comes with this is an asset with real benefits for the company. Can you explain the controls in place around customer privacy and cyber risk? How is this monitored and managed, and how does it get raised to board level? Are you still dependent very much on the Woolworths IT system?
Well, thank you for your question. Look, we're very alert to the evolving threat of potential cyberattacks and data breaches. In fact, at our board meeting last Friday, we spent a good part of the time being educated on exactly where we're at with that, given the recent breaches that have occurred with Optus and most recently with one of Woolies' platforms. We've got dedicated resources that are focused on risk assessments with respect to our systems insofar as it concerns customers, team members, and assets. We have a cybersecurity program, which is led by our chief cybersecurity officer. This program is reviewed and tested regularly via a range of activities, which includes technical controls, secure coding practices, security monitoring, vulnerability and threat management, and cyber threat intelligence networking with like-minded organizations throughout Australia.
Look, we know we've got to be constantly focused on this. You know, I think it's public knowledge that large Australian organizations have been constantly bombarded with cyberattacks. Fortunately, we feel relatively confident that we've got everything in place to protect our customers' data and privacy, and we're forever vigilant.
Thank you, Chairman.
All righty. Are there any other questions in the room? It looks like we might have one down the back there. Talk among yourselves. Not too loudly, though. Okay, microphone six.
Yep. Chairman, I'd like to introduce A ileen Hayse, a shareholder.
Hi, Eileen. How are you?
Good morning. We are fairly recent shareholders. Reading some of this report has left me feeling very positive. I feel that you're enthusiastic, you're energetic, so attending the meeting was important for me. Here listening to you, I feel those same things. I'm positive. I feel that you're enthusiastic, yet you're balancing that with being measured and considered. That's what we want for long-term shareholders of your company. I'd just like to make that comment. For me, and you know, for my husband too, this is very important. We don't go in and out of shares. We exit if we feel it's necessary with the guidance of our financial advisor. I think perhaps many others would operate in a similar way.
I go out feeling this is a dynamic company. This is how we have to live. It all goes well for the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Eileen, for those comments. I share your investment philosophy. I, you know, pick and stick. Really appreciate the kind words, and we'll try and live up to your expectations of us. I can assure you that the passion and energy within this business, whether it's at the board level or the management team level or down in the folk that really make it happen in our stores and hotels, there's incredible passion for these businesses. I mean, Steve Donohue grew up in this business. Bruce Mathieson Jr. grew up in this business. They bring an enormous amount of energy and background to it. Thank you.
I've got the other two questions about.
We're not related, are we?
I've got to ask a few questions.
Eileen, can you go to the microphone?
Yeah. Maybe my questions about the hotels should be directed later to Steve, because maybe other people know all about it. I don't.
Oh, you can ask a question now on hotel operations.
Well, well, I just was wondering, I don't know the names of the hotels in Sydney and New South Wales. Is it in the book, or somewhere? I think maybe Steve is someone, his name has been mentioned, is it something to do with the family and Ritz Hotel?
Right
at Hurstville?
Look, that's a good point.
I don't know.
I believe we do have the list of all of our hotels on our website, but I'll let Steve respond.
Yes. Certainly all of our hotels can be seen on the alhgroup.com.au website. I have no personal association with any other hotels in Australia.
Oh, okay.
other than our own.
Oh, your own. Okay. All right. But anyway, we can ask. I can see. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We've got microphone one.
Chairman, I'd like to introduce Mr. Alex Karatis, shareholder.
Hi, Alex.
Thank you, Peter. What are the areas of future growth, significant growth that you see for the business within Australia? Then, are you considering overseas investments? I know you've just been spun out, but just.
Well, I go back to the answer I gave previously. We're not opportunity constrained. We've got opportunities to improve our existing network through remodeling, reformatting of our existing outlets. We've got a lot of opportunity to grow additional outlets either in retail or hotels through acquisition. We've got opportunities to continually improve our customers' experiences in-store and in hotels. We've got our e-commerce platform, which during COVID did a great job for us in you know being able to keep our customers supplied with their drink requirements. We've got Pinnacle, which is incredible business for us. Its goal there is to continue to penetrate a whole range of alcohol, low alcohol, zero alcohol products across a range of price points and products.
We're not opportunity limited here in Australia. In terms of overseas, we have no current plans to look at overseas. I mean, never say never, but right now, that's not on our radar screen. Our focus at the moment is to make sure that the mothership is well looked after and we grow that first so that we maybe one day earn the right to expand into other jurisdictions.
Thank you, Peter.
Okay. This side of the room needs to lift its game. We've got microphone six.
Chairman, I'd like to introduce Alan Lakeman, shareholder.
Sorry. My name's Alan Lakeman. I had the opportunity of this morning speaking with your CFO, Shane Gannon. One of the things I discussed was my patronage of Dan Murphy's at Manly Vale. I've for the last 53 years been a great fan of Australian wines, and I discussed with him, and he said that there are some tastings of Australian wines that are offered at your outlets. I'd just like to encourage the company to continue to support the Australian wine industry by perhaps offering the opportunity when you come into the store, and I'm unfamiliar with the wine, I'm unfamiliar with Pinnacle, to be able to taste before we buy. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you for that suggestion. Unless, Steve, do you have any comment on that one or?
Yeah. Alan, appreciate the comment on tastings. We were challenged through COVID and so far as not being able to offer tastings. As soon as we were able to, we reactivated tastings across, particularly the Dan Murphy's network. We're very active supporters of the Australian wine industry. We have a strong association with Wine Australia, and we're the largest purchaser of Australian wine, I think anywhere in the world, and certainly offer it through all of our outlets. We're also actively working on opportunities to the Chair's earlier point, as it relates to export of Australian wine. We're deeply committed to the Australian wine industry.
Thank you. All right. I'm gonna take a chance and say that there's no more questions in the room. We'll go to telephone questions now. Are there any?
There are no questions on the telephone at this time.
There are no telephone questions. Are there any online questions?
Chairman, the first question online is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Victorian law limits hotel operators to 35% of the state's hotel pokies, yet The Sunday Age recently reported that the Mathieson family are now up to 42% through Endeavour and Bruce Mathieson Sr.'s daughters, Jody and Deborah, who are both married to top ten Victorian hotel pokie operators. Could Bruce Junior comment on whether he too is going to personally get into the pokies business competing with Endeavour, and could the Chair and CEO comment on how these conflicts and regulatory breaches are managed?
Well, Mr. Mayne, thank you for your question. There are two or three questions within that question. I'm gonna respond and, Bruce Mathieson Jr., doesn't need to respond to the question. Look, we comply with the 35% cap in Victoria. As Bruce Mathieson Senior and Bruce Mathieson Jr. had past executive roles in ALH and Endeavour, ALH and Endeavour are combined for the purposes of the 35% cap. The cap does not include the extended Mathieson family, i.e., Bruce's sisters or other members of their immediate family. I'm not in a position to comment and won't comment on any Mathieson family personal interests outside of Endeavour.
In terms of managing conflicts, we have a quite rigorous and extensive protocols around conflict management, not just for the Mathiesons, but for the Woolworths folk as well. If there's a particular matter that we are gonna discuss within the boardroom that is particular to the BMG Group, then the Mathieson representative is recused from those discussions. Likewise, if we have an issue or a discussion around Woolies' relationship matter, then Holly, and if necessary, Colin Storrie, are excluded from those discussions as well. We have very rigorous protocols around those sorts of things. Are there any more online questions?
Chairman, the next question is also from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The 2021/2022 Woolworths annual report states that it has 374,275 shareholders, but Endeavour's inaugural annual report in 2020/2021 claimed we had 466,897 shareholders. This year it is down to 439,182 shareholders, a drop of 27,715 or 6%, which includes 133,240 with an unmarketable parcel down from 140,716 last year. Are we overstating the shareholder figure or is Woolworths understating theirs? And when are we going to launch a mop-up offer to unmarketables as an obvious cost saving measure?
Well, thank you, Mr. Mayne, again for your next two questions. Look, I can't comment on information that Woolworths have included in their report. The number of shareholders disclosed in Endeavour's annual report was sourced from our share registry, and we have no current plans in relation to unmarketable parcels. Thank you for your questions. Are there any more online questions?
Chairman, the next question is from Mr. Kevin Daly. What is your long-term goal for Pinnacle Drinks? For example, would a craft brewer or small distiller be a suitable acquisition?
Look, our plan with Pinnacle is just to continue to grow it where it makes sense and where we're gonna respond to genuine customer needs. It gives us agility, it gives us the opportunity to respond quickly to new trends in the marketplace. You know, we don't have a specific target. We just wanna continue to grow it as we do wanna grow all aspects of our business. I'll let Steve perhaps comment on the craft brewer or small distiller potential.
Yeah. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Kevin, for the question. I think the Chair's answered it well. We don't exclude any opportunity, I suppose. We're always thinking about what the prospects are for us to produce more products that meet those customer needs, and that would include considerations of craft brewing and distilling. At the moment, the way we approach those two categories is through partnerships in the industry. Our Pinnacle portfolio does include some small distilled products and brewed products, beers and spirits, that we work with others to create. That's a relatively capital light means of creating products for us at the moment, but we'll certainly keep it in our consideration set.
Thanks, Steve. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the next question is from Mr. John Subiac, and is a customer question. Why is there no telephone number available on the Dan Murphy's website to address customer inquiries when the chatbot, Murphy, is unable to address a specific stock matter? How does this benefit customers? How do customers without internet access make inquiries at Dan Murphy's?
Okay, well, that resonated a little bit. Look, I'm gonna ask Steve to respond to that one. This really is a customer experience question, but it's an important one, obviously. Steve?
Yes. Thank you for the question. The transition away from running contact centers is a consequence of the reduction in demand for phone calls that we've received over a long period of time. What we've done is followed the trend that a number of other retailers have done, domestically and globally, and that is to provide access to real people, our team, via digital platforms. There is a number that you can call that we can share that should get you through to somebody should you want to talk to them. Generally speaking, people prefer to use the digital platforms.
It's important to know too, that while the chatbot starts out as an AI-enabled capability, you will be able to connect directly with somebody with an actual operator who can hopefully answer your question as well. I recognize the question, and I'm happy to provide to the shareholder and any shareholder the means by which they can access contact.
Okay. Well, let's make sure we just follow up with John and enable him to you know have access to a telephone number or whatever. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the next question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne and contains multiple connected questions which I will read out as submitted. Could Holly Kramer, as the Woolworths nominee on the Endeavour board, comment on whether Woolworths is committed to retaining its 14.6% stake in the company even after Gordon Cairns retires as Woolworths chair next week? Could she also please comment on the prospects of Woolworths lifting its stake to 15.08%, matching the move by the Mathieson family to lift their original 14.56% stake last year? If the strategy was to match and balance the Mathieson stake, why isn't Woolworths keeping up with them?
Well, Mr. Mayne, that's, I think your fifth, sixth or seventh question. I will respond to it. I'll also just highlight that any further questions on this particular aspect of our business or the annual report in general, I'm happy to have those offline and we can respond to you in person, so we can move the meeting forward. Look, we don't comment on market speculation other than to say we are rightly not privy to any Woolworths discussions on this topic. Decisions on shareholding are for those shareholders to consider and comment upon. We have a strong corporate governance framework appropriate for an ASX-listed entity, including our policy on managing conflicts of interest. I think that's all I have to say on that matter.
Are there any other online questions from anybody other than Mr. Mayne?
Chairman, the next question is from Henrik Kay. How about a person with a disability as a director on the board?
Well, thank you for your question. Look, we have a robust process in place for selecting directors. They align to all relevant corporate governance requirements and guidelines, including additional requirements due to the industries in which we operate. The composition of the board reflects a diverse range of skills and deep industry experiences. We regularly review the optimum mix of those skills and experiences, and it's certainly not our intention to ever exclude somebody with those skills who has a disability. You know, if there was a person of the right skills and experience and they had a disability, that would never inhibit them from being a member of the board. Thank you for your question. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the next question is also from Mr. Henrik Kay, and is a customer question. I would like to ask if Auslan training for staff be introduced for staff, as this will help dealing with customers.
I'm not familiar with Auslan. Steve, are you?
Yes, I am. It's sign language. We'll certainly take the question on notice, I think, and give it consideration in due course if it's something to be honest, it's not something that has been on our agenda, and I appreciate the question, and we'll take it into consideration.
Thank you. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the only other online question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne.
Well, I think I've responded to Mr. Mayne, and I'm happy to take his any other questions he can send to our company secretariat. We will respond separately. There being no other general business questions, I'll now move to the next item on the agenda. Agenda item two is the reelection and election of three directors. The resolutions will be dealt with separately. The notice of meeting contains details of each director's background and experience, and I won't repeat all of those details today. Each director will briefly address the meeting regarding their candidacy. Item two-A is the reelection of Duncan Makeig, who, in accordance with the constitution, retires as a director and offers himself for reelection.
Duncan Makeig has been a director of Endeavour since June 2021 and is a member of the Nominations Committee, the People, Culture and Performance Committee, and the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee. The board believes that his broad knowledge of the alcohol and fast-moving consumer goods industries, together with his legal and governance expertise, brings an informed and balanced viewpoint to the board. The board considers Duncan Makeig to be an independent director. The board, except for Duncan Makeig, recommends the re-election of Duncan Makeig. I now invite Duncan Makeig to address the meeting.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, shareholders. I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today on my candidacy for reelection to the Endeavour board. Over a thirty-year period, I've had functional and executive management roles in the fast-moving consumer goods industry and the alcohol industry, working with companies such as Lion Nathan and PepsiCo, both within Australia and internationally. I have also served on a number of public and private boards, including as chair of Heineken Australia and as chair of Athletic Greens Inc., a US-base online direct-to-consumer unicorn.
As well as a deep understanding of the industries in which Endeavour operates, I believe that the legal and governance expertise gained from my previous role brings a considered and balanced view to the board's deliberations. I have a strong sense of community, as demonstrated through my current chairing of Curing Homesickness Limited, and my past commitment to the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation Limited, for which I was chair for 10 years, having recently retired in August this year. I was honored to have served as audit risk and compliance committee chair for the first year of Endeavour's operation as a listed entity, and I look forward to continuing my contribution to the work of that committee.
I'm proud to be part of this board, and if reelected today, will continue to represent the interests of you, our shareholders, and of those of our broader stakeholder groups at the board table. Thank you.
Thanks, Pete.
Thank you, Duncan Makeig. Are there any questions on the re-election of Duncan Makeig? We'll take questions in the room first. Okay. Doesn't appear to be any in-room questions. Are there any questions on the telephone?
There are no telephone questions at this time.
Okay. Are there any online questions?
Chairman, there is an online question. Just one moment. Chairman, the online question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne: Duncan Makeig was the chair of Good Spirits Hospitality until May this year. Wasn't this always a conflict of interest helping a competitor? And did he quit to address this conflict of interest? Also, does Duncan still have private interests in New South Wales pokie venues? And if so, is he also proposing to divest this interest in order to focus exclusively on Endeavour within the broader hospitality sector?
Well, I'll respond on behalf of Mr. Makeig, but at least in the first part of the question. Good Spirits was a New Zealand-based company. We don't compete on the pub front in New Zealand, so there's no conflict there. In terms of the private interest Duncan has, I believe he has an interest in two hotels in New South Wales that have poker machines, and I don't believe he's got any intention to divest those, but I'll let him respond to that shortly. I can just reiterate my earlier comments around conflicts of interest.
Whenever there's an interest like this comes up, and a topic is discussed that may impact on the conflict, a director is recused from those discussions and, we take our responsibilities around conflict of interest very seriously. When Duncan was appointed as a director, he had an interest in one hotel, which we were aware of, and we deemed it not to be a conflict. He's recently invested in a second one with some other partners. He made us aware of that before he invested in it. We screened it and cleared it. It's not a pub that we would have been interested in acquiring. Duncan, I don't know whether you've got anything further to add to that.
Only that I have very small minority interest, and I don't take part in the management of those businesses.
Okay. Thanks. Are there any more online questions?
Chairman, there are no further online questions for this item at this time.
Okay. Well, as there are no further questions, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Displayed on the screen are details of the direct and proxy votes received in relation to this resolution. For those on the phone, the display confirms that we have received 98.07% of votes in favor of the resolution. Please now mark your voting card in relation to item 2A, Duncan Makeig's re-election. I'll now move to item 2B. Item 2B is for the re-election of Jo Pollard, who, in accordance with the constitution, retires as a director and offers herself for re-election. Jo joined the board in June 2021. She is the chair of the People, Culture and Performance Committee and a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee, as well as the Nominations Committee.
Jo brings to the board extensive marketing expertise, customer management expertise, and deep knowledge of organizational transformation. The board also considers her to be an independent director. The board, with the exception of Jo, recommends the re-election of Jo Pollard. I now invite Jo to address the meeting. Jo?
Thanks, Peter. Good morning, everyone. I'm delighted to be standing before you today seeking re-election as a director. I bring over 30 years media, marketing and business transformation experience to the Endeavour Group board. This experience was gained in leadership roles at Nike, Nine Entertainment Company and Telstra. During this time, I also spent 16 years overseas, which has given me a broad ability to bring the customer voice perspective to the boardroom. Secondly, great people and strong culture are at the heart of any successful business, so I'm honored to chair Endeavour Group's People, Culture and Performance Committee. I have a strong interest in our sustainability strategy in areas where we can influence our leadership and responsibility.
Responsibility forms an essential part of our remuneration framework, and I'm committed to aligning the right behaviors of our people with the appropriate reward. The hotel business has had a big influence on me, as my dad owned the hotel, The Royal Hotel in Armidale in the sixties, seventies and eighties. It was an early education for me in business fundamentals, the importance of great customer experience and entrepreneurialism. Finally, I'm very passionate about Endeavour's multifaceted business and its future growth, and I'm focused on creating sustainable long-term value for you, our shareholders. With your support, I look forward to continuing to serve as a director on the board. Thank you.
Thanks, Jo. Are there any questions or comments from those in the room regarding this resolution? Okay, there are no in-room questions. Are there any questions on the telephone?
There are no questions on the telephone at this time.
Are there any online questions?
Chairman, the question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Contains multiple connected questions which I will read out as submitted. As the new chair of the People and Culture Committee, could Joanne Pollard explain why her predecessor in this important position, Catherine West, quit the Endeavour Group board without explanation after less than a year on the board? Catherine West is still serving on other public company boards such as Nine Entertainment, Peter Warren Automotive and Monash IVF. Why did she quit Endeavour? Did she have a problem being associated with Australia's biggest pokie machine operator? Were there cultural concerns?
Well, thank you for your question again, Mr. Mayne. Probably three or four questions in there. I'll respond. Catherine simply left to concentrate on other activities. Any further questioning around her motivations to leave should be directed towards Catherine, not us. I'm not privy, and nor are any other of my colleagues privy to any other reasons than Catherine decided that she had she wanted to spend time doing other things and balancing her work-life commitments accordingly. Thank you. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the next question is also from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The annual report lists Duncan Makeig as owning 7,042 shares, while Joanne Pollard only has 7,500. These stakes are worth less than AUD 55,000. Yet Duncan was paid AUD 280,000 in cash in 2021, 2022, and Joanne was paid AUD 245,000. Fund manager John Wylie is currently pushing a plan for Australian NEDs to have much greater skin in the game. Why don't we adopt a formal plan to require our NEDs to hold bigger shareholdings? Can Duncan and Joanne explain their investment plans with the stock to get more skin in the game?
Thank you for your question, Mr. Mayne. I'll respond. Look, to align in the interests of the board with shareholders and non-executive directors, and Endeavour's key executive management personnel, we're all required to have a minimum shareholding in Endeavour. This requirement is to be met within five years of listing or appointment to the board as relevant. Progress against the minimum shareholding requirements for executive key management personnel is set out in our corporate governance statement available on our website. Jo and Duncan are on track to be able to meet their five-year commitment. Thank you for your question. Are there any other online questions? Okay.
Chairman, there are no further online questions for this item of business at this time.
All right. Thank you. There being no further questions, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Details of the direct and proxy votes received in relation to this resolution are displayed on the screen. For those on the phone, the display confirms that we have received 98.07% of votes in favor of the resolution. Please mark your online voting card in relation to item 2B, Jo Pollard's election. Item 2C is for the re-election of Anne Brennan, who, in accordance with the Constitution, retires as a director and offers herself for election. Anne joined the board in June 2022. She's the chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee and a member of the People, Culture and Performance Committee and the Nominations Committee. Anne has significant business and financial acumen and considerable listed company experience.
She brings these competencies as well as strong governance to the board's deliberations and to her role as Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee. Anne is also regarded as an independent director by the board. The board, with the exception of Anne, recommends the re-election of Anne Brennan. I now invite Anne to address the meeting.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As the newest director to be appointed to the board, I am excited to join in the second year of Endeavour Group being a listed company. During my executive career, I've held a variety of senior management roles in large corporations and professional services firms. These included being a finance director of the Coats Group and a CFO at CSR. I was also a partner at KPMG, Arthur Andersen, and Ernst & Young. From these roles, I bring solid financial and business experience to my Endeavour board role. I've been a listed company director for over 13 years across a broad range of industries, including retail, entertainment, gaming, property, infrastructure, investment, and financial services.
I believe this breadth of experience, coupled with my independent perspective, enables me to provide a strong contribution to Endeavour's strategic discussions and support effective governance of the group.
I'm currently the chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Argo Investments Limited. I chair the audit committee at The Lottery Corporation, and I'm also a member of GPT Group's audit committee. Previously, I was the audit and risk chair for Tabcorp Holdings Limited, Spark Infrastructure, and Charter Hall. I'm also a member of the People and Remuneration Committee at a number of the boards that I serve on. These roles, together with my commercial and financial experience, provide relevant experience to chair the Audit, Risk and Compliance Management Committee at Endeavour Group. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today. If elected, I'd be honored to serve your board. Thank you.
Thank you, Anne. Are there any questions or comments from those in the room? Okay. There don't appear to be. Are there any questions on the telephone?
There are no questions on the telephone at this time.
Are there any questions from online?
Chairman, the first question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne: Why did it take until June this year for Anne Brennan to be formally appointed to the board when her proposed membership was first announced in 2021? Also, as a former director of casino company Star Entertainment, where money laundering was clearly rampant for years, could Anne explain what steps she has taken to assure herself that money laundering is minimized at Endeavour's 300 poker machine venues, where gamblers are losing more than AUD 1.5 billion a year?
Well, again, Mr. Mayne, you've done it again. You've got three or four questions into one. Well done. Look, I'm gonna answer the question. Anne was also the director of Tabcorp, which was going through a split, and that required us to have that split take place before she could be actually appointed to the Endeavour board. Plus, like anybody else who joins our board, she has to go through all of the usual probity exercises, so that takes time. As I've mentioned already, we're waiting on Bruce Jr.'s probity diligence to be completed. In terms of her Star Entertainment history, that's over eight years ago, and I think it's irrelevant in the context of this. She certainly wasn't involved in any of the recent doings of Star.
In terms of money laundering, I've already addressed the meeting earlier about the diligence and training that the board goes through, management goes through to ensure that we're absolutely compliant with AML and counter-terrorism financing. I've also outlined the seriousness with which we take our legal responsibility for gaming activities. Thank you for your question. Are there any further online questions?
Chairman, the next question is also from Mr. Stephen Mayne, and also contains multiple connected questions: When Anne Brennan served on the Tabcorp and Star boards, both public, both publicly disclosed gross gaming revenue, which is standard practice for ASX-listed gaming companies. Woolworths CEO, Brad Banducci, understated pokie revenue when announcing the demerger, and Endeavour has fudged it ever since. As audit committee chair, could Anne Brennan please confirm Endeavour's annualized gross gaming revenue is expected to exceed AUD 1.5 billion in calendar 2022? Could the auditor also explain the ongoing failure to disclose?
Well, Mr. Mayne, thank you for your question, and I'll indulge you again, and I'll give a response on behalf of Anne. Look, I can't speak for Woolworths for a start, so I'm not gonna address the question around Brad Banducci and what he is alleged to have done or not done. I wanna make it very clear that our income in hotels comes from four very different primary areas, food, beverages, gaming, and accommodation. We also have an event and entertainment revenue, and as I mentioned earlier, pre-COVID, we were the biggest booker of local music, which was bands and DJs in Australia.
For competitive reasons, we do not disclose the breakdown of those, streams, and in terms of the gaming revenue and taxes, we report that in accordance with accounting standards, and we report it, net of any, gaming revenue collected. We'll continue to review our disclosures and ensure that they, inform our stakeholders and are compliant with, the regulators. I don't think I need to ask the auditor to comment on the other, implied allegation in your question. Thank you. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, there are no further online questions for this item of business at this time.
There being no further questions, I now put the resolution to the meeting. Details of the direct and proxy votes received in relation to this resolution are displayed on screen. For those on the phone, the display confirms that we have received 98.98% of votes in favor of the resolution. Please mark your online voting card in relation to item 2C and Anne Brennan's election. The next two items on the agenda relate to remuneration matters. The first of those is the adoption of Endeavour's Remuneration Report for the year ended June 26th, 2022. The Remuneration Report is included in Endeavour's 2022 Annual Report. The report outlines our remuneration framework and how it is governed. It also details how we determined reward outcomes for key management personnel for the FY 2022 year.
Endeavour's remuneration framework has been designed to attract and retain talented individuals and to align executive rewards to the delivery of the group's strategic priorities. The remuneration framework for executives, which with its mix of fixed remuneration and short-term and long-term incentives, aims at driving business performance in a sustainable and responsible way. We take our responsibility obligations seriously. We've embedded our ways of working into our assessment of individual executive performance and have included a specific leading and responsibility assessment into our long-term incentive plan. In striving to balance the needs of shareholders, leave a positive imprint on customers and the broader community, and ensure our team are proud advocates of Endeavour, the board believes that these are the right things to focus on in our reward framework. If anyone has any questions relating to this advisory resolution, please ask them now.
Are there any questions or comments from those in the room? There don't appear to be any, in-room questions. Are there any questions on the telephone?
There are no questions on the telephone at this time.
Are there any online questions?
Chairman, there is one online question at this time from Mr. Stephen Mayne and contains multiple connected questions. Billionaire pay at public companies ranges between the Packer family commendably never taking any salary, to the Murdochs taking more than AUD 1.5 billion since 1999. Why was billionaire heir Bruce Mathieson Jr. included in the Endeavour incentive scheme, and why does the REM report list him as receiving a termination benefit when he only quit to join the board? Also, why didn't Bruce Jr. need regulatory approval to be CEO of ALH when he requires this to serve on the Endeavour Group board?
Well, thank you, Mr. Mayne, for your fifteenth question. Look, first of all, the regulatory approvals are duplicated between being an executive and a board member. Even though Bruce Mathieson Jr. was cleared through all the probity as an executive, when he stepped down from being an executive and when we decided to ask him to join the board, he has to go through that same process like any other non-executive director. Going back to the earlier part of your question, Bruce Mathieson Jr. was remunerated consistent with our remuneration framework, and it was reflective of the role and contributions he's made. A termination benefit is, by definition, all amounts that an employee receives when they leave the business. The amounts you reference reflect that service and his contractual entitlements.
ALH is a separate legal entity, and the regulation requires approval for each entity. Hopefully, that answers your question. Thank you. Are there any more online questions?
Chairman, there are no further online questions for this item of business at this time.
There being no further questions on the Remuneration Report, I now put the resolution to the meeting. On screen are details of the direct and proxy votes received in relation to this resolution. For those on the phone, the display confirms that we have received 97.99% of votes in favor of the resolution. Please mark your voting card in relation to item three, Adoption of the Remuneration Report. Item four is for the grant of performance share rights under the Long Term Incentive Plan to the CEO, Steve Donohue. The Long Term Incentive Plan aims to focus the efforts of participants on achieving superior performance for Endeavour's key stakeholder groups, being you, its shareholders, its customers, and the community.
Shareholder approval is sought to grant a maximum of 371,839 performance share rights to Steve under the Long Term Incentive Plan as part of his financial year 2023 remuneration arrangements. While approval is being sought for the maximum potential award, Steve will only receive value from these performance share rights after the three-year performance period and only if the performance conditions are met. Any vesting of performance rights will be assessed by the board as at July 1st, 2025. As always, vesting is subject to board discretion. If circumstances warrant, the board may adjust vesting outcomes, including if they are not considered reflective of actual performance. The performance measure and weightings and vesting conditions are described in detail in the notice of meeting.
However, in summary, 40% of the award is subject to a relative total shareholder return measure against a comparator group of 100 of Australia's largest companies over a three-year performance period. 40% of the award is subject to a return on funds employed, calculated by dividing Endeavour's EBIT by the average funds employed over the three-year performance period, both before significant items. Finally, 20% of the award is subject to a leading and responsibility assessment by the board against the progress of the initiatives implemented that enhance the responsible sale, service, and consumption of alcohol and the responsible conduct of gaming and management of regulatory transgressions.
The board considers that the grant of rights to the CEO is an integral part of effectively rewarding the CEO in a manner that aligns with shareholder interests and recommends, with Steve abstaining, that you vote in favor of this resolution. Are there any questions in the room on this resolution? There don't appear to be any questions in the room. Are there any questions on the telephone?
There are no questions on the telephone at this time.
Are there any online questions?
Chairman, the first question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Given the interesting discussions across a range of topics today, including this CEO LTI grant, could the Chair undertake to make an archived copy of the webcast plus a full transcript of proceedings available on the company's website as commendably occurred after your inaugural AGM last year?
Thank you for your question, Mr. Mayne. Look, as you know, we published the 2021 transcript of the AGM and the webcast on our external website, and we plan to do the same for FY 2022's AGM, or our 2022 AGM, I should say. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, the next question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne and contains multiple connected questions. Best practice is moving with proxy disclosure with companies such as NAB, Afterpay, TPG Telecom and AusNet lodging the proxies with the ASX along with their formal addresses. Why did we withhold proxy voting disclosure until after the debate on all items today? Will we disclose them to the ASX ahead of next year's AGM? Has there been any material protest vote against this proposed LTI grant to the CEO? If so, what issues did the proxy advisors raise?
Well, look, thank you for your question. Similar to most other large companies, proxy results will be released at the meeting. We wanna encourage debate with shareholders. If results are already known, we believe it may inhibit that discussion. We appreciate that some companies do release proxy results ahead of their AGMs, but it's not common or standard practice to do so. Thank you for your question. Are there any other online questions?
Chairman, there are no further online questions for this item of business at this time.
Okay. There being no further questions, I now put the resolution to the meeting. On the screen are details of the direct and proxy votes received in relation to this resolution. For those on the phone, the display confirms that we have received 98.37% of votes in favor of the resolution. Please mark your voting card in relation to item four, approval of grant of performance share rights to the CEO for the FY 23 Long-Term Incentive Plan. Shareholders, that now concludes discussion on all items of business on today's agenda. I declare that the poll will close 10 minutes after the meeting closes. Please complete your voting card for each resolution and submit it in the online portal or place it in the poll box with the share registry representative as you leave the room.
As mentioned earlier, the results of the polls will be released to the ASX later today and published on our website. A transcript of today's proceedings will also be available on the website in due course. On behalf of the board, I would sincerely like to thank you for your support and your attendance here today. For those of you here in Sydney, my fellow directors and I welcome you to join us and Endeavour senior executives for some light refreshments in the foyer. For those attending virtually, I wanna thank you for your participation in our meeting today. I now declare the meeting closed. Thank you.