Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and for those over here in the West, good morning, and welcome to the 2021 AGM of Fleetwood Limited. My name is John Klepec and I'm the Chair of Fleetwood Limited. We have a quorum, so I declare the meeting open. I will start by outlining a few procedural matters before giving a formal address. Today's meeting is being held online via the Lumi platform. This allows shareholders, proxy holders and guests to attend the meeting virtually and watch a live webcast of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxy holders have the ability to ask questions and submit votes. We hope to be in a position to hold a hybrid AGM next year, which will allow for a crossover between the traditional physical meetings and this virtual meeting.
Given the current government-mandated restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided virtual AGM was the most inclusive forum for a meeting this particular year. I would like to start by outlining some of the procedural matters associated with this meeting, given that we are using the virtual platform today. As outlined in the notice of annual general meeting sent to shareholders, questions can be asked or submitted at any time. To ask a question, select the messaging tab at the top of the Lumi platform. At the top of that tab, there is a section for you to type your question. Once you have finished typing, please hit the arrow symbol to send it.
Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them or Bruce will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. If you require any technical assistance during the meeting, please refer to the online meeting guide available on our Fleetwood Limited website. For those shareholders who wish to ask a question verbally, an audio question facility is available during this meeting. To use this service, please pause the broadcast on the Lumi platform and then click on the link under Asking Audio Questions. A new page will open where you'll be prompted to enter your name and the topic of your question before being connected. You will listen to the meeting on this page while waiting for your, to ask your question. If you have any issues using this system, please return to the Lumi platform. Voting.
Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, and in case you're not able to stay for the full meeting, I will shortly open voting for all the resolutions. If you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a new voting tab will appear. Selecting this tab will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a Submit or Enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. We've worked hard today to ensure that the webcast runs smoothly.
However, should you experience any technical difficulties, a recording of the meeting will be made available on our website at the conclusion of this meeting. I now declare the voting open on all items of business. The voting tab will soon appear. Please submit your votes at any time. I will give you a warning before I move to close voting. I'd now like to introduce our board and management present today. In our Melbourne office is our Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Nicholson. Alongside Bruce is Martin Monro, a Non-Executive Director and Chair of our Risk Committee, and Mark Southey, also our Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Joining me here in Perth at the Fleetwood office is Jeff Dowling, a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. Adrienne Parker, NED and Chair of the Nominations and Diversity Committee.
Andrew Wackett, which most of you have met several times. Our Chief Financial Officer, and Elizabeth Maynard, our General Counsel and Company Secretary. I'll now move into a short brief address, which will be followed by Bruce's address to the shareholders. As we reported back in August at our full year results, FY 2021 saw a solid performance across all the Fleetwood operations, which is really a credit to everyone involved given the uncertainties of the past 12-18 months. We've also undergone significant changes at both the board and executive level, which have been well-received by both staff and investors, and given everyone a refreshed focus for Fleetwood's strategies and their implementation.
During the year towards the end of last calendar year, we bade farewell to the Managing Director and CEO, Brad Denison, after a significant 23-year career with Fleetwood. Brad led the transformation of Fleetwood from a predominantly WA-based caravan manufacturer to a company which is focused on modular building construction, which importantly now gives us a national platform for us to capture the expected growth in the underlying market. Following Brad's departure, we were able to recruit Bruce Nicholson as CEO, who started effectively on the first of July of this year. Bruce is a civil engineer by profession, an experienced building and construction materials executive. He was most recently the CEO and Managing Director of Acrow Formwork and Construction Services Limited, a leading supplier of scaffolding and falsework to commercial and civil construction, residential and industrial markets in both Australia and New Zealand.
Bruce has certainly hit the ground running, and importantly, as we grow, the modular business is based in Sydney, giving him access to East Coast operations and their major customer base. After just not quite five months in the role now, Bruce has already demonstrated the type of drive, determination, strategic thinking and leadership that we believe will deliver great outcomes for Fleetwood and its shareholders into the future. As announced at the half-year results in February, our former Chairman, Philip Campbell, retired after four and a half years leading the board, and I once again thank him for his contribution over that time.
I'd also like to thank my fellow directors and executive team, in particular our CFO, Andrew Wackett, who served in the interim period of Bruce's departure and Bruce coming on as the new CEO. My biggest thanks, however, goes to all our staff of over 600 people. The past 18 months has been incredibly challenging for everyone and continues to be so as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic. As we alluded to in recent announcements, the ongoing COVID restrictions around Australia have had significant impact on the start of FY 2022, particularly in the Building Solutions operations in New South Wales. Bruce will provide a more detailed operation update on each of our businesses and challenges and opportunities that present in each.
In summary, while the short-term focus is operational and growing the revenue base from our existing structure, we also do look forward to being a major participant in the expected long-term move from modular construction to modular products in the Australian context. While the first half of FY 2022 is not as we expected and coming off a good FY 2021 result, and is somewhat mixed, as Bruce will outline, the board is confident that we have the management structure in place to overcome the immediate challenges and deliver on the Fleetwood strategy. Finally, I'd like to thank all of you, the Fleetwood shareholders, for your ongoing support, and we look forward with some excitement of what we can achieve for you in the coming years.
I would now like to hand over to our CEO, Bruce Nicholson, to present on the operational performance and the outlook for FY 2022.
Many thanks, John. It's fair to say in my time as CEO of Fleetwood's been an unusual and interesting one, given the first four months of my role were conducted under stay-at-home orders. Thankfully, we now appear to be on a path out of restrictions and a return to normal operations. Firstly, I'd like to echo the appreciation of our Chairman, John, to our staff who've diligently navigated the challenges presented to our company by COVID-19 pandemic, and I look forward to the year ahead. Fleetwood's three operating businesses combined have delivered a sound performance in FY 2021, resulting in underlying EBITDA of AUD 26.3 million, up 18% compared to the previous corresponding period. This was delivered on annual revenues of AUD 360 million, again an increase of 9%.
Operational integration issues during the financial year in New South Wales were offset by strong operational performance in our Victorian business and improved results in our Western Australian business, driven by mining and housing projects. Multiple challenges are impacting the broader construction or building industry right now, the first among those being cost and availability of raw materials and labor. Increased costs and shortages are expected to continue for the remainder of this current year. To tackle these issues, the company has strategically procured key materials where possible and is sharing resources across our network where we can practically do that. The RV Solutions business finished FY 2021 with an EBIT of AUD 7.8 million on a revenue of excuse me, AUD 72.4 million.
Both the OEM market and our aftermarket segments experienced excellent trading conditions following the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, which impacted our results early last year. The strong result was driven by a boom in domestic travel brought on by international border closures. Additionally, this restructuring of the RV business in the first half of FY 2020 reduced our cost base, which saw the improved demand translating to increased margins in RV. Camec retail stores experienced a significant increase in foot traffic and online sales. Higher sales of secondhand caravans created a strong demand for parts and accessories, repairs and renovation through our Northern RV business. The strong performance of these businesses was offset by a weaker second half in our Accommodation Solutions business due to the normalization of rosters and occupancy levels at Searipple in Karratha.
The Accommodation Solutions business delivered a finish in FY 2021 of AUD 14.6 million EBIT on a revenue of AUD 38.3 million. Searipple benefited in the first half from the COVID-related rostering changes last year, which subsequently returned to normal occupancy patterns for the remainder of the year. We also saw the second half of the year experience the full impact of the additional room supply in the Karratha market. Cash levels were at AUD 57.6 million at the end of the period. This was lower than the first half due to the working capital requirements we carried over for two major building projects. The company has fully utilized our tax losses and recommenced tax payments moving forward. Our balance sheet remains strong and is well-matched to the company's ongoing requirements.
The board introduced a dividend payout policy of 100% of net after-tax profit in February 2021, and as a result of that, a final dividend of AUD 0.105 per share was declared at the year-end, following the AUD 0.06 per share interim dividend paid in April 2021. The company presently has AUD 0.20 per share of franking credits available to support up to AUD 0.46 per share of fully franked dividends moving forward. The strategic focus of Fleetwood management remains on revenue growth, on sustainably improving margins, on increased utilization, reducing our overheads to improve our earnings. As promised at our announcement on the 23rd of September, we now provide some clearer guidance on the material impact COVID-19 restrictions have had on our operations since the beginning of the financial year.
Without the assistance of JobKeeper this time around, and during these recent lockdowns, the impact has been more direct on the company's balance sheet. While steps have been taken to mitigate the cash impact where possible, we have maintained critical business practices to position the company for the rebound. Such practices include keeping our teams actively pursuing and bidding for work in the marketplace, such that we're in a strong position as the COVID restrictions are lifted. Consequently, while COVID-related restrictions have affected our revenue generation in the first three months of the year and slightly beyond that. The silver lining is that our order book is as strong as ever. This gives us great confidence that the company will be able to maximize our opportunities as restrictions continue to ease, and the order book remains as strong as does the tender pipeline for our business.
More specifically, looking at Building Solutions, the stay-at-home orders in New South Wales that started in late June 2021 had an immediate impact on the Building Solutions business. Subsequent lockdowns that were level-limited to selected local government areas meant that many of our employees were unable to leave home to attend work. This exacerbated the existing New South Wales operational integrations that we've spoken about previously and delayed the implementation of improvements in that business. As both construction and our own manufacturing job sites were locked down in both New South Wales and Victoria, the impact on our supply chain was extended. Because of the integrated network, supply network we have across our business and normally allows us to operate efficiently and optimize our operations, the border closures restricted transfer of equipment material across state borders affecting our operations right across the east coast of Australia.
Unfortunately, we've also seen margin slippage on two key projects and have completed detailed risk assessments and costs to complete to ring-fence the impact of these projects in our first half results. The different strategies adopted by the individual states to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic have also created uncertainty in the forward outlook, leading to a slower than normal decision-making process for some projects. This has delayed multiple projects for our Building Solutions business, particularly in the education sector. With most states now providing a roadmap to reopening, decision-making processes are showing signs of improvement. The outlook for Building Solutions will gain greater clarity over the coming months as restarts occur and new projects are awarded, and we're seeing freight across borders starting to return to normal now.
Projects have remained underway, largely unaffected in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia, and we're now seeing them restarting in New South Wales and Victoria. The outlook for Building Solutions is expected to remain strong due to the ongoing federal and state government stimulus spending programs. This is evidenced by our order book and pipeline, which has grown to over AUD 160 million to date, with a long list of opportunities in both tender and planning phase for us. A good example of these is the recent award of the Centres for National Resilience to be built in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. As previously announced, we're well underway with the Melbourne facility and we anticipate commencing on the Brisbane and Perth facilities in the near future.
For these projects, we've leveraged our national footprint to optimize our manufacturing across multiple locations to both defray the risks of labor and material shortages and to ensure we maximize the factory's throughputs. Early indications of these projects are progressing well. The company is also experiencing increased acceptance of modular construction as a design, cost and time-effective solution to sectors such as education, health, mining and affordable housing. In Accommodation Solutions, being WA-focused has allowed the business to continue operations with less disruption to Fleetwood's other businesses. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the WA State government has been consistent in its efforts to protect the continuity of the resources sector in the northwest.
There is a significant level of capital investment and construction activity forecast in the oil and gas sectors and the resources sectors in the region, which is expected to drive strong demand for fly-in fly-out rooms over the medium term. The general housing shortage has also triggered discussions regarding the development of new affordable housing accommodation solutions in the region. Accommodation Solutions' management team actively engaged in business development opportunities to meet this growing demand. In addition to Accommodation Solutions, Fleetwood is well-placed to pursue, build, own, operate and transfer or build-to-rent opportunities in residential and aged care, leveraging our ability to source new villages at a competitive cost to support our Building Solutions business and Fleetwood's strong balance sheet. In RV Solutions, COVID-related lockdowns also affected us.
Physical retail stores were locked down in Victoria and New South Wales and in Auckland in New Zealand experienced a complete cessation of foot traffic, while uncertainty about restrictions being lifted reduced our online sales. In addition, the interstate border closures prevented movement of completed caravans between states, and these impacted our sales, even in states not subject to lockdown. We also experienced a significant number of our OEM clients, particularly in Victoria, shut down during periods of COVID infections as they were impacted on their factory sites. With the recent reopening of New South Wales and Victoria, there's been an immediate rebound in our daily sales for the RV Solutions business.
While international business borders are also starting to reopen, it looks likely that some international tourism will remain lower than pre-pandemic and which should translate into continued strong domestic demand and tourism for our year ahead, provided the additional lockdowns do not occur. In summary, the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on Fleetwood business over the last quarter has been challenging and unavoidable. Rest assured that the board and management have moved quickly to mitigate the impact to the company where possible and have taken steps to position the business to take advantage of the rebound as it is now taking shape across the country. As I mentioned, we've also acted to understand progress on key projects to quarantine the financial impacts and ensure we have the lessons learned taken forward.
Given the impact on the business and the uncertainty of the recovery, a review of our carrying value of the Building Solutions business will be conducted in the half year. We are confident that this rebound will be sustained based on the broad support for COVID-19 vaccination rates across the country. After a slow start to vaccinations in Australia, we've seen Australia quickly overtake many countries in our vaccination programs in place for significantly longer. This has allowed both the state and federal governments to ease restrictions on movement and allow many businesses to return to a relatively normal operating conditions moving forward. While we remain conscious of potential future outbreaks and the associated restrictions, the company is confident that the vaccination levels will provide significant protection against future operational impacts of COVID-19.
The improved confidence in our outlook for Australia will flow through to our business as companies and the government departments have a corresponding increased confidence in decision-making. Specifically, we expect to see progress on projects that remained out to tender for the Building Solutions business and allow project decisions that directly impact demand for Accommodation Solutions. With RV Solutions also already witnessing increased sales, the outlook for the second half of FY 2022 should see a return to normal of our operating conditions for the company and our shareholders. Thanks. I'll now hand back to our Chairman. Thank you.
Thank you, Bruce, for that comprehensive overview of the year that's been and where we're looking currently and looking forward to the closeout of FY 2022. We'll now move to the more formal part of proceedings and deal with the resolutions. This is a shareholder meeting, and only shareholders, proxy holders, attorneys, and corporate representatives are permitted to vote and ask questions. As noted earlier, questions can be submitted at any time. If you have questions already prepared, please submit it now so we can answer as many questions as possible when I come to the relevant agenda item. I ask that you submit one question at a time and keep them short and to the point so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to ask questions.
If your question relates to a specific item of business, please refer to that item of business when you submit your question. Please also ensure your questions are relevant to shareholders as a whole. A moderator is monitoring the platform to ensure there is no repetition. If we receive multiple questions on a topic, the question may be amalgamated together. If questions are particularly lengthy, the moderator may need to summarize them in the interest of time. I will now address any questions relating to my address and Fleetwood generally. Do you have any questions?
Thank you, Chairman. To confi rm, we have no questions.
No questions. We answered everything. Well done. We have no further questions. Big sections, we move on. We'll move to the first item of business, to receive and consider the financial statements of the company and reports of the directors and auditor for the year ended 30th of June 2021.
Ladies and gentlemen, this item of business does not require a vote. However, the reports are open for question, and we have arranged for the company's auditors from Grant Thornton to be present today to answer any questions about the conduct of the audit and the preparation and content of the auditor's report, the accounting policies adopted in preparing the financial statements, and the auditor's independence. All questions to the auditor should, in the first instance, be addressed to me as chairman, and if appropriate, I'll ask the auditor to address the meeting. I now invite any questions on the financial reports.
If there are no further questions, we'll move quickly to the next item of business. The remaining items are resolutions for your consideration. I propose to keep the process as short as possible by noting in advance the following items. Resolution one, the adoption of the Remuneration Report, is an advisory resolution only. It does not bind the board or the company. Resolution two A and two B in relation to the election and re-election of directors are ordinary resolutions and will be passed if more than 50% of the votes of those present and eligible to vote are cast in favor of the resolution. Resolution three, the approval of the issues of securities under Fleetwood's Long-Term Incentive Plan will also be passed if more than 50% of the votes of those present and eligible to cast their votes in favor of the resolution.
The resolutions are set out in the notice of annual general meeting. As each is considered, it will be shown on the screen together with a summary of the proxy instructions received by the company secretary in respect of the relevant resolutions. I intend to vote all open proxies that I hold in favor of all the resolutions. Resolution one, the resolution is to adopt the remuneration report that forms part of the directors' report for the financial year ended 30th of June 2021. The report summarizes remuneration practices of Fleetwood, discusses the relationship between remuneration policies and Fleetwood's performance, and details the remuneration arrangements for directors, senior executives, and key management personnel. The Corporations Act requires the preparation of a remuneration report and that the resolution to be put to members that the remuneration report be adopted.
Voting on the resolutions is not binding on the company or directors. However, the board takes seriously the views of members on this matter and will be given proper consideration when we review our remuneration practices and policies. I now invite shareholders to ask any questions in relation to this resolution. No questions? The proxy votes in relation to resolution 1 are now on the screen. Where I've been appointed as proxy with discretion, I intend to vote in favor of the resolutions. I now put to the meeting that the Remuneration Report for the year ending 30th of June 2021, as set out in the 2021 annual report, be adopted. Please select your vote by marking one of the options available if you haven't already done so. That's enough time.
Resolution 2A, as this concerns the election of myself, I will now hand over to Adrienne Parker, Chair of our Nominations and Diversity Committee, to put to the meeting my election as a director of Fleetwood.
Thank you, John. I'll be speaking to resolution 2A. John Klepec was appointed as a non-executive director on 19 November 2020, and as chair of the board on 26 February 2021, and is standing for election today. I'm very pleased to propose the election of John as a director of Fleetwood. John possesses considerable expertise in commercial management, business development, and finance across a wide range of industry groups, including construction, materials, resources, agriculture, logistics, healthcare, and media. John has significant public company experience, including most recently Executive Chairman of Wellard Limited, and previously as a non-executive director and alternate director of Ten Network Holdings Limited. John was previously the Chief Development Officer for Hancock Prospecting, and prior to that, held senior management positions with major Australian publicly listed companies, BHP Limited, BHP Billiton Limited, Mayne Group Limited, and the BGC Group.
A copy of John's bio is set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting and on Fleetwood Limited's website. In recommending this election, the board notes that John Klepec confirms that he will continue to have sufficient capacity to fulfill his duties as a director of Fleetwood, and recognizes his contributions and experience and diligence as a committed director. The board, in the absence of John Klepec, unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? There are no questions. As there are no further questions, we'll now show the proxy results in relation to resolution 2A on the screen. Where the chairman has been appointed as proxy with discretion, your vote will be made in favor of the resolution.
I now put to the meeting that John Klepec, having been appointed as a director of the company since the last annual general meeting, and who retires in accordance with Fleetwood's Constitution, and being eligible, is elected as a director of Fleetwood. Please select your vote by marking one of the options available, if you haven't already done so.
Thank you, Adrienne.
Hand back to John.
Thank you. We now move to item two B, the re-election of Mark Southey. I'm very pleased to propose the re-election of Mark as a director of Fleetwood. Mark joined the board as a non-executive director in October 2018, and was thereafter appointed as the chair of the Remuneration Committee. Mark has considerable experience in engineering construction projects, commercial management, business development, and strategy across a broad range of industrial sectors. Mark has significant public company experience and is currently non-executive Chairman of Arafura Resources, and sits on the advisory board of Gas Cleaning Technologies, GCT Dallas. Prior to this, Mark held senior positions in Honeywell and ABB in Australia and internationally, and was a long-term member of the Worley Executive Leadership Team, where he held the position of Group Managing Director for the minerals, metals, and chemical sector.
A copy of Mark's bio is set out in the notice of annual general meeting and is also available on the Fleetwood Limited website. In recommending this election, board notes that Mark Southey has confirmed that he will continue to have sufficient capacity to fill his director's duties as directors of Fleetwood, and recognizes his contributions as an experienced, diligent, and committed director. The board, in the absence of Mark, unanimously recommends the shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? There being no questions, the proxy results in relation to resolution 2B are on this screen. Where I've been appointed as proxy with discretion, I intend to vote in favor of the resolution.
I now put to the meeting that Mark Southey, being a director of the company who retires in accordance with Fleetwood's Constitution, and being eligible, is re-elected as a director of Fleetwood. Please select your vote by marking one of the options available, if you haven't already done so. We'll now move on to resolution 3. Resolution 3 is to seek reapproval of, for all purposes, including Listing Rule 7.2, Exception 13(b), the Long-Term Incentive Plan, and issue of securities under the plan. The board believes the company will continue to benefit from the flexibility of having an equity-based plan, allowing the board to grant performance rights that will only vest on the satisfaction of appropriate performance conditions set by the board. Shareholder approval is not required under the Corporations Act or the Listing Rules for the operation of the Long-Term Incentive Plan.
However, shareholder approval is being sought by the company to rely on the exception to the calculation of the placement limits imposed by Listing Rule 7.2 on the number of securities that may be issued without shareholder approval. The information that must be provided to shareholders in order to obtain shareholder approval under Listing Rule 7.2, and the terms of Long-Term Incentive Plan are set out in the notice of annual general meeting. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? There being no questions, we move to the proxy results in relation to resolution 3 are on the screen. Where I've been appointed as proxy with discretion, I intend to vote in favor of the resolution.
I now put to the meeting that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 7.2, Exception 13(b), and for all other purposes, the shareholders approve Fleetwood's Long-Term Incentive Plan, the terms and conditions of which are summarized in the explanatory memorandum, the grant of performance rights under the Long-Term Incentive Plan, and the issue of shares upon the vesting of such performance rights in accordance with the Long-Term Incentive Plan. Please select your vote by marking one of the options available, if you haven't already done so. Are there any further questions? No. Very quick meeting. That being no further questions, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our discussion on the items of business. In a couple of minutes, I will close the voting system. Please ensure that you cast your votes on all resolutions.
I will now pause to allow you time to finalize your votes.