I'm Peter Warne, the Chairman of the Company, and I'll be chairing today's meeting. I would like to welcome those shareholders who are here with us in the room today, and I'd also like to welcome those who are watching us online. As required by the Corporations Law, I will be calling a poll on each of the resolutions. It's now past 10:30 A.M., and as there is a quorum present, I declare the meeting open. I also declare the polls open. I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation on the lands we are meeting today. I pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging, and celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing culture and connections with the lands and waters across Australia.
I also acknowledge the traditional custodians of the various lands on which our online participants are joining today, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may be participating in today's meeting. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce the members of our Board of Directors, our Senior Executives, and our Auditors. Our non-executive directors, firstly John Atkin, give a wave, John, Jingmin Qian, Vicki Carter, and David Willis. Our CEO and Managing Director, Andrew Blattman. Our Company Secretary, Tamsin Hoff, over here. Our CFO, John Wadley, who's in the front row, and our External Auditor from Deloitte, Xenia Delaney. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank EY for once again hosting our AGM. I table the notice of meeting dated the 15th of October 2024. Copies of the notice of meeting and the annual report have been made available on the IPH website.
I will take the notice of meeting as read. I'll be keeping to the order set out in the notice of meeting, and shareholders are requested to please keep their questions until a particular resolution is dealt with by the meeting. Please note there will be a discussion period at the end of the meeting for any other issues that people would like to raise. Before moving to the formal business of today's meeting, the Managing Director, Andrew, and I will first provide you with an update of the group's highlights for the year. These addresses were lodged with the ASX prior to the commencement of the meeting this morning.
In my address today, I will focus on the progress of the group's strategy over the past year, the board's approach to capital management and capital allocation, and also make comments on our remuneration framework, particularly in the context of some of the feedback from shareholders and proxy advisors. Andrew, in his presentation, will discuss the FY 2024 financial results and also provide an update on our business operations, including commentary on the first quarter of the current financial year and a high-level review of the Canadian business IPH has established. While Andrew will talk to the FY 2024 results in some detail, I'll mention a few highlights. Revenue increased 22.9% to AUD 609.9 million. Underlying EBITDA improved 15% to AUD 195.5 million. Underlying net profit after tax increased 13.5% to AUD 112.4 million. Underlying earnings per share lifted 5.6% to AUD 0.46, the third year of annual growth.
And dividends per share grew 6.1% to AUD 0.35 per share. IPH full-year dividends have increased every year since our listing in 2014. Let me commence with our strategy. IPH has maintained a clear and consistent strategy since the company was listed 10 years ago. The strategy is focused on driving organic growth within our existing businesses and in acquiring and integrating strategically complementary IP businesses to further enhance the scale of our business across global secondary IP markets and adjacent areas of IP. During the year, we've successfully implemented this strategy, delivering a solid FY 2024 operational result against a challenging market backdrop with the Australia and New Zealand business returning to organic growth while building out our Canadian business through the acquisitions of Ridout & Maybee in September 2023 and ROBIC in December 2023. More recently, we completed the acquisition of Bereskin & Parr in September 2024.
These acquisitions build on the initial acquisition in Canada of Smart & Biggar in October 2022. As a result, we have now built a market-leading practice in Canada, which is a key secondary IP market. We have already delivered a range of synergies from the integration of recent acquisitions in this market. The Canadian business has also enhanced the diversity and resilience of our group earnings, while also enabling IPH to increase the global scale of our operations to broaden our service offering to current and potential clients. Focusing on organic growth. Having established a strong platform in Canada, our focus now is very much on organic growth, integrating the acquired businesses to deliver synergies as planned and leveraging our expanded base to drive client referrals and new business opportunities across the IPH network. This focus on organic growth extends across the IPH group.
Recently, we have strengthened our operational model, including the appointment of a regional leader in Canada and a new MD for Spruson & Ferguson Asia, and established a transformation function which is focused on driving process improvement across the business to drive increased margin. Capital allocation and capital management. I'll now make some comments regarding the board's approach to capital allocation and management. IPH has a capital allocation framework which is focused on ensuring an appropriate mix of investing in the business and providing ongoing returns to shareholders. In conducting the acquisition of Bereskin & Parr, the board was conscious of the market feedback from some shareholders in relation to the company's level of gearing, which had temporarily exceeded our target range.
Now, having invested AUD 675 million into the Canadian business, with a significant proportion funded via debt to date, we carefully considered all options in relation to funding this acquisition and our ongoing balance sheet and concluded that a modest capital raising was the best option to fund the cash consideration of the transaction while retaining balance sheet flexibility. The capital raising included a AUD 100 million equity placement, a AUD 25 million share placement plan focused on rewarding our existing shareholders. I want to thank shareholders for your support during this raising. Following the equity raise, the group's pro forma leverage ratio is 1.7x , which is well within the company's target range of below 2x . As I mentioned earlier, our immediate focus is on organic growth and driving operational efficiencies across the business to improve our margins.
Our focus is on a disciplined deployment of capital and ensuring our return on invested capital exceeds our weighted average cost of capital. We have introduced a return on invested capital, or ROIC, gateway as part of the group's long-term incentive plan from FY 2025 to ensure that management is incentivized on disciplined use of capital. I'll speak more about this in the remuneration section of my address in a few minutes. We are a highly cash-generative business, and the board is focused on ensuring an effective mix of investment in the company to support growth in earnings while also returning excess cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and other capital management options. Now, I'll make some comments regarding remuneration, also noting that the recent feedback we have received from some shareholders and proxy advisors and proxy votes received.
In FY 2024, the board completed a thorough review of our executive remuneration framework, which included the incorporation of feedback from a number of shareholders and proxy advisors. Based on this review, we made several changes to the FY 2025 executive remuneration framework, including increasing short-term incentive opportunities to improve market competitiveness and introducing a capacity to reward outperformance while holding fixed remuneration constant. We introduced an element of short-term incentive deferral into equity to help build executive shareholdings and a minimum shareholding requirement for executives to further align interests of management with shareholders over the longer term. I would note key management personnel already exceed these minimum shareholder requirements. As I just mentioned, we also introduced a ROIC gateway as part of our long-term incentive plan to ensure disciplined use of capital.
The board believes these changes are a significant improvement in our remuneration framework and align with shareholder value creation and shareholder feedback that we have received. Over the past weeks, we have engaged again directly with a number of institutional shareholders regarding these changes and also the FY 2024 remuneration outcomes. As you will see shortly from the proxy votes received from shareholders, it is apparent that some shareholders do not support the remuneration outcomes for FY 2024 and the proposed FY 2025 grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO and have voted accordingly. As a board, we are very mindful of this result, and we will continue to engage with shareholders in relation to our remuneration framework going forward. The IPH board. Over the past year, we have continued to progress board renewal with the retirement of Robin Low and the appointment of David Willis.
Robin retired in April 2024, having made a very valuable contribution to the board over many years, and we wish her every continued success in the future. David joined the board in November last year and brings significant experience across international markets, strategy development, and transformation, in addition to his deep experience in audit and risk management. In closing, I want to acknowledge Andrew, his leadership team, and our people across the IPH group for their contribution over the last year. I also want to extend a warm welcome to our Canadian-based staff who have joined the IPH group over the past year. Let me conclude by thanking you, our shareholders, for your continued support of the IPH group. I'll now ask Andrew to present the Managing Director's and CEO's address. Thank you.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
In my address today, I'll provide some detail on the FY 2024 results, some commentary on our strategic progress, including a build-out of our Canadian business and an update on the first quarter trading for FY 2025. Before these remarks, however, I first want to pause and reflect on the 10-year anniversary of IPH listing on the ASX in November 2014. We have grown significantly over that time. We listed with a market capitalization of approximately AUD 330 million, which has now increased to approximately AUD 1.5 billion today. In that time, we've also grown from employing 330 people to over 1,800 people, acquired and integrated 15 businesses, and added offices across Australia and New Zealand, and also in Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa. Today, IPH is one of the world's largest IP services groups in secondary IP markets, seven brands servicing some 26 jurisdictions.
We can be justifiably proud of the growth, which is a testament to all IPH employees, past and present. And I want to acknowledge and thank everyone at IPH for the continued dedication as we continue to build our business for the future. Now, the FY 2024 results, there's a slide up there. IPH delivered solid underlying earnings growth in what were challenging market conditions. Revenue improved by 23% to AUD 609.9 million. Underlying EBITDA increased by 15% to AUD 195.5 million. And underlying NPATA grew by 14% to AUD 112.4 million. The increase in revenue and EBITDA included the contributions from our Canadian acquisitions, mainly Ridout & Maybee and ROBIC, but also included the strong return to organic growth in our Australia and New Zealand business.
On a group-like-for-like basis, which removes the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange impacts, revenue lifted by 4%, while underlying EBITDA declined slightly by 1% as we invested in the business to drive future operational efficiencies and growth across our global platform. In Australia and New Zealand, like-for-like revenue was up 5%, with an improvement in margin delivering a 7% increase in like-for-like EBITDA. In Canada, we achieved organic growth as well as cost synergies in line with our targets. This helped to deliver double-digit revenue growth and an 8% lift in our earnings on a like-for-like basis. In Asia, like-for-like earnings were down 6%. However, this represented an improvement from the half-year where earnings had declined by 9%. Revenue and earnings in Asia continued to be impacted by a decline in overall market filings in Singapore, with lower filings across Asia consistent with the Singapore market decline.
We expect the ongoing trend in recovery of our Asian business to continue through FY 2025 and beyond. Our solid financial performance in FY 2024, combined with our strong cash flow, delivered enhanced returns for shareholders, with the final dividend up 6%. Now, talking about Canada, as Peter mentioned, our growth strategy has been consistent for a number of years, which has focused on organic growth in our existing businesses and acquiring and integrating complementary IP businesses to enhance the scale and diversity of the group. We have long recognized Canada as being a key secondary IP market, which represents a significant opportunity for growth. It's also a market which is very similar to Australia in terms of size, governance, and legal system. We commenced our expansion into the Canadian market with the successful acquisition of Smart & Biggar in October 2022.
Over the past two years, we have now built the market-leading presence in Canada with the subsequent acquisitions of Ridout & Maybee, ROBIC, and most recently, Bereskin & Parr. Our Canadian business generated revenue of nearly AUD 200 million in FY 2024 and employs over 850 people. We have been prudent in our approach to building our presence in Canada, with the implied multiple paid for the Canadian platform equaling approximately 7.7x enterprise value across the last 12 months' EBITDA. As a result, Canada is now our second-largest operating segment with pro forma annualized earnings of over AUD 80 million, including targeted synergies. Importantly, our Canadian business has already delivered to IPH shareholders significant organic growth under our ownership, with like-for-like EBITDA growth of 8% in FY 2024, more than 19% EPS accretion on a pro forma annualized basis, and more than 9% return on invested capital, comparing favorably with our internal targets.
The expansion into Canada has also enhanced the resilience and diversification of our earnings base while enabling us to significantly improve our global service offering to clients. We expect further organic growth from our Canadian business. As Peter said, our focus in Canada now is on consolidating and integrating the cost efficiencies from this integration, generating cross-sell referral opportunities across the group to drive revenue growth. IPH has a track record of successfully delivering targeted synergies from its acquisitions in Canada and is on track with its integration plan for Bereskin & Parr. Meanwhile, we are already seeing client referrals across the IPH network. For example, we have seen one of our Australian clients, a large European corporate, transfer a number of pending applications to ROBIC in Canada. This is a good example of how we are already leveraging the IPH global network.
Now, talking about organic growth, we continue to focus on organic growth. Our focus continues to be on growing revenue, at least in line with the broader market in Australia and New Zealand, and returning Asia to sustainable growth. We are implementing a number of initiatives in this regard. Our transformation program is building strong foundations with a focus on revenue growth and operational efficiencies. The introduction of a new regional operating model to better align management of our different geographies and enhance our corporate capability was an important milestone for IPH. In addition, we've appointed a new CEO in Canada and a new Managing Director in Spruson & Ferguson Asia. The Australian, New Zealand, and Asian businesses report directly to me. The launch of our global client program enhances our service capability for clients filing in multiple regions where we operate.
This includes tailored client plans to better respond to clients' needs to harness our global IP network across different IP jurisdictions. With the completion of building our platform in Canada, we are now investing in initiatives to leverage global best practice across member firms to improve the quality and efficiency of our processes right across the expanded platform. This work builds and broadens the scope of the IPH Way, which was initially focused on our practices in Australia and New Zealand. In August this year, we implemented core process improvements coupled with a technology upgrade in Spruson & Ferguson Australia. Anticipated efficiencies from this initiative assisted the FY 2024 results, whereby employee departures through natural attrition were not replaced. As previously announced, sustainable change is complex.
While we remain optimistic regarding the financial opportunity and resultant improvement in group margin, additional IPH Way savings would be expected to commence from FY 2026. We remain confident that these investments and the transformational work being undertaken will deliver top-line growth and margin improvement for IPH in the short to medium term. While our strategy has remained consistent, we continue to evolve our mission to reflect the global scale and expertise of our group. Our long-term strategy is anchored in our new vision for the group, which is to be the partner of choice enabling global IP protection for the world's innovators. This vision highlights our commitment to our clients, whether they are local clients, international multinational corporations, or foreign associates, to protect their innovations across borders. I'll now provide an update on trading for the first quarter of FY 2025.
For the first quarter, IPH's group underlying revenue increased in the prior corresponding period, including the benefit of the acquisitions in Canada and continued organic growth in Canada and Australia and New Zealand. Group underlying EBITDA was slightly below the prior corresponding period, reflecting the impact of the higher AUD-USD exchange rate, including foreign exchange loss on revaluation of US denominated cash and receivables and banking receipts. The average AUD-USD exchange rate for the first quarter was 0.67, compared to 0.655 for the prior corresponding period. Based upon the prior year currency profile, a one-cent strengthening of the US dollar equates to an approximate increase of AUD 2.5 million in annual service charges, the majority of which falls to the EBITDA line.
While this has represented a headwind year to date, I do note the recent strength of the U.S. dollar post the U.S. election. Performance on a like-for-like basis, however, excludes the impact of foreign exchange movements and acquisitions. For the first quarter, group like-for-like revenue has increased moderately, while group like-for-like underlying EBITDA was vastly ahead of the prior corresponding period. The Australian and New Zealand business continued its momentum from FY 2024 with solid improvement in like-for-like revenue and underlying EBITDA for the first quarter. We continue to narrow the gap for IPH group patent filings in Australia relative to the market. On most recent data for FY 2025, year-to-date end October, the Australian patent market has declined by 3.1%. For the same period, IPH group Australian patent filings decreased by 4.8%.
That relative gap to the market of 1.7 percentage points continues the improvement from the end of FY23, where we were 4.5 percentage points off, and also from FY 2024, we were 2.3 percentage points off. Canada. The Canadian business continued to perform in line with expectations with solid growth in like-for-like revenue and EBITDA for the first quarter. As we have previously said, litigation revenue tends to be variable, and it's dependent on case flow. The higher litigation revenue experienced in second half FY 2024 has not continued in the first half '25, with revenue in the first half also expected to be lower than previously anticipated due to cases being settled.
IPH's Canadian business has also experienced some disruption to workflow impacting revenue streams as a result of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, CIPO, experiencing system issues following the launch of its new patent filing system, MyCIPO Patents, in July 2024. While there has been some improvement in these issues being addressed, the backlog and workflow linked to these systems issues has caused some delay in revenue recognition in the Canadian businesses into the second half FY 2025. Weakness in patent revenues being offset to some extent by strong trademark revenue as a CIPO backlog in this area is clear. I have met personally with the Assistant Commissioner and Director General of Patents in Canada to stress the importance of resolving these issues and to receive updates on the rectification process. IPH's Asian business continues to be impacted by lower market filings across the region, primarily related to lower U.S. PCT filings.
Like-for-like revenue was moderately lower than the prior corresponding period, while underlying EBITDA also declined moderately. This represented an improvement from the full year where underlying EBITDA has declined 6%. Having just returned from spending time with our Asian team, including our new Managing Director, Duarte Lima, I'm encouraged by some signs of improvement across the broader market. I'm equally encouraged by some of the positive momentum from our business development plans, which has resulted in recent client wins, including Japanese originating corporate clients and Chinese corporate clients in the EV battery sector. U.S. patent filings, or U.S. PCT filings rather, are a lead indicator, and once they initially filed, there is a period of typically 18 months before we see corresponding national phase entry patent filings into our respective secondary IPH markets.
We believe that the lower market filings we have seen in our key secondary markets over the past year or so are related to COVID impacts on R&D impacting those U.S. PCT filings. Now, while U.S. PCT filings remain uncertain, the trend over the past year has shown somewhat of a recovery in U.S. PCT applications, which we'd expect to see reflected in improved national phase entries into secondary markets from the second half of calendar 2025. IPH has made substantial progress over the past year. We delivered a solid financial result while establishing a market-leading presence in Canada, which enhances group profitability and earnings diversification. Our focus now is on harnessing this global platform to drive organic growth, improve margins, and returns to shareholders. In closing, I want to thank the IPH board, the IPH executive team, and all our people across IPH for the dedication and contribution.
I also want to especially welcome our people in Canada who have joined the group over the past year. We are delighted to have you as part of the wider IPH group. Let me conclude by also thanking our shareholders for your ongoing support and assure you of the company's focus on generating sustainable returns over the medium term. Thank you.
Thank you, Andrew. Before I move to the business of today's meeting, I would like to point out that the minutes of last year's AGM are available for inspection by shareholders at the end of the meeting. The resolutions for consideration today may only be voted on by shareholders, proxy holders, and shareholder company representatives. Resolutions set out in the notice of meeting, with the exception of Resolution 6, are to be considered as ordinary resolutions. Ordinary resolutions must be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast by shareholders entitled to vote and voting on the resolution. Resolution 6 will be considered as a special resolution. Special resolutions must be approved by at least 75% of the votes cast by shareholders entitled to vote and voting on the resolution.
Turning to today's business, if you wish to speak to a motion or ask a question, please raise your yellow card for voting shareholders, or your blue card for non-voting shareholders. For example, proxies submitted by a proxy or a joint holder. When you have been acknowledged, please identify yourself before speaking, and I would ask you to only raise one topic at a time. As I noted earlier, each of the resolutions will be decided upon via a poll, and the results of the poll will be advised to the ASX as soon as possible after the conclusion of this meeting. We also propose to vote all undirected proxies in favor of each resolution. Item two allows shareholders the opportunity to discuss the company's financial report, the director's report, and the auditor's report for the financial year ended 30 June 2024.
A resolution isn't required for this item, but I would welcome questions from shareholders regarding the accounts and the performance of the company in general. The Corporations Act specifically provides that a reasonable opportunity must be given at an AGM for the shareholders to ask the auditor questions relevant to the conduct of the audit, the preparation and content of the auditor's report, the accounting policies adopted in the financial statements, and the auditor's independence. Xenia Delaney, the engagement partner of our auditors, Deloitte, is present at today's meeting and will be available to answer any such questions. Questions should be initially addressed to me. Any questions to be answered by the auditor should be restricted to the matters that I've just outlined. If you wish to address the meeting, please use the microphone and speak clearly.
Also, before asking your question, please state your name and any affiliation that you may have. Are there any questions related to the company's accounts? Yes, can we have the microphone, please?
My name's Kevin Daly, Mr. Chairman. I noticed that you're now number one provider in Canada, and I'm just wondering if the equivalent of the ACCC in Canada is now acting as a brake on further acquisitions in Canada.
Thank you for your question. I might pass that to Andrew to answer. It's certainly an issue that we have investigated. So, Andrew.
Thank you, John. Thank you, sir. Yes, we have taken advice on our position, market share position in Canada. We are actually comfortable with the position we sit at. I think it's getting possibly further than where we are now. We probably see diminishing return to that investment. So I think we're comfortable where we are, and now, as we've said in our address, our focus is less on acquisition and more on integration and organic growth outcome in Canada and beyond, so yes, we could go further, but I think we're happy where we are, and our focus is, as I say, organic growth at this point in time. Thank you.
I think there are also natural limitations on market share size due to conflict issues that if we're representing clients in a particular industry, other participants in that industry can be anxious about using the same person or the same firm to represent them. So they're often looking for an alternative firm. So once we get over 30%, we've actually found that there are limits to market share growth at that point anyway, leaving aside the regulatory issues. Are there any other questions in relation to the accounts? As there are no more questions, we will move on to the resolutions. As the first resolution relates to my reelection, Mr. John Atkin, as the chair of the People and Nominations Committee, will take over as chair of the meeting for this resolution.
Thanks very much, Peter.
Thanks, Peter. As Peter said, this item is for the reelection of Peter as a director. Peter was initially appointed as independent director in November 2021 and retires by rotation in accordance with the company's constitution and the ASX listing rules and being eligible for reelection offers himself for reelection as a director of the company. Details of Peter's skills and experiences are set out in the notice of meeting. I now move that Peter be reelected as a director of the company, and the motion's open for discussion. I'd like to start by inviting Peter to make some remarks as to then provide a brief statement outlining his skills and experiences.
Thanks, John.
Ladies and gentlemen, I joined my first board almost 35 years ago. Over that period since, I have been a non-executive director of a wide range of organizations, large and small, listed and unlisted, for-profit and not-for-profit, some with operations only in Australia and others with global operations. I've now had the privilege of being a director of IPH for three years and the honor of being the chairman for about four months of that time. I found my time on the IPH board interesting, enjoyable, stimulating, and occasionally challenging, and as I've been part of IPH's growth and watching over IPH's growth and the strategy execution, I believe that I've been able to use the experience I've gained over the last 35 years to the benefit of IPH in overseeing its growth and assisting in further development of its board processes.
I currently sit on one other listed company and also on the boards of UniSuper, a large superannuation fund, and Allens Legal Services Partnership. I believe that I have the time to properly exercise the responsibilities for all these roles. I am pleased to offer myself for reelection to the IPH board as a non-executive director for a further three years. And with your support, look forward to being part of IPH's continued growth and development. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Peter. And I should just say on behalf of the other directors, it was a unanimous resolution on the part of directors, and we feel ourselves very fortunate to have someone of Peter's caliber and experience leading us as chair. But with that, are there any questions on Peter's motion? I'll put the motion, and we'll vote on it later by poll.
And now I'll pass the chair. Since in any event you remain chair to the end of the meeting, I'll pass it back to you.
Thank you, John, for looking after that. I now move to item 4A, which is the ratification of a previous issue of shares in relation to the acquisition of ROBIC. I'm sorry, but I just have to. My part here is missing. All right. So the resolution actually says here that, as you can read, to consider fit and proper, the following resolution as an ordinary resolution that the issue of 5,961,705 shares on 15 December 2023 at an issue price of approximately AUD 6.91 per share, and otherwise as described in the explanatory memorandum, is approved and for the purposes of the ASX listing rule 7.4. Are there any questions in relation to this item? If not, I ask you to complete your vote, please.
That moves us to item 4B, the ratification of the previous share issue in relation to the placement of new shares. The resolution, as outlined in the notice of meeting, is that the issue of new shares to institutional investors under a fully underwritten institutional placement on the 28th of August 2024 and otherwise as described in the explanatory memorandum be ratified and approved for the purposes of ASX listing rule 7.4 and for all other purposes. I now move that the issue of new shares under the placement be ratified and approved. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? Okay, so I put the motion to the vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 4B on your voting card. I advise that the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received.
Move on to item 4C, ratification of a previous share issue. This is shares issued in relation to the acquisition of Bereskin & Parr. The resolution, as outlined in the notice of meeting, is that the issue of ordinary shares to the Bereskin & Parr vendors on 27 September 2024 on completion of the acquisition and otherwise as described in the explanatory memorandum be ratified and approved for the purposes of ASX listing rule 7.4 and for all other purposes. I now move that the issue of shares to the Bereskin & Parr vendors be ratified and approved. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? I put the motion to a vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 4C on your yellow voting card. I advise that the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received. Thank you.
The results of the poll will be advised to the ASX as soon as possible after the conclusion of this meeting. Moves to item 5A, the grant of performance rights to Dr. Andrew Blattman in relation to the short-term incentive rights for FY 2024. The resolution outlined in the notice of meeting is that the award of 25,141 performance rights to Dr. Andrew Blattman as part of the short-term incentive, in accordance with the terms of the incentive plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum, be approved for all purposes. ASX listing rule 10.14 provides that the company may only permit a director or associate of a director to acquire securities under an employee incentive scheme if the acquisition of those securities is approved by an ordinary resolution of shareholders.
As a director of the company, ASX listing rule 10.14 will therefore apply to the issues of any performance rights to Dr. Blattman. I now move that 25,141 performance rights as part of a short-term incentive be granted to Dr. Andrew Blattman. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? I put the motion to a vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 5A on your yellow voting card. I advise the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received. Thank you. Now move to item 5B, the grant of performance rights to Dr. Andrew Blattman. These are in relation to the long-term incentive scheme. The resolution, as outlined in the notice of meeting, is that an award of 297,222 performance rights to Dr.
Andrew Blattman as part of the long-term incentive, in accordance with the terms of the incentive plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions as set out in the explanatory memorandum, be approved for all purposes. As noted, with respect to the previous resolution, ASX listing rule 10.14 applies to Dr. Blattman as a director of the company, and any issue of performance rights to Dr. Blattman must be approved by an ordinary resolution of shareholders. I now move that 297,222 performance rights as part of a long-term incentive be granted to Dr. Andrew Blattman. Are there any questions? I put the motion to a vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 5B on your yellow voting card. I advise that the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received. Thank you.
That moves us to item 6, the renewal of the proportional takeover provisions. This is a very standard item among company AGMs. The resolution is outlined in the notice of meeting is that the proportional takeover provisions contained in part 14 of the company's constitution be renewed for a period of three years from the date of this meeting be approved. The benefits and disadvantages of renewing the proportional takeover provisions have been considered by the directors and are set out in the explanatory memorandum. On balance, the directors consider the possible advantages outweigh the possible disadvantages such that renewing the proportional takeover provisions is in the interest of shareholders. For this resolution to be passed as a special resolution, at least 75% of the votes cast by shareholders entitled to vote must be in favor of the resolution.
In accordance with the Corporations Act, if the special resolution is passed, the proportional takeover provisions will apply for a further three years from the date of this meeting. I now move that the renewal of the proportional takeover provisions contained in part 14 of the constitutions for a period of three years from the date of this meeting be approved. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution? I put the motion to a vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 6 on your yellow voting card. I advise that the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received. Thank you. Item 7, the adoption of the remuneration report. The remuneration report forms part of the director's report and starts on page 74 of the annual report.
The report contains considerable detail about the company's remuneration strategy, policy, and emoluments for directors and executives, so we do not propose to go over it at this meeting. I note that the shareholder vote on this resolution is advisory only and does not bind the directors of the company. I now move that the remuneration report, which forms part of the director's report in respect of the financial year ended 30 June 2024, be adopted. Are there any questions regarding this resolution? I put the motion to a vote. Please now mark for or against or abstain next to the resolution 7 on your yellow voting card. I advise that the proxy votes, as shown on the screen, have been received. Thank you. That now brings us to time for general questions.
Now we've received two questions that have been sent in prior to the meeting, so I'll relay those to the meeting along with our responses. The first question was, will the company now focus on profitability over acquisitions to support the share price? As I said in my address, while the recent acquisitions have added to the profitability of the company, which Andrew detailed in his address, our focus is very much on organic growth, integrating acquired businesses to deliver synergies as planned, and leveraging our expanded base to drive client referrals and new business opportunities across the IPH network. The second question we've received before the meeting, why are long-term bonuses for the CEO based on only three years, and why are goals to only approximate EPS growth around the inflation rate?
Our long-term incentive plan is a three-year program, which we believe is appropriate and is also quite standard among most companies. The long-term incentive plan underlying EPS or earnings per share combined annual growth rate targets are set out at rates which we believe reflect the scope and operations of the company, but also incentivizes management to deliver sustainable growth for shareholders. The underlying EPS CAGR targets are above the inflation rate. As part of the FY 2024 plan, if underlying EPS CAGR is below 4%, then there is nil vesting, and that's 4% compound for the three years, and 25% vesting at 4% underlying EPS CAGR. Between 4%- 10% per annum underlying EPS CAGR, there is a pro rata vesting on a straight line basis, and at or above 10% per annum CAGR, there is 100% vesting.
So to get 100% vesting, we have to get 10% growth for three years, and 10% growth over three years is equivalent to like 33% growth. So we have to grow EPS by 33% over that three-year period to get full vesting of the long-term incentive. Now is the opportunity for anyone else to ask any other questions that they may have? Doesn't appear to be any other questions. We now come to the closing of the meeting, so please complete your yellow voting cards, then please hand your yellow voting cards to representatives of the Link Group to enable them to calculate the results to the polls. There being no further business, that concludes this year's annual general meeting. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank you for your support, and I now declare the meeting and the polls closed.
The results of the polls will be announced to the ASX later today. Well, thank you very much for your attendance. Please feel free to join us for a cup of tea or coffee, and we look forward to seeing you again at next year's meeting.