Oh, good morning, everyone, and welcome to our 2025 Annual General Meeting. My name is John Gillam. I'm the Chairman of the Lendlease Group, and it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us here today, particularly if you're here in our office at Barangaroo in Sydney, or you're with us online via the webcast or the platform. I'd like to acknowledge that our meeting is being held on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land. On behalf of the board, we extend our respects to their elders, past and present. Our Company Secretary has informed me, as have my eyes, that we do have a quorum present, so I officially declare the meeting open. The notice of meeting was made available to security holders on the 10th of October, 2025, and I'll take that notice as read.
The online component of today's hybrid meeting has been facilitated by Computershare's online meeting platform, and that allows security holders, proxies, and guests to attend the meeting virtually, which is a terrific initiative. All attendees can watch a live webcast of the meeting as well. In addition, security holders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes. Before we turn to how to participate in the meeting, because I will need to run through the obligatory instructions, I'd like to welcome my fellow board members who are in attendance here today. With me is Tony Lombardo, our Group CEO and Managing Director. Joining us here in Sydney also are all board members: Lianne Buck, Nick Collishaw, Philip Coffey, David Craig, Barbara Gottstein, Margaret Lui, Elizabeth Proust, and Bob Welanetz.
I have a list here that's not in the order they're sitting, but I'm sure you can all work out who's who. We've also got almost all of our senior leadership team: Simon Dixon, our Group Financial Officer, and Penny Ransom, our Chief Investment Officer, and other members of the leadership team are with us. We have our Company Secretary, as I said, Mary Weaver, and she'll be reading the questions from the platform later on. We also have our auditors, Nigel Virgo and Paul Rogers, representing KPMG, and they're available to answer any questions in relation to the audit later in the meeting if you have any. Let's deal with the housekeeping matters before we move to formalities.
Hybrid meeting participation: For those attending the meeting online who wish to submit a written question, you may do so at any time during the meeting via the speech bubble icon on your screen. Type your question in the chat box on the right of the screen and then select Send. Confirmation your message has been received will appear above. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting, when I will also take questions from those here with us in Sydney. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, we might choose to amalgamate them together.
For those security holders participating online who wish to ask a verbal question, an audio questions facility is available during the meeting, and instructions on how to use this facility are shown below the broadcast window on the online platform. If you're asking a verbal question, please state your full name before asking the question, and please limit your questions to only one or two at a time, then rejoin the queue to allow others to ask questions. We do expect we'll be able to answer all questions today. In the event that we're not in a position to do so, we will answer them in due course via an email or posting responses on our website. Depending on the questions, I'll make the decision whether I answer them myself or I ask a member of our management or another director or the auditor to respond.
Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business, and to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. If you're participating online and you're eligible to vote at this meeting, a voting tab is available for you. 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, and you do have the ability, however, to change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. For those of you in the room, your voting cards will be collected in the normal manner once voting is closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. Please submit your votes at any time from now until the end of question time.
I will give you warning before I move to close the voting. Just repeating, I now declare voting open on all items of business. Barry, as a party from Computershare, will act as our returning officer for the purposes of conducting and determining the results of the poll, and we will, of course, announce the results of the poll to the ASX later this afternoon. That deals with all the administrative details of today's meeting, and I will now move to my formal Chair's address as lodged on the ASX platform this morning. A formal good morning to you again, and welcome to the 2025 Lendlease Annual General Meeting. It's a pleasure to be with you today, whether here at our main office in Barangaroo in Sydney or online.
Today's meeting is being held in the land of the Gadigal people, traditional custodians of this land, and on behalf of the board, we extend our respects to their elders, past and present. More broadly, I would like to acknowledge country, wherever you are listening to these words, and pay respects to the elders who have kept culture and story strong. When I was appointed Chairman 12 months ago, I committed to accelerating the delivery of Lendlease's refreshed strategy by working closely with the board and management team to unlock value, while continuing to deliver strong outcomes for our partners, our people, and our security holders. While there is more to do, I'm pleased with the progress we have made to date. We are very focused on further capital recycling to strengthen our balance sheet.
Our business is clearly simplified, and that has sharpened our attention to our core markets, where we see the greatest potential for growth and long-term value creation. When our FY 2025 results were announced in August, we noted that over AUD 2.5 billion in capital recycling initiatives had been announced or completed. We noted that our international construction operations were divested ahead of schedule, materially lowering complexity and risk within the group, and we noted that we'd streamlined the group's management structure, significantly reducing costs. Alongside these achievements, the group delivered much-improved financial outcomes in FY 2025. We recorded statutory profit after tax of AUD 225 million, with operating profit higher at AUD 386 million. The board was able to declare a full-year distribution and dividend payment of AUD 0.23 per security, reflecting a payout ratio of 41% of operating earnings.
As I said, there is clearly more to do, and we are committed to building on the good foundational work of FY 2025. I'd like to turn now to the topic of board renewal. The board is working closely with management to create a stronger, high-performance orientation for Lendlease, with a governance framework to match. As mentioned in the letter that accompanied the notice of meeting, we have determined that our board size will reduce to seven non-executive directors, with five based in Australia and two based internationally. When we meet next year, we will have completed these renewal plans, and these changes are designed to ensure we have the right mix of skills, experience, and perspective to support the next phase of our strategy and deliver on our commitments to you. These changes will be phased in an orderly manner to ensure strong governance is maintained.
The specific change relevant today relates to Mr. David Craig, who has reached the maximum nine-year tenure as per our board tenure policy. Accordingly, David will retire from the board at the conclusion of this AGM, and I'd like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank David for his significant commitment and contributions during his time on the board, particularly as Chair of the Audit Committee. In July of this year, we welcomed Lianne Buck as a director to the Lendlease board. Lianne brings significant experience in Australian and global investment markets and stands for election today. We are confident she will add considerable value as we move forward, and you will hear from her shortly. I'm also pleased to confirm that Lianne will succeed David as the Chair of our Audit Committee and that she possesses the requisite financial experience and expertise to perform this critical role.
Along with our focus on the governance framework, we're also aware of broader governance topics around the Australian markets, such as the use of ASX waivers. We will be considering these issues as part of a full review of the group's constitution that is already underway, and we'll bring that to security holders at the 2026 Annual General Meeting. Turning now to outlook for FY 2026 and beyond. FY 2026 is very much a transition year with critical elements to be achieved. The group's operational priorities are clear. We must further strengthen our balance sheet and return capital to security holders, and we must advance plans to replenish the Australian development pipeline and grow the Australian and international investments platforms. Alongside this, we will also grow and strengthen our Australian construction business. The board remains confident of an on-market securities buyback of up to AUD 500 million.
The buyback is expected to commence in the second half of FY 2026 once sufficient capital is released to the completion of divestment initiatives. In that regard, we have three significant divestment transactions on foot, and these are all advancing in a manner that should deliver pleasing outcomes. There is much to look forward to when eyes are cast to FY 2027 and beyond, with strong prospects for attractive, sustainable growth accompanied by healthier returns. The future growth prospects open the door for heightened performance outcomes, and we're very focused on that. There is well-placed confidence that we are on the right path, and we will build further momentum through good underlying performance in our investments, development, and construction operations in the year ahead.
Before I invite our Group CEO, Tony Lombardo, to share more detail on our operational performance and strategic priorities for the year ahead, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow directors for their commitment and counsel this year. Thank you also to the Lendlease Corporate Leadership Team and for all of our wonderful employees for the passion, energy, and focus they bring to executing our strategy. Finally, a sincere thanks to you, our valued security holders, for your continued support and engagement. I'll now invite Tony to address the meeting, and in handing the lectern over to you, Tony, can I just say how much we're looking forward to your leadership delivering on our FY 2026 critical outcomes, which will open the door for you and your senior team to take Lendlease into the attractive future prospects we see for FY 2027, FY 2028, and beyond. Tony.
Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. I also acknowledge the Gadigal people and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. As the Chairman noted, financial year 2025 has been a year of significant progress for Lendlease, as we continue to position the company for sustainable growth and target returns above the Group's cost of equity. Pleasingly, the group returned to statutory and operating profit this year, with the actions taken as part of our 2024 strategy update contributing to strong growth in earnings per security.
In financial year 2025, we've made strong progress on our stated objectives, including announcing or completing AUD 2.5 billion of specific capital recycling initiatives, simplifying our organisational structure by removing regional management layers and appointing segment CEOs to drive operational performance, materially increasing the productivity with the achievement of per annum run rate cost savings of AUD 141 million in excess of the target we set ourselves, and improving the financial and risk profile of the group with the divestment of international construction. These achievements have provided a solid foundation for the group to build from, with FY 2026 anticipated to be the final year of the transition for Lendlease, noting stronger visibility to development earnings for FY 2027 and FY 2028.
These earnings are expected from key developments across One Circular Quay here in Sydney and Victoria Harbour in Melbourne in FY 2027 and Comm Centre in Singapore and One Darling Point again here in Sydney in FY 2028. Turning now to the performance of our reporting segments in FY 2025 and the progress we've made year to date. In investments, we've continued to progress the growth of our international platform with new mandate wins and the introduction of new investors. AUD 2 billion of committed capital is ready to deploy, and more than AUD 3 billion of capital raising initiatives across new products such as value-add and our credit strategies. Pleasingly, we've now signed a new partnership with a large U.S. credit specialist, and we're in the final stages of completing a billion-dollar value-add mandate in Asia with a global investor.
We expect these initiatives, together with market growth and new asset creation from our development business, to support strong growth in funds under management in the medium term. Complementing this is anticipated growth targeted from the improvement both in margins from our platform scaling up, generating new fee streams, and a recovery in both performance and transaction fees from the funds management business. Earlier this financial year, following proposals for two of the Australian Prime Property Funds to change manager, Lendlease retained its position as the responsible entity for the APPF industrial and retail funds. The Lendlease team remains focused on performing for its investors across all its investment products and is committed to the highest standards of governance for all its managed funds and investment vehicles.
We've been very active in managing our funds and mandates, realising AUD 2.7 billion of divestments year to date in 2025, all at or above book value. This includes portfolio recycling across retail, office, industrial, and data centre assets. In development, we've continued to restock our Australian development pipeline with AUD 3 billion of new projects secured in a little over a year and a pipeline of circa AUD 10 billion at 30 June 2025. In addition, we are bidding on AUD 25 billion of development opportunities and are targeting to secure more than AUD 10 billion of these projects in FY 2026 in Australia. Opportunities include projects that we control, such as the R&A Showgrounds, which is the preferred site for the Athletes Village in Brisbane, and a harbourside residential land development at Rozelle here in Sydney.
Additionally, we are in a public tender process for an overstaying commercial office development here in Sydney, a Sydney harbourside residential land development project, and a residential land project in Melbourne. FY 2025 saw the further simplification of the group with the sale of Capella Capital, our infrastructure-facing business. We've also announced an agreement to enter into a landmark joint venture with the Crown Estate in the U.K., the King's Real Estate Holdings held in the right of the Crown. The transaction remained subject to satisfaction of conditions precedent. The new joint venture with the Crown Estate will provide Lendlease with new development management fee streams and the ability to execute on the AUD 49 billion of development assets across London and Birmingham. Our focus will be on developing up to AUD 24 billion of investment product to support the growth of our international investment platform.
In North Sydney, we are approaching the practical completion of our Victoria Cross commercial office tower, and we are exploring options to divest our remaining 75% holding in FY 2026. In construction, our business continues to gain momentum following a strong second half operating performance in FY 2025. Our outlook for construction business is robust, underpinned by AUD 5 billion of new work secured in FY 2025 and AUD 15 billion of secured and preferred work at 30 June 2025. This is anticipated to deliver strong revenue growth in future years. In FY 2026 year to date, circa AUD 3 billion of new work has already been secured as the business momentum continues to build. Around two-thirds of our external construction work is on behalf of government clients across areas such as defense, social infrastructure, with strong fundamentals underpinned by further expected growth in these sectors.
We continue to improve the earnings profile of this segment with a higher proportion of cost-plus contracts and more rigorous pricing of fixed-price contracts. In the capital release unit, or CRU, our focus remains on balancing the speed of execution with value realisation. Notwithstanding this, all capital recycling initiatives announced in FY 2025 were achieved at or above the book values, generating significant profits for the group. These initiatives included the sale of 12 Australian community projects, the sale of our U.S. military housing investment, the establishment of a new life sciences joint venture, Veda Partners, and the announcement of the U.K. development joint venture with the Crown Estate that I mentioned earlier.
Looking ahead for FY 2026, we continue to position the group for profitable growth across our core operating segments and to strengthen the group's balance sheet through asset sales and further deleveraging, noting AUD 2 billion of CRU asset recycling is targeted by the end of FY 2026. The group is currently in stages to realize circa AUD 1 billion of this target through the sale of its investments in TRX Malaysia and the Retirement Living Australian. Key commercial terms have been agreed for both transactions, with due diligence being undertaken at the moment and documentation being finalized. Proceeds from these transactions, plus circa AUD 300 million from the completion of the Crown Estate joint venture, are anticipated to be received in FY 2026. Recycling processes will advance, however, delays in transaction completion and, together with planned capital expenditure and other commitments, will see net debt elevated at the half compared to FY 2025.
This is not expected to limit our targeted growth initiatives, with investments expected to be self-funding through portfolio recycling and development origination undertaken in a capital-efficient manner. Planned capital expenditure on current growth initiatives includes progressing key developments across One Circular Quay and Victoria Harbour, noting strong pre-sales and future profits from both these projects. These projects are to contribute more than AUD 1 billion of net proceeds upon settlement in FY 2027. The group is targeting to achieve gearing of 15% by the end of FY 2026. We also reiterate our FY 2026 earnings per security guidance for our IDC segments of AUD 0.28-AUD 0.34 per security, with the IDC segment earnings skewed to the second half of FY 2026. No earnings guidance has been provided for the Capital Release Unit, consistent with prior disclosures given uncertainty around transaction timing and valuation outcomes.
Looking beyond FY 2026, we have strong conviction in our growth trajectory, with FY 2027 seeing the benefits of our strategic repositioning, which includes lower debt levels, lower costs, and stronger business operations. In investments, we are anticipated improving margins and funds under management growth to deliver scale benefits across the platform, in addition to further investment capital recycling to rebalance our investment portfolio and drive improved security holder returns. In development, higher completions in FY 2027 and FY 2028 provide visibility to improved medium-term earnings, while the establishment of the Crown Estate joint venture will deliver development fee streams, profits in short term from the plot sales, and unlocking potential future development opportunities. In construction, annual revenues are expected to grow strongly over the medium term, delivering EBITDA margins of 3%-4% in our target range. Additionally, the group is anticipated to benefit from working capital inflows as revenues grow in construction.
The foundations we have laid through capital recycling, cost reduction, and operational simplification will position us to deliver the targeted returns above our cost of equity in the medium term and grow security holder value. I'd like to thank the Lendlease people for their dedication, hard work, and commitment through the past year. Their efforts in delivering on our key strategic priorities have played a critical role in advancing the turnaround of our organisation. Finally, I'd like to thank you, our security holders, for your ongoing support as we execute on the strategy to restore this great Australian company. I'll now hand back to the Chairman.
Thanks, Tony. We can now move to the discussion on the formal items of business as set out in the notice of meeting.
I remind you that the poll is open for voting, and if you have not already done so, I do encourage you to vote now. The notice of meeting contains all the material information in the Board's possession to assist you in determining how you wish to vote. This includes the Board's recommendation for security holders to vote in favor of all resolutions. Lianne Buck is standing for election at this AGM for the first time as required by our Constitution. Margaret Lui, Bob Welanetz are standing for re-election at this meeting. Details of each director's skills and experience are contained in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting. I would now like to invite Lianne to address the meeting.
Thank you, John. Good morning, fellow security holders and guests.
My name is Lianne Buck, as John has said, and I've joined the Board as an Independent Non-executive Director in July of this year. If elected today, I will become the Chair of the Audit Committee. It is a privilege to stand before you today for election as a non-executive director of Lendlease, a company with a proud legacy. As outlined in the notice of meeting, I trained as a chartered accountant, and my career spans over 25 years in global infrastructure and real estate investment, covering a variety of areas, including funds management, capital markets, superannuation, long-term investments, and risk management. I've worked in Australia as well as globally. I started my career in Canada, and I've also worked in the United States, and I'm now based here in Sydney.
I've served as a Non-executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of ASX-listed and unlisted companies, and I currently serve on the boards of Argo Investments, St. George Community Housing, and AusNet Services. I previously have sat on the board as a non-executive director of Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, Spark Infrastructure, ISPT, Charter Hall Retail REIT, and Utilities Trust of Australia. In my executive roles at New South Wales Treasury Corporation, Hastings Funds Management, and Macquarie Group, I partnered with institutional investors to deliver investment programs as a co-investor and a joint venture partner. My experience in these roles included managing investment portfolios, evaluating capital allocation, and driving performance in large-scale projects. Those roles have honed my knowledge of investment markets and investor expectations in real assets. I have the capacity to commit to the Board, and I believe that I have the skills to make a valuable contribution to Lendlease.
I'm excited by the opportunity to contribute to Lendlease's next chapter, supporting the Board and Management in executing on the refreshed strategy, driving sustainable growth, and delivering value for all security holders. Thank you for your consideration and support.
Thanks, Lianne. Margaret, would you like to address the meeting?
Good morning. I'm Margaret Lui. Thank you for joining us here today. I first joined the Lendlease Board on December 2022. Today, I am seeking your support for re-election. It has been an honor for me to serve on the Board of Lendlease, which is not only an iconic name in Australia but a brand name very known internationally, very strong reputation for building excellence, good governance, and a focus on sustainability. FY 2025 had been a year of significant progress following management's concrete steps over the past couple of years in recreating the foundation of growth and financial returns.
The Board and Management team remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for you, our security holders. On a personal note, early this year, I retired from my Chief Executive Officer role at Azalea Investment Management, a Singapore-based fund management company. I was the founding CEO, and I led its global growth of financial investments over 10 years to more than $11 billion. Throughout my career and as a Board member on a number of major companies, both listed and unlisted, over the last 40 years, my emphasis has always been on ensuring the companies are positioned for growth and resilience. As a Board member at Lendlease, I have advocated for strategies that leverage Lendlease's strengths to drive sustainable growth.
I have my experience. I believe my experience and skills in corporate transformation, fund management, and international investments will continue to bring value to the Board as Lendlease delivers on its transformation. Lendlease has an excellent Board with a wide range of expertise. I seek to further enhance its diversity across multiple dimensions. Coming from Singapore, with decades of international investment experience, I will contribute further to the diversity in perspectives, views, and strengthen inclusivity. I am committed to work with the management and fellow Board members to drive long-term success and create value for our security holders. I look forward to your support and the opportunity to continue serving as the Director of Lendlease. Thank you very much. Over to you, John.
Thanks, Margaret. And last, Bob, please.
That's what happens when you have a last name that starts with W. Good morning.
It's a pleasure to be attending the 2025 Lendlease Annual General Meeting. My name is Bob Welanetz, and I have the honor and privilege to serve as a non-executive director on the Lendlease Board since February 2020, immediately before COVID. My first two years on the Board were actually on screen before rolling into in-person meetings and discussions. There is no replacement for being together as a Board working with management to accomplish these tasks. In my duties as the Director of Lendlease, I have relied on and benefited greatly from my time as a Lendlease employee when Stuart Hornery was Chair and CEO of the organization. My executive time at Lendlease, coupled with my other real estate company affiliations, including JLL, Pan Pacific Development, and Blackstone, to name a few, contributed significantly to my diverse 40-plus year career in real estate development and investment.
The skills and perspectives acquired while doing business and projects in 47 countries around the world have been incredibly helpful in executing my role on your behalf as the Director of Lendlease. During the past five years, the real estate industry has been deeply challenged by a perfect storm of a global pandemic, macroeconomic weakness, capital market reluctance, and disruptive geopolitics. Management and the Board have worked cohesively and diligently in recalibrating the firm's focus and resetting the firm's strategy during this challenging period with one goal in mind: return the firm to its former stature as a high-performance industry-leading real estate firm, which produces top-tier returns for all its security holders and investors. Today, you have heard an expansive update on Lendlease's progress against its reset journey, which will be executed as expeditiously as possible without compromising shareholder value.
As the firm shifts aggressively towards its growth agenda, I can assure you that I and other members of the Board will continue to lever on our depth of business experience and commercial insight to help support and guide and counsel management to ensure appropriate levels of risk and return with the execution of our forward strategies. I've appreciated the support afforded me during my tenure to date with the Board, and with your approval, I look forward to continuing my service and optimising the firm's performance on behalf of all our security holders and investors. I could go on, as most people know, but I will now turn it back over to John. Thank you.
Thanks, Bob. Terrific words from Lianne, Margaret, and Bob. Thank you all.
We will now take questions on all items of business in the order they are submitted or on any general questions relating to the Lendlease Group that you have. I encourage you to submit your question via the online platform, if you've not already done so. As I mentioned earlier, the poll is open on all items of business. As a matter of transparency, the proxy results for all items of business are now being shown on the screen. It is very pleasing to see a high level of support for all that is before the meeting. I thank security holders who have voted in that manner. Okay, I'll start with questions that were submitted in advance of the AGM.
We had a handful of questions that were all on the same topic, and it is an obvious topic of concern for everyone regarding historical security holder returns and the trailing COVID impacts in construction in particular, and basically challenging us and asking us what can be done to improve the stock price. The short answer is we are trying our darnedest to make sure that this great company has very sound foundations and is improving its investability. You heard the efforts we are making in FY 2025 and the foundations we have built to then take on a critical year where our aim is to both advance and substantially complete the balance sheet repair work, and at the same time build into a much stronger growth and performance profile. Tony did a good job of laying that out. It is very top of mind to us.
The share price is a lag. We're working very hard to make sure that we turn everything that we can do into the winning post that puts us in the best position for long-term performance and a much healthier security price. I'm sure everything we will do, it will be done so that this time next year we're in a more favorable position, which is all in our best interests. We also received a question as to what more can be done to reduce our carbon footprint. The firm has a very strong position in this regard. I thought it might be a good time to let Tony update you all on just where we are and what might be next.
Yeah, on our carbon footprint in 2020, we set ourselves a mission to be net zero by 2025. We have accomplished that.
Within that, our carbon footprint used to be 200 kilotonnes back in 2020. As of today, we're sitting at 22 kilotonnes. That's an 89% reduction in the emissions that Lendlease contributes, both on a scope one and two. We'll continue to remain focused on that as an organization. Our next focus is on our target to be absolute by 2040. We believe it's a smart business to be delivering sustainable product. We're delivering business that are more energy efficient, and we'll continue to do that going forward through our organization.
Thanks, Tony. Now we'll move to questions from the floor here in Sydney. Please make your way to the microphone, and we'll look forward to hopefully answering whatever it is that's on your mind. It looks like we have three heading towards us, which is great.
Chairman, I'd like to introduce Peter Gregory on behalf of the Australian Shareholders Association.
Good morning, Peter.
Good morning, John. Thank you for hosting us at this wonderful location this morning.
Thank you.
As I said, Peter Gregory is my name. I'm representing the Australian Shareholders Association, which is a volunteer organization that looks after the interests of individual shareholders. Today, I have proxies from 96 shareholders totaling just under 400,000 shares, which equates to about AUD 2 million in value. I also note that about 90% of Lendlease's security holders own less than 5,000 shares. We're effectively representing a significant part of your share register. I'd like to start by congratulating the company on its achieving net zero target for 2025 and also achieving a 100% renewable energy goal in 2025. That's great. That was five years ahead of schedule.
I'd also like to thank you for hosting the meeting as a hybrid AGM, enabling all shareholders to participate, whether they're in Sydney or Tien Wu or Perth. Timbuktu. Timbuktu, wherever. Now, some questions. Lendlease, as we've talked about, is going through an enormous transformation into a very different kind of organisation. Shareholders are trusting that all of the people in Lendlease will work to deliver a better future for them. We note that in the STI scorecard last year, the comment that said employee engagement has broadly been maintained but did not achieve targeted improvement. Could you comment if that's still the case, if you know it? Also, what's being done to get better engagement from the people at the front face who really make the difference?
It's an insightful question. Thank you, Peter. Thank you for your kind remarks preceding that.
I think one of the most important indicators that shareholders can be, security holders can take comfort from is that our safety standards remain very strong. In very trying conditions, particularly the period involved still owning before we divested international construction companies and within the broader operations that we have, to maintain that strong focus on safety shows that our team is still caring. The care factor is the most important engagement level for mine. Personally, with my own experience over time with the different things I've done in my career, I wasn't surprised that there was a little downtick in engagement when you just return your mind to the sort of commentary that the company was swept up in across 2023 into 2024. That does have an effect on morale.
You have the significant challenges of divesting and downsizing and putting quite sweeping changes through the organization. I was comforted that it had not fallen further. We have done a lot to make sure that we are listening to the team. Tony and the senior team have good programs in place. We were briefed at our board meeting this week on a pulse survey that is in the field at the moment, but quite advanced across our wider leadership team. There are good signs of improvement there. We are keeping a very close eye on it. It is an important part of turning that care factor into a high energy and a high performance culture to get the outcomes that we are seeking. It is a very demanding environment at the moment. We are very conscious that we need to keep close to this issue.
Okay, thank you.
I'd like to ask about the CIU activity. I understand that part of the CIU is getting partners into projects where Lendlease is effectively overweight in terms of its ownership of that project. I think you said before that of the AUD 2 billion that's coming in this financial year, half of it is overseas. Can you advise shareholders how much of the AUD 1 billion that's effectively domestic fits into that bucket? Also, talk about when that kind of activity ceases to be CIU and becomes business as usual as just part of the normal work that Lendlease does.
Yeah, perhaps I'll do the latter and you do the former.
For example, with the Crown Estate, once we move through the conditional elements of it and it goes live, which is hopefully we're able to announce that in the near future, certainly hopefully before we're talking about our half-year results, those assets will move back into the IDC platform segments because they're out of CRU. The restructuring will have completed that. In terms of just how the proceeds are being lined up, Tony?
Yep. When you look at the AUD 2 billion target, and John did touch on the AUD 300 million that's due from the joint venture from Crown Estate. In the U.K., we had some AUD 700 million in development capital assigned to the development already in Crown Estate. We'll get half that capital back, and that will come back, that AUD 300 million, and then the remainder of that capital does move aside to the IDC.
Of the other AUD 2 billion of capital recycling, circa AUD 1.5 billion is international. AUD 500 million is here in Australia with retirement living, Keyton stake, which we own, which is 25%. On TRX, which we are well advanced in divesting both the retail asset and the office asset, Lendlease will continue to hold a 20% interest in the retail asset and manage that asset going forward. That will move across for the remaining 20%. Some AUD 500 million of capital will come back in for both the retail and the office asset we are divesting at the moment. The Keyton transaction, that is some circa AUD 500 million of capital that is due back. That is here in Australia. There is AUD 1 billion of other transactions across the U.S., Asia, and Europe that is underway.
Just if I can pick up on the discussion about the Crown Estate, as I understand it, the process that's been gone through there of Lendlease putting in a big hunk of capital to get it started and then moving into a situation where you can get joint ventures, that sounds to me like it's just a business as usual kind of activity rather than a specific capital recycling in the context that it's being put to us.
The first half of that is we had that AUD 600 million-AUD 700 million of capital. Half of those proceeds do come back. Then it does go into business as usual, which we can then have the optionality to put further capital in to create further development products that will sit in international investment management going forward. We will control AUD 49 billion of future development.
Of some of that, we will just continue to sell some land plots that we can sell back to other developers. Then we'll look to vertically develop some of those buildings. That's about AUD 24 billion, which will relate to yielding assets going forward. Those projects span 10-15 years of timeframe. It allows us to generate fees from our partner, development profits from land sales, and then vertical development profits going forward. The most significant thing there, Peter, is that there's a significant change. That will be a normal kind of business activity. Correct. It'll be core operations going forward.
I've got a couple more questions, but I might let others have them.
Okay. Yeah, please. You can come back when we've got through to the others. Thanks, Peter.
Chairman, I'd like to introduce shareholder Robert Salisbury.
Morning, Robert. Good morning.
First of all, let me say I'm a massive fan of Lendlease. You build the best buildings in the world. Thank you. I'd like, though, to just air a concern over the global trend of avoiding and quitting the net zero. Recently, the Net Zero Banking Alliance has had a number of major players quit: Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Barclays, and Macquarie Group. We've had the Liberal Party and the Nationals abandon net zero. What reaction is Lendlease going to make? Do you have plans to recalibrate, to profit optimize based in this culture?
I'll take most of what you've put there as a statement. Given it's a bit of a political issue at the moment, I'm not going to put our company's name into the local politic.
What I can point to, Robert, is the answer to the question that we had before. You can see how strongly we are positioned. What's very important is that when we're dealing with any bidding for new projects, our track record and our future commitments are very clearly in the mind of our customers for the delivery of the buildings and the spaces that we're shaping.
Okay. Thank you.
Chairman, I'd like to introduce shareholder Diana Pride.
Good morning, Diana. You can jump up and just kick. There we go. Perfect. Thank you.
Good morning. My questions relate to Gilead. That's in southwest Sydney. In your Koala Conservation Plan at Gilead 2022, Lendlease promised to gift two parcels of land to the Georges River Koala Reserve. In that conservation plan, item 16 was Glen Lorne. The land at Glen Lorne will be gifted.
Item 18, 28 hectares of land at Brownsbush at Beulah so that they can be included in the Georges River Koala Reserve. Are you still gifting these parcels of land as promised in your Koala Conservation Plan at Gilead? Will you formally notify the government that you are doing so? That's the first part.
Thank you for your question, Diana. We still have one element with that project where we're dealing with the original landowner. Obviously, there's been a major component that's moved to a new owner. The new owner is taking up responsibilities for all of those items you're talking about. The remaining bit, what we call the Mount Gilead remaining element that we're working on, we've still got to work through where those responsibilities will lie. We will not walk away from anything that we're co mmitted to.
We'll make sure that everything we've said we do will be done.
Thank you. It's been widely reported that Lendlease denied access to Stockland in order for them to complete the koala underpass at Narumba Reserve into Glen Lorne. Are you able to guarantee access for the second underpass? Sorry. Why did Lendlease delay giving access to Stockland to complete this underpass, koala underpass? Will Lendlease guarantee access to the second underpass at Beulah into Brownsbush as a matter of urgency, given that the survival of the Campbelltown koalas depends on their ability to disperse and access their biobanks west of Appin Road?
Yeah. As the transaction completed, there were some misunderstandings of who needed to do what regarding those underpasses and access. They've now been all resolved. I'm sure there'll be no issues arising on these going forward.
Thank you.
Thank you for your attendance. Peter, yes, please. And we've got two questions online as well. Three, actually, that I can see. But we'll just go back to Peter Gregory.
Sorry, I've broken it. John, I have two questions about the proposed AUD 500 million buyback of up to 10% of listed securities. First, relating to the transformation award, the theory behind a buyback is that if there are less shares on issue, then the price of the remaining shares will increase. How will that consequence of the buyback be taken into account when considering the transformation award? And will there be an adjustment to deal with that?
The buyback is a very important commitment that the company made in May 2024. And we, as I said in my address, we're confident we'll be able to meet that commitment. The transformation award has a very, very strong alignment element to it.
That's why it's had the support that it did last year and again in the repeated half waiting for this year. The outcome of that award is the outcome matched to which all security holders will enjoy, which is hopefully a much stronger security price. There's no need to adjust. It's a natural occurrence. The outcome of one is the result of all of the matters that we have before us to deal with in terms of the things that we have said and made commitments on to deliver the results and restore the financial strength that we're aiming to do.
Okay. No, thanks for clarifying that. I'm going to make some very hypothetical statements. If 10% of the securities were purchased at yesterday's closing price of AUD 5.42, the cost to the company would have been about AUD 370 million.
If the price increased to AUD 6.50, the cost of the 10% would have been about AUD 450 million. Has the board given consideration to dealing with possible volatility over a period of time by starting the buyback perhaps on a staged approach earlier rather than later on when we would all hope and expect that the share price will be higher?
Yes. The most important thing is that we've achieved the realizations that are the preconditions for the buyback. The hypothetical is correct. We do look at that. It's been a standing agenda item at all our meetings. We're hoping to be able to get to it as soon as we can. Those major divestments being completed are important in that regard.
Okay. If I can now turn to Lianne, Margaret, and Bob.
Lianne, first of all, your background includes working with not-for-profit that assists low and moderate-income earners to secure housing. You've managed real estate and infrastructure with New South Wales Treasury and worked with Australian Super and global pension funds as a co-investor and venture partner. Sounds like most of Lendlease's customer base. Could you share with us what are the specific insights that you believe you bring to Lendlease as a director?
Sure. I mean, I think, Peter, as you mentioned, I think having been a customer of Lendlease through my real estate background and St. George Community Housing actually is a proud customer of Lendlease. They've built a wonderful development for us there. Being a customer of Lendlease, being an investor, basically the same investors that Lendlease is investing with and seeking to invest with today.
Bringing those perspectives of the investor and what they're looking for from an investment management position, I think, obviously, my governance expertise. I've been a professional non-executive director now for a number of years. I guess not least of which, my accounting, although not possibly exciting, but very exciting for me, my accounting background and what I can add to the audit committee.
Okay. Thank you. To Margaret and Bob, over the last year, Lendlease has been through a very challenging period. Can you please share from your point of view what you believe the biggest challenges that the company has experienced and how you've contributed to resolving them?
Perhaps, Margaret, if you're happy to take the first stab at that, and then we'll let Bob make some comments as well. Maybe just give him a microphone.
I think in any company undergoing, in this case, massive transformation, recreating the base, whether it's the people, the business, is really very difficult. We, as a board, have been giving the board the management support along the way. There are always difficult decisions to make along the way. That's the guidance that we and myself and the rest of the board have been giving that support to the team. As I mentioned in my speech, in most of my boards, I've always been there to see through transformation. That's something that, on a regular basis, we constantly talked about, not only having a fantastic foundation for future growth, but making sure that not just the foundation, but the business itself. We give ourselves time also to grow the business piece besides recreating that foundation to clean up the past.
These are the conflicting challenges that the management constantly will always have. They really need the board support to bring it through.
Thank you. Next one, please.
Yeah. I'm trying to think the best way to answer. There's a whole litany of issues that I think the company has faced. As I said in my remarks, although they were brief, is that we are trying to correct a set of conditions with a backdrop in capital markets as challenging as the world financial crisis and a reluctance of capital to help us do what we know we need to do.
I think the creation of a good bank and a bad bank, if you will, CRU and the IDC sides of the portfolio, it takes different disciplines to execute on growth-oriented initiatives and divestment initiatives at the same time with a smaller set of resources and keeping up the positive momentum on both sides of those activities while you've adjusted the organization and stripped out a lot of the elements that were historically resident within the company. We had to help support management to find new ways to execute without losing sight on the end goal and the necessary steps along the way on that path. I think it's an emotional issue. Everybody that works on the board and within the company wants to be at a different place reputationally. They want to be back winning projects. We see the solutions that are in place.
I think part of what the board needs to do is remind management when they're on the right path, help management be more creative in thinking about ways to work within the organization and outreach to other resources outside the organization, sources of capital and service expertise that can help us accomplish these things. I think we're constantly testing the status quo and the current plan, but also looking for innovative and entrepreneurial ways to assist with the execution on the growth strategy and the divestment strategy.
Thanks, Bob. That's it from me.
Thanks, Peter. There's one more question from the floor. Thanks, Margaret, too.
I'd like to introduce shareholder Piers Parberry.
Morning, Piers.
Good morning. Hang on. I'll just get this a bit closer. Yes, good morning. Excuse my ignorance that it might be exposed on this with this question.
You mentioned about the buyback more than once. What is the aim of that, please?
Returning capital to shareholders. That is a very, very clear aim as part of our getting out of these significantly large-scale but long-dated capital projects that were in different parts of the globe and are not considered to be part of our long-term future.
Oh, thank you. I am just wondering whether that money might be better used investing in expanding the business and just its general activities.
That debate has passed. The company made a very clear commitment in May 2024. As you can see, with the support of our security holder base with the proxy voters, there is very clear support for us executing the strategy that we have laid out. We can see sufficient capital for the growth we have.
We also need to deal with these positions that aren't going to give us the sort of return profile or the growth profile that we now want. Once we've dealt with those and we have the divestment proceeds clearly on the way to us, we'll be able to move to the next phase of that May 2024 commitment, which is commencing the buyback.
Thank you. On a different point, different topic altogether, you mentioned about you nearly achieving net zero. I'm not very knowledgeable about that topic. Given that a lot of construction is concrete and it seems to be very popular, and my understanding is there's a lot of carbon in concrete, how do you manage that doing, as I say, large amounts of construction?
Yeah. Piers, on that, I may take that question. There's two parts.
The scope one, scope two, the group's net zero, that's our carbon footprint that Lendlease manages. The concrete we're usually seeing is scope three, which is the embodied carbon in the development of buildings. From an absolute perspective, we've set a target to 2040. Today, what we are doing is using lower forms of concrete that has lower carbon in it. There are initiatives working with our supply chain, both in concrete and steel, to continue to see those emissions in those key products lowering over time.
Do you want to mention the building just a little bit down the path?
Yeah. We have built buildings out of timber, for instance. Therefore, we've got buildings that are timber-based that sequester carbon. We are looking at different techniques in how we construct.
We are working very closely on scope three with our supply chain to continue to see that reduce over time. We have set that mission over 2020 to 2040.
Thanks, Tony. Thank you. Yes. Needless to say, I would rather the buildings be properly built than worrying about a bit of carbon. We do not want them falling down like happens in some parts of the world. I think you mentioned that two-thirds of projects are government-based. That strikes me as a very high exposure. Does that not leave the company rather vulnerable?
No, not at all when you think of the different forms that government is involved in shaping infrastructure, social infrastructure, schools and hospitals, and then infrastructure for things like the Olympic Games, and then the essential spend that is going into defense and defense-related areas. It is a very different form.
It's easy to call it all government, but across state and federal and across very different areas, it's very well dispersed.
Good. Thank you.
Thanks for your interest. We'll now turn to questions online. Firstly, are there any questions on the platform for someone wanting to ask a question direct or just the type of platform, Mary?
There are some questions on the platform and no questions currently on the phone.
Okay. We'll go to the questions on the platform, please.
There is a question from shareholder Aaron Spicer in relation to the allocation of market-priced options to the managing director. Lendlease has progressively reduced its distribution payout ratios and often paid out at the lower end of the range. Won't the terms of the transformation award encourage management to recommend low distributions to maximize share VWAP for KGAR calculations?
I can understand, Aaron, why you might think that. What has been very pleasing is how, in all the discussions I've had with security holders, firstly, and proxy advisors, the support they've had for this structure. It is much more than just a transformation award for Tony. This is an award that now a significant amount of our senior team are participating in. The overwhelming feedback is how well aligned the award structure is to the outcome that we're so determined to achieve, which is lifting the security price and doing that in a way that gives us a sustainability to keep it at that level and achieve growth therefrom. The alignment between achieving that outcome and for all shareholders is a very clear one.
Chairman, there are two questions from the platform in relation to the sale of retirement living.
Shareholder Deborah Searle asks, "Regarding the sale of the retirement living business, what timeframe are you anticipating?" Shareholder Stephen Maine asks, "Keyton is a great business. I don't understand why you're trying to sell down. Retirement living is booming and you should be leaning in. Are there any preemptive rights between the major Keyton shareholders?"
I might invite Tony to deal with both of those.
Firstly, on the Keyton sale, we are in exclusive DD now with one party. We are looking to divest that in the next few months. In terms of it as a great business, it is, but we have done significant work on our strategy. We did break the group up to the IDC segments for the go-forward business, and that's what we're looking to scale up. We do have the CRU, which we're looking to realize value. Keyton does sit in the CRU.
We had already divested 75% of the Keyton business, and that final 25% is on track to be divested in the next few months.
Thanks, Tony. Next question, please, Mary.
Chairman, there is a question from shareholder Stephen Maine in relation to the item on the election of Lianne Buck. Could new director Lianne Buck and the chair comment on the recruitment process that led to her appointment to the board? Was a headhunter involved, and did the full board interview any other candidates? Did Lianne know any of our directors or executives before engaging with the recruitment process?
Thanks, Mary. Thanks, Stephen, for your question. Recruiting people to join the board is a very sensitive and important role of board work.
There is also a great deal of discretion required because we want to have a wide field of candidates and the chance to have conversations with as many as possible to find the right person. Obviously, anyone who is having a conversation with us does not want to be known as not getting the role. I give that by way of background so that you know that, of course, we had professional help. Of course, once we got down to a short list, all board members were involved in talking to them. A lady of Lianne's experience, of course, in her professional career would have dealt with people in Lendlease, particularly from her role, her last corporate role in TCORP. This is not someone employing mates. I had never met Lianne before. For quite a few board members, that was the same circumstance.
It was a good process. It took several months, and we're very pleased that she took up the invitation to join the board. I'm sure you will enjoy seeing the outcome of her involvement in future years. Next question, please.
Chairman, a question from shareholder Stephen Maine in relation to the adoption of the remuneration report. Best practice is now to disclose the proxy position to the ASX along with the formal addresses to offer more timely disclosure to the market. The likes of Origin Energy, NAB, Car Group, Viva Energy, WebJet, Xero, Myer, Brambles, and JB Hi-Fi all do this. Will you adopt this practice at next year's AGM? Given that more than 98% of voted stock is done by proxy 48 hours before the AGM, the meeting itself is essentially an election outcome announcement event.
If you do not disclose the proxies in a timely manner, we finish up debating in the dark and having to ask questions like this one. Did any of the proxy advisors recommend against the REM report, and has there been a material protest vote? If so, what was the issue?
Okay. There is a number of questions there, Stephen. Proxy advisors were all in favor of every resolution. That deals with a bunch of them. It is your assertion that it is best practice. I am sure others might have said otherwise. I am not interested in that debate. We have had a very good discussion here today. It has been really pleasing to have people here and online able to ask questions. No one has been in the dark because we put our proxy votes up before we started the questions. We will continue to adopt that process. Thanks for your interest.
I think there are no further questions online. There's no one else seeking a question from the floor here. Are we all done? As the auctioneer would say. All right. That now concludes the discussion on the items of business and all matters we need to cover in our meeting today. I will now formally close the poll for this meeting. I'm formally closing the poll. For those of you in the room, your voting cards will now be collected by a Computershare representative. Here they come with the magic boxes. We'll just wait till all the votes are collected. To those of you who are online, thank you for your participation. Thanks for the questions. We're very committed to the hybrid format. I just got to make sure I need to sign this. Yes.
Yes, I have caught up with my admin and signed the document that I need to do so. Thank you. We are looking forward to those that are here joining us for light refreshments. We are very happy to hear feedback on this format. We are looking to be engaging and open and transparent and make sure that you get a chance to talk to us and we get a chance to hear your views. Thank you formally for participating in today's meeting. Thanks to everyone for being here. Thanks to the staff for helping us put this day on. To my fellow board members, thank you for your continued good work. To Mr. David Craig, a sincere final thanks for a wonderful contribution to this company. We wish you all the very best for your future endeavors. Thank you all.