Good morning, and welcome all. My name is Helen Kurincic, the Chair of McMillan Shakespeare Limited. I'm delighted to be able to extend a warm welcome to our shareholders and guests to our 2022 annual general meeting, joining us both in person and online. Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands across Australia and recognize their cultures and continuing connection to land. I'm speaking from Melbourne, which is the traditional country of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I'm advised that in accordance with Clause 16.4 of the company's constitution, a quorum of members is present, and I accordingly declare the annual general meeting is open. The notice of meeting was distributed to all shareholders on the 23rd of September, 2022, and I'll take the notice of meeting as read.
All attendees can watch and listen to the live webcast of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies have the ability to ask questions and submit votes. Questions can be submitted at any time. To ask a question, select the Q&A icon, select the topic your question relates to, type your question into the chat box at the bottom of the screen, and press Send. Please note that you can submit questions any time from now, and I'll address them at the relevant time of the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together. For those shareholders who wish to ask a verbal question, an audio questions facility is available during this meeting. To use this service, please follow the instructions on the virtual meeting platform.
Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly be opening the voting for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a new polling icon will appear. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There's no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote is automatically recorded, and you can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. The polling icon will soon appear. Please submit your votes at any time, and I'll provide you with a warning before voting will be closed.
The proxies received in advance of the meeting are held by the company share registry and are available for inspection upon receipt of a written request. I'd like to introduce you now to the directors of the company who are attending the meeting today and who are on the live webcast. We have non-executive directors, Kathy Parsons, our chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. Bruce Akhurst, chair of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee. John Bennetts and Ross Chessari. We're also joined by Managing Director and CEO, Rob De Luca, and our CFO and Company Secretary, Ashley Conn. I'll also note the presence of Darren Scammell, representing the audit firm of Grant Thornton, and thank Darren for his attendance today to respond to any questions. Now I'll move to my address.
Given the macroeconomic environment, the services provided by our MMS businesses of salary packaging, novated leasing, asset management, disability plan management, and support coordination, the increase in importance given the difference our company can make to people's lives. Today, I'll be providing you with an overview of our results for FY 2022, our sustainability strategy, board changes and CEO transition, and capital management. Our Group Managing Director and CEO, Rob De Luca, will lead an overview of the group's financial and operating performance for the year and our areas of focus for FY 2023, with contributions from two of our executive leaders. MMS delivered a strong operating performance for FY 2022, driven by our focus on improving the customer experience, momentum from recent new business wins, and the simplification of the business portfolio, which saw us make strategic divestments and introduce a new segment structure.
While COVID-19 and global motor vehicle supply constraints continue to also impact performance. Normalized underlying net profit after tax or normalized NPATA for the group was AUD 83.8 million, up 16.5% on the previous financial year, while normalized earnings per share rose by 16.5% to AUD 1.083 Normalized refers to adjustments made for the negative earnings transitional period for the implementation of our funding warehouse, Onboard Finance. We are pleased to have delivered a fully franked dividend of AUD 1.08 per share for the year, inclusive of the final dividend of AUD 0.74 per share payable on the tenth of November, 2022.
This represents 100% of normalized NPATA and is in line with our commitment to return between 70%-100% of normalized NPATA to shareholders via dividends. Our core group remuneration services segment achieved total normalized revenue of AUD 206.6 million for FY22, reflecting growth of 2%, while normalized NPATA contracted by 2.1% to AUD 48.4 million. Revenue growth was driven by an additional 13,500 salary packages under management by period end and an uplift of 3% in novated lease orders compared with FY21. Constraints on vehicle supply resulted in a significant volume of orders being carried over beyond FY22, where we expect the revenue to be recognized. Total carryover revenue as at 30 June 2022 was AUD 26 million.
Our plan and support services segment achieved 21.4% growth in normalized NPATA during the year, increasing to AUD 6.6 million. This performance was largely driven by organic growth in customers and the acquisition of the Plan Tracker business. Asset management services perform well, with strong used car prices generating a significant increase in remarketing profits and contributing to a 63.4% rise in normalized NPATA, which was AUD 30.2 million during FY22. During FY22, we moved to simplify the group and its exit activities in order to be better positioned to focus on our core capabilities, products, and markets. As part of this strategy, we divested the CLM Fleet Management and Davantage warranty business and will be considering exit options for our UK businesses during this financial year.
In FY22, we continued to implement our group sustainability strategy, which guides our response to key environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities for our business, and we commend you to our sustainability report. As Australia's largest novated lease provider and through our brands Maxxia, RemServ, and Interleasing, we have a key role to support and educate our customers in their transition to a low carbon future through the adoption of low and zero-emission vehicles. In FY21, we established a net zero carbon emissions target by 2030 for our direct operations, and we began switching our company car fleet to electric vehicles. With 18% of our Australian-owned fleet now transitioned to EVs.
Within MMS, at the end of FY22, we have transitioned all our Australian controllable sites to 100% renewable energy, achieved a 25% annual reduction in our group carbon footprint across our direct operations and met our 30/30/40 gender diversity target across our leadership categories. With the board committing to increase its gender diversity target to 40/40/20 by June 30, 2030. The board, other executives, general managers, and senior manager levels. We were also delighted to have launched two important initiatives during the last period in our accessibility inclusion plan, designed to make a positive difference for our people and customers living with disability. Our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan, which aims to create opportunities for First Nations Australians.
We also delivered during FY22 a smooth MD and CEO transition, with Mike Salisbury retiring after 14 years of committed values-led service with MMS, including nearly eight years as MD and CEO. We welcomed our new MD and CEO, Rob De Luca. With over 20 years in the banking, financial services, wealth management, and disability sectors, Rob has a wealth of experience in navigating technological, economic, and regulatory change to successfully drive growth and improve the customer experience. I also take this opportunity to formally thank Non-Executive Director and previous Chair, Tim Poole, for his outstanding commitment and contribution to the group over nearly nine years through to the 31st of August 2022. We recently announced that Arlene Tansey will join the board as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective on the 7th of November 2022, and will stand for election at the 2023 AGM.
Arlene is a highly experienced director of ASX listed companies, high-growth businesses, and government entities with a financial services background in commercial and investment banking. Arlene will join our Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and our People, Culture and Remuneration Committee. In our FY22 results announcement in August, we also announced a 10% off-market share buyback. The buyback aimed to achieve a balance between returning capital to shareholders, retaining flexibility to invest capital for growth, and maintaining an appropriate balance sheet. We believe this will benefit all shareholders, regardless of whether they participated or not, given the improvements in both our earnings per share and return on equity. Earlier this week, we announced we had successfully completed the buyback, where we purchased back 10% of our shares at a cost of AUD 90.2 million.
The price was AUD 11.66 per share, which was a 14% discount to the prevailing five-day volume-weighted average price and included a fully franked dividend component per share of AUD 10.67. The discount was the maximum allowable and reflected the strong demand we had from shareholders, with tenders scaled back by approximately 50.7%, with MMS buying back approximately 49.3% of shares, subject to the priority allocation and other terms set out in the buyback booklet. The buyback proceeds are to be sent to the participating shareholders by the first of November 2022. To our shareholders, thank you for your support as we look excitedly to the future and the positive difference this company can make to people's individual lives while contributing to the sustainability of this and future generations.
Thank you to all our customers and clients who entrust us as we continue to focus on service enhancement. Thanks to Rob De Luca, the executive leadership team, my fellow directors, and every single one of our MMS people for your part in helping deliver on the opportunities ahead. Thank you, and I'll now pass over to Rob De Luca, our CEO.
Thank you, Helen. Good morning and welcome, everyone. It's a privilege to be here today as CEO of the McMillan Shakespeare Group. It's an exciting time to lead the Group for a range of reasons. Firstly, the current labor market dynamics are underscoring the importance and need of a strong employee value proposition by employers to their employees through valuable means like salary packaging, particularly in light of the rising cost of living. Secondly, the important role we play in supporting both the integrity and financial sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, NDIS, is being reflected in the increasing uptake by participants of plan management services as the scheme continues to expand towards an expected 859,000 participants by 2030.
Thirdly, the increasing interest from our customers and the opportunity which is generated from that as they look to reduce their transport-related emissions and how we best help them on their transition to low and zero emission vehicles, particularly in light of the federal government's electric vehicle discount bill. Today, I will provide you with a brief overview of our performance across FY 2022, including the key financial and operational highlights for the Group, as well as providing an update on our current outlook for FY 2023. We will also hear from two of our leaders, who I will introduce in a moment. Now turn to slide eight.
Normalized revenue increased by 9.2% to AUD 594.3 million, and normalized NPATA was up 16.5% to AUD 83.8 million for the period, and our return on capital employed increased to 38.6%. Our customer focus translated into underlying growth across our business segments and underpinned our net promoter scores with an average of 52. Within our GRS segment, we had significant new client wins and an increase in customer demand and activity, which saw salary packages up 3.8% and novated lease orders up 3% compared with the previous period.
Our newly created PSS segment grew during FY 2022, with plan management and support coordination customer numbers up by nearly 64% on FY 2021 to 25,876, while we saw a 20% increase in the hours of support coordination provided to participants over the period. Our AMS segment performed well across all three businesses, namely Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and aggregation, with the net amount financed across the segment up 13.9% year-on-year. The health and well-being of our people remained a key priority for the Group during the period as our staff adapted well to hybrid working arrangements. We invested in supporting the mental health of our people and reignited our internal leadership programs that enabled our leaders to reconnect and collaborate in person.
We also achieved a sustainable engagement score of 83% through our last employee survey, positioning us well above the broader Australian norm. From a strategic priority perspective, we continued to invest in digital capabilities with attention to meeting the ever-increasing needs of our customers to improve how they engage with us and increasing distribution access. Our digital initiatives during FY 2022 included introduction of new Maxxia and RemServ chatbots and a live chat experience, as well as enhancing our digital estimate platform. We provided our customers with additional tools to help them navigate the NDIS, as well as making enhancements to our customer dashboards to encourage greater self-service. In our Australian and New Zealand asset management business, we simplified our branding across Australia and New Zealand, aimed at enhancing brand recognition and experience for businesses operating across both geographies.
In our PSS segment, we successfully completed the acquisition of Plan Tracker in July 2021, and we took action to simplify our business through the divestments which Helen referred to earlier. You'll now hear from Ashley Conn, our Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, on the progress and outlook for our warehouse, Onboard Finance, which was successfully launched in April this year. Ashley will be followed by Kylie Chambers, Managing Director of our Group Remuneration Services segment, incorporating the Maxxia and RemServ businesses, to provide an overview of the outlook for electric vehicles in our GRS business.
Thanks, Rob. As Rob mentioned, the launch of Onboard Finance, our funding warehouse, was an important milestone for FY 2022. By way of background, in FY 2020, we announced our decision to introduce a funding warehouse for our GRS novated leasing business to supplement our use of principal and agency, or PNA, funders. This was to help ensure we have a secure and committed source of funding through times of constrained capital markets given capital market conditions, given the changing landscape of the finance and novated finance markets. The changing landscape included events such as the global financial crisis, the Hayne Royal Commission that led to changes in appetite for novated lease finance origination from major funders, and more recently, Westpac St. George's announcement of its divestment of its auto finance business to Angle Finance.
Other strategic and financial rationale included increasing pricing tension for our customers, enabling more customers access to novated leasing products and services, reducing risk of volatility in earnings by creating an annuity earnings stream, providing alternative funding for attracting new investors and lenders, and increasing per transaction NPV to MMS. Importantly, as mentioned, we continue to balance the use of the warehouse and PNA funders. In particular, we have previously stated that the warehouse will fund 20% of novated funding needs when it is up and running at its full run rate, and the remaining 80% will continue to be done via PNA.
This mix looks to balance the warehouse's need for scale to access capital markets and be sufficiently profitable with the need to continue our competitive PNA arrangements and to have a range of funding options for our clients and customers. We anticipate reaching the 20% run rate during FY 2023. In establishing the warehouse, we have invested in people, expertise, and systems to ensure that we have our own in-house execution capability. Pleasingly, we've also received good support from the capital markets in sourcing the necessary funding. It is our intention that once the warehouse is of sufficient scale and subject to market conditions, we will term out into the asset-backed security market to maintain the most competitive funding pricing possible. In terms of our first leases, we started writing leases in the warehouse shortly after we received our credit license in early April 2022.
These leases are written by Onboard Finance via the trading names of Maxxia Finance and RemServ Finance, utilizing the strong brand recognition we have with our customers. At the end of FY 2022, we had written AUD 1.5 million of leases. The switch to funding leases through the warehouse has a different accounting treatment for those leases versus PNA funding. In particular, the contribution from warehouse leases is recognized over the life of the lease, as opposed to PNA funding, where we receive and recognize the finance commission at the time of the commencement of the lease. Given the differences in the accounting and cash flow of the warehouse versus PNA in FY 2022, as Helen touched on, we have announced that we will be presenting financial results on a normalized basis.
Normalized refers to adjustments made for the negative earnings transition period for the implementation of the funding warehouse. It normalizes for the warehouse's in-year operating and establishment expenses and for an adjustment for commissions that would have otherwise been received in period had the sales been financed by principal and agency funders rather than through the warehouse. Normalized financials are currently expected to be stated up to and including FY 2025, and the normalization adjustments for FY 2023 is expected to be approximately AUD 11 million. For FY 2024 onwards, the warehouse is expected to grow UNPATA. For clarity, the FY 2022 normalization to UNPATA was AUD 1.7 million and AUD 2.4 million on to EBIT. A reconciliation of NPAT to UNPATA and normalized UNPATA is included in the appendix of our FY 2022 results presentation.
In summary, we view Onboard as an important enhancement for the MMS group. It will help drive growth in our core GRS business, support our clients and customers, and importantly, assist MMS in pursuing our purpose of making a difference in people's lives. I will now pass to Kylie Chambers, our Managing Director of our Group Remuneration Services segment, who'll provide an update on electric vehicles.
Thanks, Ashley. As Rob mentioned earlier, in terms of electric vehicles, we are witnessing growing interest and focus on low and zero emissions vehicles from a policy, customer, and broader community perspective. While EV sales in Australia remain a low percentage of all new vehicle sales, a greater number of our customers are looking at how we can assist them in their potential transition to an EV. Much of this interest is off the back of the federal government's Electric Car Discount Bill, which was recently introduced into Parliament. We welcome the work of the federal government in terms of its focus and intent to decarbonize land transport over time. We believe the Electric Car Discount Bill, which we understand is likely to become law this calendar year, will ultimately further stimulate and make a novated lease, in particular, the most cost-effective means to acquire and operate an eligible EV.
Under this proposed legislation, the federal treasurer has stated that for a vehicle of around AUD 50,000, it will save the employer up to AUD 9,000 a year. For individuals using a salary sacrifice arrangement, it will save up to AUD 4,700 a year. Importantly, the bill will support opportunity and EV take-up across both our asset management and novated leasing businesses. In our Australian asset management business, it will provide greater financial incentive to customers to transition their fleets as appropriate to EVs in line with their sustainability commitments. While in our novated lease business, the bill, when passed, will provide significant savings and therefore incentive to customers to acquire an eligible EV directly via their employer. Given that it will, in effect, provide whole of life cost of ownership parity or better, compared with a like traditional petrol or diesel-powered vehicle.
Pleasingly, as Australia's largest novated lease provider, together with our asset management business, we are well-placed for this opportunity through investments already undertaken in system readiness for the pending legislative change, together with investments made in building and enhancing our internal expertise around low and zero-emission vehicles. In our underlying novated lease business, a key strength of our group is the ecosystem of partnerships that we have built out around the provision of ICE vehicles for our customers. Importantly, we are taking that same intent and experience to focus on developing a market-leading EV ecosystem in support of our customers' transition to EVs. The partnerships we are developing around the provision of EV charging infrastructure as one example of this as we aim to position ourselves as a market leader and a provider of choice.
Our activity also includes a focus on EV product development, deepening client engagement, and heightening customer education around EVs. We firmly believe that enhancing the customer understanding of EVs, how they operate in daily life, and their benefits will play an important role in longer term take-up. Importantly, we are cognizant that EV take-up remains low in Australia, and that the vehicle supply constraints affecting new car supply globally also extend to EVs, and even more so in some cases, given the technology requirements of such vehicles. However, we are well-placed with the work we've undertaken to date, together with our network of relationships, to service customer inquiries and place orders as the transition to low and zero-emissions vehicles continues to evolve and gather pace in the Australian market over the short to long term.
We very much look forward to playing a leading role in helping to accelerate the uptake of EVs across our clients and customer base. That's it from me, and I'll now pass back to Rob.
Thank you, Kylie. In FY 2023, we commenced the period with approximately AUD 26 million in novated lease carryover from revenue from the previous period. To date, we're seeing a continuation of constrained vehicle supply and related demand dynamics witnessed in FY 2022, together with inflationary wage pressures and rising interest rates. Notwithstanding these pressures, during the first quarter of FY 2023, we haven't seen an impact on novated lease customer demand, as evident in leads, orders, and the retention of these opportunities. Vehicle remarketing yields experienced during the first quarter remain at elevated levels compared to their pre-COVID-19 levels. We look forward to the federal government gaining passage through the Parliament of its electric vehicle discount bill. As Kylie mentioned, we believe this will provide much-needed support to Australia's future adoption of low and zero-emission vehicles. Business momentum is expected to further benefit from our ongoing customer focus.
Growth in our GRS segment through the onboarding of recent new client wins achieved in FY 2022 will provide further momentum across FY 2023, while we continue to focus on upcoming tenders and ongoing client renewals. We continue to progress our strategic priorities, including ongoing investments in digital and data analytics, to enhance the customer experience and support future productivity gains. The new Onboard Finance will continue to be ramped up with the NPAT impact estimated to be approximately AUD 11 million for FY 2023, as outlined by Ashley. As mentioned, we are at the early stages of exploring our exit options from our remaining UK businesses while progressing to fully integrate the Plan Tracker business. These are both part of our commitment to move to a more focused and simplified business.
We will continue to drive organic growth in PSS as the NDIS continues to expand, and where appropriate, consider similar other non-organic opportunities in a disciplined manner, recognizing the evolving NDIS environment. Finally, we will continue to proceed with our disciplined approach to capital management and improving returns to our shareholders. Noting their increased final dividend for FY 22 is due for payment on 10 November 2022, and that, as Helen mentioned earlier, this week, we successfully completed our off-market share buyback. Before I close, I want to reiterate the strength of the underlying performance of the business across our FY 22, and that our outlook for the current period remains consistent with the commentary we provided in association with the release of full year FY 22 results. I'm excited by the opportunity which lies ahead as we pursue long-term sustainable growth for the business.
Finally, I want to thank our loyal customers, the dedication of our people, and our committed shareholders for their support. Thank you.
Thanks, Rob. We now come to the formal business of the meeting. Each item of business will be discussed in turn, and shareholders will have the opportunity to ask questions on that item of business. Questions which relate to the general business of the company will be collected and addressed at the conclusion of the meeting. You can submit a question by clicking on the Q&A icon. If you're having difficulties in asking a question, please refer to the user guide, which can be accessed through the platform. The first item of business listed in the notice of meeting is to receive and consider the financial report, the directors' report, and independent auditor's report of the company and its controlled entities for the financial year ended 30 June 2022. In accordance with the Corporations Act, there is no vote on this item.
This item of business provides shareholders with the opportunity to ask questions about the reports and management of the company generally. Are there any questions?
Yes, Chair. There are three questions. There are two questions in relation to this matter. This is a question from Mr. Stephen Mayne, and the question is, "Why was the buyback so popular when it was priced at a 14% discount? And which of our shareholders lobbied for an off-market buyback rather than an on-market buyback? Wouldn't it have made more sense to pay a large fully franked dividend to distribute our excess franking credit balance? Is there something about the composition of our share register which made an off-market buyback more tax effective?
Thanks, Stephen, for the question. Firstly, it was a board decision to conduct an off-market buyback as being the most effective means for shareholders. It had the greatest EPS and return on equity benefits for shareholders. All shareholders also then actually benefit whether or not shareholders participate or not in the buyback. It was the preferred method. I think as a result of that decision, you can see the strong support that we received from our shareholders. Thank you for the shareholders for that great support.
In a similar vein, a question from the Australian Shareholders' Association, Michael. In your recent share buyback scheme, do you believe that retail shareholders were treated equally to large institutional investors, including in priority allocation?
Yes, I do. The off-market buyback allowed a great opportunity for all shareholders to get a benefit, no matter, you know, what type of shareholder you are, and again, whether or not you participated in the scheme or you didn't participate in the scheme. Are there any further questions?
There are no further questions online, Chair.
Thank you. If there's no further questions, I'll proceed to the resolutions to be considered. I appoint David Squires of Computershare Investor Services as the Returning Officer for the purposes of conducting the poll on each resolution. As I mentioned at the start of the meeting, voting on the resolution is currently open, and you can vote at any time until I declare the voting closed. Results will be released to the ASX after the conclusion of the meeting. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders or authorized shareholder representatives may vote. Any directed proxies given to you by a shareholder will automatically be cast as directed when the poll is closed. The voting icon is available within the navigation bar. Once you click on this, the resolutions will appear on your screen, along with the for, against, and abstain voting options.
Simply select one of these options to cast your vote. When voting is closed, your final voting selection will be recorded. If you have any difficulties, please refer to the user guide, which can be accessed through the platform. Let's go to item two, the adoption of the remuneration report. Item two relates to the adoption of the remuneration report for the company for the financial year ended 30 June 2022, and is set out on pages 19 to 37 of the 2022 annual report. The remuneration report sets out the company's remuneration policy for its executives, employees, and directors.
The company strives to ensure that its remuneration report is clear, transparent, and demonstrates your board's objective of ensuring the alignment of executive reward with the creation of shareholder value, and that current market practices have been duly considered in terms of both quantum and structure of the company's remuneration framework. The resolution before the meeting is that the purpose of Section 250R of the Corporations Act, and for all other purposes, the remuneration report for the financial year ended 30 June 2022, as contained in the director's report, be adopted. The board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of adopting the remuneration report. I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. A summary of the votes received before the meeting now appears on the screen. Are there any questions in relation to the remuneration report?
Yes, Chair. We have one question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Did any of the five proxy advisors, ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS, and ASA, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including this remuneration report item? Which of the proxy advisors are covering us? And has there been a material proxy protest vote against any of today's resolutions? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on today's resolution so shareholders can ask questions about the reasons if there have been any protest votes? Also, next year, will you join the growing trend of companies disclosing the proxy position to the ASX with the formal addresses ahead of the AGM commencing?
Okay, I'll try and remember each of those in turn. Thank you, Stephen. Firstly, in regards to proxy advisors. We've had engagement with ACSI, Ownership Matters, and CGI Glass Lewis, and we're not aware that there weren't any matters of no support for our company in regards to the resolution. We've cited copies of those reports and they were favorable. In terms of disclosing votes, as you can see, we do provide that prior to the debate of the session, so people can actually see where the proxies are at as we engage in questions on each of the resolutions. That's a yes.
In terms of considering, disclosure on the ASX prior to the meeting in regards to proxy positions, let us take that one on notice for the board to consider for next year's AGM. Are there any further questions?
There are no further questions, Chair.
Thank you. The company will disregard any votes cast on item two by all key management personnel and their closely related parties, except where that vote is cast by them as a proxy for a person who is entitled to vote. As the next resolution relates to my election as director, I'll hand the chair to the company's People, Culture and Remuneration Committee Chair, Mr. Bruce Akhurst.
Thanks very much, Helen, and good morning, everybody. Item three is the re-election of Helen as a director of the company. Details of Helen's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of motion. Let me now invite Helen to say a few words.
Thanks, Bruce. I really understand the privilege of standing for re-election, and I certainly feel the weight of my responsibilities and accountabilities as a director and chair to our shareholders. I seek re-election really for four main reasons. Firstly, the great people of MMS, both past and present, the culture and the customers of MMS, delivering really important services in the areas of work that we do. Secondly, I'm really passionate about growing organizations, as I successfully did as an executive. Looking backwards in the last two years as chair, I've successfully managed the CEO retirement and market mapping and recruitment, and a smooth transition between the two. Implemented positive changes in terms of our governance structure and recruited new NEDs in terms of creating a high-performance board amongst key strategies delivered to date, which we've heard about today.
Looking forward, I really believe in the positive opportunities ahead for MMS and its shareholders, delivered by a high-performing MMS team. Thank you for considering my re-election.
Thank you, Helen. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution?
Chair, there are two questions. The first one is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The MMS website states that Ms. Kurincic is chair of Integral Diagnostics, a AUD 573 million listed company, and a director of Estia Health, a AUD 558 million listed company, plus on the board of HBF Health and the Murdoch family-funded Victorian Clinical Genetics Services. This looks like an excessive workload, and MMS is Helen's only board gig outside the health sector, which she clearly understands well. Could she please address the workload issue and explain how and why a health specialist finished up chair of a tax-driven salary packaging company?
Thanks, Stephen. I'll come to you for career planning next. Firstly, you know, my appointment as chair comes from the directors of the company. I was privileged to be asked and convinced to take on the role of chair. In terms of dedicating the appropriate amount of time, I believe I absolutely do in terms of and I think that's demonstrated every day to the colleagues and team of people, and evaluated both informally and very formally in the processes that are put in place at MMS.
In terms of my background, I guess when I was recruited as a non-executive director, I was asked to come on the board because of my understanding of growing organizations where I've literally, you know, had responsibility for the P&L and growing businesses very strongly, and that was an attribute that this company was after. Secondly, an understanding of regulated businesses and perhaps most importantly, an understanding of the customer segment that we actually serve. It was on that, I guess, criteria that I joined the board. To also correct the record, just a couple of those items, Stephen. One of them in regards to my position with HBF Health, it is a financial services organization that is APRA regulated. It's not considered a healthcare company as a large insurer.
I also chair the risk committee there and have very active engagement with APRA. I'm also no longer involved in the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, which was a lovely, you know, not-for-profit, given my interest in genetics, given that now it's structured so that they don't need an independent NED. Thank you, Stephen, for that question.
If I might add, I think, from a board point of view, we're delighted that Helen is the Chair. She's doing an excellent job, very engaged, very hardworking, strategic, encouraging of management, but at the same time, you know, questioning and querying and challenging. I can assure all shareholders that she's got our 100% support, and we're delighted that she's in that position. Any further questions?
Yes, Chair. We have one further question, again, from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Malcolm Turnbull recently said that Rupert Murdoch has done more damage to American democracy than any other living person, particularly by delivering President Trump through Fox News. The Murdoch empire has also global leaders in spreading climate denialism, plus are blamed for championing Brexit and the Second Iraq War, which was a disaster for all concerned. Is our Chair, Helen Kurincic, comfortable being associated with the Murdochs through her role on the board of the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services? I think you've addressed Chair Kurincic, which is funded by one of the world's richest and most controversial families.
Would it be better to resign the role and to reduce her workload to focus on the large portfolio of for-profit board roles?
Yes. Thanks very much for the interesting comments there, Stephen. I don't know that they're particularly relevant to our meeting right here. We could perhaps discuss them outside of the meeting. I think as you've heard, Helen's already resigned from that organization, so probably doesn't require to be addressed this morning.
In any case, you know, for the record, as a director of the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, our only mission was about the application of clinical genetics, particularly in regards to reproductive health. You know, making a massive difference in terms of what we can do, particularly for children that are born sick. Instead of taking months to years to work out a diagnosis, can do that within days, profoundly changing people's lives. I'm really proud of the work that that organization does.
Thanks, Helen. Any further questions? Ashley?
Yes, Chair. Once again from Mr. Stephen Mayne. When will the MMS website be updated to reflect the departure from the Murdoch-funded gig? I think we will commit to doing that off the back of this meeting as soon as possible. Thank you.
Any other questions?
No, Chair.
All right. Well, the board, excluding Helen, as this resolution's for her re-election, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The resolution before the meeting is that Miss Helen Kurincic, a director retiring from office in accordance with clause 20.2 of the Constitution, being eligible, is re-elected as a director of the company. I put that resolution to the meeting now.
A summary of the proxy votes received at the meeting is on the screen. I'll now hand back to Chair Helen.
Thank you, Bruce. Item four is the re-election of John Bennetts as the director of the company. Details of John's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. I would now like to invite John to say a few words.
Thank you. Thank you, Helen. My name is John Bennetts, and I've had the privilege of being a director of McMillan Shakespeare since it was first incorporated prior to its listing on the ASX. In the early stages of its journey, the company raised about AUD 20 million from shareholders, and over the years in return, shareholders have now received over AUD 600 million in fully franked dividends in excess of AUD 170 million in capital via buybacks. The market capitalization stands at about AUD 1 million. Total shareholder returns so far measure in the many thousands of %. Considering more important and interesting, though, is looking ahead. We all know that past performance isn't an indication of future performance.
With an experienced and talented management team led by new CEO Rob De Luca, the company is very well placed to enter into a new era and take advantage of our market-leading positions in the core GRS business, and also to continue to innovate and to grow our various operating segments. There's a significant opportunity in front of us, and I look forward to playing a part in maximizing the opportunity for the benefit of our customers, our staff, and our shareholders. I'm very grateful for the support for my re-election today. I would like to thank fellow board members, management and staff for their exceptional efforts and dedication. I'd also like to call out Mike Salisbury for his solid stewardship during his tenure as CEO, including having successfully guided the company and staff through the challenges of COVID. Thank you.
Are there any questions in relation to this resolution?
There are questions, Chair. I think if we could ask the operator just to scroll through to the proxies that we've received, first of all, for this resolution, please on the next slide. Thank you. First of all, a question that this is a question from the Australian Shareholders' Association directed to Mr. Bennetts. What accomplishments have you personally made or advocated during the past three years on the board or subcommittees which have furthered the interests of retail shareholders?
That's a very fair and good question. I've been supportive of the process of reviewing our business segments and simply further simplifying the business. I've been actively supporting the capital management process we've undertaken, including the share buyback and somewhat larger than usual dividend. They're just a couple of things, and of course, supported the transition to a new and very capable CEO from what was a very capable previous CEO. We've been busy and active. We're in the process of continuing to review our strategy. There's a lot going on. I think it's all quite positive from a shareholder perspective.
There's another further question, Chair. This question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Why has the video feed been cut for those participating in the AGM online? It was good to watch the top brass deliver the formal address, but now we are getting the audio. We can't see the whites of the directors' eyes as they answer the questions. Apart from that, you're running a good hybrid AGM so far, and well done on getting the backing of all the proxy advisors. Could John Bennetts please explain the process by which Helen was selected as our chair? Were there multiple internal candidates? How does he think the workload issue is being managed?
Okay. Well, let me start with the first question. Workload issue being managed. I haven't seen a more productive or committed chair, and we've had chairs who have been very committed and very productive. There is absolutely zero issue with Helen's availability, work effort or commitment. In fact, quite the contrary. How was Helen selected? She had an extended period as a non-executive director and added considerable value. She was a wonderful team player. She brings insights into management. She has people management skills, strategic skills, and an innate understanding of business. Helen was a standout candidate to succeed Tim as chair. I can confidently say that the board and management were highly supportive of that appointment.
Thank you. There's one more question, Chair, once again from Mr. Stephen Mayne. There was a 12% vote against John Bennetts on the proxies. Was that based on excessive tenure? That is the question. Then there's a comment. I disagree with tenure-based exits of founders and strongly support John Bennetts continuing.
Oh, that's fantastic to hear, Stephen, so thank you for that positive feedback. Obviously, we don't see the reasons why particular people may vote in a particular way, and assume that it is based on tenure because that could be the only factor. Just in regards to that in terms of, you know, the overall sort of board structure. Again, as people can see, we've been very active in terms of our board renewal process. Certainly in my time since 2020, you know, each year we've had a new director join the board. Firstly with Kathy joining in 2020, and then followed by Bruce in 2021. You would have also seen the news in regards to Arlene Tansey joining us, in November of 2022.
Having that mix of longer tenure and shorter tenure, you know, board members, I think is an excellent mix overall and a great support for a new CEO. Are there any further questions?
There are no further questions, Chair.
Thank you. The board, excluding John, as this resolution is for his re-election, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The resolution before the meeting is that John Bennetts, a director retiring from office in accordance with clause 20.2 of the Constitution, being eligible, is re-elected as a director of the company. I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. A summary of the proxy votes received before the meeting has been on the screen. Now on to item five, which relates to the issue of rights to the managing director.
The resolution before the meeting is that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and all other purposes, approval be given for the issue to the Managing Director, Rob De Luca, of 103,528 performance rights under the company's executive incentive plan and for the issue of shares on the exercise of those performance rights. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution?
There are no questions in relation to this resolution.
Thank you. The company will disregard any votes cast on item five by Mr. De Luca and his closely related parties, except where that vote is cast by them as a proxy for a person who is entitled to vote. I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. A summary of the proxy votes received before the meeting has been on the screen. Let's go to item six, which relates to the renewal of proportional takeover provisions. The resolutions before the meeting is that in accordance with Section 136(2) and 648G(4) of the Corporations Act, the Constitution be modified with effect from the date of the meeting to renew the operation of the proportional takeover provisions contained in Rule 13 of the Constitution. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution?
There are no questions.
I'll put that resolution to the meeting. A summary of the proxy votes received before the meeting appears on the screen. Let's go to item seven, which relates to the appointment of the auditor. The resolution before the meeting is that for the purposes of Section 327B(1) of the Corporations Act, and for all other purposes, Ernst & Young, having been nominated by a shareholder and consented in writing to act as auditor of the company, be appointed as auditor of the company. Are there any questions in relation to this resolution?
There is, Chair. There is one question from the Australian Shareholders' Association. Can you or the auditor please elaborate on reasons for the resignation of auditor Grant Thornton?
Yeah. Thank you. I'll take that question. We're really pleased to have Grant Thornton with this business since, I believe, the inception. It's been a long time that GT has actually been with us and provided services to the company, and we really acknowledge and thank GT. We thought it's appropriate in terms of good governance and with Darren's time coming towards an end in the next 12 months, that's an appropriate time to actually go through a tender process. We embarked on a tender process and made a decision as a result of that tender process to proceed with EY, hence the recommendation. Are there any further questions?
There are no further questions.
I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. A summary of the proxy votes received before the meeting now appears on the screen. That concludes the business of the meeting. Are there any further questions not related to the business of the meeting?
There are, Chair. This is a question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Back in 2013, our company donated AUD 250,000 to the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association to campaign against the then Labor government's tax hit on the salary packaging industry. Our bet worked after the Coalition took power and reversed the decision. Nine years later, what are the prospects of another tax hit from the new Labor government, and what is our current policy on making political donations or political campaigning through peak bodies?
I can't speak to 2013, but certainly I can speak to the current position. Firstly, we don't make political donations. We are a member of NALSPA, and a proud member of NALSPA, which does a great job in terms of education and advocacy in the sector. We do support NALSPA. We're not aware of any change in support in terms of the Labor government support for the current regime. Are there any further questions?
There's one further question, Chair. How many shareholders participated in the buyback? When disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, could you please advise the ASX of how many shareholders voted for and against each of them? Similar to what happened in scheme of arrangements, if you may have addressed that point. This will better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on the resolutions, and was a disclosure initiative supported by the likes of Medibank, Dexus, Altium and Webjet, Tabcorp so far this year at the AGM. So that's from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Chair, would you like me to address the buyback issue?
Yeah.
There were approximately 15.5 million shares tendered in relation to the buyback, hence the scale back was approximately 15%. Sorry, 50%. 49% was purchased from those who tendered subject to the conditions that you outlined. That's the answer to that question.
Thank you. In regards to the second question, we hadn't considered it for this AGM, but it's certainly something that we will take on notice as a question from you, Stephen, and consider it in future AGMs in terms of adding the number of shareholders. Currently, we comply with both the Corporations Act and Listing Rules in terms of the information we put forward to the ASX. Are there any further questions?
There are no further questions.
Well, that concludes the business of the meeting. I'd like to advise that shortly, the voting on all resolutions will close. Can all shareholders voting online, please now ensure that they've submitted their votes. We'll take a few moments now to allow you to finish voting. We need some music. Okay. Hopefully, that's been enough time. Are you still going? Okay. There being no further questions, I declare the poll closed. The staff of Computershare will now process the poll, and the final results will be notified to the ASX in accordance with the Corporations Act and will also be placed on the company's website as soon as they become available. As there is no further business, I warmly thank you all for your attendance both virtually and online, and in person, and declare the meeting closed. Thank you.