Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the tenth annual general meeting of Monash IVF Group, following the company's listing in June 2014. My name is Richard Davis, and I am Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chair of the meeting. On behalf of the Board of Monash, I'm pleased to have you attending and participating in our AGM today. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the country throughout Australia, and pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, to elders past and present, and recognize the continuing lands, waters, and communities where we are all dialing in from to attend today's AGM. Welcome to our shareholders in person today. I would like to thank you for your attendance. This AGM is also being broadcast virtually, allowing for shareholders to participate legally without having to physically attend.
Shareholders present in person or online will have the same opportunity to participate today, including being able to ask questions and vote. I'll discuss these processes a little later. I also encourage our online attendees to download the virtual online meeting guide from the Monash Group website, if you haven't already done so. If we experience technical issues that prevent shareholders from having reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting, the company will provide an update on its website and the ASX platform to communicate the details of the postponement and/or delay of the meeting to shareholders. I'm informed by our company secretary that in accordance with the company's constitution, a quorum is present, and I declare the meeting formally open. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce my fellow directors and senior executives of the company, who are in attendance and participating in the meeting today.
Zita Peach, Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Josef Czyzewski, Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committee. Catherine West, who is attending virtually as she's just had surgery, and also Dr. Richard Henshaw, who also had surgery last week and is attending virtually. Neil Broekhuizen is here, Michael Knaap, our Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, and Malik Jainudeen, our Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Our auditors from KPMG are also present, including Audit Partner, Chris Sargent . Voting on resolutions 2, 3A, and 3B, and 4 will be conducted by way of poll. Shareholders not in attendance at the meeting today can vote online through the virtual meeting platform. Shareholders in attendance can vote by completing a voting card. Each share provides entitlement to one vote. Only shareholders or their duly appointed proxies, attorneys, or corporate representatives can vote at today's meeting.
If there is any shareholder here who is eligible to vote and does not have a voting card, please attend the share registry registration outside this room for assistance. Voting exclusions apply to resolutions two and four, as detailed in the notice of the meeting. All holders will have the opportunity to comment on and ask questions in relation to the resolutions. I will hold comments and questions until the item of business has been introduced, and holders have been invited to then do so. Holders present at the meeting will be able to ask questions verbally at the meeting. Holders participating virtually can ask questions via the virtual AGM platform or verbally by telephone. To utilize this telephone facility, holders must use their unique PIN provided to them by Link Market Services.
If you don't have a phone PIN and would like to ask a question via the phone, please contact Link on 1800 990 363 now to get your PIN. When you dial in online, you will be asked a question to mute your online sound and listen to the meeting by phone. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to dial star one on your keypad, which will indicate to the moderator you wish to ask a question. The teleconference moderator requires your name and will introduce you, prompting you to ask your question by unmuting your line at the relevant time. In order to ensure that all holders have a reasonable opportunity to comment and ask questions, I request that holders do not ask more than two questions at a time.
Only shareholders or their duly appointed proxies or corporate representatives can vote at today's meeting. Summary details of the proxies on each resolution will be displayed on the screen, as each resolution is considered and will be reported to the ASX after the meeting concludes. All undirected proxy votes appointing the chairman as the proxy holder will be voted in favor of the resolutions on Item 2, 3A, 3B, and 4. The proxy form authorizes the chair to vote in favor of the resolution to the remuneration report and resolution for the granted performance rights to Mr. Michael Knaap. Prior to handing over to Michael Knaap, our CEO, I would like to reflect on the very positive progress made by Monash Group in the 2023 financial year, and provide an update on year-to-date performance in financial 2024.
In financial year 2023, we moved closer to achieving our Vision 2026, to be the most admired reproductive provider in the world. We delivered strong financial results, and our key doctor and patient engagement measures are at record highs, and we continue to invest in future growth.... Most importantly, however, we continue to increase our market-leading success rates and to ensure that every patient has the best opportunity to create or grow their family. Monash IVF Group delivered a solid financial result in 2023, with revenue growth of 11.1% and an underlying net profit after tax growth of 14.7% to AUD 25.5 million. We are very proud of these results, especially considering economic conditions and financial pressures in parts of our community, reaffirming that IVF is an essential service.
While the IVF industry declined by 1.1% in financial 2023, it was certainly a tale of two halves. The industry rebounded strongly in the second half, with key market industry-stimulated cycles increasing by 5.6%. Our Australian IVF business was strong across most of the year, with stimulated cycles up by 15.3% in the second half compared to the PCP, following a 3.8% decline in the first half compared to the previous period. This resulted in a market share growth in our key markets by 1.4% to 22.7%, validating our strategy to grow profitable market share without compromising on our key non-financial metrics, including people and engagement and patient satisfaction.
Organic growth was supplemented by contributions from the ART Associates acquisition, with that completed in October 2022, and the PIVET Medical Centre acquisition that was completed in late May, making us the only IVF provider with a presence in every Australian mainland city. An additional 25 fertility specialists joined Monash during the year, confirming we are a destination of choice for clinicians, and this has continued into 2024. Our Australian Women's Imaging business turned the corner during the year, with Sydney performing well during the year, while Melbourne's improvement commenced in the last quarter. Our Women's Imaging business delivered scan volume growth of 12.7% in the second half of the year, providing positive momentum heading into 2024. Our international IVF business, which comprises five clinics in Southeast Asia, delivered robust growth in stimulated cycles of 19.9%.
However, earnings were impacted by a gradual ramp-up in volume at the Singapore clinic. Our recent investment in nursing, science, marketing, and doctor attraction will help drive growth and provide some consistency in branding and operations across the region. Financial 2023 has positioned Monash on a positive trajectory heading into 2024 and beyond. We believe the Australian IVF market is entering a period of sustained growth, driven by traditional and new demand drivers. These new demand drivers, such as rising awareness of egg freezing, increasing referrals to IVF from growth in genetic carrier screening, and growing patient segments, will supplement the competing traditional growth drivers to the fertility services. The benefits of our significant recent investment in infrastructure, services, and people across all our businesses started to become evident in the second half of the year, and the investment should continue to underpin above-market growth in the future.
This investment in future growth is a continuous and constant focus for Monash IVF, reflecting our confidence in the outlook for the Australian and Southeast Asia businesses, as well as our commitment to always improving outcomes and experiences for our patients, doctors, and people. As well as delivering on our financial and operational objectives, the board is committed to enhancing already robust corporate governance processes. Over the last 12 months, we have established an ESG Committee, which provides the oversight to ensure our businesses are run as environmentally friendly and sustainable operations. Financial 23 was a very successful year for Monash, despite the challenging macro environment. The resilience of our business over the last three years provides confidence that Monash IVF Group is well-placed to maintain its strong financial position and deliver sustained shareholder value creation as we enter the next exciting growth period.
I will now provide a brief update on trading in 2024, and Malik Jainudeen will provide further detail on the trading update later in his address. The first 4 months of trading for financial year 2024 has been very pleasing. The positive momentum that built across our domestic IVF services and women's ultrasound business during the second half of financial 2023 is continuing in the current financial year, and activity is building in the Singapore business. In Australia, the IVF industry has continued its positive growth from the second half of 2023, with Australian industry-stimulated cycles increasing by 2.8%.
Monash IVF's recent investment in growth, including acquisitions, has underpinned above-market growth, with stimulated cycles growing by 16.7%, driving a 2.8% increase in Monash's IVF Australian market share to 23.1% to October year to date compared to the previous period. Note that as we now have a presence in every mainland city following the PIVET acquisition, we are reporting market share on an Australian-wide basis going forward... Monash IVF's new patient registration for the period ended July to October 2023, increased by 12.3% compared to the previous period, including acquisitions. Monash IVF Singapore Clinic stimulated cycles increased by 35.4% compared to the previous period, whilst Kuala Lumpur's clinic stimulated cycles declined by 14.7% due to challenging macroeconomic conditions in Malaysia.
Our women's ultrasound business in Sydney and Melbourne grew, got off to a very good start during the first four months of 2024. The Australian IVF industry and Monash IVF will continue to be a beneficiary of an underlying structural demand drivers, while supplemented by emerging services such as genetics and egg freezing, growing patient segments, in particular the LGBTQIA+ segment, and new patient acquisition channels. While macroeconomic conditions in Australia, including cost of living and monetary policy, is impacting affordability of certain services and goods, it is not currently impacting Monash's IVF new patient registrations to date, with new patient registrations up on the prior year between July and October 2023.
In regard to the first half of 2024, underlying group profit after tax for the six months ended December 31 is expected to be between AUD 14.5 million and AUD 15 million, as compared with AUD 12.6 million in the prior period. Non-recurring items in the first half of 2024 will include commissioning of new premises, including day hospital operations and acquisition-related costs. The group is confident revenues and earnings can continue to grow in the second half of 2024 compared to the second half of 2023. Noting the growth in the full year contribution from the PIVET Medical Centre acquisition, which occurred in May of 2023, and also the contribution from our new fertility specialists attracted during the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, which will drive growth in activity in the second half of 2024.
The group will continue to focus on attraction of suitable fertility specialists. Growth should come from the ongoing and sustainable conversion of IVF patient registration growth experienced during the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024. Growth in reproductive genetic carrier screening following the introduction in November 2023, which will lead to onward referrals to IVF. The commencement and contribution from new day hospital operations, continued improvement in the ultrasound businesses, particularly in Melbourne, and further growth in our Southeast Asia growth strategy. A further update will be provided in February 2024. The board and I wish to thank our shareholders for their continued support of Monash IVF. I would also like to thank our people and our clinicians for their outstanding commitment during the year, including their unrelenting patient-first mindset.
Thank you to our CEO, Michael Knaap, CFO, Malik Jainudeen, our COO, Hamish Hamilton, and the rest of the team for their collaborative and inclusive leadership style, which encourages everyone to work together to deliver life-changing outcomes for our patients. It is the commitment of our people and clinicians, combined with the support of our shareholders, which gives us optimism to the future as we move towards our vision to be the most admired reproductive care provider in the world. I will now invite Mr. Knaap to address the meeting, to give you an overview of the 2023 operations and further update on our current trading and outlook.
Thank you, Richard, and thank you everyone for joining us today. We had a very successful year in financial year 2023, driven by our commitments to leading success rates, our recent investment in best-in-class infrastructure and patient experience, and the dedication of our people and clinicians. This success was reflected in our strong financial results, further increases in success rates, market share gains across most of our businesses, and engagement measures at all-time highs. I would now like to touch on the key highlights from financial year 2023. We delivered an underlying NPAT of AUD 25.5 million, representing 14.7% growth on the previous year, and a revenue increase of 11.1%.
Operational highlights from financial year 2023 include further increases in our leading success rates, market share gains across most of our businesses, 25 new fertility specialists joining the group, completion and integration of the ART Associates and PIVET acquisitions, and significant investment in clinical infrastructure, including the opening of a new flagship sites in Melbourne, Gold Coast, Penrith, and Darwin. In Southeast Asia, we invested in people and services to strengthen our platform for further expansion in the region. I wanted to touch on the compelling underlying structural tailwinds in our industry to support volume growth into the future. The Australian IVF market grew above historical averages in the second half of FY 2023 at 5.3%, and within that period, our new patient registrations were up 23%.
All indicators suggest that IVF is a resilient industry throughout challenging economic times, and we firmly believe that IVF services are non-discretionary, just in case you missed that message. The fundamental drivers of growth in our industry are just as strong as ever, including advancement in maternal age, increasing success rates, favorable and increasing government funding, such as the new rebate for genetic carrier screening that was introduced at the start of this month. In addition to the traditional growth drivers, there are new patient segments and services that are contributing to the positive growth outlook in our industry. To touch on one of the growing patient segments, I would like to highlight the LGBTQIA+ patient community, currently representing an increasing 11% of the Australian population.
This patient segment generally needs IVF and donors to build their families, and we have been focused on designing bespoke offerings and experiences for this patient cohort. There is also a rising awareness and adoption of newer services such as egg freezing and genetics, and new patient acquisition channels in sports and corporate, which should together provide another layer of growth for the industry. I would like to spend a bit of time on genetics and growth in carrier screening following the introduction of Medicare rebate in November 2023, is expected to drive significant incremental IVF industry-stimulated cycles in the oncoming years. Almost all couples considering pregnancy are expected to have a three-gene carrier testing as a minimum, and this will be a significant feeder into IVF volumes.
Abnormal results from carrier screen testing will result in increased IVF, as it is the only way to filter out the disease risk. We are uniquely placed to capitalize on this growth opportunity with a high-quality test, a leading genetic pathologist, a large patient pool, a specialized genetic counselor network, and an integrated service transition model. In summary, whilst the attractive industry fundamentals continue to support growth of 2%-3% per annum going forward, growing patient segments and new services will supplement traditional drivers, which may result in overall industry growth trending towards 3%-5% over the medium to longer term. Our stimulated cycle activity outperformed the industry in FY 2023, resulting in continued growth in our market share, which has now increased over a sustained period of three years.
Our stimulated cycles market share in key markets grew 1.4% to 22.7% during financial year 2023, and of particular note is the very strong market share gains in the second half of FY 2023, which were up by 2.2% to 23.9%. This highlights the momentum we have going into financial year 2024, and the trading update confirms further gains in market share. The contribution from new fertility specialists, effective marketing campaigns, and the acquisitions of ART Associates and PIVET, all contributed to market share growth in financial year 2023. Our success in recruiting new doctors reflects the compelling doctor value proposition and the attraction of joining a group of highly engaged doctors across fertility and ultrasound.
Our doctor value proposition is heavily geared towards partnering with our doctors to deliver leading success rates and a best-in-class patient experience. We continued our momentum in doctor recruitment through acquisition with ART Associates and PIVET, and direct recruitment, welcoming 25 new doctors during financial year 2023. This success in attracting new clinicians can only be achieved when you have a highly engaged doctor group, who are advocates of Monash IVF as a result of the experience and service quality that they and their patients are recipients of. We are continuing to focus on attracting and onboarding new and experienced fertility specialists with a suitable cultural fit, outstanding clinical competencies, and industry reputation. We continue to invest in the medium to long-term future through new and upgraded clinic infrastructure.
This reflects our commitment to driving improvements to our patient and doctor experience, while also representing the confidence we have in future growth. We've completed new flagship sites in Traralgon, Victoria, Penrith, Darwin, and Gold Coast, while there are another four clinics in various phases of design and construction, including Brisbane, Sunshine, Rockhampton, and an ultrasound clinic in St Leonards. The latter two have recently been opened. We are very proud of our new clinics that create a warm, caring, comfortable, and friendly environment. We have an unrelenting commitment to investing in scientific capability to ensure we are delivering to our patients the best possible outcomes, and differentiating our value proposition to patients and doctors. We have been on this journey of continuous improvement throughout our long heritage, and the Monash way is well embedded across our group and has driven unified state-of-the-art science, technology, and processes....
The chart you see shows that over a 4-year period to calendar year 2022, Monash IVF's clinical pregnancy rates have increased, increased by a very significant 5.4% to 38%. Our clinical pregnancy rates improved a further 0.7% in the first quarter of calendar year 2023, to 38.7%. As part of our ongoing commitment to improving success rates and staying in the forefront of new technologies, we partner with innovative organizations to advance new technologies and support our clinicians and scientists in their research activities. Our strategic marketing investment and innovative campaigns drove market share gains in financial year 2023, and resulted in a strong patient pipeline heading into FY 2024. Our latest campaigns have performed exceptionally well, including the What It Takes Together and the Egg Freezing campaigns.
We are also making significant progress into the corporate and sports channels as new patient recruitment channels. On the people front, we have achieved another milestone in our people's engagement journey, with our highest ever reported engagement level of 64%, which is well above industry benchmarks and demonstrates a culture of success. We also continue to make positive progress in building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and our learning and development frameworks, and focus on personal and professional development, will enable us to support growth through attracting and retaining the best people in our industry. Moving now on to the Australian Ultrasound business, which has demonstrated a very significant turnaround in financial year 2023, in particular, in the second half.
The second half scan volumes grew by 12.7%, with both our Sydney Ultrasound for Women and Monash Ultrasound for Women businesses delivering volume and market share growth, highlighting the positive momentum as we move into FY 2024. Our Sydney Ultrasound for Women business delivered 8.5% growth in scans over FY 2024, and our Monash Ultrasound for Women turnaround is progressing well, delivering scan growth of 5.1% in FY 2023, with growth skewed towards the second half. Furthermore, we have recruited three new sonologists to increase capacity and allow for succession planning in our ultrasound business. Our international IVF business, which consists of five clinics in Southeast Asia, recorded volume growth of 19.9% in financial year 2023. However, earnings were impacted by initial losses in Singapore, whereby the volume ramp-up has been slower than expected.
Monash IVF's recent investment in scientific, clinical, nursing, and marketing capabilities has created a solid platform to leverage future growth in the region. We see great opportunities through refining doctor focus, recruiting additional fertility specialists, and driving consistent clinical, scientific, and nursing processes across our clinics. Well, we are very focused on consolidating and optimizing the performance of our existing clinics, and are also committed to executing on more partnership opportunities in the Southeast Asian region. Most of you will be very familiar with our Vision 2026 strategic roadmap. It remains very consistent and reflects our commitment to our strategic pillars, outcomes, and principles, which will drive us towards our Vision 2026 of being the most admired reproductive care provider in the world. This slide, which highlights our key four-year metrics, tells a very compelling story.
At the end of financial year 2023, all our key operational engagement metrics were at record highs. This is quite an achievement and demonstrates the significant progress we are making towards achieving our Vision 2026. I'm pleased to report that the positive trends from the second half of financial year 2023 have continued in the first four months of FY 2024, starting with our Australian IVF business. There was positive industry growth continued in FY 2024, with Australian industry stimulated cycles increasing by 2.8% to October year to date. Our stimulated cycles increased by 16.8% to October year to date, and our new patient registrations increased by 12.3% for the same period, supporting growth for the remainder of FY 2024.
We achieved well above-market growth, resulting in Australian market share increasing by 2.8%- 23.1%. Our above-market growth is attributable to organic growth, our recent strategic acquisitions, including the ART Associates and PIVET businesses. Our success in recruiting new doctors has continued, with a further 6 doctors signed on so far in this financial year. Our women's imaging business continued its positive performance, demonstrating the turnaround we are seeing is sustainable. Scan volumes for our women's imaging business increased by 6.8% year-to-date to October. We also opened a new state-of-the-art clinic in St Leonards, New South Wales, earlier this month, which has been very well received by patients and clinicians. Our international ARS business delivered a mixed performance year-to-date to October. In Singapore, stimulated cycles increased by 35.4%....
A new medical director recently joined us, which will be instrumental to driving growth in the region in the future. This positive turnaround in Singapore was partially offset by weaker volumes in Kuala Lumpur fertility, largely due to macroeconomic conditions and a weak medical tourism market. Now, moving to the outlook, Richard has provided a lot of the detailed commentary in regards to the outlook, so I won't repeat it, but I'll just summarize it that our underlying group NPAT for the six months ending 31 December 2023 is expected to be between AUD 14.5 million and AUD 15 million, as compared to AUD 12.5 million in the prior period.
We are confident revenue and earnings can continue into the second half of FY 2024 compared to the second half of FY 2023, given the momentum we have and for the reasons outlined previously by Richard. In closing, we are very pleased with the strong financial and operational outcomes achieved in the financial year 2023, especially given the current challenging macroeconomic environment. We have great confidence in the outlook for Monash IVF, with our business performing well and our company in a strong financial position. We have a clear Vision 2026 strategy to deliver sustainable growth and create value for our shareholders. Before handing back to Richard for the formal business of the meeting, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our people and clinicians for their outstanding dedication to Monash IVF.
They have ensured we delivered exceptional experiences and outcomes for our patients and created value for our shareholders. Thank you for your attendance today, and I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress across the year.
Thanks. Thanks, Michael. We now turn our attention to the formal business of the meeting, as set out in the notice of meeting. After formal business matters conclude, we will address any general shareholder questions to the board, CEO, or auditors. Specific questions or resolutions can be asked and answered as we move through each of the resolutions shortly. Our company secretary has confirmed that the notice of meeting has been sent to all shareholders and other persons entitled to receive it within the notice period. The matters requiring consideration today are outlined in the notice of meeting, and the notice will be taken as read and can be accessed on the Monash IVF Group website. Monash IVF Group Limited's financial statements for the 2023 financial year, together with the directors' report and auditors' report, are in the annual report, which is also available on our website.
Monash IVF Group share registry provider, Link Market Services, will conduct the voting by way of poll, and Tim Thurgate from Link will be acting as returning officer. Votes will be counted after the end of the meeting, and the results published on the ASX. Shareholders participating virtually can cast their votes by clicking Get Voting Card button. You'll be asked to enter your security holder reference number or holder identification number, plus postcode if you're in Australia, or country if you're outside Australia. To then cast your vote, click the submit button. Eligible shareholders present in the room who wish to vote require a voting card. If you do not have a voting card, please raise your hand now and keep it raised until you're attended by a representative of the share registry.
If you are intending to vote, you will be able to finalize and submit your vote up until five minutes after the meeting ends. I'll remind you at the end of the meeting. The proxy votes that have been submitted will be set out on the slides shown for each resolution. Shareholders have appointed the chair of today's meeting, myself, as proxy for approximately 389 million shares, voting either for, against, or with discretion for all resolutions. As indicated on the proxy form and in the notice of meeting, the intention for the chair is to vote all discretionary or undirected proxies held by the chair in favor of each resolution. Now to the procedure for asking questions. Those online participating today will be able to ask questions in text form via the online portal or verbally using the teleconference facility during the meeting.
I will provide sufficient notes for holders to ask questions in these formats. I will endeavor to answer all relevant questions from holders during today's meeting. However, I reserve the right as chair to rule questions as not pertaining to the AGM, out of order, and to take questions on notice. I propose the order of taking questions as follows: First, from holders using the teleconference facility. Second, from any holders who have asked a question online via text. And third, holders present within the room can raise their hand, and an attendant will bring them up. The first item I table, the annual financial report for the year ended 30 June 2023, together with the directors' report and auditors' report.
In respect of that, in respect of that financial report, our auditor is available to answer questions from the auditors' report and the content and conduct of the audit. Are there any questions or comments from telephone participants?
Chair, there are no phone questions.
There's no questions, no question. Yeah. Are there any questions or comments from online?
No questions, Richard.
Are there any questions from the room? We'll now move to the formal resolution set out in the notice of the meeting. I now move to Resolution two, which is to consider and report, pass a resolution to adopt a remuneration report. Before I put the motion forward, I would like to outline the approach to remuneration. The Monash IVF Group Remuneration Framework is underpinned by key principles, including alignment of remuneration to business strategy and priority, is market competitive and rewards performance, and is simple and transparent. It's focused on long-term sustainability of Monash IVF Group's value creation for Monash key stakeholders, the attraction and retention of our people, and ultimately, helping our patients start or grow their family.
The framework combines total fixed remuneration, short- and long-term incentives to form an overall total remuneration. This structure is designed to consider market positioning and benchmarking, which is intended to reward individual and company performance aligned to the execution of our strategy and drive sustained, sustainable high performance over the short and long term. The Group's remuneration framework for FY 2023 for the CEO, CFO, and the COO continue to retain these three components, with short-term incentives and long-term incentives at risk. A summary of these three components relating to 2023 include the following: Maximum remuneration for the KMP continue to be adjusted in line with external benchmarking. As advised last year, the benchmarking considered organizations of comparable size at that time. In 2023, the company continued to grow earnings, its market capitalization, and key non-financial strategy outcomes to continue to deliver long-term sustainable growth.
In 2023, the board agreed to increase the total remuneration for the CEO, CFO, and COO through ongoing step changes, bringing these closer to comparable peers. The CEO's three-year fixed remuneration growth is 6% and 11% for the maximum remuneration, aligning with more at-risk remuneration. The adjustment to the CEO, CFO, and COO maximum remuneration remains at or below the industry benchmark. The board continues to recognize that the KMPs and executives are critical to the achievement of our Vision 2026, and therefore, the remuneration and retention strategies, ensuring that they remain incentivized to deliver, to deliver this strategy. Further adjustments may be considered and applied to the at-risk component to ensure greater comparability to our peers. The 2023 STI gateway was achieved, being at or above the industry scientific success rates.
This measure continued to be the most critical focus of the organization and will remain as an STI gateway. The STI financial component was below target, but above threshold, resulting in 48% of the financial targets being met. For the LTI component, the earnings per share component of the 2021 performance rights granted was achieved on the 30th of June 2023, due to the performance targets being met during the period 2021 to 2023. The total shareholder return on the financial year performance rights granted did not vest during 2023 against the TSR component of the 2021 performance rights vested in 2023. In accordance with Section 250R of the Corporations Act, the remuneration report is put to shareholders for adoption. The remuneration report is set out on pages 44-60, with the 2023 annual report.
The vote on this is advisory only and does not bind the directors of the company. Are there any questions or comments from telephone participants on item two?
Chair, there are no phone questions.
Are there any online questions?
No questions, Richard.
Are there any questions in the room? I now put the resolution to the meeting and advise that there are 225,485,516 proxy votes in favor of the resolution. 17,044,750 proxy votes against, 468,000 open votes, and 181,926 abstentions. In accordance with the authorization in the proxy form, undirected proxies given to the chairman will be voted in favor of the resolution. To facilitate participation by all shareholders, I direct that a poll be taken on this item. As a reminder, please cast your vote if you have not already done so. The resolutions for items three and three B relate to the election of two directors, Catherine West and Dr. Richard Henshaw.
The listing rules require mandatory re-election following three years from their last re-election. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and being eligible, Catherine West and Dr. Henshaw offer themselves for re-election. These resolutions are proposed as ordinary resolutions and will be provided if passed by more than 50% of the votes cast by members entitled to vote on these resolutions. Resolutions for Item 3A relates to the re-election of Catherine West, a non-executive director of the company, and being eligible, offers herself for re-election. Be re-elected as a director of the company. Catherine West is an experienced ASX-listed non-executive director, and has over 25 years of legal, business, affairs, and strategy experience in customer-focused businesses in industries such as media, entertainment, telecommunications, and medical in Australia, the U.K., and Europe.
Catherine is currently a non-executive director of the ASX-listed Nine Entertainment, where she is also chairperson of the People and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. Catherine also serves on several other boards, including Peter Warren Automotive Group, the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation, and NIDA Foundation. Are there any questions or comments from telephone participants?
Chair, there are no phone questions.
Any questions online?
No questions, Richard.
Are there any questions from the room? I now put the resolution to the meeting and advise that there are 238,787,232 proxy votes in favor of the resolution, 3,551,969 proxy votes against, and 510,569 open votes, and 330,422 abstentions. Undirected proxies given to the chairman will be voted in favor of the resolution. To facilitate participation by all shareholders, I direct that a poll be taken on this item. As a reminder, please cast your vote if you haven't done so already. Resolution for Item 3B relates to the re-election of Dr.
Richard Henshaw as an Executive Director of the company, and being eligible, offers himself for re-election, being re-elected as a director of the company. Dr. Henshaw has been a director of the company since the listing in 2014, and continues to be a fertility specialist in the group. Dr. Henshaw is a deputy chair of the Australian IVF Directors Group Board, whose purpose is to ensure sustainable provision of assisted reproductive services in Australia and New Zealand. In addition, Richard has served on many national bodies, including the RANZCOG Council and the IVF Medical Directors Group of Australia and New Zealand, and the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee. Are there any questions, from telephone participants?
Chair, there are no phone questions.
Any questions online?
No questions, Richard.
Any questions from the room? Thank you. Then I now put the resolution for the meeting and advise that there are 241,974,964 proxy votes in favor of the resolution, 360,337 proxy votes against, 510,469 open votes, and 334,422 abstentions. Undirected proxies given to the chairperson will be voted in favor of the resolution. Now, I get to resolutions for Item four, which relates to the grant of performance rights to Michael Knaap. As I should have said, for the last resolution, that we will take a poll on this item. So please, if you haven't voted, so please vote. And lastly, we got resolution four.
Resolution for item four relates to the grant of performance rights to Mr. Michael Knaap for his annual long-term incentive grant for the year ended 30 June 2024, on the terms described in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the notice of the meeting dated 27 October 2023. As required under ASX Listing Rule 10.14, and for all other applicable purposes, the shareholder approval is sought for the grant of performance rights to Mr. Michael Knaap.
This resolution is proposed as an ordinary resolution and will be approved if passed by more than 50% of the votes cast by members entitled to vote on this resolution. Mr. Knaap will be granted 517,433 performance rights, which have been determined by dividing Mr. Knaap's LTI maximum opportunity of AUD 630,515 by the volume-weighted average share price of the company's share traded on the ASX on the 10 days following the announcement of the financial three results. Seventy percent of the performance rights will be subject to basic EPS hurdles, and thirty percent of the performance rights will be subject to relative total shareholder return hurdles relative to the ASX 300 Healthcare Accumulation Index, excluding CSL Limited. Details of the vesting schedules for these hurdles is set out in the notice of meeting. Are there any questions from telephone participants on item four?
Chair, there are no phone questions.
Are there any questions online?
No questions, Richard.
Are there any questions from the room? Thank you. I now put the resolution to the meeting and advise that there are 225,448,822 proxy votes in favor of the resolution. 17,052,760 proxy votes against, 468,000 open votes, and 210,601 abstentions. Undirected proxies given to the chairman will be voted in favor of the resolution. To facilitate participation by all shareholders, I direct that a poll be taken on this item. I remind you again, if you haven't voted, please do so now. As noted earlier, Monash IVF Group's share register provider, Link Market Services, will conduct voting by way of poll, and Mr. Tim Thurgate of Link will act as a returning officer.
Votes will be counted after the end of the meeting and results published on the ASX. The ability to vote will cease five minutes following the end of the meeting, and the vote poll will close at that time. Now, are there any questions on it or on general business from people online?
We have one, and I think it's mainly from Michael. Questions about the importance of donor conceived children to have access to the info that enables them to identify biologically connected children. Just have to finish that question, just one second. How does the company adopt best practice when it comes to ensuring donor children are able to track down donors, donor siblings, should they wish to, no matter which country the donor comes from, including record keeping, length of record keeping, dealing with Australian regulatory changes, evolving DNA databases, for example, family limits, research, and donor children's desires and needs? Over to Michael.
Thanks for that. It's a very, very detailed, complex question and answer, and that's why we put so much emphasis into our donor programs. We acknowledge the importance of donor conceived children to have access to the info that enables them to identify biological connections , and that's really important. We have professional teams that remain abreast of best practice and ensures we comply with the complex legislation and regulations. Our donor program is audited and verified as a part of our annual accreditation program. It's also worth noting that we have extensive counseling and consenting programs to give donors and recipients all the info they need to consent, and this includes info about identifying info, government registers, where it will reside, and info available through the Monash IVF retention of information.
We take this very, very seriously, and it's a very, a very important element of our donor program, and we continue to invest in it to make sure that we are a destination of choice for those wanting to participate in donor programs.
There are no more questions online.
Are there any questions from the room? That brings us to the end of the 2023 Monash IVF Group Annual Meeting. In a moment, I'll formally close the meeting. If you're intending to vote on the formal business of the meeting, you should now finalize and submit your votes, as voting will close in five minutes from now. We're going around and collecting the votes. As mentioned earlier, the results of the voting will be released on the ASX once the voting has been counted after this meeting. I thank you for your attendance and now declare the meeting closed.