Thank you. I was hoping to start early anyway. Good morning, all. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, as well as the traditional custodians of the land on which our centers are located across Australia and New Zealand, and I pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. On behalf of the Board of National Storage REIT, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024 Annual General Meeting. My name is Anthony Keane, and I'm the Chairman of National Storage Holdings Limited, the shares of which are stapled to units in the National Storage Property Trust and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as National Storage REIT. Our business operates across every state and territory of Australia and throughout New Zealand.
We're grateful to be part of the local fabric of so many local communities and offer our thanks to all Australians and New Zealanders for their support, as well as acknowledging the importance of diversity, tolerance, and respect for each other on a range of issues in our daily lives. I'm also the Chairman of National Storage Financial Services Limited, the responsible entity of the National Storage Property Trust, and have been appointed as Chair of the meeting of unitholders of the Trust, which will be run contemporaneously today. We're holding this year's AGM as a hybrid meeting. Security holders were given the option to attend in person here in Brisbane or to participate virtually through the Computershare meeting platform. The Computershare meeting platform will allow those security holders, proxies, and guests who elected to participate virtually to attend the meeting virtually.
All attendees can watch a live webcast of the meeting. In addition, security holders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes. For those attending online, we've included a link in the notice of meeting, published on the ASX, to the virtual meeting online guide. That guide explains how to attend and participate in the AGM virtually. Online attendees can submit written questions at any time. To ask a written question, select the Q icon. Type your question into the text box. Once you have finished typing, please hit the Send button. This year, security holders can also make comments or ask comments, questions verbally through the questions and comments audio facility through the Computershare meeting platform. To ask a verbal question, please follow the instructions written below the broadcast.
Information about the audio facility, including how to access and use the facility, is set out on the notice of meetings and in the virtual meeting online guide. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together. For those attending in person today, there will be an opportunity for comments and questions in respect to each item of business following the conclusion of item eight. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll vote on all items of business. I will shortly open the voting for all resolutions. I will start by outlining the procedure for voting in person.
On entering the meetings, security holders, representatives, attorneys of securityholder , as well as proxy holders, should have received a yellow voting card. Relevant voting instructions and all resolutions are printed on the voting cards. I encourage securityholder and their representatives to complete their voting cards after each item has been discussed. However, the voting cards will only be collected at the conclusion discussion of all items of business. To vote, simply place a mark in one of the for, against, or abstain boxes for each resolution. If you mark the abstain box, your votes will not be counted for that resolution. If relevant, please indicate whether you are voting as an attorney or representative. At the time of voting, if you are uncertain about any of the voting procedures or require any assistance, please raise your hand, and a representative from Computershare will be happy to help you.
At the conclusion of the meetings, please ensure that you have marked your votes for the respective resolutions and then give your completed voting card to a representative of Computershare. I will now outline the procedure for voting online. If you are eligible to vote, once voting opens, press the Vote icon, and all resolutions that are open for voting will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a Submit or Enter button, as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive a voting confirmation notification on your screen. You can change your vote up until the time I declare the voting closed. The meeting has been called under the notice of meetings of the 23 of October, 2024, the details of which were sent to all security holders.
If there's no objection, I propose to take the notices read. A copy of the notice can be found on the National Storage Investor website if required. It is now 10:05 A.M. Brisbane time, and I've been informed by our share registry, Computershare, that a quorum is present, so I formally declare the meetings open and therefore formally open the poll for voting on each relevant item of business now. I would now like to introduce the directors and senior executive team of the company. The non-executive directors, Howard Brenchley, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, and member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees. Inma Beaumont, member of the Audit and Risk, Nomination, and Remuneration Committees. Scott Smith, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, and member of the Audit and Risk and Nomination Committees.
Our executive team members, our Managing Director and CEO, Andrew Catsoulis, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Stuart Owen, our General Counsel, Emily Ackland , and our Head of Acquisition and Development, Nick Kranz. Also, our Company Secretary, Katherine Hammond , who also holds the position of Head of Risk and Compliance. Please note that Inma Beaumont is standing for re-election, details of which are included in the notice of meeting. We have present also, Simone Haslinger, who has been put forward as a non-executive director at today's meeting. Welcome, Simone. Representatives of our auditor, Ernst & Young, our share registry, Computershare, and our lawyers, Allens, are also present at the meeting today. This morning, I'll provide a brief overview of our business, and will then hand over to Andrew for an operational update. Okay.
We'll then turn to the formal part of the meeting as set out in the notice of meetings. FY 2024 marks NSR's 10th full year of operations, post listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in December 2013. Since then, we have grown from a modest 62 centers and market capitalization of AUD 268 million, to over 250 centers, with a market capitalization approaching AUD 3.5 billion today. Our total assets are valued at in excess of AUD 5 billion, and total returns to security holders sit at more than 300% over this period. This includes the compound annual growth rate for both our underlying earnings and total revenue of over 20% per annum for the last 10 years, making us one of the best and most consistently performing AREITs over this period.
In FY 2024, earnings have demonstrated both resilience and embedded capacity for growth of NSR's business, increasing by 9% this year to AUD 154 million, with recorded total revenue of AUD 355 million. NSR's NTA increased by 4 cents to AUD 2.52, as the value of NSR's portfolio rose by 11% to AUD 4.7 billion, with valuation uplift again driven predominantly by improved operational performance and an unchanged weighted average portfolio capitalization rate of 5.91% across our property portfolio. NSR achieving these results in such a challenging economic environment is a testament to both the strength of our business and the relentless pursuit of excellence by a hardworking team of over 650 dedicated people.
Underpinning this performance outcome has been our ability to drive growth in both the average rate achieved across the centers, up 7% to AUD 339, and REVPAM of 3.1% to AUD 275. Pleasingly, this REVPAM growth was predominantly achieved through the second half of FY 2024, up 5.1% over this period on an annualized basis. Our total build capacity has increased significantly in FY 2024 to almost 1.4 million m2 of lettable area, an increase of over 9% in this financial year alone. This increase has been achieved through a combination of ongoing acquisition and development activity, with 12 existing center acquisitions accounting for approximately 50,000 m2 of lettable area, and the completion of 11 new developments comprising 73,000 m2 of additional lettable area.
Importantly, NSR is well positioned to continue this growth trajectory into FY 2025 and beyond. As at June 2024, our short-term development pipeline comprised of 222,000 m2 of lettable area across 28 projects, either development application approved or already under construction. Our total development pipeline stands at an impressive 46 projects, comprised of over 382,000 m2 of lettable area, including those projects currently under construction, projects with development approvals, and new projects in the concept, design, and planning phases. The importance of this acquisition and development pipeline cannot be overstated. These new acquisitions and developments, combined with strong organic growth from our existing portfolio, have underpinned our growth in earnings in the past and will continue to support our growth well into the future.
FY 2024 also marked a number of other milestones, with NSR entering into two significant capital partnerships and development arrangements. The first, with Maas Group, will enable NSR to strengthen its coverage through important growth areas across New South Wales and the ACT. The second being the new GIC NSR Ventures fund, has been established to pursue the development and operation of new self-storage centers in Australia in a cost-effective and capital-efficient manner.... NSR will hold an approximately 25% interest in the fund, with GIC holding the remaining 75%. The JV has identified 10 foundation assets, which have been either recently completed or are currently under construction by NSR, and these assets are now owned by the fund. The fund plans to deploy an initial amount of AUD 270 million, and the parties have agreed to work together to identify future potential opportunities.
The fund will assist NSR in expediting its development activities in a capital-efficient manner and will enable NSR to recycle capital currently employed in these developments into new acquisition and development activities. The fund has successfully received all necessary approvals and was settled on the 1 of October 2024. NSR's focus on capital management is one of the keys to the company's success, with gearing at 30 June 2024 at improved 26.6%, with an ICR of 3.2 x. Capital repatriated from the settlement of the fund has further strengthened NSR's balance sheet. During the course of FY 2024, NSR has again extended and improved the headroom, scope, and depth of its debt facilities. NSR has increased its total debt facilities to AUD 1.84 billion, with AUD 450 million of FY 2025 debt maturities extended.
NSR now has an average debt term to maturity of 3.3 years, while having increased its proportion of debt hedged from 37% in June 2023 to 43% in June 2024. NSR has approximately AUD 1 billion of headroom before it reaches the upper end of its targeted gearing range. As a result, our capital management strategy remains conservative, and the company is very well positioned to execute its strategic growth initiatives from an ongoing acquisition and development perspective. Our four pillars of growth strategy include the following core principles: organic, organic growth, looking to optimize occupancy and rate growth on an individual center basis, combined with prudent cost management. Acquisitions, developments, and expansions. Set a centralized acquisition and development team with a diversified delivery pipeline to expedite and simplify the project delivery process and maximize returns. Technology and automation.
Leadership in development and implementation of innovative technology and automation. Fourthly, sustainability, instilling trust and confidence that we're building a resilient and sustainable business for our stakeholders. NSR enters February 2025 as the self-storage industry leader in the provision of innovative storage solutions throughout Australia and New Zealand. Our development and acquisition capabilities are best in class and unrivaled in this region, and we've adopted world's best practice in utilizing sustainable and efficient construction methodologies. We're well positioned to both consolidate our existing business through the relentless pursuit of excellence in our systems and processes, and to accelerate our growth through our unrivaled pipeline of new development and acquisition opportunities. Our new capital partnerships will underpin the acceleration and implementation of our growth strategies.
NSR's operational platform is highly scalable and significantly advantaged by being the largest owner-operated, fully internally managed, storage-specific REIT in the Southern Hemisphere, with a portfolio of 260 centers across Australia and New Zealand. Our core focus remains to grow and improve our business in order to maximize return to security holders. As always, we remain deeply indebted to and sincerely grateful for the support of all NSR stakeholders, including our security holders, our hardworking team members, the executive and board, as well as, of course, our customers. Without them, we would not have a business. I'd now like to introduce Managing Director, Andrew Catsoulis, to report on activities for the year.
Everyone, my name is Andrew Catsoulis, and I'm Managing Director and CEO of National Storage REIT. I'd like to add my own welcome to the welcome by Anthony to both everyone in the room today and everyone joining us virtually and online. And as a preemptive matter, I'd just like to thank all of our stakeholders, particularly our hardworking team, many of whom are in the room. So our board, exec, my fellow executive, and the hardworking head office team that diligently undertakes their roles to execute the strategies that the board and executive put in place in order to achieve the outcomes that you've seen across previous years, particularly financial year 2024 and into 2025. And I'll be touching on some of those today and also extend that thank you to-...
Our teams in the many disparate locations across Australia and New Zealand, who work in demanding and at times thankless situations. We're deeply grateful to the entire team for their hard work that allows us the privilege of presenting the results today. I'll turn to a brief discussion of our year-end review, starting with the financial year 2024 results. We've achieved an interest profit of AUD 230.3 million, reflecting underlying earnings of AUD 154.2 million. That's up 8.7% year- on- year. Underlying earnings per security, AUD 0.113, which is in line with that previous year's guidance. Our NTA sits at AUD 2.52 per stapled security.
That's up 1.6% year- on- year, and, that's off a predominantly unchanged weighted average capitalization rate, reflecting the fact that, that improvement in net tangible assets has essentially come from, improved operational business performance across the portfolio. Our total shareholder return in financial year 2024 was 6.4%, and group REVPAM increased by 3.1% to AUD 275.4. From a FY 2025 outlook perspective, we've provided guidance of underlying earnings per security, minimum AUD 0.118, representing underlying earnings greater than AUD 163 million. Next page. Now turning to a Q1 operational update. Our focus remains on active management of rent and occupancy to achieve optimal revenue outcomes.
The reportable group, as a point of note, has increased from 206 to 208 centers at this time. Group REVPAM is essentially unchanged at AUD 274, as at 30 September 2024, and, on a Q1-on-Q1 basis, 2024 to 2025, that represents a 4% improvement. Occupancy across the 25 let up centers open as at 30 June 2024, grew 2.9% to 55.3% in Q1, contributing positively to underlying earnings. Operational initiatives and automation continue to deliver improvements to both the customer experience and also, achieving cost out efficiencies. You'll see that a table below on page 9 of the presentation indicating, group REVPAM and occupancy rate across, the relevant periods. Next page, please.
We now touch on the acquisition and development outcomes both for FY 2024 and FY 2025 Q1 to date. So we were very happy to complete 11 projects in FY 2024, adding 73,500 meters of net lettable area. We have 28 projects either under construction or with DA obtained, planned for delivery over the next 24 months, and those projects will deliver in excess of 220,000 m2 of additional net lettable area over the next 24 months. From an acquisitions perspective, 29 acquisitions totaling AUD 250 million were transacted. This includes four operating storage centers and importantly, the freehold of five previously leasehold centers.
And that freeholding of legacy leasehold centers from which we operate has been a consistent strategy over recent years, providing additional optionality and opportunities in terms of how we deal with those historical leasehold centers going forward once they've been freehold. In addition to that, we have acquired ten development sites in FY 2024 for future growth. Our focus remains on high-quality acquisitions with value accretion opportunities in terms of upside. The scalability of NSR's operating platform continues to drive efficiencies across our business. Now we'll turn to FY 2025 and provide a brief update. In terms of Q1 for 2025, we have already undertaken nine acquisitions totaling AUD 95 million, which have settled in 2025 Q1. That comprises three storage centers and six development sites, and our pipeline still remains strong.
Two development projects have been completed in Q1, and that they represent state-of-the-art centers in New South Wales and Queensland, adding 11,500 m2 of net lettable area. And you'll see the table at the bottom of that page indicates that we have a total of 50 centers between centers under construction, centers with DA obtained, and centers in the concept and design planning, and that will deliver over time 418,500 m2 of additional net lettable area, and that provides a very important platform for future growth of the business as a result. Next page, please. I'll briefly touch on the self-storage ventures model, which is a partnership between National Storage REIT and GIC to pursue development and operation of self-storage centers in Australia in a capital-efficient fashion.
This transaction settled on 1 October 2024, and in regard to that partnership, it's an arrangement whereby NSR owns approximately 25%, and GIC owns approximately 75% of the Ventures fund for an initial term of not less than five years. Any foundation assets sourced from NSR's development portfolio have been included in the tranche of assets which have Cornerstone that fund. And the JV is expected to deploy AUD 270 million over the next 12-18 months. NSR will generate important management fees from identifying, acquiring, and developing and managing the JV assets on an ongoing basis, and the parties have agreed to work together to identify future opportunities.
From an NSR perspective, the fund provides important capital recycling opportunities in terms of managing its deployment of NSR's own capital into new and existing developments and acquisitions moving forward. Next page, please. I'll briefly speak about capital management. In particular, the wholly successful convertible bond whereby three hundred million exchangeable notes were issued. As part of that process, NSR announced its Baa2 investment-grade credit rating received from Moody's, and that credit rating has a stable outlook. This was our inaugural issuance in terms of exchangeable notes for three hundred million with a five-year term.
The summary features of that convertible bond included a 3.625% coupon, approximately 1.5% inside, and it starts average drawn cost of debt on five-year term, and importantly, that extends our average maturity profile of the debt. An initial conversion price of AUD 3.18, which represents a 30% premium to the reference share price. This instrument diversifies and extends NSR's debt maturity profile and also increases our proportion of fixed-rate debt. As mentioned, the Baa2 credit rating with a stable outlook gives an insight into NSR's investment-grade credit metrics and provides enhanced future debt market optionality. You'll see on the right-hand side of that page, graphs depicting our debt maturity profile in future years, as well as our fixed-rate profile. Next page, please.
I'll now talk briefly about NSR's ongoing innovation and automation initiatives. We've segmented these into six key areas, starting with customer interaction. So we've initiated an AI-led customer interaction quality review, working with multiple vendors on automated contact evaluations of our contact center agents to ensure highest levels of customer service and satisfaction are being provided to new and existing customers. Secondly, from a security perspective, we're implementing intelligent security solutions and working with key partners to enable AI analysis of cyber threats and physical property threats. From a customer segmentation perspective, the use of machine learning technology to better understand our customers and our potential customers is important. My apologies. I think welcome again is an important aspect of our business planning going forward.
And it's all about delivering the right solution to the right customers at the right time. In terms of analytics, we have a strong focus on data analytics and AI-enabled analytics. Extensive structuring of data and data definition works are in progress, with an objective to it being to enable instant insights powered by AI. And again, this helps us to better understand and service our significant customer base. Finally, in terms of software development, we're undertaking a process of AI-assisted software development that has seen an increase in our developer productivity in terms of our own internal software generation. Next slide, please. I'll now provide an update on our sustainability initiatives. Our 2024 sustainability report has been released, and sustainability is a core pillar of the group's strategy.
As announced in our FY 2024 results, NSR is committed to reducing and offsetting its scope one and scope two emissions by 2030. The 2024 sustainability report demonstrates continued progress in delivering on our sustainability objectives for the period to 31 March 2024. These initiatives resulted in 4,030 megawatts of power generated from our solar over that period. That's from in excess of 130 solar PV systems on centers across Australia. A 3.1% reduction in total carbon emissions. 36.2% of all Australian waste was diverted from landfill. 42% represents the recycled content in our cardboard boxes.
We've supported over the last twelve months, two hundred and 34 community partners, and we have an ongoing focus on cybersecurity, technology, and automation. That concludes my update, and I'll pass back to Anthony for the procedural matters.
Thanks, Andrew, for your detail. So for procedural matters in respect to voting in today's meeting. On poll, each member voting through the portal in person or their proxy, attorney, or corporate representative, has one vote for every security held. Only one vote is allowed per joint holding. If more than one joint holder attends the vote, the vote of the member named first in the register must be accepted to the exclusion of the others. If a proxy has been directed to vote in a particular manner, if the proxy is entitled to vote, he or she must vote in accordance with that direction. And for some items of business, certain votes will be disregarded, as explained in the voting exclusion statements in the notice of the meetings.
As Chair of this meeting, I advise that I intend to vote all undirected proxies in favor of the resolutions in items two to eight, and will now declare the voting open. Formalities. I'll now move on to the formal part of the business of the meeting. There are eight items on the agenda. Item one relates to the financial statements and does not require a vote. Item two to eight are ordinary resolutions for consideration today, meaning that in order for each resolution to be passed, more than 50% of the votes cast on the resolution must be in favor of it. The notice of the meetings invited all security holders to submit any written questions electronically, either prior to today's meeting or through the poll during the meeting. As mentioned earlier, we will respond to written and verbal questions following the conclusion of item eight.
Item 1, financial statements and reports, company and trust. The first item of ordinary business listed in the notice of meeting is to receive and consider the financial statements of the company and the trust for the year ended 2024, and the reports of the directors and auditors. Wade Hansen from EY, the entity's auditor, is in attendance with us at this meeting, and questions may be directed to him through me relevant to the conduct of the audit and the preparation and content of the auditor's report. The accounting policies adopted by the company and the trust, and the independence of the auditor. It is not necessary for the meeting to formally approve the financial statements or reports. This item gives security holders the opportunity to ask questions about the company and the trust and the operational performance of the REIT.
Please submit any comments or questions you may have in relation to the financial report, the directors' report, the auditor's report on the operations of the company and the trust, so that we can respond at the end of the meeting. I'll now move on to item two. The next item on the agenda today is to present security holder with the remuneration report for the financial year end of 2024 . I'd like to make a few introductory remarks, comments, and put the report into context. The remuneration report looks back at the remuneration arrangements for the 2024 financial year and relates to the remuneration of key management personnel and fees paid to directors during the year. The remuneration report, contained in the FY 2024 annual report, provides security holders with detailed disclosure regarding the terms of and rationale behind the company's remuneration framework.
We believe we have developed policies which balance the need to attract and retain senior executives with value for security holder. The objective of the remuneration policy is to ensure that the company's remuneration is competitive, reflects the responsibilities of the officers, and ensures that the company can attract and retain directors and key management personnel with the skills and capabilities required to deliver the REIT's objectives. Our policies demonstrate the relationship between performance and remuneration, and aim to motivate senior executives to pursue the long-term growth and success of the company. The board believes it has a successful remuneration structure that creates incentives for high-performance executives, and which delivers financial rewards to them when the company increases earnings and value. Please note that a vote on item two is advisory only and not binding.
However, any discussion on this item and the outcome of the non-binding vote will be taken into consideration by the board. In light of this content, context, I do, I propose to move that the remuneration report for the financial year ending 30 June, 2024 , as detailed in the company's annual report, be adopted. Details of valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen. A voting exclusion applies to this item as set out in the notice of meetings. The voting exclusion means no key management personnel or members of the senior management team, or any of their closely related parties, may vote on this resolution. We move to the resolution ordinary business item three, being the re-election of Inma Beaumont as director. Ms. Beaumont's biography is set out in the notice of meetings.
For the company to meet the requirements of the ASX listing rules and the company's constitution, there must be no collection of directors at each general meeting. As Beaumont has offered to retire as a director of the company and offers herself for re-election as a director of the company, the company accepts Ms. Beaumont's retirement. In accordance with Rule 11.3 B of the Constitution, the directors of the company, except for Ms. Beaumont, who's abstained from this resolution, recommend Ms. Beaumont be re-elected as a director of the company and recommend that security holders vote in favor of this resolution. Details of valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen. We now move to the resolution ordinary business item four, being the election of Simone Haslinger as a director. Ms.
Haslinger's biography is set out in the notice of meetings. Subsequent to the publication of the notice of meetings, Ms. Haslinger was appointed as a non-executive director of ASX listed DroneShield Limited. In accordance with Rule eleven point six of the Constitution, the directors of the company recommend Ms. Haslinger be elected as a director of the company, and Ms. Haslinger offers herself for election as a director of the company. The directors recommend that security holder vote in favor of this resolution. Details of the valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen.
We move to the resolution ordinary business item five, being the approval to issue 160,363 stapled securities to Andrew Catsoulis on behalf of the company and the trust, as payment for the equity component of the short-term incentive and long-term incentive payments awarded to Andrew Catsoulis for remuneration for the financial year ended on 30 June 2024, on the terms set out in the explanatory notes of the notice of meetings. Details of the valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen. A voting exclusion applies to this item as set out in the notice of meeting. The voting exclusion means that Mr.
Catsoulis or any other person who will obtain a material benefit as a result of the issue of securities, except a benefit solely by reason of being a holder of certain securities or any associate of those persons, any person who is a key management personnel or any of their closely related parties may not vote on this resolution. We move to the resolution, ordinary business item six, being the approval to issue 453,800 performance rights to Andrew Catsoulis on behalf of the company and the trust under the NSR Equity Incentive Plan, in respect of the equity component of the applicable 27th LTI award, on the terms set out in the explanatory notice of the notice of meetings. Details of valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen.
A voting exclusion applies to this item, as set out in the notice of meetings. The voting exclusion means that Mr. Catsoulis, who is eligible to participate in the NSR Equity Incentive Plan, an associate of Mr. Catsoulis, or any person who is a key management personnel or any of their closely related parties, may not vote on this resolution. We move to the resolution ordinary business item seven, being the approval to increase the aggregate amount of remuneration that may be paid in any financial year, commencing on or after the 1 July, 2024 , to the company's non-executive directors for their services as directors by AUD 300,000 from AUD 1.2 million to AUD 1.5 million. Details of valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen.
A voting exclusion applies to this item, as set out in the notice of meetings. We'll move to the resolution ordinary business item 8, the ratification of the issue of convertible notes by National Storage Financial Services Limited, to raise AUD 300 million to fund the repayment of existing debt facilities and for general corporate purposes on the terms set out in the explanatory notes of the notice of meetings, in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 7.4. Details of valid proxies received by the company on this resolution appear on the screen. Voting exclusion applies to this item as set out in the notice of meetings. Thank you. Item 2, so any corrections relating to resolution item 5 that have been submitted throughout the meeting, and all shareholders to ask additional questions.
We'll begin by answering any questions from the floor, followed by written questions and verbal questions to those by telephone. So for those in the room who wish to ask a question, please raise your hand now to indicate your intention. Now to online questions. I'll read the question then provide an answer or invite an appropriate person to speak to the answer. First question from Mr. Kevin Daly: To what extent have inflation and the cost of living crisis affected NSR's financial results? The response to that is, inflation cost of living has, of course, impacted NSR's results. Increases in labor costs and government charges, in particular, have had the largest increase. However, NSR has been able to deliver increased efficiency in staffing model to moderate the impact of these increases.
Offline revenue growth has meant that their operating income has continued to grow and deliver improved underlying earnings to the securityholders. Pleasingly, we are seeing these cost pressures reducing in recent times. Second question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Do any of the main, five main proxy advisors, ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS, and ASA, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including this remuneration item in relation to inflation? If so, what reasons did they give them? Please don't say they are confidential. It is standard for companies to be across this detail from the voting recommendations and inform shareholders relevantly. They're publishing full proxy advisory reports, of course. The response to that is, we did not receive reports from all of the five main proxy advisors that have been listed. We received two reports, and they voted in favor of all resolutions. Mr.
Stephen May, in respect to item eight, to ratify the issue of 2029 convertible notes. Why are you seeking this approval? Next time to raise capital, will you take a pro rata reannouncement approach which affects all shareholders equally, rather than selective raisings that don't respect the property rights of existing owners? NSR response is, NSR are seeking this approval in order to clear its placement capacity under Listing Rule 7.1. It is customary in good corporate governance to refresh this capacity to best position the company for coming in for any potential need for capital. NSR always considers the interests of shareholders in debt or equity raising and the ability of shareholders to participate in signing. So, in respect to item six, approval to issue FY 2027 performance rights.
Could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any securities in the company or bought any on-market, without relying on any incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company? Please don't say, "Look it up in the annual report and through ASX's announcements." It's complicated, and the CEO can actually summarize the situation in 60 seconds. The response is, past LTI grants with scrip components, which have only been in place for the previous two years, have fully vested. No securities have ever been sold. Yes, I've previously purchased shares on the market, but consistent with before.
That's correct, and you took less than 60 seconds.
Thank you. Please, they're not here. Go back here. Steve, general questions, then. Oh, this one. So Mr. Kevin Daly, financial statements and reports. Given NSR size, is the ACCC looming as a constraint on further expansion? Our response to that is NSR has approximately 77% market share by area. All acquisitions and developments are assessed for competition issues to mitigate any potential competition issues. Thank you, Sean. There's a question from Mr. Stephen May. On item two, the remuneration report. There was a 9% protest vote on the proxies for this remuneration report item. Which proxy advisor recommended against, and do you know what the issue was? Corporate voting is not a secret ballot in Australia, so have you investigated who voted against and why? Our response is that no proxy advisors recommended against the remuneration report.
We have and/or will investigate, where possible, those who voted against the report to determine the reasons for such a vote and take on this reason to continually improve the company's remuneration structures as appropriate.
They remain, which has now disappeared. So we will take that on notice as the response.
Is that the general one? I saw there are some, so are there any more questions?
One other that we just worked on the. But we'll try and find another one.
Okay. What's he doing? Hmm.
Questions for us, specifically to National Storage, as well as the one I prepared is most known and taken with questions. It's more general question on how your ESG basically requires you any status subject.
So it prefers a lot, so we have 15 different companies. So I take the floor. Thank you. Any other questions?
The two from Stephen May, both of which have commentary and relate to other companies, and then have a question at the end, so we might just take them home from providing a response. Yeah.
Yeah. So, are there any questions online? Chair, there is no verbal question from shareholders at this time. Okay. In those breaking pauses, I think that was sufficient time to take a question, so I think we might move on. So that concludes our discussion on the items of business. In a couple of minutes, I'll close the voting system and formally ask Jesse Gemma to act as Returning Officer to count the votes following the inquiry of that period. You please ensure that you cast your vote on all resolutions. If you're voting in person, please ensure that your voting cards have been completed for each resolution put to you today. Representatives from our share registry, Computershare, will collect your completed voting card shortly.
If you are uncertain about any of the voting procedures or require any assistance, please see Computershare staff at the registration desk, who will be happy to help you. If you are voting via the online portal, please remember to click on the Submit Vote at the bottom of the resolution to submit your voting card. I'll now pause to allow you time to finalize your votes. I now declare voting closed. The results of the poll on items two to eight will be released to the ASX shortly and made available on our website today. So in conclusion, thank you for your continued support and for your attendance today. That concludes the official business of the meeting, and I now declare the National Storage REIT 2024 AGM closed. Thank you, and good morning. I think there is coffee and eats, hopefully, outside. So thank you again.