Shareholders have been appropriately informed about COVID-19 impacts on the company's trading through various ASX announcements since the start of the pandemic. Despite the challenges in FY 2021, I am pleased to report that Propel continued its track record of delivering revenue and earnings growth. The company's acquisition-led growth strategy and diversification in providing essential funeral and related services across seven states and territories of Australia and in New Zealand, including regional and metropolitan markets, delivered growth and resilience in earnings and operating cash flows in FY 2021. Albin will discuss that in more detail shortly. The board elected to reward shareholders by declaring total dividends of AUD 0.1175 per share, fully franked in connection with FY 2021, reflecting a payout ratio of 81% of distributable earnings.
As shareholders would be aware, throughout FY 2021, the company was externally managed by Propel Investments Pty Limited, who I'll refer to as the Manager, under a management agreement dated September 11, 2017. On May 31 2021, the company announced that following negotiations and initiated and led by myself and our two other independent non-exec directors, we entered into an implementation agreement with the Manager to give effect to an internalization of key senior management functions of the company. On July 26 2021, the company announced that following receipt of overwhelming shareholder approval, the management agreement was terminated, resulting in, among other things, the payment of AUD 15 million termination fee to the Manager, pardon me, settled 50% in cash and 50% in Propel shares. Albin, Fraser, and Lilli became employees of the group.
The internalization of management has aligned the company with more standard management structures for ASX listed operating entities. It is expected to increase investor participation, provide corporate governance and financial benefits, while ensuring continuity of the company strategy, its board and management. In that regard, it has been encouraging to see the company's share price and liquidity increase since the announcement of the management internalization. Subsequent to year-end, Propel expanded its senior debt facilities to AUD 200 million and also extended the debt maturity date. Obviously, there's a balance between prudently taking advantage of the low interest rate environment and high liquidity in debt markets and not overstretching the balance sheet.
As you would expect, the board is mindful to strike the right capital structure to ensure the company is appropriately funded, so that Propel can continue to capitalize on growth opportunities as and when they materialize. With that in mind, last month, Propel successfully completed circa AUD 50 million equity raising via a placement of approximately 12.2 million new ordinary shares to existing and new institutional shareholders at an issue price of AUD 4.10 per share. I thank our existing and welcome our new institutional investors who participated in the placement. In addition to the placement, Propel has offered all eligible existing shareholders the opportunity to apply for new Propel shares through a share purchase plan or SPP.
The offer period under the SPP closed at 5:00 P.M. yesterday, and I'm pleased to announce that applications received under the SPP have exceeded the intended raising amount of AUD 10 million. I thank all shareholders who submitted applications under the SPP for their ongoing support of Propel. After today's AGM, and following relevant confirmations from the company share registry provider, the company will release final details regarding the SPP to shareholders via an ASX announcement in the coming days. Since listing on the ASX in November 2017, with an IPO issue price of AUD 2.70, the company has paid fully franked dividends totaling AUD 0.3965 per share or circa AUD 0.57 per share on a grossed up basis.
At yesterday's closing share price of AUD 4.25, this equates total shareholder value accretion of approximately AUD 215 million since the IPO before tax. Propel remains focused on a clearly defined growth strategy to acquire social infrastructure and assets which operate within the death care industry in Australia and New Zealand, such as private funeral home operators, funeral related properties and infrastructure, and cemeteries and crematoria. This strategy is consistent with what was outlined in the company's prospectus prepared in connection with its IPO approximately four years ago. Demand for death care services is expected to grow in Australia and New Zealand because of increasing death volumes due to population growth and aging of the baby boomers.
The death care industry is highly fragmented, and the company believes there is significant opportunity for further consolidation in Australia and New Zealand. Propel is well positioned to capitalize on such acquisition opportunities. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank the Propel management team and all our staff for their hard work and dedication. I also express my gratitude to my fellow directors. I thank you all for your considerable efforts. Finally, I'd like to thank our shareholders for your ongoing support. I hope we can look forward to being able to meet in person at future AGMs. I'll now invite Albin to take you through last year's results and some other matters which I'm sure will be of interest to you.
Following his presentation, we'll then return to the formal part of the business, matters requiring resolution, which were outlined in the notice of meeting. Albin.
Thanks, Brian. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining. Although COVID-19-related restrictions are easing and we have reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the future, I would like to acknowledge and express my sympathies to bereaved client families, many of whom have farewelled loved ones in very challenging circumstances during the past 18 months, especially in lockdown areas where strict funeral attendee limits and travel restrictions have applied. Having to limit and choose who can attend a funeral has been extremely distressing, with many families significantly constrained and unable to grieve in a way that they ordinarily would, surrounded and supported by family and friends. As you can imagine, this has placed additional pressure on families and our staff.
I echo Brian's sentiments and thank all of Propel's dedicated staff in Australia and New Zealand for their hard work, professionalism, flexibility, and commitment to providing essential and caring services to their communities despite the challenges of COVID-19. In terms of today's presentation, I'll start with a brief recap of FY 2021. I'll then provide an overview of Propel's business, touch on COVID-19 impacts and responses, industry tailwinds, acquisitions, and capital management before concluding with a trading update and our outlook. FY 2021 was another record year for Propel. Revenue increased 8.7% to AUD 120.4 million on the back of a 4.6% increase in funeral volumes, including contributions from acquisitions, with average revenue per funeral up 4.3%.
Propel continued to grow earnings with operating EBITDA up 11.9% to AUD 36.3 million and operating NPAT up 7.6% to AUD 15.3 million. Cash flow conversion remains strong at approximately 102%, which is pleasing. From a capital management perspective, as Brian mentioned, total dividends for the year were AUD 0.1175 per share, up 17.5% on the prior year. In August, the company announced it had expanded its senior debt facilities by AUD 50 million to AUD 200 million, a strong vote of confidence from our debt financier, Westpac. Furthermore, and importantly, the debt maturity date has extended or was extended to October 2024. The cost of borrowing was reduced to circa 2%, and a key covenant limit was increased.
In October, the company successfully raised approximately AUD 50 million in equity via a placement of new shares to new and existing institutional shareholders. Including the target proceeds from the SPP, Propel's pro forma net leverage ratio is circa 1.1 x, and pro forma funding capacity is approximately AUD 150 million, which will support Propel's future growth initiatives, including acquisitions. In terms of growth, Propel added 6 locations during FY 2021 and has added 2 locations since year-end, bringing its total network to 138 locations currently. Management has been focused on executing Propel's acquisition-led growth strategy, committing over AUD 140 million on acquisitions since the company's IPO.
In terms of our outlook, despite COVID-19 impacts, the financial resilience and growth demonstrated by Propel in FY 2021 has continued into the start of FY 2022, which I'll discuss towards the end of the presentation. In terms of COVID-19 impacts, strict funeral attendee limits in lockdown areas of Australia and New Zealand during FY 2021 affected the company's ability to offer a full range of services to client families and temporarily resulted in a higher mix of lower-value funerals performed across Propel's network.
However, as can be seen from the chart at the top of this slide, unlike the widespread impacts in the final quarter of FY 2020, in FY 2021, average revenue per funeral impacts were generally isolated to COVID-19 hotspot areas that were in temporary lockdown, and average revenue per funeral growth across Propel's network returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, which is encouraging.
Funeral volumes were also impacted during FY 2021, particularly in the first half. Death volumes were below long-term trends in key markets in which Propel operates. For example, total registered deaths in New South Wales and Queensland declined 4.2% compared to the prior year. Social distancing measures, travel restrictions, and increased focus on personal hygiene and effective flu vaccinations contributed to unusually benign flu seasons in 2020 and 2021. As illustrated in the chart at the bottom right, reported flu cases in Australia were circa 99% below the prior five-year average to 2019, which is expected to result in a deferral of death volumes into future periods. This slide sets out some of our responses to COVID-19 and how we, our staff, and our client families have had to adapt.
Our focus has been on people safety, essential service continuity, and financial resilience.
I won't go through each point listed on this slide, but the measures implemented range from reducing and rearranging seating capacity in our chapels, limiting attendance and increasing the scheduled time between services, increased online streaming of funerals, changing the way funerals are arranged, controlling operating costs, staff working from home where feasible, and accessing government subsidies where eligible, enabling head count to be maintained. With the support of our dedicated staff and the understanding of our client families, Propel is focused on continuing to trade effectively through COVID-19 disruptions as they occur. This slide summarizes the management internalization, which was completed in late July 2021. Shareholders vote overwhelmingly in favor of a proposal to internalize the senior management functions of the company, with the two shareholder resolutions being carried with over 98% of votes in favor.
In summary, the management internalization involved termination of the management agreement, a AUD 15 million termination fee paid to the manager, which was settled 50% in cash and 50% in shares, Lily, Fraser and I becoming employees, the transfer of intellectual property to the company, changes to the constitution and escrow arrangements relating to approximately 14.7 million Propel shares. As Brian mentioned, the management internalization has aligned the company with more standard management structures for ASX listed operating entities, which is expected to increase investor participation, provide corporate governance and financial benefits while ensuring continuity of the company's strategy, its board and management. In terms of the business overview, this slide illustrates how Propel's network has evolved over the past eight years.
We started with one funeral home in Queensland, and today we operate from 138 locations across Australia and New Zealand, including 32 cremation facilities and nine cemeteries. Of those 138 locations, the company owns 76 of them, which are currently held at cost on the balance sheet for approximately AUD 129 million. This slide shows Propel's main operating brands in Australia and in New Zealand. Each brand has a distinct identity and is well-known in their respective markets. Some have been around for many decades. For example, Millingtons has been operating in and around Hobart for over 100 years, and in New Zealand, Davis Funerals has operated in and around Auckland since 1875. The green dotted lines show the various brands relating to acquisitions completed or announced during and since FY 2021.
These brands are an important part of the goodwill of each business we acquire. As you can see on the left of this slide, the company performed over 13,900 funerals in FY 2021, up 4.6%. The chart on the right shows that Propel generated revenue of AUD 120.4 million in FY 2021, up 8.7%. In terms of earnings growth, operating EBITDA was AUD 36.3 million in FY 2021, a more than tenfold increase since FY 2015 and up 11.9% on the prior year, and operating NPAT was AUD 15.3 million, up 7.6%. Propel's average revenue per funeral since FY 2014 has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7%.
In FY 2021, average revenue per funeral was up 4.3% on FY 2020 and up 2.8% on the pre-COVID-19 period. Propel's cash conversion has averaged circa 99% during the last seven years. In FY 2021, cash conversion remains strong at approximately 102%, which is pleasing, particularly given the continued growth in operating cash flow. Cash conversion continues to be a key focus. I'll now touch on industry trends, acquisitions, and capital management. These charts show that the number of deaths in Australia and New Zealand is forecast to both increase and accelerate according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Stats NZ.
I won't go through the specific growth rates, but the two observations I'd make are, firstly, few industries have the certainty of this tailwind profile, and secondly, death volume growth is not linear, and it can fluctuate over short time horizons from week- to- week, quarter- to- quarter, and from year- to- year. The industry remains highly fragmented in Australia and in New Zealand, with Propel the second-largest in both countries. In the last three calendar years, Propel's estimated market share in Australia has increased more than five-fold from circa 1.2% in 2015 to circa 7% in 2020. Notwithstanding this significant increase, approximately 70% of the market is still owned by independent operators. Since its IPO four years ago, Propel has committed over AUD 140 million on acquisitions which are geographically spread across Australia.
In FY 2021, the company deployed approximately AUD 30 million on three acquisitions comprising Dils Group in Auckland, Mid West Funerals in Western Australia, and Pets R.I.P. in Queensland. Subsequent to year-end, in September 2021, we announced the commitment of approximately AUD 15 million in connection with three new acquisitions, facilitating Propel's entry into a new metropolitan market in Adelaide via Berry Funeral Directors and Glenelg Funerals, an expansion in an existing metropolitan market in Auckland via State of Grace Funerals. Those acquisitions are expected to contribute positively to Propel's financial results during the remainder of FY 2022 and beyond. Moving forward, the team remains in active discussions and continues to explore other potential acquisition opportunities, but the timing of any future acquisitions, as you would appreciate, remains uncertain.
The board regularly discusses capital management and the company's funding needs, particularly in light of its acquisition pipeline and the fact that in the last four financial years, Propel has committed over AUD 140 million on acquisitions. As you can see from this slide, with the expansion of the company's senior debt facilities, recently completed placement, and assuming the target amount is raised by the SPP, Propel is in a strong funding position with pro forma funding capacity of approximately AUD 150 million. Moving to our outlook. Propel continues to be well-positioned to generate sustainable long-term growth and value creation. We operate in a highly fragmented and essential service industry with assets and social infrastructure that are difficult to replicate, which stands to benefit from favorable demographic tailwinds over the long term.
Although death volume growth is certain, unavoidable, and predictable over the longer term, that growth is not linear, and it fluctuates over time. In other words, death is certain, but its timing is not. Historical experience suggests that the below-trend death volumes in 2020 should be temporary, given prior period declines have rebounded quickly and the growing and aging population. I'm pleased to report that the financial growth and resilience demonstrated by Propel in FY 2021 have continued into the start of FY 2022.
In the Q1 of FY 2022, Propel generated revenue growth of approximately 13% on the prior corresponding period, or PCP. Performed a record number of funerals with total funeral volume growth above 10% on the PCP, including comparable funeral volume growth above 5% on the PCP. Experienced resilient average revenue per funeral in line with the PCP, notwithstanding the impacts of extended lockdowns and strict funeral attendee limits in New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand during the quarter. Achieved an operating EBITDA margin of approximately 28% and maintained strong cash flow conversion. In terms of the company's financial results, we expect to benefit from death volumes reverting to long-term trends, given the growing and aging population, the company's strong funding position, the acquisitions completed and announced during and since FY 2021, and other potential future acquisitions.
Thankfully, funeral attendee limits have eased significantly in recent weeks in New South Wales and Victoria, and we expect funeral restrictions in Auckland will continue to ease as vaccination rates increase. Our experience since the start of the pandemic has been that the financial impacts of strict funeral attendee limits have been temporary, and average revenue per funeral has rebounded quickly as restrictions have eased.
This not only reinforces the value that society places on physical attendance at a funeral service as a vital part of the grieving process, it also highlights the defensive nature and social infrastructure characteristics of Propel's network of funeral homes, cremation facilities, and cemeteries. In conclusion, I think the three key takeaways from today's presentation are, one, FY 2021 was another record year for Propel despite below-trend death volumes and COVID-19 impacts. Two, Propel stands to benefit from death volumes reverting to long-term trends.
In that regard, following a resilient FY 2021, Propel has started FY 2022 with materially higher funeral volumes. Three, with a strong funding position, Propel remains well-positioned to continue consolidating what remains a highly fragmented and essential service industry with favorable demographic tailwinds. Before I hand back to Brian, I'd like to quickly thank my fellow board members for their guidance and support during and since FY 2021. My colleagues Lily, Fraser, and the small team at Propel's head office for their flexibility, hard work, and dedication. And finally, our shareholders for their ongoing support. With that, I'll hand back to Brian to cover the formal matters of the meeting, and obviously happy to take questions during the Q&A session. Thank you, Brian.
Thanks, Albin. Ladies and gentlemen, we now come to the formal part of the business, matters requiring resolution, which were outlined in the notice of meeting. Before moving to the specific resolutions, I just note the following. The resolutions for consideration today may only be voted on by shareholders, proxy holders, and shareholder company representatives. Shareholders have the opportunity to ask questions on each matter being put to shareholders, either via the platform or for those that have obtained the relevant pin via the telephone. Other than resolution six, the resolutions set out in the notice of meeting are to be considered as an ordinary resolution, and as such, to be passed, must be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast. There is no requirement for shareholders to vote on the first item of business.
Resolution six is to be considered as a special resolution, and as such, to be passed, must be approved by at least 75% of the votes cast. The poll on all items has already been opened, and as I said earlier, will remain open until I call the poll to a close. Please ensure that you vote now, if you haven't already. The company's registry, Link Market Services Limited, is appointed to act as scrutineer and returning officer for the purpose of the polls. Any directed proxies that are not voted at the meeting will automatically default to the chairman, and I'm required to vote those proxies as directed. Subject to any applicable voting restrictions, the board recommends the shareholders vote in favor of each item of business that requires a vote.
Any open proxies that have been received by the chairman of the meeting or the directors will be voted in favor of each item. As I said earlier, votes received prior to the cutoff time in relation to the resolutions requiring a shareholder vote at today's meeting are overwhelmingly in favor of each resolution. I'll now introduce the items of business on the formal agenda of the meeting. The first item of business is to receive and consider the company's financial report, directors' report, and auditor's report for the year ending June 30, 2021. I note there is no requirement for shareholders to approve those reports. At this time, I'd like to invite shareholders to ask questions or make comments regarding these reports.
Please keep questions about specific resolutions until the time we consider that resolution. Is there any shareholder who would like to ask a question?
Fraser, are there any questions online?
No, Brian, online for that resolution.
Okay. Thank you, Fraser. We'll now move on to the next resolution. As the next item of business relates to my proposed re-election, I'll hand over to Jonathan Trollip, who chairs our Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Please go ahead, Jonathan.
Thank you, Brian. The next item of business is resolution two, being the re-election of Mr. Brian Scullin as a director. Brian is, as shareholders are well aware, the Independent Chairman of the company and also a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Brian retires at this meeting and, being eligible, offers himself for re-election. Brian's credentials are detailed in the Notice of Meeting. Are there any questions in relation to resolution two ? Fraser, can you just confirm that we have not received any questions on this?
No questions online on that resolution, Jonathan.
Okay. Thank you, Fraser. Given there are no questions, I will now move on to the resolution. I now formally propose resolution two , which is specified in the notice of meeting. I confirm that the directors, with Brian abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution two . Thank you. I'll now hand back to Brian.
Thank you, Jonathan. The next item of business is resolution three , which is the re-election of Mr. Fraser Henderson as a director. Fraser is an Executive Director of the company. He's Head of M&A, General Counsel, and he's the Company Secretary of Propel. Fraser retires at this meeting and being eligible, offers himself for re-election. Fraser's credentials are detailed in the Notice of Meeting. Are there any questions in relation to resolution three ? Fraser, can you confirm whether you have received any questions online?
No, from my conference, but no, there are no questions online on that resolution.
I now formally propose resolution three, which is as specified in the notice of meeting. I confirm that the directors, with Fraser abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution three . We now come to resolution four which is the non-binding advisory vote in the, on the adoption of the company's remuneration report. The remuneration report is included in Propel's 2021 annual report, which is available on our website. Are there any questions in relation to resolution four ? Fraser, have you received any questions in relation to resolution four online?
No, Brian, online on that resolution.
Okay. If there are no further questions, we'll move on to the resolution. I now formally propose resolution four , which is also specified in the notice of meeting. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution four . We now move to Resolution 5 regarding the proposed increase to the maximum total aggregate remuneration payable to the non-exec directors. Are there any questions in relation to resolution five ? Fraser, have you received any questions online in relation to resolution five ?
Not online for that resolution, Brian.
No? Okay. If there are no further questions, I'll formally propose resolution five , which is also specified in the notice of meeting. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution five. I can confirm that the directors, with the non-exec directors abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Moving now to Resolution six regarding the giving of financial assistance, which is a special resolution. Are there any questions in relation to resolution six ? Fraser, have you received any questions online in relation to resolution six ?
None online for that particular resolution.
Okay. I now formally propose resolution six , which is also specified in the notice of meeting. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution six. I can confirm that the directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Finally, we move to resolution seven relating to the ratification of the issuance of ordinary shares in connection with the acquisition of Berry Funeral Directors. Are there any questions in relation to resolution seven ? Fraser, have you received any questions online in relation to resolution seven ?
No, Brian, nothing online for this particular resolution.
Okay. If there are no further questions, we'll move on to the resolution. I now formally propose resolution seven, which is also specified in the notice of meeting. If you haven't already, please now select either for, against, or abstain for resolution seven. I can confirm that the directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Shareholders are reminded that they can submit their vote online now. Voting will close in two minutes. While the last of you finalize your voting, we now move to the shareholders Q&A session of this meeting.
During this time, representatives of Link will count the votes with the intention to announce the results prior to the close of the meeting. Shareholders were invited to submit questions in advance of the meeting, and I thank those shareholders who took the time to do so.
I think, I believe between us, Albin and I have addressed the questions asked in advance already. It's my duty as Chairman to allow a reasonable opportunity for shareholders as a whole at the meeting to ask questions about or make comments on the operations and management of the company, audit matters, noting that the company's auditor is present, the remuneration report, and other items of business before today's meeting. Is there any shareholder on the call who would like to ask a question? Fraser, as Company Secretary, can you please confirm whether there are any questions that have been submitted online which remain unanswered?
Brian, there's one question from a shareholder, Mr. Burke, if I can read that out to you.
Yep.
The question is that the high number of against votes in the resolutions, this could represent largely a protest vote from non-executive shareholders. Is the board concerned that through Propel's high remuneration of executive directors, the change from the management contract, Propel, a public company, is setting a culture that is out of touch with ordinary shareholders? Just for our part, thank you, Mr. Burke, for the question.
Okay, thanks very much. Thanks for the question. The resolution is in relation to an increase in the cap on directors' fees. I'll just make the first point that the executive directors do not receive any director fees. In relation to the remuneration of the management team, the independent directors received advice from remuneration consultants, which attempted to benchmark our team against other teams, other operations of a similar size and/or operations that are in similar industries and then came up with recommendations on what each of our team should be remunerated.
I think the independent directors felt that what they are being remunerated as executives is very fair and reasonable. If the question relates to the AUD 15 million paid to tear up the management agreement and become employees. Again, the independent directors led that process and obtained independent advice on what would be a reasonable payment to the manager for it to forgo its rights and entitlements under the management agreement and instead become employees of the company and then negotiated accordingly with the manager. The independent directors were very happy with that outcome. They thought it was very fair and reasonable.
Of course, we got a resounding win with what I think an excess of 98% vote at the following EGM, which didn't seem to me to represent any significant protest vote. In my experience, when you increase the cap on fees that can be paid to directors, there's always some level of objection because people think that the directors are voting themselves a pay raise. In this case, the main reason for increasing the cap is so that if needed and appropriate, we could appoint additional directors. The board is very effective, but it is small. With only three non-exec directors.
We thought that as we plan for growth in the future and need to refresh the board from time- to- time, we may need to increase the size of the board, even if only temporarily, and therefore we'd need to have the capacity to pay additional fees. It's not so much about voting existing directors a fee rise, but allowing for us to recruit additional directors if considered needed and appropriate. I think in answer to the question, thank you for the question, but I think the non-exec directors, the independent directors are comfortable with the arrangements that we've entered into in recent times. Fraser, are there any other questions?
Thanks, Brian. There's no other questions. Obviously, given the fulsome of that response, we've now gone over the two minutes. I think you can declare the poll closed.
Okay. Was that an implicit criticism, Fraser?
No. Not at all.
Okay. I now declare the poll closed. If [Kirsten] could please count the votes and upload the results once counted. It's expected this will take approximately four-five minutes. We'll hold an intermission while the votes are counted.
Brian, Link have advised that they've concluded the counting, so I think you can close the meeting, and we'll announce the results through the ASX later today, if you're okay with that, Brian.
Yeah, I'm fine with that. I'll do that now.
Yeah, please.
Okay. Thank you, everybody, for waiting. I can confirm the Returning Officer has counted the votes, and they will be announced via the ASX later today and will be made available on the investor section of Propel's website. There being no further business at today's meeting, I now declare the company 2021 Annual General Meeting closed. Our thanks for your attendance and participating in the meeting. We're pleased the technology enabled your participation today. Please keep safe, and we look forward to hopefully seeing you next year, if not before. Thank you. That does conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation.