Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Pepper Money Limited's annual general meeting. My name is John Williams, and I am the company's General Counsel and Company Secretary. Pepper Money acknowledges Australia's First Nations people as the traditional custodians of the land and their continuing connection to country, sea, and water. We pay our respects to their elders past and present. Following an address by our Chair, Akiko Jackson, and our CEO, Mario Rehayem, we'll move to the formal business of the meeting. Following that, shareholders will have an opportunity to ask questions of the board and auditor, and we will also respond to questions that were provided prior to the meeting. I will now pass over to Akiko Jackson to formally open the meeting.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Pepper Money's annual general meeting for the financial year to 31st of December, 2024. Our Company Secretary has informed me that a quorum is present, and so I will formally declare the meeting open. I am joined today by my fellow directors, Mike Cutter, Des O’Shea, David Babb, Justine Turnbull, and Rob Verlander, and Mario Rehayem, our CEO and Executive Director. A number of Pepper Money's executive team are also here today, including our CFO, Therese McGrath, and our General Counsel and Company Secretary, John Williams. Also present is Heather Basedow from our external auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. She is available to address any questions shareholders may have about the financial statements.
We are holding our AGM as a virtual meeting to allow as many of our shareholders in various locations around Australia and offshore to participate in the meeting today and to have the opportunity to ask questions of the board and the auditor. Once we have concluded the addresses to the meeting by me and our CEO, Mario Rehayem, we will allow an opportunity for any general questions from shareholders. We will then discuss and vote on each of the resolutions contained in the notice of meeting. Shareholders will have an opportunity to ask specific questions relevant to each item of business before we vote on the resolutions. There are two ways you may ask questions today. First, you may type questions into the online platform. To do this, click "Ask a Question" and follow the prompts.
Online questions that are relevant to the business of this meeting will be read aloud by me or by our Company Secretary. We may consolidate questions if we receive multiple questions on the same topic. The second way to ask a question is by phone. The phone numbers to dial to ask questions have been given to shareholder participants in the meeting through the Lumi platform. These numbers are now on screen. Please dial the number and follow the prompts. I will now summarize the voting procedures. All items of business will be voted on by poll, which is now open. If you did not cast your vote prior to the meeting, you may cast a live vote using the online platform. Please follow the prompts on the Lumi platform to cast your vote or refer to the online guide available on the company's website.
You may cast your live vote at any time during the meeting. Live voting on the online platform will close five minutes after the closing of the meeting. I will give you a warning when this five-minute period starts. At the conclusion of the AGM, you will see a red bar appear along the top of the online platform with a countdown timer of how long you have remaining to cast your vote. You must be logged onto the platform to cast the live vote. You cannot cast a vote over the phone. To confirm, where undirected proxies have been given to me as Chair, I will vote in favor of the resolution to the extent permitted. During the meeting, we will display on the presentation slides the number of direct and proxy votes received prior to the meeting on each resolution.
The final results will be released to the market as soon as they are available. If you experience any difficulties using the online platform, the helpline is displayed at the top of the page. I will now deliver my AGM address to shareholders. Dear shareholders, it is my privilege to address you today as the Chair of Pepper Money Limited. This is my first AGM as the Chair following my election in May of 2024. I'm grateful for the support of my fellow directors in appointing me to this position following Mike Culhane's resignation. I'm also pleased to welcome Vaibhav Piplapure , known to us all as VP, to his first AGM following his appointment to the board as a non-executive director and shareholder representative in May of 2024. VP brings a wealth of global experience in capital markets, specialist financing, and securitization.
As you know from our notice of meeting, VP and Justine Turnbull are standing for election today. I will ask each of them to say a few words when we come to the formal part of the meeting. Our company continues to thrive and deliver ongoing strong performance thanks to the dedication and expertise of our management team, our innovative approach to customer and partner experiences, and the disciplined execution of our strategic initiatives. Pepper Money's mission to help people succeed remains at the heart of our strategy. We continue to lead the non-bank sector across Australia and New Zealand, offering a broad range of customer solutions, including residential home loans, mortgages for self-managed super funds, asset finance, commercial real estate loans, and loan servicing. Our success is grounded in our investment in people, processes, technology, and data, ensuring we foster the right environment for growth.
Our focus on innovation drives positive outcomes for our customers, partners, employees, and shareholders. Pepper Money's performance in 2024 was strong despite challenging market conditions, including high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures. Overall, we delivered a net profit after tax on the performer basis of AUD 98.2 million for 2024. Pre-tax profit and loan loss provisions increased by 9% versus 2023. Notably, our mortgage business saw originations grow by 5% year- on- year to AUD 4.1 billion. Although asset finance originations decreased to AUD 2.9 billion from AUD 3.4 billion in 2023, the market showed signs of stabilization, with second-half originations growing by 3% over the first half of 2024. Our self-managed super fund mortgage product, launched in the fourth quarter of 2023, contributed 6% of mortgage originations in 2024. Our Shariah lending solution, launched in June of 2024, addressed an unmet need and accounted for 2% of mortgage originations for 2024.
We expect further growth in this area as new partners are onboarded. We closed the year with total assets under management of AUD 19.1 billion, positioning us strongly for 2025. Cost management remained a key discipline, with operating expenses excluding impairments flat year on year. Pepper Money's strength in funding programs is well recognized. In 2024, we executed seven whole loan sales, raising AUD 2.5 billion, complementing the AUD 2.6 billion from our public term securitization programs. Our funding diversification included our 40th non-conforming mortgage public securitization, PRS40, raising AUD 1.25 billion, the largest all-Australian dollar securitization in our history. We acquired the remaining 35% shareholding in Stratton Finance, funded from cash reserves. We reduced our indebtedness by AUD 55 million, paying down AUD 30 million from the corporate debt facility and retiring AUD 25 million of medium-term notes. Corporate debt facility. Pepper Money remains committed to providing returns to our shareholders.
Following the change to our dividend policy, we increased the payout ratio range to 30%-60%. Your board was pleased to announce a fully franked final dividend of AUD 0.071 per share, representing a 60% payout ratio for the period from 1 July to 31st December of 2024. This brought total dividends for 2024 to AUD 0.121 per share, a payout ratio of 54.1%, up from 34% for 2023. We continue to look for ways to deliver additional value to shareholders, including through the recently announced extension of the on-market share buyback that commenced in 2024. Sustainability is a core value at Pepper Money. In 2024, we formalized our environmental, social, and governance commitments and established a board ESG committee chaired by Justine Turnbull. Our key focus is on fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion.
Women hold 46% of all senior leadership positions and 55% of our key talents. Our employee engagement survey highlighted high scores in inclusion, fair treatment, and equal opportunity. In 2025, we will continue to refine our diversity and inclusion culture, focusing on inclusive leadership, gender equity, and diversity awareness. Our corporate social responsibility promise remains strong, and we are dedicated to creating sustainable value for our stakeholders. I extend my thanks to the exceptional team at Pepper Money led by Mario Rehayem. Our team's talent and capabilities are widely recognized and are the driving force behind our success. We remain focused on delivering our strategy and increasing our value to society. Our scalable platforms and strong funding programs position us to efficiently capture growth and drive ongoing returns to our shareholders. On behalf of the board and management, I thank you for your continued support and confidence in Pepper Money.
I will now hand over to Mario Rehayem, our CEO, to give his address.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everyone. Before I turn to provide some comments on 2025 and the operating outlook, I just want to cover some of our key achievements for 2024. Pepper Money delivered strong performance across all key drivers. In total, we delivered AUD 7 billion in originations in calendar year 2024. Mortgage originations grew 27% second half 2024 versus first half, supporting an annualized originations growth for mortgages of 5% on PCP. Our asset finance business delivered high originations growth, with the second half of the year up 3% versus the first half. Total AUM, which is a key foundation of future profitability, closed 2024 at AUD 19.1 billion, placing us in a strong position as we enter 2025. Our volume growth did not come at the expense of margin.
Net interest margin improved across all asset classes, supported by improved funding, product, and business mix. Total NIM at 1.97% increased 12 basis points versus prior comparable period. Mortgage NIM at 1.65% increased 8 basis points on PCP, and asset finance increased 5 basis points to 2.55%. Asset finance NIM expansion was not at the cost of taking on more risk. We did the opposite and weighted originations over 2024 to low credit risk Tier A customers, who accounted for 70% of calendar year 2024 originations, and at year-end made up 64% of asset finance AUM. Our underlying profit, being profit before tax and loan loss expense, grew 9% year- on- year to AUD 209.2 million.
Given the increase in loss expense in asset finance taken in the first half of 2024, relating to the elevated late-stage arrears and increase in solvency, net profit after tax at AUD 98.2 million closed 12% down on calendar year 2023. Our capital management drove material benefits. We led the market in whole loan sales, completing seven transactions over the year totaling AUD 2.5 billion. When whole loan sales are taken, with the AUD 2.7 billion raised through public securitizations in 2024, the business drove a highly efficient and diverse funding structure over 2024, and we ended the year with AUD 124 million in unrestricted cash. Our strong operating performance and focus on operational excellence and capital efficiency allowed the board to declare a final fully franked dividend of AUD 0.071 per share, representing a 60% payout ratio on pro forma net profit after tax for the second half of 2024.
Incorporating the AUD 0.05 per share interim dividend paid, we returned in excess of AUD 53 million to our shareholders in fully franked dividends in respect to our performance in 2024, an uplift of 41% on PCP. Our mission is to help people succeed, which guides our financial performance. Our X-Factor program, Customer Experience, Employee Experience, and Partner Experience was launched in 2024 to provide guiding principles to how we operate. Our net promoter score across all product classes materially outperforming the industry. In a time when customers are facing cost-of-living pressures and high interest rates, our mortgage business achieved a net promoter score of 16, when the industry had significant net detractors with a score of minus five. Our employees continue to be highly engaged. We maintained our outstanding engagement score of 75 over 2024.
Our managers are seen as leading from the front, and our employees say they are respected and heard. Our focus on our partners is a core competency of Pepper Money. It is why we have such a strong distribution footprint, with 4,804 active mortgage brokers and 1,480 active introducers in asset finance. Like our customer NPS, our partners continue to call Pepper Money out as the lender they would most like to work with. Now turning to 2025 and the operating environment we are facing. Without doubt, we are facing into a turbulent global environment, and every day we seem to be waking up to new headlines that are generating uncertainty. Given this environment, what we can do in response is focus on what we are known for: delivering the right customer and partner experience that puts Pepper Money at the forefront for capturing growth as it returns.
On a positive front, as we enter 2025, we have started to see the mortgage market stabilize and growth returning. This was assisted by the RBA rate cut of 25 basis points in February. Over quarter one 2025, our mortgage applications have increased by 66% versus quarter one 2024. Given that Equifax reported mortgage inquiry growth over the same period of 28%, I am encouraged that the initiatives we implemented over the second half of 2024, including new product development and modifications and improvements to our credit policies, have gathered traction. As I note at the time of presenting our full year results, we are seeing a skew towards prime mortgages. In calendar year 2024, prime accounted for just under half of our total originations, and the move to prime has continued into Q1 2025.
Growth in asset finance applications is more subdued than mortgages, but we have still achieved applications growth of 14% quarter one 2025 over- quarter one 2024. While some of the growth was a result of the removal of FBT exemption on hybrids, which ceased one April 2025, the business is tracking ahead of expectations. While early days, and even given market uncertainty, our start to 2025 has been positive. We continue to pursue the X-Factor, which I spoke about at the full year. We have continued to roll out our efficiency tools in areas such as our call center, leveraging our ongoing investment in AI. Early results are encouraging and exceeding our expectations. We continue to drive down our cost to originate and cost to serve, whilst ensuring we consistently enhance our speed to use and user experiences for our distribution partners and customers.
We're off to a positive start for 2025, and markets permitting, we remain confident we will deliver to plan. Thank you, and I will now hand back to our Chair, Akiko Jackson.
Thank you, Mario. I will now turn to the formal business of the meeting. The first item of business is to receive the company's financial report for the financial year ended 31st of December 2024. Mario and I have already discussed in some detail the company's financial performance over 2024 in our addresses, but are happy to respond to any questions from shareholders. As noted at the beginning of the meeting, Heather Basedow, representing our external auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, is also available to take questions about the conduct of the audit and the preparation and content of the independent audit report. There will be no vote on this item. It is a discussion item only.
I will now take questions received through the online platform about the company's financial statements, the performance of the company over the year, the director's report, or the auditor's report. As there is a separate agenda item dealing with the remuneration report, I will address questions about remuneration matters when we consider that item of the business.
Thanks, Akiko. We received a shareholder question prior to the meeting, which I'll now read out. How do you assess the culture of the organization, and how do you rate it having seen some bad behavior in big banks recently?
Thank you for the question. Pepper Money assesses culture on an ongoing basis and by a range of mechanisms, including annual employee engagement survey, which focuses on a range of employee-related areas of which culture is a part. We also have annual manager impact survey, which focuses on leadership effectiveness and culture.
Thirdly, we have a risk culture survey, which evaluates employees' understanding of risk and ability to openly engage across the organization to manage risks transparently. The result of the NI survey basically says that the 2024 employee engagement survey scores remain strong at 75+, with a favorability score of 74%. Our high participation rate of 88% demonstrates our employees are confident that their voice will be heard, and their feedback and suggestions will lead to meaningful change. Our commitment to promoting an inclusive workplace is demonstrated through feedback from employees in the 2024 annual employee engagement survey. In terms of inclusion, diverse perspectives are valued at Pepper Money, with that response being an 80+ score. Regarding equal opportunities, we have a score of 80. Regardless of background, everyone at Pepper Money has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Regarding the fair treatment, to the question of, "I am treated fairly at Pepper Money," we received a score of 80. The 2024 inaugural manager's impact survey, which sought feedback from employees on their leaders' effectiveness, delivered a manager impact score stronger at 86, demonstrating that a high majority of employees are satisfied with their leader. We have always fostered a diverse and inclusive culture through education and celebration, maintaining high female representation at all levels. At Pepper Money Australia, our workforce at the end of 2024 was 54% female and 46% male. As reported in the 2024 WGEA report, women hold 42% of senior leadership roles, and 52% of managerial promotions in 2024 went to women. We are certainly working to improve our gender pay gap by using external market data to monitor and address internal relativity.
For Pepper Money Australia, our average total remit gap increased from 22.9% in 2023 to 28.1% in 2024. The median total remit gap improved significantly from 28.5% in 2023 to 22.9% in 2024.
Thank you.
Now, I will take any questions received over the phone. Chair, we are showing no phone questions.
We have received some other questions through the online platform, which I will now read out. First is from Mr. Stephen Maine. KKR pocketed AUD 500 million when they floated Pepper Money at AUD 2.89 a- pop in 2021. With the stock at AUD 1.62, the investors who bought those shares are down by around AUD 200 million. Could you comment on whether KKR are committed long-term shareholders? Do you agree we would be better off if KKR just sold out and removed the overhang?
Thank you for the question. Pepper Global is a valued shareholder, but we are not privy to their intentions.
As always, they remain highly supportive of our business.
We have another question from Mr. Stephen Maine. We do not have enough female chairs, so well done to Akiko Jackson for stepping up at Pepper Money. Could Akiko comment on the biggest changes in board process, delegations, reporting lines, or governance that she has implemented since taking over as chair after last year's AGM? Could the CEO also comment as to whether Akiko is more or less hands-on than the previous chair?
Thank you for the question. I have been on the board of Pepper since the time of the IPO and have been involved with the board in the establishment of governance and processes. These have been robust from day one, and we as a board continue to review, monitor, and update as required.
For example, recognizing the importance of climate and ESG reporting, a new board ESG committee was established in 2024. Another example would be, with increasing cyberattacks to Australian organizations, board reviews Pepper's cybersecurity posture on a regular basis.
From where I sit, I mean, as Akiko notes, we worked very closely together from three years ago now, about May, three years when we IPO, and Akiko was one of the original directors on the board. We have a very strong relationship, and this has continued right through, even as when she was appointed as Chair. From where I sit, and I speak on behalf of myself and my wider executive team, Akiko brings a wealth of experience.
We are constantly engaged, not only with myself, but Akiko has taken the time to engage with the wider executive team and spent a lot of time in the business as well to join the dots, so to speak.
We have a further question from Mr. Stephen Maine. The five most valuable U.S. big tech stocks, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia, are together worth more than AUD 15 trillion, largely because they have enormous pricing power and are overcharging customers the world over. Could the CEO comment on which of the big global technology companies we are most reliant on, and what would we do if they suddenly put their prices up by 30%?
We have very deep and broad relationships with a range of our software vendors.
We are very disciplined at cost control, and we work proactively with our vendors of all nature to ensure that all our vendors and the software that we have is fit for purpose and suits our right cost model for our business.
We have one further question from Mr. Stephen Maine. If one of the big four Australian banks proposed acquiring Pepper Money, does the CEO believe there would be any APRA, RBA, ACCC, or regulatory issues that could get in the way or complicate such a deal?
We are not privy to the banks or other strategic planning.
Thank you. I have one further question from Ms. Susan Elizabeth. How is Pepper Money using AI, and what reservations do you have about AI and real human interaction with customers moving forward?
Thank you for the question. We use data and analytics and AI for a number of years.
It does complement our core business capabilities. At the moment, as we all know, there are a lot of uncertainties and risks around AI, so our use case for AI so far is internal.
Operator, I understand that there are no other questions from the room.
We now move to consider each of the resolutions that are included as part of the notice of meeting for the AGM. The first resolution is to consider the remuneration report, which commences on page 68 of the annual report. The remuneration report sets out the board's assessment of management's 2024 performance against the objectives established at the start of the year. The resolution on this item is advisory, but we will take shareholder feedback into consideration when formulating the company's future remuneration policies. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have not received any questions on this item through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
No questions over the phone, Chair.
Thank you very much. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business is the reelection of Justine Turnbull as a director. Justine is an independent non-exec director of Pepper Money and was appointed to the board in May of 2021, just prior to the company's listing.
Justine is standing for reelection today to ensure the company complies with the ASX listing rules requirement that a listed company which has directors must hold an election of directors each year. Justine has over 25 years' experience in driving commercial business success with her specialist legal experience on executive employment and related governance issues in both private and public enterprises and on national and global levels. Prior to joining the Pepper Money board, Justine held various positions, including a founding partner of Safe Our Shore Australia and partner of Herbert Smith Freehills. More recently, Justine has consulted to businesses on workplace behavior and cultural issues. Justine is a non-executive director of the Cancer Patients Assistance Society of New South Wales, CANASYS, and is a former board member for Catholic Schools New South Wales and ACT, ACCESS EAP, and TAFE New South Wales.
I will now ask Justine to say a few words about her reelection.
Thank you, Akiko. It's been my pleasure to be a non-executive director of Pepper Money for the past three years, and I'm looking forward to being reelected for another term. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Akiko, my fellow independent directors, the shareholder directors, and the executive team as we execute the company's strategy.
Thank you, Justine. The directors, with Justine abstaining, unanimously support Justine's reelection. I will now take any questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have not received any questions on this resolution through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
No questions over the phone, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen.
After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business is the election of Vaibhav Piplapure as a director. VP is a non-executive director of Pepper Money and a shareholder representative of Pepper Group A&NZ HoldCo Ltd. VP was appointed to the board in May of 2024 as a casual vacancy following the resignation of the previous Chair, Mike Culhane. VP is standing for election today in accordance with the company constitution and the ASX listing rules. VP is a managing director in the London office of KKR. VP joined KKR in 2021 as a member of the credit team in London. Prior to joining KKR, VP
helped establish and co-headed the specialty finance investing team at M&G Investments in London, where he specialized in investing in mortgage and consumer portfolio credit opportunities in Europe. Previously, he was the head of securitized product finance and EMEA at Credit Suisse. During his career, VP also worked in New York and Tokyo. He earned his MBA from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai. As VP
Thank you, Akiko. Thank you.
Sorry, go ahead, Akiko, please. Oh, thank you, VP I'll now ask you to say a few words about his reelection.
Thanks, Akiko. Yes, good morning, everyone, or good afternoon from wherever you're joining.
It has been my pleasure to serve as a non-executive director of Pepper Money since my appointment to the board in May 2024, and I am very grateful to our shareholders for their support of my election today. I look forward to continuing to work closely with my fellow directors and management as we execute the company's strategy. Thank you again.
Thank you, VP. The directors, with VP abstaining, unanimously support VP's election. I will now take any questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have not received any questions through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no questions over the phone, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen.
After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the grant of 1,588,369 rights under the executive rights plan to the company's CEO, Mario Rehayem.
I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have received one question from Mr. Stephen Maine. Thank you for disclosing the proxies early with the formal addresses. The only modest protest of about 7% was on this incentive grant proposal to the CEO. What was the issue raised by any of the proxy advisors or major shareholders?
Also, when disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, including this incentive grant item, please advise the ASX how many of our circa 4,000 shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to with a scheme of arrangement. This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions and insight into the chronically low retail shareholder participation rate. The likes of Qantas, ASX, Suncorp, Tabcorp, and even the world's biggest share registry provider, Computershare, have all voluntarily provided this data during the current AGM season. You've got this data, so why not let the sun shine in?
Thank you for your suggestion. We will certainly consider your suggestion at the board meeting. We have a Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Justine Turnbull, here today. Is there any comments, Justine, you'd like to add?
No.
We can't comment on the basis for decisions of shareholders on resolutions. That's a matter for them. But we do consult with shareholders in respect of these matters, and we welcome your questions and your feedback, and we'll consider the matter further.
Thank you. No other questions received through the online platform.
I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no phone questions, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the grant of 302,325 restricted rights under the short-term variable remuneration plan to the company's CEO, Mario Rehayem.
I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have not received any questions through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no questions on the phone, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the approval of the executive rights plan. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
We have not received any questions through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no questions on the phone, Chair. Thank you.
The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the approval of the short-term variable remuneration plan. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
No questions have been received through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no questions on the phone, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen.
After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the approval of the share save plan. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
No questions have been received through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
There are no questions on the phone, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX.
The next item of business relates to the approval of the employee rights plan. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
No questions have been received through the online platform.
Thank you. I will now take any questions received over the phone.
No phone questions, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. The next item of business relates to the approval of the NED equity plan. I will now take questions on this item of business received through the online platform.
No questions have been received through the online platform. Thank you.
I will now take any questions received over the phone.
No phone questions, Chair.
Thank you. The direct votes and proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the presentation slide on your screen. After polls close at the end of this meeting, votes cast today will be added to these votes and proxies, and the final result will be lodged with the ASX. That concludes the business for the meeting. I will just wait a minute for any final votes on the resolution to allow shareholders and proxy holders to submit any final votes through the online platform. Thank you. We'll now close the polls for voting on each resolution, and I will also declare the AGM closed. The results of today's AGM will be released to the market and made available on the ASX website as soon as possible.
If shareholders have additional questions that have not been addressed in today's meeting, please submit them to us. For questions relating to your shareholding, please contact the registry directly. Once again, thank you for participating in today's meeting and your support for Pepper Money. Goodbye.