Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this annual general meeting of the shareholders of Qube Holdings. My name's Allan Davies, and I'm the Chair of the board of directors of Qube. It's good to be holding this meeting again in PwC's office and also on Computershare's online platform. For those here attending in person, I just remind everyone, would you mind turning your phones onto silent if you have a phone, please, and that filming of the proceedings is not permitted. The hybrid meeting format allows proxy holders and guests to attend, and shareholders to attend in person or online by watching a live webcast of the meeting. By other means, shareholders and proxy holders can ask written and oral questions and submit their votes.
The live webcast is also available via a link on Qube's website, and a recording of the meeting will be made available on the website after the meeting. I'm advised by the company secretary that a quorum of shareholders is present, and I so declare the meeting open, and the agenda for the meeting is now displayed on the screen. The notice of meeting was made available to shareholders electronically or mailed to those who requested a hard copy. The notice of meeting, together with template voting form and AGM notice and access flyer, were lodged on the ASX. They're also available on Computershare's investor vote page for Qube's AGM and on the annual meetings page of Qube's website, and I'll take the notice of meeting as read. I'd also like to begin by introducing the other directors, the company secretary, Qube's auditor, and Qube's management team.
Turning now to the other directors. Firstly, John Beavan, a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Paul Digney, Managing Director and also a member of the Safety Health and Sustainability Committee; Director Allan Miles, Chair of the Safety Health and Sustainability Committee; Director James Fazzino, Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee; Director Jill Hoffmann, a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Director Lindsay Ward, a member of the Safety Health and Sustainability Committee; Director Mick McCormack, a member of the Safety Health and Sustainability Committee; and Director Steve Mann, a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee. I'd also like to specifically welcome new directors, John Beavan and Mick McCormack. John joined the board in January this year, and Mick joined in May.
John is a member of the Nomination and Risk Committee, and Mick is a member of the Safety, Health and Sustainability Committee. In accordance with the company constitution, they're standing for election at this year's AGM and will speak to their respective resolutions proposing their election in the formal items of business. Also joining me on the stage is Emily McCaffrey at the far end, who is a company secretary of Qube, and in the audience, and I'll ask senior members of the management committee just to raise their hands when I identify them, but we have William Hara up the back, who's the general counsel and company secretary, Mark Wratten, the CFO, John Digney, director of Qube Logistics and Infrastructure, Michael Sousa over here, director Ports, and Ben Pratt, who's director of corporate affairs at the back.
Also in the audience and reporting to the Managing Director, Emily Link, Director of People, Culture, Safety, and Shane Collins, who is Director of Strategy and Development. Also present are Belinda Flynn, General Manager of Safety, Health and Sustainability, and Paul Lewis, Group Investor Relations and Corporate Support. Also present in the room are many other staff members of Qube who we appreciate coming to the AGM. Finally, at the front is Liz Dessel, who is a partner of PwC and is present. Thanks, Liz. Before we move to the agenda items, there are several housekeeping matters which I'd like to cover for the eighth time. Prior to the AGM, shareholders had the opportunity to vote directly or appoint a proxy using the voting form provided with the notice of meeting or through Computershare's investor vote page for Qube's AGM.
For those attending in person, to vote during the meeting, you must be holding a shareholder and proxy holder admission and voting card. You should indicate your vote by marking for, against, or abstain alongside each resolution as printed on the reverse side of the voting card. You may wait until closer to the end of the meeting to complete your card, as I'll allow some time towards the end of the meeting for you to do so. If you change your mind during the meeting, please cross out your previous vote and clearly indicate your final voting intention and initial the change. You're eligible to vote online and participate online through Computershare's meeting platform. You can vote on the platform during the AGM, even if you've previously cast your vote or appointed a proxy. Doing so will cancel your cast vote or proxy appointment.
Voting will be conducted by way of a poll on each item of business. The poll will be taken simultaneously on all resolutions, which will be displayed as part of the consideration of the formal business of the meeting. I'll shortly direct the opening of the voting system for voting on all resolutions. Excuse me. Once the voting system is open, the vote icon will be activated as shown on the slide. Selecting this icon will bring up the list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, select one of the options. A tick will appear to confirm receipt of your vote, and there's no need to hit a submit or enter button. Your vote is automatically recorded, and you will see a vote confirmation notification on your screen.
Online participants have the ability to change their vote up until the time I declare voting closed, which will be at the end of the meeting. To change your vote, select on, click here to change your vote, and press a different option to override. I'll give you a warning before the poll is closed. I now declare voting and the poll open on all the formal items of business and direct opening of the voting system. The vote icon on the screens of shareholders and proxy holders should now be active, showing all resolutions to allow you to vote on them. In relation to asking questions, as explained in the notice of meeting and following the same format as last year, we will have only one Q&A session, which will occur towards the end of the meeting to answer questions on all meeting items.
Shareholders and proxy holders may ask questions on the 2025 annual report, the Managing Director's presentation, and the resolutions to be voted on. Question time will take place after the formal voting resolutions are shown and prior to the closing of the poll. In-person attendees holding a shareholder and proxy holder admission and voting card will be requested to approach the microphone in the central aisle at the start of the question time in order to ask their question. Online attendees can submit written questions at any time. To ask a written question, select the Q&A icon on the Computershare meeting platform, select the topic your question relates to, and type your question into the text box at the bottom of the screen and press send. Online attendees will also be able to ask oral questions by dialing in.
To ask an oral question, follow the instructions on the virtual meeting platform. Callers will be placed in a queue—that sounds familiar—to await the start of the Q&A session and will be called on by a phone operator to ask their question. When asking or typing your question, please note the item of business to which your question pertains. Also mention or include your name, whether you are a shareholder or proxy holder, and affiliation with any organization. Finally, it should be noted that technical difficulties can occur with a hybrid meeting involving an online component. If any such difficulties arise during the course of this meeting, as AGM—sorry, as Chairman, I have the discretion as to whether and how the meeting should proceed, including whether it should be adjourned and, if so, for how long.
In such circumstances, and in exercising my discretion, I would consider a number of factors, including the number of shareholders affected and the extent to which participation in the meeting has been restricted. In such circumstances, I may determine that the meeting should continue and transact business, including proceeding with voting on the resolutions. If you experience technical difficulties during the AGM, please refer to the online meeting guide located on Computershare's investor vote page for Qube's AGM or on Qube's website. You can also contact Computershare by telephone on the numbers I mentioned earlier. Before proceeding to the Managing Director's presentation and the formal items of business on the notice of meeting, I'd like just to say a few words as Chair. A copy of my remarks have been lodged with the ASX and will be posted on Qube's website.
I'd like to begin my formal remarks by extending a very sincere condolence to the family, friends, and workmates of Mr. David Walker. David was a tire-fitting contractor who died in an incident at a Narrabri Mine agricultural facility last month. This was a tragic event, and it's had a significant impact on Mr. Walker's family, friends, and colleagues and the wider Narrabri Mine community. Qube is naturally supporting investigations into the incident to determine exactly what occurred, and that work continues through till today. In FY25, Qube once again demonstrated the value of its diversification by market and geography. The business delivered a solid growth in underlying financial results for the year, and this was despite a number of headwinds. These headwinds included extreme weather, industrial action in some areas, and changes in market dynamics, particularly for some of our resources customers.
Despite this, the underlying revenue grew by 27% compared with FY24, and underlying EBITA also increased by 18.5% compared to FY24. Underlying earnings per share pre-amortization increased to AUD 0.1625. This was a 6% increase over FY24. Excluding grain trading, Qube's EBITA margins also increased to 10.5% compared to 9.5% in FY24. This reflects the continued focus of the business on leveraging its assets and infrastructure, managing the cost base, and ongoing productivity improvements. Importantly, in FY25, the strength of Qube's financial performance was matched by a positive safety performance. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our team. Consequently, the recent fatality at Narrabri Mine has had a profound impact on the board, management, and the wider Qube workforce. Qube has a proud track record of delivering both organic and inorganic growth, and this continued throughout the year.
Despite protracted regulatory approval processes, the completion of the purchase of MRAT, which is the—that's an acronym for the Melbourne International Ro-Ro and Automotive Terminal—was a positive development. The terminal has since been rebadged as the AAT Webb Dock West Terminal and has been well integrated into AAT's operations. The board had the opportunity to visit this terminal and see firsthand the operations there on a site visit last month. During the year, Qube also acquired the Coleman business in Western Australia. This acquisition provided a platform for Qube to enter the security-sensitive ammonium nitrate, or the SSAN, market on the West Coast and to use Qube's financial and operation capabilities to invest to support further growth in that business. Qube also made some investments during FY25 with the total proceeds involved, and we received about AUD 248 million from the combined transactions before tax and other transaction costs.
The lion's share of those proceeds came from the sale of a freehold property at Minto in southwestern Sydney, with operations from Minto consolidated and integrated now into the IMEX terminal at Moorebank, which is also in southwest Sydney. Paul Digney will shortly update you on the performance of the business during the first quarter of FY26. Suffice to say that despite global continued volatility both economically and geopolitically, the diversification of the business continues to position Qube well to manage and respond to these challenges, which seem to be coming every single day. Qube continues to have multiple organic and inorganic growth options across its core markets and is well placed to develop to deliver long-term underlying earnings growth.
As a result of the performance in FY25 and this positive outlook, the board increased the final ordinary dividend in FY25 by almost 11% to AUD 0.057 per share fully franked. That brought the full-year dividend to AUD 0.098 per share fully franked. This was an increase of just over 7% over the full-year dividend in FY24 and equates to a 60% dividend payout ratio of Qube's FY25 underlying EPSA. Good governance and ensuring a mix of skills and experience on the board is a constant area of focus for Qube. In FY25, there were some further changes to the board. Firstly, Jackie McArthur resigned from the board after five years with Qube. Jackie made a significant contribution to Qube and during her tenure, and we thank her for her service. John Bevan joined the board on January 1 this year.
John brings extensive executive and non-exec experience to the Qube board. This includes Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Illumina Limited and from a variety of executive and senior management roles. We are also pleased to welcome Mick McCormack to the board in May. Mick has over 40 years' experience in the energy and energy infrastructure sectors, including as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the APA Group and in senior management roles with AGL Energy. John and Mick are standing for election at this meeting, and you have the opportunity to hear from them shortly. I am also pleased to inform shareholders of some board subcommittee changes, which will take effect from the conclusion of today's meeting. Jill Hoffmann will assume the role of Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and Steve Mann will become a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
Shareholders would also be aware that in August, I announced that I've decided to step down from the board at the conclusion of today's meeting. I've served on the Qube board for the last 14 years, including the past eight years as chair, and I'm enormously proud to have been part of that growth and development of this incredible business over that period of time. Qube's a great Australian company and a fantastic success story. We play a vital role in the economy, including as a significant employer, particularly in regional and remote parts of Australia. Our business is built on the hard work and commitment of an exceptional and collaborative management team, which is why the board is particularly careful to set remuneration arrangements that motivate and incentivize the executive team in a highly competitive talent market.
There's a lot of people out there watching Qube, and I just love to snaffle our senior people and junior people too, while also ensuring strong alignment with the long-term shareholder value. Of course, the executive team is supported by an outstanding workforce of 10,000 people across Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, some of whom are here today. The success for Qube is in large part a testament to them and their commitment to delivering outstanding service to our customers each and every day. I step down from my role confident in them and their ability as well as in the outlook for the business. I'm delighted that the board has elected John Beavan as chairman to succeed me. John is an experienced listed company chair.
He brings experience as both the BlueScope Steel and Ancel chairs to the role, and I'm confident that he'll do an outstanding job as chairman of Qube. I look forward to continuing to support him as he assumes the role. To conclude, I'd like to thank shareholders for the great privilege of serving as chairman for the last eight years and for your support of the business in the last financial year in FY25. Thank you also to the board for their support, and thank you to Paul and the management team for another outstanding year during which the business delivered strong outcomes for shareholders. I'd now like to hand over to Paul for a presentation on the performance of the Qube group. A copy of Paul's presentation has been lodged with my remarks on the ASX and will be posted on Qube's website as well. Paul.
Thanks, Allan.
Good morning, everyone. I've got a short video and, sorry, I've got a short presentation with a small video, just recapping the last year's financial performance and the highlights over the past 12 months, and then I'll provide a little bit of an update of the year to date and the outlook for 2026. Before I start, I'd just like, Allan, I want to extend my sincere condolences to the family of David Walker, a tragic event which has been felt by many at this point in time. As Allan mentioned, the summary of our safety performance last year was a very pleasing performance around our KPIs. Our TRIFR decreased by 14%. Our LTIFR, our CIFR remained under that target of one, below that target of one, which is a pleasing result for us.
Most importantly for us is that they are what we call lag indicators, but our performance around our lead indicators was extremely good. They are proactive KPIs that we center around critical risk verifications, safety leadership, safety engagement with our fellow workers. That is an engagement between management and the workers to speak out, have a look at things, and maybe call out something that can be improved in our operations around safety. The KPIs we set throughout the year, we either met those KPIs or well exceeded those KPIs at the level of activities that we did around those lead KPIs, which forms a part of our strong safety leadership and our awareness culture around safety. We continue to build that program. We have got a new program called Be Safe, which is an awareness program.
It's a leadership program around safety, and it just takes us to the next generation of safety. If I just turn to our financial performance, just to recap, I know Allan just spoke about the numbers just then, but a recap on last year's performance, a solid full-year result again. As you can see on this slide here, we've got all the green arrows pointing upwards, which is great. Across all those performance metrics, we had revenue growth, we had margin growth, we had earnings growth, we had return on capital growth, which is a big focus of the team and the board for our shareholders, which, as Allan mentioned, it led to a 7% increase in the full-year dividend for shareholders. Business growth remained favorable across all of our markets through the period last year.
Again, the result demonstrated our resilience and our financial strength across our business and really the benefit of the diversification, the strategy across our markets and across geographies that we've had for some time, which in some of our markets, which I'll go through in a minute, they did not all produce the results that we wanted to at the start of the year and had some headwinds, but the diversification of our business helps mitigate that and reduce that impact. That was pleasing. Also, in regards to our financial strength, we further enhanced that through the year with the finance team achieving an investment grade rating for our credit rating with the credit rating agencies, which was a new thing for Qube, and it was another step in the positive direction in regards to Qube's financial strength.
I will go to the next slide now, and I'll just touch on just the performance around our key markets for last year, just recapping across those key markets. Again, as I mentioned, strong performance in some areas helped offset some challenges in other areas through the years. Container business, our container logistics business, activities delivered again, the growth in most regions, especially, and also in New Zealand, helped the result. Patrick's, it was remaining flat for the year. You probably remember the 2024 year was a very strong year for Patrick's coming off some additional volumes through interruption through some of our competitors through the DP World interruption.
Our market share moderated back to a 42% market share from as high as 49%, but it was a pleasing, really good result when you take that into account that we were able to achieve the profits we did in Patrick's, and it was well done to the team there. The agri business made a strong contribution. Obviously, that's mainly in New South Wales around our grain business. The first year of our grain trading business, which complements the rest of the infrastructure that we've got, it enabled us to have more volumes through our facilities, improve the efficiencies across our upcountry sites, our rail operations, and also our port facilities. That was a fantastic effort from John and his team to execute that strategy and deliver those results last year.
As forecasted in automotive and a bit like the Patrick story, we come off a really super 2024 year with additional volumes around storage and quarantine service and that sort of stuff. That moderated back this year. We had the backlog cleared, so some of that revenue's reduced a bit. Earnings were a little bit down in the automotive sector because we were coming off such a high. In forestry, we saw continued improvement there. That was through a combination of additional growth, cost reductions, pricing increases across different parts of the business, and that was a great effort by the team.
In the forestry business, the resources sector, that had some challenges through 2025 around customer impacts, some mine closures, some suspensions of mines, but Todd and his team were able to steady the ship fairly well, and we had growth, and we had the acquisition of Coleman, as Allan mentioned before. Yeah, that was a really good effort in that space. Energy, which is Michael Souza's over there and his team, continued to grow that business and continued to have a strong performance, building out more growth, winning more work. That was a great outcome in the energy sector for us. We had some profit impacts around the general stevedoring business. We had some industrial relations interruptions there, so that impacted some profits last year for about four to five months. That's a bit of a recap around the key markets.
All in all, as we've normally done in Qube, is that we've had some strong performance, and we've had some performances on the mark, and we've had a few that we had to deal with some headwinds, but overall, the strategy balances itself out, and that's what this slide sort of shows in regards to the traffic lights. It was a very good performance considering some of those headwinds through 2025. Moving to the next slide here, I just wanted to recap, on top of all the other stuff that we've done over the last 12 months in delivering everything we have to do in the business, the business as usual type of thing that we haven't sat on our hands.
There's been some good highlights, some good achievements across the last 24 months, which puts us in a really good position to continue to grow, not just in this current year, but into future years. I'll just call out a few things on the slide here. I mean, the acquisition of Coleman, I think we've spoken about that before, has enhanced our inbound mining logistics services. That's integrated into the business. It's working really well. We've had further expansion into agri facilities, especially upcountry in New South Wales. On the slide there, you'll see on the right-hand side, there's a picture of the Narrabri agri facility that we purchased throughout the year. That's added to the current infrastructure, the current upcountry facilities. We've also spent some money on improving some of the other facilities.
It puts us in a really good position for this year and for future years around supporting our agri growth. We also just recently acquired a bulk handling facility in Albany, which is the picture in the middle there. If you can see that, that is the Albany Bulk Handling Terminal at the Port of Albany in Western Australia. That currently exports woodchip commodities. Since acquisition, we have been spending some small amount of capital to upgrade the ship loader so that we can also export grain from that facility. We are also looking to build out more storage for grain and even some other commodities in that. It is an exciting little project for the grain team and also Todd's team in Western Australia that is playing out at the moment. We secured new contracts throughout the last 12 months. There are a few here that I just wanted to call out.
There's many others that we've picked up. Some of the larger ones, Iluka West Bell Rannold contract, which is a contract that will start probably next calendar year, which will export mineral sands from that location through Melbourne through our upper and dock facility, which I'll show a video in a minute. Michael and his team have done a really good job around there's a lot of decommissioning projects going on in the oil and gas space. They secured two large contracts. I think I've got one mentioned there, but there's another one, one with Chevron in the northwest shelf, Barrow Island. The other one with Esso at Barry's Beach. They're contracts that we're kicking off at the moment.
Also from a Moorebank perspective, Kmart joined us as a new customer and a new tenant at Moorebank, which will be in 2027, alongside several other customers. Yeah, we've been busy in that space. I mentioned before around the investment grade rating that we got in Qube. Also, Patrick's last month or the month before has also done the same. They've got a credit rating as well. That was an achievement as well. Also, on this slide, I highlight Brookfield's recent 50% sale of their stake into another Brookfield fund and co-investors, which was at a modest premium to the current valuation we've presented before, which again validates our investment in Patrick's and the future investment we're going to do with Patrick's going forward. I think that's a highlight and an achievement that can be made from that point.
Lastly is MRAT, which Allan spoke about before. I've got a video I'm going to show in a minute. As Allan mentioned, MRAT now is now called AAT Webb Dock West Ro-Ro Terminal. It complements our AAT equivalent facility and our Fisherman's Island, Brisbane facility, which then provides we provide then the only Ro-Ro terminal network across the east coast of Australia. The cargoes, cars, machinery, project cargoes that need to come into Australia come through those facilities. It has put together a nice it's complemented the network that we already had. It also in Melbourne complements our Appleton Dock facility where we predominantly will do Ro-Ro cargoes at Webb Dock, but we will be able to mix and move freight around and be able to introduce more freight into Appleton Dock, such as the Iluka contract that I just mentioned before. It's an exciting acquisition.
It took longer than we thought to get approval for it, but we're now up and running, and we've got a number of projects to make that asset even better than what it is post our acquisition. I have got a video. I will show that now if we can play the video.
Qube's AAT Webb Dock West, formerly known as MRAT, is the only dedicated roll-on/roll-off terminal in Victoria servicing the car and heavy equipment market. Spanning around 35 hectares of land within the Port of Melbourne, Webb Dock West features three berths, a 120-ton gantry crane, 14,500 open-air car slots, along with 8,000 sq m of undercover storage and two quarantine wash bays. It also holds a six-star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.
Acquired in 2025 by Australia's leading mixed cargo terminal operator, Australian Amalgamated Terminals, or AAT, Webb Dock West is the fourth east coast Australian terminal in Qube's AAT portfolio, which also includes the Port of Brisbane, servicing southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Port Kembla, servicing Greater Sydney, the Illawarra, and regional New South Wales, and Appleton Dock, which primarily services the flow of bulk, steel, and project cargoes into Greater Melbourne. These state-of-the-art facilities handle containers, roll-on, roll-off vessels, motor vehicles, break bulk, and project cargo. Each facility operates under an open access regime. Our integrated digital systems enable seamless coordination across the supply chain, from yard planning, vessel scheduling, and berth management through to cargo release and transport logistics, supporting real-time cargo visibility, improved communication, and efficient cargo delivery.
Now fully integrated into the AAT portfolio, Webb Dock West continues to support the growing demand for imported car volumes and other Ro-Ro needs. While the opportunity also exists for the facility to diversify to service the renewable energy and project cargo markets, Qube's AAT has worked hard to become the industry leader in Australia, and with a commitment to continual innovation, we make it easy for our customers to conduct their business through our facilities.
Just turning to this year and just give you an update how we're progressing so far year to date and a bit of a look at the outlook for the remainder of the year. The outlook across our key markets this year is basically, and the performance so far has been tracking in accordance to our guidance in August. There have been some small areas that have been a little bit better, and there are some small areas that are probably a little bit worse, but overall, it's balanced out again where we sit today. In containers, the logistics business continues to grow in both Australia and New Zealand, so that is tracking in line with our expectation at this point in time. Patrick, as expected, is achieving volume growth and margin growth and is slightly ahead of our expectations at this point in time, which is pleasing.
The outlook for agri is much the same as what I mentioned in August. It remains very positive around the harvest, the help of our grain trading strategy. Also, what I mentioned before about expanding our network, we continue to be able to push through more volumes, push through more efficiencies. Everything we said we're doing, we're doing, and it's tracking in that right direction. That's going well. In automotive, we will get the full benefit of the contribution of MRAT, and that's happening at this point in time. The automotive business is broadly in line with our expectations. There is a bit of softening, but probably a bit worse than we expected around that storage and that quarantine services. That's a little bit off. If you're trying to offset something, probably Patrick's is up a little bit, and that's off a little bit.
Forestry is tracking in line with the growth aspects there. Resources, as I mentioned at the full year results, the impacts that were felt in 2025 with customers and mine closure and that sort of stuff, there was going to be an impact this year. The guys are managing that fairly well, but the business will go backwards slightly in profits. It still contributes a lot to our business, meaningful to the group, and the outlook for 2027 looks good. That is heading in the right direction to bounce back. Energy, I mentioned before, there is no real change there. Very positive. The decommissioning contracts that are coming on stream, some more work and that sort of stuff, that is in a really good space. Our general stewarding business is expected and is going better without industrial action issues. That is going well.
Just in finalizing all that, based on our year-to-date performance and our full year outlook at the moment, our forecast is that there's no new news here. The outlook remains unchanged. We expect to deliver solid underlying earnings growth in 2026. Just before I finish, what I would like to do is give Allan a big thank you. I know I've been doing this for the last month, but a huge thank you to Allan. I mean, our working relationship goes back 25 years. It's not just the time at Qube, but it's a thank you for your support and friendship and association through work. Probably in recent times, your Chair leadership since 2017 has been fantastic. Our Chair-MD relationship has helped me be the person I've been too. I thank you for that. A big thank you, Allan. Thank you.
Congratulations to John Beavan being elected the third chair of this great company. Well done, well done, John. Just before I finish, I want to make sure I thank my team for the efforts across 2025 and the efforts so far to where we sit today. We have got a fantastic company, but it all is because of their hard work, the team, the OneCube approach to how we go about our business, and that commitment just to the needs of our customers and putting them first. Thank you and well done on 2025 and well done on the year so far. Finally, I would like to thank the shareholders today for your ongoing support. Thank you.
Thanks, Paul. Appreciate the comments. We'll now turn to the formal proceedings, which involve consideration of the FY25 financial statements and reports and voting on the resolutions set out in the notice of meeting. Firstly, the first item of business is to receive and consider the company's financial report, the directors' report, and the auditor's report for the financial year ended the 30th of June this year. These are contained in the annual report, which you've all had an opportunity to look at, and that was lodged with the ASX and made available to shareholders and is available on our website. As is common practice with most companies, the reports will be tabled but won't be the subject of a resolution as it's not required by the Corporations Act.
I'll invite shareholders and proxy holders to ask questions about the annual report, and they can ask questions of management and naturally the auditors. All questions should be addressed to me, and I'll then request either our auditor or a member of management to respond to the question as applicable. As mentioned, questions will be answered during question time, not now, but towards the end of the meeting. One of the resolutions and the resolutions set out in the notice of meeting and detailed information on each resolution is contained in the explanatory memorandum included with the notice. Qube's constitution allows the chairman to demand a poll, which, as I mentioned earlier, I've done for each resolution. As advised in the notice, the chairman of the meeting, as chairman, I'll vote all undirected and available proxies for each resolution.
The votes of these or for these resolutions, together with those cast at this meeting, will be tallied, and the final result lodged with the ASX later today. I'll put each resolution on the notice of meeting before shareholders and move that each resolution be adopted. I'll now introduce each resolution in turn. Firstly, resolution 1A is to consider the re-election of Allan Miles as a director. Allan retires by rotation under the company's constitution and is eligible for re-election. Information on Allan's professional experience is contained in the annual report and the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. The directors, other than Allan, given his interest in this resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of the resolution. I'd now like to invite Allan to speak to the resolution.
Thanks, Allan, and good morning. Today, I have great pleasure in again standing for re-election to the board. I bring more than 50 years of experience in commercial shipping, transport, and logistics to Qube. During my career, I've held senior management roles in various types of commercial shipping, including containerized, bulk, roll-on, roll-off shipping activities nationally. This experience has given me a very strong understanding of Australian port and logistics markets. I believe this experience supports the activities of Qube's business, both commercially and operationally. Currently, I'm the Chairman of Qube's Safety, Health, and Sustainability Committee, as well as also the Chairman of Qube's joint venture company, Precar Services. Since joining, the board of Qube has and continues to experience strong growth across its diversified activities.
I believe my experience has enabled me to support the growth activities objectively and with sustainability and safety and well-being of our employees nationally being a key priority. If re-elected, I look forward to continuing to act in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. Thank you.
Thank you, Allan. I now refer to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. The percentage figures shown in this and the other voting results slides are rounded to two decimal places. For those attending in person, please indicate your vote or the resolution. That is 1A on your voting card. If you are participating online, please cast your vote through the voting system. The next resolution is to consider the re-election of Mr. Steve Mann as a director. Steve retires by rotation under the company's constitution and is eligible for re-election. Information on Steve's professional experience is contained in the annual report and explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. The directors, other than Steve, given his interest in the resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of the resolution. I would now like to invite Steve to speak to the resolution.
Thank you, Allan. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I was appointed to the Qube board as an independent director in September 2019. I've enjoyed working with my colleagues at Qube throughout an eventful period where strong board governance and excellent execution have seen Qube's market cap grow by 50% since 2019 and total shareholder returns of 62% delivered over the last five years. My background, as mentioned by Allan, is detailed in the AGM notice of meeting and the annual report. In summary, more than 25 years' experience at the executive and board level in companies such as Australia Post, where I'm on the board, Aurizon, Qantas, BlueScope Steel, Western Sydney Airport, and TNT. I have extensive exposure to the sectors of relevance to Qube, freight, logistics, rail infrastructure and resources, and disciplines such as strategy, finance, transformation, technology, M&A, and business development.
My term having expired, I offer myself re-election to the Qube board. Thank you.
Thank you, Steve. I now refer to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. The percentages in this and the other voting results slides are rounded up to two decimal places. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 1B on your voting card or through the online voting system. Right, resolution 1C, re-election of Mr. Lindsay Ward. 1C is to consider the re-election of Lindsay as a director. Lindsay retires by rotation under the company's constitution and is eligible for re-election. Information on Lindsay's professional experience is contained in the annual report and the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. The directors, other than Lindsay, given his interest in this resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of the resolution. I now ask Lindsay to speak to the resolution.
Thank you, Allan, and good morning, shareholders and guests. I'm pleased to stand for re-election to the board of Qube Holdings and welcome the opportunity to continue representing you, our shareholders. My executive career spans more than 35 years across mining, power generation, logistics, port management, rail management, infrastructure, and data centers. This has provided me with deep operational, commercial, and leadership experience in complex safety-critical environments. About 15 years ago, I began my non-executive career serving on both listed and private boards across logistics, ports, renewables, waste and recycling, gas transportation, mineral exploration, and mining. That breadth of industry exposure has strengthened my ability to contribute meaningfully to Qube's governance and strategic direction. Across all these roles, I've maintained a strong focus on safety, ESG, operational excellence, asset management, and construction.
These areas remain fundamental to Qube's long-term success, and I believe my experience continues to add value to the board and to the organization more broadly. If re-elected, I look forward to continuing to work closely with my fellow directors and the executive team as we grow Qube in a disciplined and sustainable way in the best interest of shareholders. Thank you for your consideration and ongoing support.
Thank you, Lindsay. I now refer you to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. The percentage figures shown in this are rounded to two decimal places. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 1C on your voting card or through the online voting system. Resolution 1D is for the election of Mr. John Beavan. 1D, John was appointed by directors to fill a casual vacancy on the board in accordance with the company's constitution, with his appointment taking effect from the 1st of January 2025. Information on John's professional experience is contained in the annual report and the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. The directors, other than John, given his interest in the resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of the resolution.
I'd now like to invite John to speak to the resolution and as chair-elect to come to do so from the lectern, please.
Good morning. Quite an honor to be standing here as the chair-elect and to follow from after Allan, who's done an unbelievable job over a long, long period of time. The attractiveness for me to join Qube really goes to the type of company it is. It's a very modest company. It doesn't make a lot of noise, always under-promises and over-delivers, always takes a long-term view. This is a business which is critical to Australia and New Zealand and other places where Qube operates future because if you don't have efficient logistics, you don't have competitive companies in Australia or elsewhere. The way we go about it is through this modesty and long-term view, they take innovative steps to actually lay down capital to create opportunity for the future.
The management team that looks after our company has long experience, and there are 70 or 80 people in the organization who've been with the organization since the beginning who lead this organization to the success it has. I'm standing here today to join the board for the first time, and I'm really looking forward to the future. I think Allan has left an enormous legacy here, and I know I'm stepping into some pretty big shoes here. I have chaired a couple of other ASX companies, BlueScope for eight years, Ansell for five. My first came across Qube when I was at BlueScope because BlueScope was making a big decision to change its supplier, a critical component of its competitiveness.
Qube came in with some innovative ideas about how things could be done differently, put themselves in the customer's shoes, and in doing so, created a compelling argument. I think that's what it does better than anybody else in the market. I think we should be really proud of our company. I love its modesty. I think the fact that it under-promises and over-delivers every time means that the company has a very strong future ahead of it. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to join today if you elect me and then to take on the chair following Allan's incredible career. Thank you.
Thank you, John. I now refer to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. The percentage figures again are rounded to two decimal places. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 1D on your voting card or through the online voting system. Resolution 1E is to consider the election of Mick McCormack as a director. Mick was appointed by the directors to fill a casual vacancy on the board in accordance with the company's constitution, and his appointment took effect from the 1st of May 2025. Information on Mick's professional experience is contained in the annual report and the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. The directors, other than Mick, given his interest in the resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of the resolution. I now invite Mick to speak to the resolution.
Thank you very much, Allan, and good morning. As Allan mentioned, I joined Qube's board in May this year, and I'm also a member of the Safety, Health and Sustainability Committee. I'm honored to seek your support today for my election as a non-executive director. My entire executive career has been in energy infrastructure. I co-founded APA Group, which is listed on the ASX, and spent 20 years there, including 15 as CEO. Under my leadership, APA became Australia's largest energy infrastructure company with investments spanning gas pipelines, gas-fired power generation, gas storage, LNG production, electricity transmission, and renewable energy generation. During my tenure there, the company's assets grew from AUD 800 million to over AUD 24 billion. I bring to the Qube board a wide range of expertise in governance, stakeholder management, strategic oversight, risk management, safety, and leadership, all developed through growing and leading a major listed company.
Additionally, I serve as a non-executive director on the boards of Origin Energy and Whitehaven Coal, providing me with further insight into several of Qube's market sectors. With your support, I very much look forward to making a meaningful and positive contribution to the Qube board and to the ongoing growth and success of Qube. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mick. I now refer you to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results and the % figures rounded to two decimal places. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 1E on your voting card or through the online voting system. Right, just moving on to resolution 2, which is the adoption of the remuneration report for FY25. The remuneration report is part of the directors' report, which is included in the annual report. Information on this resolution is contained in the explanatory memorandum, which also includes a message from me as Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. The Corporations Act requires that listed companies put a non-binding vote to shareholders to voice their opinion on the remuneration report.
Key management personnel, including directors and their closely related parties, are excluded from voting on the remuneration report unless as directed proxies for shareholders who are eligible to vote. The directors consider that the remuneration policies adopted by the company are appropriately structured to provide rewards that are linked to the performance of both the company and the individual. The directors encourage all shareholders to cast their vote and unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I now refer you to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 2 on your voting card or through the online voting system. Resolution 3.
This is the next item of business, and that's to seek shareholder approval in accordance with Listing Rule 10.14 for the grant of rights to the Managing Director, Paul Digney, as the deferred equity component of his FY25 STI award under Qube's short-term incentive plan. A summary of the plan terms is included in the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution. Under the plan, half of his FY25 award is granted in the form of rights to acquire ordinary shares in Qube and deferred for 12 months. The allocation value is based on the 10-day trading volume weighted average price of Qube shares following the announcement of Qube's FY25 results, which occurred in August this year. Subject to shareholder approval, Paul's rights will be granted shortly after the date of this meeting.
The directors, other than Paul, given his interest in the resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of this resolution. I refer you to the screen now showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 3 on your voting card or through the online voting system. Right, resolution 4. The next item of business is resolution 4 to approve the FY26 award of performance rights under Qube's long-term incentive plan and the special incentive plan to Managing Director Paul Digney. The special incentive plan has an acronym called the SIP. A summary of the plans is included in the explanatory memorandum in relation to this resolution.
The plans are designed to align the interests of the managing director and other senior executives with the interests of shareholders by providing them the opportunity to receive Qube shares subject to satisfying the performance and service conditions of the award. The directors, other than Paul, given his interest in the resolution, unanimously recommend you vote in favor of this resolution. Consideration has been given to this particular concept over the last three years or so. I'm grateful to shareholders for their support for this resolution and for recognizing the importance of keeping this management team together. This includes not only the senior management team, but also, as John mentioned, about 80 managers who will benefit by becoming shareholders in Qube. I refer you to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results.
Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 4 on your voting card or through the online voting system. The next item of business is resolution 5 to seek shareholder approval for the provision of financial assistance by AAT Webb Dock West and also the Albany Bulk Handling Terminal, both of which I've mentioned or Paul's mentioned earlier in this meeting. It was in connection with their acquisitions in the case of the AAT Webb Dock West facility in May 2025 and in July 2025 for the Albany Bulk Handling facility. AAT Webb Dock West has the only dedicated roll-on/roll-off terminal servicing the Victorian market, and it's located in the Port of Melbourne. Albany Bulk Handling has bulk export infrastructure located in the Port of Albany in Western Australia. It currently handles woodchip, but Qube has commenced upgrades to the facility so that it can handle other commodities, including grain.
Both acquisitions were funded by borrowings under a Qube Group loan facility, and this facility is supported by a Qube Group guarantee, and it's the intention to now join AAT Webb Dock West and Albany Bulk Handling to this guarantee. Entry into this supporting guarantee could be considered the giving of financial assistance by the companies in these groups in the acquisition of their own shares, which requires shareholder approval under the Corporations Act. As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the shareholders of these companies have provided their approval. As the companies are now subsidiaries of Qube Holdings, which is a listed holding company, Qube shareholders must also give their approval. The purpose of this resolution is to seek that approval. The reasons for giving the financial assistance are set out in the explanatory memorandum, and the directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution.
I refer you to the screen showing the pre-AGM direct and proxy voting results. Please indicate how you wish to vote for resolution 5 on your voting card or through the online voting system. That's the end of the voting and resolution for today, and I now proceed to the Q&A session. As previously mentioned, when asking your question, please state or note your name, whether you're a shareholder or which shareholder you represent by proxy, and any affiliation you may have with a relevant organisation. I reserve the right not to permit a person to ask a question who has not provided this information and to limit the number of questions a person may ask.
If due to time constraints, we are not able to answer all of the questions at this meeting, answers to these questions, as moderated, will be posted on Qube's website after the meeting. First, I'll address a question from a shareholder that was received prior to the meeting. Mr. Hiscock asks, will there be efforts made to increase the size of dividends paid to shareholders in the future, subject to reasonable earnings growth? I'll now answer that question. Qube's dividend policy is to pay an annual dividend of between 50%-60% of underlying earnings per share, pre-amortization. This range is intended to provide a balance between distributing a meaningful proportion of Qube's profits annually to shareholders each year, while recognizing that Qube still has plenty of opportunities to undertake, to invest capital to generate attractive long-term returns that should actually create significant shareholder value.
Based on the dividend policy, it will be expected that as Qube continues to grow its earnings, the dividends to shareholders will also increase. This has certainly been the trend in the past, and Qube's full-year dividends have increased by a compound annual growth of 13% since FY2021, from 6 cents per share in FY2021 to just under 10 cents per share in FY2025. We have provided earnings guidance that we expect Qube will deliver solid underlying earnings growth for FY2026, and if we achieve that outcome, then subject to all relevant considerations at the time, we would expect that the full-year dividend will increase again in FY2026. That is the answer to Mr. Hiscock's question.
Now I'll commence by calling on shareholder or proxy holder questions from the floor, followed by shareholders or proxy holders who have called in, and after that, we'll have written questions which have been submitted online ahead of the meeting to answer. Now I'd like to call on questions from the floor. If you'd like to ask a question, please attend the microphone. Only a validated shareholder or proxy holder may ask questions, and you must be holding a shareholder and proxy holder admission and voting card, and I'll determine the appropriate person to answer the question. First question.
Allan, Peter Gregory's my name from the Australian Shareholders Association. We're an almost completely volunteer-led organization, and we represent the voice of individual shareholders. Today, I have proxies from 101 shareholders with a total of 2.4 million shares. I note also that of Qube's shareholders, 58% of your shareholders own less than 5,000 shares, so we're speaking on behalf of all of those people. Firstly, thank you for holding a hybrid meeting. It enables shareholders, whether they're in Hobart or Broome or anywhere in between, to be able to participate in this meeting, and I think that's very valuable for individual shareholders, so thank you for that. Also, I'd like to thank you for your engagement during this year, as it has been for the last six or so years that I've been representing ASA with Qube.
A very open discussion, and I must say that you have always listened to every point of view that we've put forward, and we appreciate that. Question, first of all, Qube is by nature a very capital-intensive business, and so the ROACE projected outcome is a key element in the capital allocation process. I understand the target is around 12%, but in recent years, the actual has been less than that. In the interest of future outcomes for shareholders, can you comment on this and expectations for the future?
Yeah, I'll just ask Paul to give a view on that ROACE.
Yeah, over probably the past three or four years, from a management perspective, we've really focused on even more disciplines around our capital allocation, and that's why not just measuring how we actually use our capital and allocate our capital, we've actually really focused on the return on capital KPI. We've set ourselves a target to hit 12%. We haven't got a timeframe on that target, but over the last couple of years, it would only be maybe senior people and executives that would actually focus on that KPI. We've actually pushed that KPI down to those 80 managers that Allan spoke about, so it's really just an evolution, maturing of our business. Again, we look at ways to mature how we actually use our capital the best way we can, but also mindful that we don't just spend capital for the sake of growing as well.
We spend capital that may not produce something next year or the year after, but it'll be very useful in five years' time, and setting ourselves up around this type of facilities that we're Albany, Mora, and those things I just spoke about. We may not get the complete outcomes in 12 months, but in three years' time, we'll spend capital, good investments, and that's what we look to do. Yeah, we're just trying to just strengthen up our disciplines around capital management.
Thank you. My second question relates to resolution 4, and I note that the proxy vote was about half and half.
Oh, it was a bit more than half and over.
A bit more, yes. I know it's over the edge. From our point of view, we're undecided on voting that because there are two questions I just want to get clarification on. This is a new component introduced into the remuneration. It wasn't part of the remuneration report, so I guess we didn't consider it as part of the remuneration report. We do support the idea of ROACE being part of the LTI, and we'd like to understand if it's an intention that that become a component of LTI going forward. Also, how does this impact on the 75th percentile achievement, which was a big part of the remuneration plan?
Peter, there's a couple of prongs to that question, so I'll attempt to answer them sequentially. The SIP award was designed to ensure that the broader, firstly, the broader management team, not just the executive leadership team, but down to about 80-odd people, had meaningful incentives that related to a common ROACE outcome, which, as Paul mentioned, it's a key measurement and a key KPI that's being used now, and that the business will, if the ROACE improves, then the business will obviously continue to do well. The board will look at the hurdles in the existing plan with a view to introducing an ROACE KPI into the LTI, and it was very difficult to join the existing with this concept with the addition of 80 people all in one go. What we did was to actually introduce it as an adjunct to the existing LTI plan.
However, we recognize that ROACE is an important indicator, and it's one that you can talk to business division managers about and focus their minds on this outcome. We've started this process off, and I would expect, not that I'll be part of it, but I would expect at some point in the future that the LTI will contain an ROACE component to it for the long term.
Okay, thanks for that. I'll advise that we will vote in favor of that resolution.
Thank you.
Can I keep going?
Yep.
Looking at the board skills matrix, it shows that Qube's board is light on in technology and data oversight, innovation and disruption oversight, and digital oversight. Can you please explain how we can get this capacity onto the board? We also note that even though Qube has done a great job of advancing women throughout the organization, there's only one female director and no women in the KMP group. Can you please talk about plans to address this?
Sure. We have reaffirmed our diversity objectives in the annual report, which has been the case for some time at 40, 40, 20, so 40% male, 40% female, and 20% flip-flopping. The current level of female participation is, in my view, temporary, and it is something that John will have the pleasure of expanding over the next few years. There is no intention not to get to the 40, 40, 20 position. It just does take some time.
When looking at the issue of IT cyber capacity, digital capacity amongst the director group, there's a significant bevy of experience within the existing director cohort on that issue. I think I've answered this question in a couple of different forms to you in the past, where rather than just get a director whose sole experience is in cyber effectiveness or just IT, we think it's important for directors to have a broad experience and also understand the business which they're directing. Whilst that is an issue, we think we can, with the management capacity we have and also the ability to purchase by end of contract or consulting capacity to upgrade our knowledge of these issues, we think that is a better option than just having specific directors whose sole role is to deal with cyber or IT or some other particular discipline.
I understand your comment about perhaps not putting additional directors on the board to support this area because the reality is most of the people who've got the real level of expertise in this space are between 30 and 40 years old. Could you elaborate a bit more on how you're using contracts to enhance the board's capability to deal with questions?
If the board thinks it's light on for knowledge and capacity to help assist with some issue that it's been confronted with, it will seek advice, at last management, to find an appropriate source of expertise to inform the board. Usually, the directors themselves have got a good handle on who those types of people are and can just ask for that person to turn up. Yeah.
Can you please provide an update on Qube's possible involvement with the Beveridge Intermodal Terminal? Will the demand issues be the same as contributed to the Minto impairment? If it proceeds, do you expect that Qube's involvement might be a joint venture? Do you know what the timeframe is going to need to be for decisions on that?
I'll just hand over to Paul to give you a heads-up on that.
In regards to the Intermodal Terminal, yeah, that's a national intermodal project, not a Qube project, so I can't really answer on the timeframe of all that. Where we sit at Beveridge, it's not our intention to enter into any Mitco type of joint venture going forward in that arrangement at this point in time. On our parcel of land, which sits next door to that, we're just assessing our options at this point in time, so that's where we're at at this point in time.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks, Peter. Are there any other questions from the floor? Okay, Ben, have we got any telephone questions?
No, there's no questions on the phone. We do have three questions on the platform, though.
Sure.
I'll summarise the first two together. Each question is from Dr. Philip Laird. The first two relate to Moorebank, and he asks, "Has Qube been able to grow Moorebank-Melbourne rail freight over the past year? Also, has Qube encouraged the federal government via ARTC to improve the speedway performance of Moorebank to Melbourne track?
Paul, would you like to have a crack at that?
Yeah. The answer is no in regards to growing the Melbourne-Moorebank volumes because Moorebank, for us, is an import-export terminal which connects to Port Botany, so our focus has been on driving that volume between Port Botany and the terminal in Sydney. The answer to that one's no. I'd have to refer to a rail person in regards to what we're doing with ARTC and lobbying. I mean, maybe you'd know that better than me, Ben. We're always obviously trying to lobby for more efficiencies and better infrastructure around rail and having those conversations with ARTC and government. To answer that question would be yes, but I couldn't give you the magnitude of what we've been doing at this point in time.
Okay, the next question, again from Philip Laird, is how many new locomotives we're putting to service this year?
John.
I'll pass that on to our rail expert.
The answer to that question is six of owned assets have gone into, but mainly in the agri piece, and then there's ongoing leases that come on and off all the time, so that's the answer to that question.
Thanks, thanks, John. Were there any other questions, Ben?
No, there are no more questions on the phone or on the platform.
Thank you. Given that was the final question.
Sorry, Chairman, there was just one.
I think it's all completely wrong, my question, but it's about Whyalla. Are you mixed up? Do we go to Whyalla down in South Australia where they're having all the trouble there?
We do do some work at Whyalla. We man the port of Whyalla, and right now we're waiting until the issues with Whyalla are sorted out by both the South Australian government, the federal government, and others. Right at this point in time, Qube is just assist with some of the logistics attached to Whyalla, but we're in a bit of a holding position until the future of Whyalla is better known. Thank you. Are there any other questions? That was the final question, and that means the discussion on the items of business is now concluded. I'll shortly instruct that the poll and voting system be closed. Please ensure that you've cast your votes on all resolutions, and I'll allow time for you to finalise your votes.
For those voting in person, once you've completed your voting card, please place it in the ballot boxes that are being walked around at present by the Computershare representatives. If any shareholders in the room need more time, please raise your hand. Are there any more votes to collect? Oh, there's one over here. All right, thank you. The voting process is now complete, and I declare the poll closed and instruct that the voting system also be closed. That's online. I direct that all voting cards and previously received forms be retained for six months and then destroyed. As voting has been completed and there are no other businesses, no other matters to be transacted at this meeting, I declare the meeting closed.
A senior representative from Computershare has been appointed as the returning officer, and following confirmation by Computershare, the final voting results will be announced on the ASX later today, and they'll also be posted on Qube's website later today. I thank you very much for your attendance and look forward to your continued support of Qube, but before I finish, I'd like to thank PwC for hosting the AGM again this year, and for Michael Sousa, I'd like to let you know I didn't share it to you. Thank you.