Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Terry Davis, Chairman of SGH, and on behalf of the Board, I'd like to welcome you to the 2025 AGM. There is a quorum present, and I'm pleased to declare this meeting open. SGH is a leading Australian diversified operating business focusing on industrial services and energy. We own and operate market-leading businesses with scale, strong competitive position, and privileged assets that generate their own moats. Our wholly owned businesses, WesTrac, Coates, Boral, and SGH Energy, are strategically positioned in mining production, infrastructure, and construction, and transport and transitional energy. Growth tailwinds in these sectors support, through the cycle, performance and multiple avenues of both organic and inorganic growth. Our disciplined operating and capital allocation models are a hallmark of our company.
Their execution has not only supported delivery of our earnings, dividend cash conversion, and deleveraging targets in FY25, but also underpinned a decade of top decile total shareholder performance and a 10-year EBIT CAGR of 20%. SGH has a strong Board of commercial non-executive directors with diverse experience and a deep understanding of our business. On stage with me are MD and CEO Ryan Stokes, along with non-executive directors Rachel Argus, Annabel Chaplin, Kate Farrow, Mark Johnson, Chris McKay, David McAvoy, and the Honourable Warwick Smith. Also joining us is Warren Coatsworth, our Company Secretary, and representative from our auditors, Deloitte. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my Board colleagues for their support, their guidance, and commitments over the last year. Board composition is continually assessed to ensure the right balance of expertise, accountability, continuity, and independence. Annabel Chaplin will retire in early 2026 following the February results.
On behalf of the Board, I thank Annabel for her 10 years of dedicated service to SGH. Thank you. As Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Annabel has played a key role in strengthening SGH's reporting and risk oversight. She's also led multiple due diligence committees across debt programs, M&A activity, bringing deep financial services expertise, coupled with the insightful perspective of an experienced public company director. So thank you, Annabel. Mark Johnson will succeed Annabel as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. We also intend to appoint outgoing Boral CEO, Vic Bansal, to the SGH Board in 2026 as he transitions from executive role into a non-executive career. Vic's operating expertise will further strengthen the Board and support value creation across the business. Finally, after more than 15 years on the SGH Board and serving as Chair since 2021, I will also retire in 2026.
We have commenced the Chair succession process and will update the market next year. The 2025 financial year demonstrated SGH's continued operational strength, delivering record earnings again, enhanced return on capital, and reduced leverage. These results reflect the strategic discipline and operational excellence that define SGH's approach to value creation. However, this year also brought its challenges. After more than 15 years without a workplace fatality, we tragically experienced two in FY255. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire SGH team, I extend our deepest sympathies to the families, the friends, and colleagues affected by these tragedies. These incidents have deeply impacted our workforce and serve as a solemn reminder of our responsibility to every member of our team.
While our operational safety metrics have improved significantly with declared lost time injury frequency rates and total recordable injury rates over the past three years, these events mark clear, mark dear that the continuous improvement in safety performance remains imperative. The safety and well-being of our people is non-negotiable. Following thorough investigations, we have identified some root causes and contributing factors in experiencing advanced controls, enhanced controls, and shared critical learnings across our operations. Ryan will talk more about these initiatives, but the Board remains steadfast in its commitment to the highest safety standards across all SGH businesses. While no consequence can ever truly reflect the seriousness of these tragic events, the Board has adjusted short-term incentive outcomes for SGH executives and the Coates and Boral CEOs to reflect accountability for the events at Coates and Boral.
In addition, the Board is reviewing its incentive framework to strengthen the link between safety outcomes and executive rewards, and ensuring a clearer line of sight, reinforcing the critical importance of safety levels at all parts of the organisation. As we move forward, our focus remains on continuous improvement, both in operational performance and in our commitment to safety and the well-being of our people. We are also determined to learn from these events and to build an even safer SGH for the future. Reflecting on my time with SGH, the growth in shareholder value delivered has been significant. I joined the Board at the formation of SGH and when Seven Networks merged with WesTrac Holdings. Since that time, we've grown into a leading industrial services and energy business, and our market cap has expanded nearly tenfold to $ 20 billion.
That is more than four times the growth of the ASX 100 over the same period. The share price appreciation has been delivered alongside consistent, stable, and growing fully franked dividends. The SGH performance has been driven by disciplined capital allocation, strategic acquisitions, and an owner's mindset, and a clear focus on building scale in industrial services and energy. Our growth and consistency have elevated SGH from the ASX 200 into the ASX 100 and, importantly, the MSCI World Index, strengthening our profile with global investors. Liquidity has also improved materially, with average daily turnover increasing from—and listen to this—$ 3 million a day to $ 24 million a day, further enhancing our investability and supporting total shareholder return. Our journey has been underpinned by discipline in capital allocation, our operating model, and governance. SGH combines the benefits of founder leadership alongside strong independent oversight.
Our Board committees provide accountability and structure, and executive remuneration is closely aligned to long-term total shareholder return and ROSI outcomes. This alignment between ownership, governance, and execution has been central to the value that is created for our shareholders and underpins our confidence in continued growth. Now, as this will be my last and my final AGM, I would like to sincerely thank Kerry Stokes as the founder and my fellow Board members for their support and collaboration. You have made my time here both enjoyable and deeply rewarding. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Ryan and his management team for the unbelievable progress they have achieved in positioning SGH as an outstanding industrial services company for you, our shareholders. With that, I will now hand over to Ryan. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Terry. I'd like to welcome shareholders here in the room and those joining us here via the webcast. I'd also like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Terry for his leadership since joining the Board and the formation of SGH. Terry has played a key role in our transformation and growth into a leading Australian diversified operating business. We're very grateful, Terry. Thank you. Today, I'll provide a business overview framed around people, operations, assets, and financials, reflecting the pillars of the SGH way operating model. Safety remains the utmost priority across all of our businesses. SGH has over 11,000 employees and 5,000 contractors within our wholly owned businesses facing into industrial activity. We are unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that every employee, as well as all who visit our site, are safe and protected.
This commitment is supported by regular reviews of our safety systems and procedures and the sharing of insights and learnings across business units, and the strong adherence to safety protocols and policies from leaders through to the frontline workforce. Unfortunately, we experienced two separate workplace fatalities in FY25, one involving an employee at Boral and the other involving a contractor at Coates. Our thoughts remain with the friends, families, and colleagues of those affected by those tragedies. On the 22nd of March 2025, maintenance tasks were being conducted at Boral's Montrose Asphalt Facility. The tasks were being undertaken by contractors under the oversight of the only Boral employee on site that day. The incident involved a highly experienced senior leader with nearly 20 years of service falling into a silo.
He held responsibility for the site and other operations in the regions and had overseen maintenance at the facility since 2022. On the 23rd of June 2025, at the Coates branch at Roxby Downs, an incident occurred involving a transport contractor whose driver was loading an access boom onto a transport vehicle. During the loading process, the boom became unstable and overturned. These incidents were both tragic and deeply disappointing. Learnings from each have been shared and applied across our sites and businesses to strengthen safety practices and help prevent future occurrences. While our year-to-date reduction in 12-month rolling LTIFR and TRIFR demonstrate operational safety progress, these two incidents serve to reinforce the importance of our ambition to achieve a zero-harm operation. We continue to invest in our safety culture, our systems, and people in the pursuit of this ambition.
This includes appropriate consequence management to ensure full compliance with policies and procedures, intensifying focus on leading indicators, near-miss reporting, and proactive risk identification, and reinforcing our stop-for-safety initiatives and the power every worker has to halt unsafe work without hesitation or fear. Visible leadership remains central to our safety approach, and embedding safe work practice is a constant focus for our leadership and every single employee across SGH. Any workplace fatality is unacceptable, and we'll continue to prioritize safety first, zero-harm culture built on strong controls, rigorous verification, and accountability at every site. SGH continues to make progress on our decarbonisation roadmap across each of our businesses. In FY25, this included Boral lifting alternate fuel use at the Berrima Cement Plant to 50% and continued investment in solar to support operations at WesTrac and Coates. SGH also continues to advance a circular economy.
In FY25, WesTrac remanufactured more than 80,000 parts and rebuilt nearly 15,000 components and 350 machines. At Boral, recycled volume increased by 8%, and trials of concrete mix containing recycled concrete aggregates recarbonated through carbon capture technology have delivered very encouraging initial results. At Coates, with 30,000 hires each month and high utilization of our fleet, we help customers to effectively utilize equipment to support construction activity across Australia. SGH employs 11,000 people in our wholly owned industrial services businesses and close to 14,000 across the wider group. Our people are key to our success. We aspire to build a culture anchored on the relentless pursuit of performance, consistent with our values of respect, owner's mindset, courage, and agility. The SGH way provides a framework for this culture. It sets a clear operating rhythm supported by measurable KPIs. We maintain strong discipline on productivity and cost.
Our lean, frontline-focused structures enable fast and effective execution. There is a core belief that we can always improve. This belief in the power of continuous improvement drives us to lift performance across our businesses. We're also using nerve centres to unlock value across our businesses, including with customer and markets, technology, and people and safety. These provide opportunities for effective collaboration while still staying true to our accountable business model, where each business retains the autonomy to execute. The SGH way describes our discipline and scalable operating model. It defines how we create long-term value and deliver total shareholder return outperformance. It provides a clear framework that aligns people, operations, assets, and financials to unlock value across the business. It is a consistent system for scaling best practice and ensuring our businesses perform better under SGH stewardship. The SGH way has been built to evolve.
It is a living framework that we refine continuously to respond to market needs and capture new opportunities. In practice, accountability is reinforced through monthly balance scorecards and KPI reviews that extend from the frontline to the executive. The operating rhythm supports clear decision-making, enables rapid course correction, and ensures performance is managed effectively. Disciplined execution is central to the model. It allows us to deliver for our customers and lift margins by capturing operating leverage, maintaining cost focus, and converting earnings into cash. Finally, the SGH way is about people and culture, leaders and teams, and how they adopt the owner's mindset. They are accountable for outcomes, empowered to make decisions, and focused on delivery. As we grow, the SGH way becomes increasingly important to align our focus on the key business principles required to succeed and provide the foundation for how we execute and grow.
SGH way is supported by the four C drivers of cadence, capital, culture, and capability. Cadence ensures timely performance and oversight and ultimately governance. Capital provides a disciplined framework that targets the highest risk-adjusted returns using consistent criteria, and culture builds accountability and reinforces an owner's mindset across all levels of the business. Finally, capability develops technical and leadership depth at a privileged asset base that underpins long-term competitive advantage. These drivers are embedded in our flywheel of execution. The flywheel is a framework of sequential steps that build performance and momentum through consistent action. This is how SGH sustains progress, builds momentum, and delivers results. Our capital allocation strategy directs incremental capital into sectors with long-duration demand, supporting through-the-cycle performance. Infrastructure and construction, mining production, and transitional energy remain our core sector exposures.
In infrastructure and construction, demand remains resilient, though we are observing a near-term air pocket in activity following the completion of several mega road and rail projects and the lag before the next phase of committed projects commences. The medium-term outlook is positive, supported by a five-year major public project pipeline of $ 213 billion. There are also early signs of residential recovery, with housing commencements up 9%. The investment needed to support the committed infrastructure roadmap and energy transition is also expected to drive medium-term activity. In mining production, activity remains robust, and export volumes for key commodities are near record levels. As commodity prices reflect a less certain environment, customers are increasingly focused on cost management. In transitional energy, domestic gas markets are tightening, with forecasts indicating East Coast gas shortfalls from the third quarter in 2026. There is a universal call for greater supply to the East Coast.
The call for market intervention and price controls on gas are misguided and will only serve to undermine long-term investment in supply. These dynamics, alongside the long-duration demand outlooks, reinforce the strength of SGH's positioning and the resilience of our portfolio. WesTrac continues to leverage its privileged position to deliver operating excellence and growth. In 2025, Caterpillar celebrates its centenary. This milestone reflects the enduring strength of the company and the trust and confidence of our customers in our brand and in our service. They rely on the quality of CAT equipment and the support delivered by WesTrac. Production activity across our resource customers remains elevated, though maintenance deferrals by some customers are impacting near-term demand for services. This is consistent with trends observed towards the end of FY25.
WesTrac continues to work closely with our customers to optimize support and maintenance programs, extend asset lives, and improve productivity and performance. In Western Australia, major run-life extension programs are underway with key customers. In New South Wales, delivery of new ultra-class trucks through 2025 is supporting productivity gains at large mine sites. Boral's integrated network of quarry and concrete and asphalt plants provides scale and an advantageous market position. The business continues its performance journey, progressing toward mid-teen EBIT margins. This improvement is supported by S&OP Execution, price traction, and cost discipline. Price outcomes are achieved through improved customer service. This includes a delivery-on-time metric now up to 88%. Operational efficiency programs are ongoing, and cost variabilization is progressing through cartridge contract reviews and improved proactive management of overtime.
A plant reliability program has also been launched, with 18 priority sites identified for improvement that will ultimately drive productivity and reduce reactive maintenance costs. Trading activity for the year-to-date reflects robust customer demand. Concrete and asphalt volumes are higher, particularly in Queensland. Performance initiatives continue to represent a margin opportunity and remain central to Boral's ability to drive earnings growth over the short term. Coates operates Australia's largest hire fleet, providing unmatched scale, customer service, and reach. The business leverages its national network and the $ 1.85 billion original cost fleet asset to support customers to deliver construction and infrastructure projects across Australia. Softer trading conditions have continued into the first half of FY26, as a lag between the completion of major infrastructure projects and the commencement of new projects has resulted in an air pocket in infrastructure activity.
Despite this, we remain confident in the medium- to long-term outlook, supported by the $ 1.6 trillion five-year total infrastructure and construction investment pipeline. In FY2026, our focus remains on lifting both time and financial utilisation of our assets, which are key drivers of the mid-teen return on capital employed metric for Coates. We're also continuing to optimise our network, fleet, and resources to align with shifting demand. We are focused on strengthening S&OP Execution to drive performance, supported by market-leading customer service, product reliability, and coverage. We are leveraging these strengths to drive growth through increasing market share, particularly in the mid-tier segment. Beach Energy remains an important part of the domestic energy mix, with strategic resources and infrastructure feeding into the East and West Coast gas markets and global LNG markets. Strong customer nominations, LNG swap volumes, and weights here are supporting Beach's near-term outlook.
At a wholly owned SGH Energy, development of the Crux LNG backfill project continues. The substructure has been installed on location, and pipelines have been laid. First gas is expected to be delivered through the Shell-operated Prelude FLNG facility in calendar 2027. Once in production, Crux will deliver a significant uplift in cash flow for SGH for over a decade. At Long Tom, we have also extended our memorandum of understanding with Amplitude Energy to explore restarting the gas field through existing infrastructure. The broader domestic gas market and the recent gas market review underscores the need for pragmatic policy settings to unlock new supply. Reform is needed to reduce regulatory complexity, streamline approvals, and unlock prospective acreage. Only investment in new supply, supported by consistent and stable policy settings, can meet Australia's need for reliable and affordable energy. SGH holds a 40% stake in Seven West Media.
Seven West has recently agreed to a merger with Southern Cross Media Group by way of a scheme of arrangement. The combined company will create a leading integrated media platform, extending reach across key audiences and delivering scale in television, radio, digital, and publishing. The merger also brings opportunities for cross-platform promotion, cost synergies, and enhanced value for advertisers. The transaction is expected to enhance market scale and financial strength. SGH would own 20% of the combined entity following the merger. SGH has confirmed our intent to vote in favor of the proposal. Through the acquisition of Boral, SGH now owns a large portfolio of property that is no longer required for Boral operations. This includes over 20 sites, totaling approximately 4,500 hectares, providing material long-term optionality for SGH. The strategy for this surplus land is to identify and execute opportunities with the highest long-term risk-adjusted returns.
Key assets include Ravenhall at the northern end of our Deer Park quarry in Victoria, with significant rezoning potential for industrial and commercial use. Also in Victoria, Warn Ponds is a 1,000-hectare site near Geelong, with large-scale mixed-use development potential. In New South Wales, the Western Sydney Lakes property, where Boral holds 40%, is over 1,500 hectares, with long-term potential for mixed use and recreation. Focusing on the Ravenhall Logistics Precinct, it is one of the most significant assets in the Boral surplus property portfolio. This circa 500-hectare site sits on the western fringe of Melbourne, close to the city, major road networks, and potential future rail corridors. The site is ideally located for large-scale industrial development, including potential opportunities for intermodal logistics hub. The scale of the site allows for staged development over 20- 25 years, likely across multiple superlots.
Phased delivery provides scope for land to be vended in as the project develops. We are in advanced discussions with partner selection, with a focus on securing groups that bring the right mix of experience, ambition, and execution capability to deliver the vision for this project or this precinct. Ravenhall Logistics Precinct is a long-term opportunity to unlock significant value for SGH within Boral surplus property portfolio and generate recurring earnings in line with the broader property strategy. SGH has consistently delivered both organic and inorganic growth, with EBIT compounding at 13% organically and 20% in total over the past decade. Our approach to growth has remained disciplined and focused on sectors where we have conviction, that is, Australian industrials and energy. We target businesses with privileged assets, long-duration demand drivers, and scale, where there is a valuation opportunity and addressable performance gap.
This disciplined application of capital, combined with a strong execution capability, has enabled SGH to build a portfolio that performs through the cycle. We will remain proactive but patient and disciplined in exploring growth opportunities, ensuring that any future opportunities meet our strict investment criteria. This approach has supported consistently strong shareholder outcomes, including increasing our dividend by 17% in FY25, contributing to our TSR of 46% for the year. In FY26, our focus is clear. We are driving disciplined S&OP Execution and enhanced customer offering to deliver strong customer value and outcomes. We are working to increase our operating leverage and position SGH to capitalise on opportunities as they emerge across key markets. At the same time, we will pursue organic and inorganic growth, supported by our disciplined capital allocation model. The outlook for our businesses remains strong.
Supported by year-to-date trading conditions, we reiterate our FY26 guidance of low to mid-single-digit EBIT growth. We remain confident in SGH's ability to deliver sustainable value creation for shareholders. Finally, I would like to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support and confidence in SGH. Now, hand back to Terry. Thank you.
Thank you, Ryan. It is wonderful to see how far the company has come in the years here. We will now attend to the formal business of today's meeting. The notice convening the meeting has been available to shareholders for some time. I will take it as read unless there are any objections. If, as a shareholder of ordinary shares or a proxy or authorised representative, you would like to ask any questions, I will take questions during the course of the meeting, which relates to the resolution being put.
Questions relating to general business will be taken at the end of the meeting. I do ask that all the questions be directed to me as Chairman. Please wait for a microphone before speaking and show the red or yellow card you received when you were registering and state your name. Before each resolution is put to the meeting, we will display on the screen the count of the proxies as directed on the proxy form. Those proxy counts reflect the valid proxies lodged by the deadline stipulated in the notice of meeting. As Chairman, I intend to cast all available unsolicited proxies in favor of each resolution. As you will see from the displays, a significant number of shareholders have voted by proxy.
Accordingly, in my capacity as Chairman and in accordance with the company's constitution, I demand that a poll be taken on items two through to items eight. These resolutions will be put to a poll at the end of the meeting. The first item of business is to lay before the meeting the financial statements and the reports of the directors and auditors for the year ending 30th of June 2025. There is no requirement for a formal resolution on this item, so this item is excluded from the proxy form and will not be voted on. Are there any questions on the annual accounts for the year under review?
Since you acquired the company, there's no mention of a man who made great—the man who was in charge of Boral did an excellent job. He removed them from America and made the money in Australia.
He made excellent money before the company was acquired. I'm talking about Boral and the man in charge of Boral at the time. So, why wasn't he held on to run Boral?
I think that you only have to look at the recent performance of Boral under Vic Bansal's tutelage, and he has taken it from a very good company to a much, much better company. I thank you for your question. Are there any questions to the company's auditors of the company's financial statements for the year ending 30th of June 2025? Again, I ask that you direct the questions through me. Thank you. The next four items of business relate to the re-election and election of directors. No nominations were received from other persons, so the first director offering herself for re-election is Rachel Argus, who retires by rotation and, being eligible, offers herself for re-election.
Miss Argus brings extensive operational experience and proven leadership capability across a range of sectors, particularly in consumer-facing businesses and organizations. She is a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee and a member of the Independent and Related Party Committee. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for the resolution appear on the screen. Thank you. A poll will be taken on the resolution at the end of this meeting. The next director standing for election is Miss Annabel Chaplin, who retires by rotation and, being eligible, offers herself for re-election. Miss Chaplin is a highly experienced company director and executive with broad sector experience. She brings extensive experience in the financial services and mining engineering and infrastructure services, which is, of course, significant and relevant to the industries in which SGH operates.
Miss Chaplin is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee, and member of the Independent and Related Party Committee. She has done a fantastic job. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for this resolution appear on the screen. Thank you. A poll will be taken on the resolution at the end of the meeting. As item four relates to shareholder consideration of my own re-election to the board, I will now hand over to Warwick Smith.
Good morning. Thank you, Terry. The next director standing for election is Terry Davis, who retires by rotation and, being eligible, offers himself for re-election. Mr. Davis brings a deep knowledge of corporate management and commercial matters to this position as Chairman. Having served on the board since 2010, Mr.
Davis has acquired valuable insights into the company and the diverse industries in which it operates. Mr. Davis has been a Board Chairman since November 2021 and a director since June 2010. His proposed re-election provides continuity on the board and its committees, particularly through his roles as Chairman and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee and Independent and Related Party Committee. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for this resolution appear on the screen. I would take the opportunity on behalf of our directors to say this is probably the last time that he will be nominated for a director of this company, and he, too, is fantastic.
You're very kind, Warwick. I'll pay you that $50 later.
I actually thought it was $100.
The next director standing for re-election is Miss Kate Farrow, who retires by rotation and, being eligible, offers herself for re-election. Miss Farrow brings extensive experience in leadership roles across finance and energy sectors. Her skills in investment analysis, capital management and allocation, and her knowledge of the energy sector and information technology sector continue to be of great value for SGH. Miss Farrow serves as Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee and is also a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Independent and Related Party Committee. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for this resolution appear on the screen.
KSKZM is the name. What she's been doing is terrific because it's shown the results. I'd just like her to say a few words how she'll put in the extra effort to make it even better.
Sorry.
Sorry, I didn't quite catch that question.
All I'm saying, you've done a tremendous job helping improve the company productivity, and all the results bear witness to its excellence. What I'm asking you is what extra effort you'll put in, or in different ways, to assist the company to grow even better.
Thank you for the question. As a director on the board, we are incredibly committed, like all of the other directors, I have to say, to providing insight and stewardship to the wonderful management that we have here in this company. It's not an individual process, as we spoke about this morning, actually, at our board meeting. It's an incredibly collaborative board with a range of diverse perspectives and a range of diverse experiences.
They're the best types of boards because for every substantive decision, you get different conversations, you get different perspectives, and I think what it does is assist the management and the company to make good decisions over time. I feel very privileged to be a part of the board here and very privileged, actually, to be associated with a company that has worked so hard and provided such a great stewardship, actually, to the capital that you, as shareholders, do entrust us with. I'll keep doing my job as director, just as I know all the other directors will. Thank you.
Thank you. A poll will be taken on this resolution at the end of the meeting. The sixth item of business is to adopt the remuneration report for the company for the financial year to 30th of June 2025.
The 2025 financial year saw SGH deliver record earnings and profitability. Our key remuneration principles of market competitive performance, linked rewards that are aligned with shareholder interests, are reflected in our remuneration guidelines for FY25. The board believes the reward outcomes are appropriate and fairly reflect the strong performance, the very strong performance by our executives, both financial and non-financial performance measures. I welcome questions on the remuneration report for the year under review. Are there any questions on this item? The proxies for this resolution appear on the screen. I've been asked to advise you that the vote on this resolution is advisory only and does not bind the directors of the company. Directors of the company, its other key management personnel, or the respective closely related parties cannot vote in relation to this item except as proxy in very limited circumstances. Thank you.
A poll will be taken on this resolution at the end of the meeting. The next item of business relates to the proposed grant of share rights to the MD and CEO, Mr. Ryan Stokes, under the company's short-term incentive plan. As a result of corporate and individual performance outcomes for FY25, the MD and CEO were awarded an incentive under the SGH STI plan, with 50% of the award to be deferred into share rights that vest after one year. As the terms of Mr. Ryan Stokes' STI grants require that the securities to satisfy the STI awards be purchased on market, shareholder approval is not required for the purpose of the ASX listing rules. However, in the interest of transparency and good governance, the board is determined to seek shareholder approval for the grant of deferred share rights to Mr.
Ryan Stokes, representing 50% of his STI award for this year. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for this resolution appear on the screen. Thank you. Well done, Ryan. A poll will be taken on this resolution at the end of the meeting. The next item of business is the proposed increase in the limit of aggregate non-executive director fees. The ASX listing rule and the company's constitution require shareholders to approve any increase in the total amount of non-executive directors' remuneration that can be paid each year. The company is mindful of ensuring that the level of fees the company can offer keeps pace with market conditions, given the contemporary regulatory demands have increased the responsibilities placed on non-executive directors and the time that they have to commit to their duties.
The proposed increase in aggregate annual remuneration payable to non-executive directors will provide capacity for the company to appoint up to two additional suitably qualified directors as required and to support effective succession planning by enabling new appointments ahead of planned retirements. The increases will also ensure that the board remains comprised of high-caliber directors with a mix of skills and experience to oversee the company's diverse range of operations and investments. Are there any questions on this matter? The proxies lodged for this resolution appear on the screen. Thank you. A poll will be taken on this resolution at the end of the meeting. Before we end the meeting and take a poll on items two through item eight, I would like to open up the meeting for general questions from holders of ordinary shares. Are there any questions from the holders of ordinary shares?
Again, please move to the nearest microphone, show your red or yellow card, and give your name, please.
Chair. Chair, we have another question here.
Thank you very much. I think you've done a pretty good job. I am pleased to say this year, last year, I was about 10 or 15 minutes running late because of light rail issues, etc., and there was nothing available for a bite to eat or even a coffee. This year, it was a bit generous. I would like to say, along with all the other results, it was a very positive and deeply appreciated effort. Thank you, Mr. Stokes. As you said, you listened and you have addressed that issue. Thank you. I am responsible for the food. For your effort on your own part. No, we are doing fine.
Thank you. Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any more questions of a general nature? I assure you we'll work, even when I'm not here, to make sure we've got a good morning tea. Thank you. The polls will now be taken on items two to eight. To vote, please use your red card, which you received on registration. Stephen Hodgkins from our share registry Boardroom Limited has been appointed returning officer and will conduct the poll after the voting is closed. The result of the poll will be announced to the ASX later today. This concludes the business of the meeting. I now declare this meeting closed for all purposes subject to the conduct and conclusion of the poll. Thank you for attending the AGM, and I can assure you I leave the company in good hands. Thank you very much.