We're about to start the meeting, but before I do that, I'll just quickly go over the safety procedures for those in the room. There are no fire drills or other drills scheduled for today, so if you hear an alarm, it'll be a real alarm. In the event of an alarm, please follow the instructions of the speaker. Evacuate calmly using the stairs, leave your belongings behind and assemble in the designated areas. Now, the designated areas are outside Jocelyn on Ada Avenue, which I'm gonna say is over that way, or Doggett Street, opposite the stairs, which you go down over there. They're the two assembly areas. So good morning, everyone. My name is Geoff Brunsdon. I chair Sims Limited. It's my pleasure to welcome you to the 32nd annual general meeting of the company.
Today, we're hosting a hybrid annual general meeting with the option of attending in person or attending virtually. I'm pleased to be here, and I'd like to thank you for showing your support in joining the meeting today. We're meeting today on the beautiful ancestral homelands of the Turrbal tribe, stretching north from Bulimba Creek, south to the Logan River, and inland as far as Moggill. We acknowledge the care they have shown to these lands over countless generations and acknowledge their elders, past and present. Before I go further, I'd like to introduce our board of directors. So starting at my immediate left, our new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Stephen Mikkelsen. On Stephen's left, Tom Gorman. On Tom's left, Kathy Hirschfeld. On Kathy's left, Philip Bainbridge. On Philip's left, Vicky Binns. On Vicky's left, Hiro Kato.
On Hiro's left, Deborah O'Toole, and at the other end of the table, our Company Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel, Gretchen Johanns. We have also here in the audience today our executive team, and they'll just raise their hands as I go through their names. John Glyde, Rob Thompson, Brad Baker, Elise Gautier, Ingrid Sinclair. We also have our joint venture partner from North America, George Adams. John and Matthew Falzon, or, no, John's in the room. Thank you, John. Our joint venture partner in Australia in the LMS business. We also have our Director of Investor Relations and Joint Company Secretary, Ana Metelo, and Ana today will moderate the online questions. I'm also delighted that many of our dedicated Queensland-based team have been able to attend in person today.
I wish to acknowledge the contribution of all our employees, many of whom will be listening online. Without their dedication and commitment, we would not be the great company that we are. In declaring this annual general meeting open, I note and request that the minutes record that a quorum is present. The notice of meeting was duly given, and I will take the notice of meeting as read. I note that Mr. Sam Vorag, representing Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the company's auditors, is also present. He is available to answer questions. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank Mr. Vorag for his service. For the record, I would also like to advise that the minutes of the annual general meeting, held on 8th November 2022, are signed as a correct record of the proceedings at that meeting.
I advise that and request that the minutes record that the company has received proxies covering approximately 162 million shares. Each resolution will be put to the meeting, will be decided by a poll, and I'll explain the poll procedures later. In the interest of good governance, I will advise you of the proxy situation in respect of each resolution following discussion on that resolution. I declare the poll on each resolution open. Our annual general meeting is an important event for Sims, allowing us to engage directly with you, our shareholders. We appreciate your time, feedback, and support, and we value the opportunity to update you on the business. Thank you for joining us today. Chairman's address now. So fiscal year 2023 presented several challenges with geopolitical, social, and economic uncertainty.
Underlying earnings before interest and tax of AUD 252.2 million was a decrease of 67% over the prior year. Despite these headwinds, operating cash flow enabled the board to declare a final dividend while continuing to invest in our company's growth. I'm pleased to report that our company had another excellent safety performance. For the third year in a row, our company experienced the lowest total recordable injury and lost time injury rates in its history. Safety continues to be our top priority. These results don't happen without the commitment of every employee. During the year, our company also advanced its sustainability goals and is recognized by external rating agencies and indices as one of the world's most sustainable companies....
Turning to strategy, we continue to progress our strategic growth and sustainability initiatives to position our business to capitalize on opportunities in a rapidly decarbonizing world. Our company has a long history of innovation, with over 100 years operating in the circular economy. With growing demand for low-carbon recycled materials, we are focused on ways to increase the use of scrap in metal production by upgrading material to attract premium pricing. These innovations will help our customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while improving our company's bottom line. During the financial year 2023, we advanced our strategic growth plan through investment in both ferrous and non-ferrous recycling in the United States. This past Friday, we completed the acquisition of the assets of Baltimore Scrap Corporation, a large metal recycler located in the United States Northeast. We welcome all our new employees to our company.
To finance acquisitions, we sold surplus land and progressed the sale of our 50% shareholding in the LMS Energy business and our remaining stake in Sims Municipal Recycling. We intend to continue to monetize underperforming, undervalued, and underutilized assets within our portfolio. This strategy will enable the company to balance the need to invest in capital and the need to invest capital in the business to achieve our strategic objectives with appropriate shareholder returns. Despite external volatility, the fundamentals that underpin our business are positive and strongly position Sims for success over the medium term. Our disciplined approach to execution of our strategic plan is intended to create significant value for shareholders, our employees, and the communities where we operate for many years to come.
During the financial year 2023, the company paid AUD 123.6 million in underlying net profit to shareholders through dividends. The company declared a final dividend of AUD 0.21 per share, fully franked. This takes the total dividend for the financial year to AUD 0.35 per share. Sustainability is at the core of our business, and the company's purpose, to create a world without waste to preserve our planet, guides all that we do. Our sustainability efforts were recognized again this year by external rating agencies and various sustainability indices. Amongst other accolades, Sims Limited debuted on the FTSE4Good Index, returned to the Dow Jones Sustainability Australia Index, and was ranked 14th on the 2023 list of the World's Most Sustainable Companies by Corporate Knights. The last 12 months has been a period of significant change.
As announced during the financial year, Heather Ridout retired from the board to take up the post as Australia's Consul General in New York. I want to acknowledge Heather's leadership, guidance, and wisdom through her 11 years of service. Her contribution has been a major factor in the company successfully navigating a demanding international growth strategy as well as significant change. Both the board and executive leadership team will miss Heather's counsel, and we wish her every success in her new role. Since year-end, there have been several changes that I'd like to highlight as well. Firstly, the retirement of Alistair Field, and the appointment of Stephen Mikkelsen, who assumed the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer on the 1st of October.
I'd like to record the board's deep respect and admiration for Alistair, who was pivotal in establishing the company's purpose and setting the strategic framework that followed. The cultural transformation achieved under Alistair's leadership will be his lasting legacy. At the same time, I'm excited to welcome Stephen Mikkelsen. He has a deep understanding of our industry. In his prior role as the company's Chief Financial Officer, he was intimately involved in setting the company's strategic framework and in building the resilient business that Sims is today. Georgia Nelson will retire at the conclusion of today's Annual General Meeting. Georgia's many contributions to this board are significant. Her calm and considered advice was pivotal as we navigated challenging situations and difficult decisions over her tenure. Her leadership as the inaugural Chair of the Risk Committee has established a strong and sustainable risk culture in the company.
Georgia, for your guidance and unfailing dedication over the past nine years, I thank you. I'm pleased to introduce Kathy Hirschfeld, who was appointed to the board in September and is up for re-election at this meeting. As well as being a values-driven individual, Kathy brings a diversity of executive and board experience that fits well with the strategic initiatives Sims is pursuing. As I indicated at last year's Annual General Meeting, I will not be standing for re-election. I retire from the board at the end of March 2024, and I'm delighted to announce that the board has resolved to appoint Phil Bainbridge as the fifth chair since the company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 1991.
While I've never been more excited about Sims' future, navigating global commodity markets will always be challenging, but I'm certain Phil will provide the insightful leadership the company needs to continue to prosper over the years ahead. I wish you every success, Phil. Thank you for your continued support as shareholders in the company. So I'll hand over now to Stephen for the CEO's address.
... thank you, Chairman, and thank you everybody for joining us today at The Calile Hotel and remotely via webcast. It is a privilege to address you at our annual general meeting as Managing Director and CEO of Sims Limited. It is with a deep sense of responsibility that I assume this role. I acknowledge the profound duty that the Sims Limited Executive team bear towards all stakeholders, including our dedicated employees and committed shareholders. I also want to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of my predecessor, Alistair Field. His guidance has been instrumental in shaping the organization into what it is today and providing a clear purpose: create a world without waste to preserve our planet. This purpose forms the bedrock of the value we create for our employees, communities, customers, and shareholders. Furthermore, it delves deeper to shape our organizational culture, strategy, and vision.
I am determined to enhance and build upon this solid foundation. Throughout my tenure at Sims as CFO, I consistently witnessed safety taking precedence in all our operations, and as CEO, I will continue to uphold this commitment to prioritize the well-being of our team members. It is therefore very pleasing to report that in fiscal year 2023, we reported record lows in the total recordable injury frequency rate of 1.08 and lost time injury rate of 0.19. The operational and financial performance of the company is intrinsically tied to our dedication to environmental responsibility, social impact, and strong governance. This year, we continued to receive accolades from indices and rating agencies, and more importantly, we achieved significant progress in key areas of our strategy.
The three pillars of our sustainability strategy: operate responsibly, close the loop, and partner for change, continue to guide our efforts. In fiscal year 2023, we achieved a noteworthy milestone by significantly narrowing the pay equity gap. It decreased to 2.9% from 8.2% in the previous year. We also exceeded our gender diversity objective at the management level. In our commitment to adopt sustainable and environmental practices, we are delighted to report that we sourced 84% of our electricity consumption from renewable resources. We beat our fiscal year 2025 23% emissions reduction target, which is set at 23% against our fiscal year 2020 baseline by achieving a 32% reduction. We enhanced our social license framework to ensure that we can continue to build meaningful and lasting relationships with our communities. Our sustainable impact goes beyond our initiatives.
It is ingrained in the very essence of our products. We recycled approximately 8 million tons of proprietary ferrous and non-ferrous metals in the past fiscal year. This resulted in the avoidance of 11.6 million tons of CO2 by using recycled materials instead of raw materials, and it highlights our significant contribution to the effort of making the steel industry more environmentally friendly. The fiscal year 2023 financial results followed a very strong record-setting performance in the fiscal year 2022. Against a backdrop of subdued markets, our performance was resilient, demonstrating market and geographical diversity benefits. Underlying EBIT of AUD 252.2 million was down 66.6%, and statutory EBIT of AUD 293 million was down 62.1%. Metal sales were down by 1.7%, while intake volumes were down by 6.7%.
Ferrous and non-ferrous prices have significantly retreated from the fiscal year 2022 highs and the fiscal year 2022 average, both of which are in line with the contraction across the manufacturing sector in most regions. We've managed costs, which are up 4.9% in what has been a challenging inflationary environment, reasonably well. Statutory NPAT was AUD 181.1 million or AUD 24.2 million higher than underlying NPAT. Throughout these challenging times, we remained focused on the things within our control. We concentrated on the execution of our growth strategy, which is designed to capitalize on opportunities arising from decarbonization, infrastructure spending, and technology tailwinds. Recycling capital remains pivotal as we look to divest underperforming, undervalued, and underutilized assets within our portfolio and reinvest the proceeds to grow our core metal business.
Our portfolio expansion included the acquisition of two metal recyclers in the United States, Baltimore Scrap and Northeast Metal Traders. We have also diversified surplus land and progressed on the sale of LMS Energy, Sims Energy, and Sims Municipal Recycling. We completed the construction of the Sims Resource Renewals pilot plant facility at Rocklea, here in Brisbane. In Sims Lifecycle Services, we advanced our business scanning efforts by investing in automation. Moving on to a trading update. On 11th September 2023, we provided an update on market conditions and financial forecast for the first quarter of FY 2024. We communicated that the challenging market conditions observed at the close of fiscal year 2023 persisted into the early months of fiscal year 2024. Furthermore, we noted that the previously resilient U.S. domestic market had shown signs of weakening.
We forecasted achieving an approximately break even, break-even EBIT for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. Looking forward, we anticipate a positive EBIT for the first half of fiscal year 2024, albeit modest. This is despite the challenges posed by the persistently weak market conditions. As always, this forecast is made subject to the usual market dynamics, including timing of shipments and the final purchase price for scrap to fulfill those shipments. While acknowledging the current market conditions, we remain confident in the medium and long-term fundamentals of the business. This confidence is grounded in the following factors that will drive medium to long-term demand for recycled metal. Firstly, metal-intensive infrastructure spending. Secondly, global decarbonization of steelmaking, including the growth of electric arc furnaces. And finally, the electrification of products that are currently carbon-intensive.
Before I conclude, I would like to express my gratitude for the warm welcome and support I have received from valued shareholders, dedicated employees, and board members. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Stephen. Now to the formal proceedings of the meeting. Before moving to the various resolutions to be considered today, I would like to draw your attention to the voting and question procedures for today's meeting, which are shown on the screen. For those attending in person and are eligible to vote and speak at the meeting, you should have been issued with a yellow voting card, looking like that, when you registered earlier. If you're holding a blue card, you are not entitled to vote, but may speak at the meeting. If you're holding a red card, you are a visitor and not eligible to vote or to speak at the meeting.
If there are any shareholders who are eligible to vote at the meeting who have not received the correct voting cards, please see a representative from the share registry, Link Market Services, at the registration desk. Everyone happy they've got the correct cards? Systems worked yet again. For those attending virtually, in order to vote or ask questions during the meeting, you have to register for a voting card. You can do this by clicking on the Get a Voting Card box at the bottom of the website. You'll need to enter your shareholder number and postcode or proxy number. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders, or shareholder company representatives may vote. Eligible shareholders will be asked to cast their vote for, against, or abstain for each resolution during the meeting.
Once you've finished voting on all resolutions, you must submit your vote by clicking the Cast a Vote or Cast Partial Vote button at the bottom of the page. You'll be able to edit your votes by clicking the Edit Card until voting is closed at the end of the meeting. You'll be given five minutes at the end of the meeting to finalize your voting. A countdown timer will appear at the top of the page, so you know how much time is left to cast your vote. Once you've registered to vote, you will be able to ask a question during the meeting through the Ask a Question box at the top and bottom of the page. You can either select to ask a general question or ask a question on a specific resolution. You must select the Submit Question box to lodge your question.
If you're asking multiple questions, please submit each question separately. I encourage shareholders who have questions to send their questions through as soon as possible. If we answer your question during the meeting and you want to reply, please do so by asking a new question. Additionally, if you request a unique PIN from Link, the company share register, prior to the meeting, and you are participating via telephone, you'll have an opportunity to ask questions in real time. After the introduction of each resolution, I'll ask for questions, and you may press hash, star one on your keypad if you wish to ask a question. The moderator will introduce you to the meeting, your line will be unmuted, and you may ask the question.
We will attempt to answer all questions during the meeting, but if the same or similar question is received multiple times, we will only answer the question once. Most of the questions received before the meeting have been addressed in the CEO and chair addresses. We will now pause for a few minutes to allow shareholders time to submit questions. Please note, we will also pause briefly during each resolution for questions. We will address general questions after the pause, and questions specific to a resolution during consideration of the relevant resolution. So, I'll firstly ask our head of investor relations, are there any questions from the online?
Mr. Chairman, there are no questions.
I'll now give everybody in the room the opportunity to ask a question. Sir?
Good morning. On behalf of the Australian Shareholders Association, my name is David Midwood. I'm waiting for a microphone. Thank you. Good morning. On behalf of the Australian Shareholders Association, my name is David Midwood, and I'm working with my colleague, Nick Bury, who is a regular attendee and is participating from Sydney there. With the chair's permission, given your retirement, I'd ask to read a brief statement of appreciation to the chair.
Thank you.
The ASA regrets the decision of Chair Geoff to retire this year. That decision being considered bad news for shareholders. The ASA acknowledges that during your tenure, you've moved on incompetent key management personnel and replaced the same if they didn't perform, and then recruited other key KMP. Your determination not to tolerate bad management has improved the company's profitability over time. Of course, the nature of the company's business results and its earnings in the future are subject to market conditions.
... improvements in implemented by the Chair have been reflected by the company's balance sheet over time, and shareholders have been the beneficiaries. Likewise, non-executive directors recruited to serve on the board were chosen with a view to each making a positive contribution to the operations, as opposed to the board carrying on what might be termed as deadwood. So consequently, the ASA would like to congratulate the Chair, Brunsdon, for your stewardship during your time as a SGM Chair. For the last 20 years, the ASA has consistently voted against the remuneration report. Out of acknowledgment for the work that you have done, the ASA has recommended to its members, and will be voting for the remuneration report out of direct respect for the Chairperson.
However, acknowledging that, can we ask, will SGM, in future years, avoid the American-style remuneration excess, which can so often reward terrible performance by key management personnel?
Thank you, David. And Nick, I know you're online, and I thank you for your very, very generous comments. The one issue I'd draw with the comments is that my retirement isn't bad news for shareholders because we have such a wonderful Chair-elect in Phil Bainbridge taking over. Phil's been on the board for some time and has shown an energy and dedication to getting across our business, meeting our employees, visiting our sites, and making a contribution to the working, effective working of the board. So, that's the... That's certainly an exception I'd take. In relation to remuneration, the philosophy that we have in place here is when management does well, it's because the company does well and shareholders do well.
So I'm sure that as we progress in the future, we'll seek to align remuneration with outcomes for shareholders. Are there any other questions or comments from the floor? If not, we'll now come to matters for consideration at the meeting today. The first item of business on the agenda is to receive and consider the financial statements of the company and its controlled entities for the year ended 30 June 2023, and the related directors' report, directors' declaration, and auditors' report. Noting that the auditors are also here, are there any questions or discussion in relation to the accounts? David.
Thank you. Notwithstanding the report that was delivered, could we ask briefly the Sims outlook for 2023, 2024? With respect to the financials, are the sales revenue and NPAT predicted to either rise or fall for 2023, 2024? Thank you.
So, the CEO made a comment in the address about the outlook for the company, and Stephen, you might like to reiterate those comments.
Yeah. The outlook we're providing at the moment is that for the half year 2024, so December 31st, 2023, we expect to return to an EBIT, a positive EBIT contribution, but I said, albeit modest. We haven't put out any further guidance for the balance of 2024. We will deal with that as we go into the second half of the year.
Thank you. Are there any other questions in relation to... Yes?
Can I ask follow-up?
Yeah, of course.
Thank you for your patience. In that respect, can I ask, are either both, both or the new copper recycler, and forgive me for the names, Northeast Metal Traders in Philadelphia or the Baltimore Scrap, expected to be incremental earners in 2023, 2024 or a longer period? Are these assets expected to perform better or above the divested assets that you've just gone through in your report, please?
Happy for you.
So we are expecting a positive contribution from both those assets in 2020, 2023 and 2024. I think it's important to note that the assets that we have recycled, in some instances, were performing well but weren't fully valued by our shareholders. And divesting them, and I think LMS is a very good example of that, divesting LMS, it was clearly more valuable to another group of shareholders than our existing shareholders, and that was the reason for that divestment. Not that it was performing poorly, but it was more valuable in other hands. Of the underperforming assets, yes, we would certainly expect both Northeast Metal Traders and Baltimore Scrap to perform better than those assets that we have divested.
Thank you. Any other questions or comments from the floor? As there's no more discussion, I'd ask the minutes record that the accounts and reports have been received and considered. The next item of business is ordinary resolution one, which is the re-election of Thomas Gorman as a director. Before I read the resolution and ask you to vote, I'd like Mr. Gorman to say a few words about his background and experience. Tom?
Well, thank you very much, Jeff. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you very much for the privilege of presenting myself today to be elected as a non-executive director of our company. I've served Sims Limited diligently since June of 2020. With my background in industrial corporations over a 35-year business career, I believe I bring relevant skills and extensive experience to the non-executive director role at Sims. I spent 21 years working around the world at Ford Motor Company, stepping down as President of Ford Australia in 2008 to join Brambles Limited, from where I retired as CEO in 2017. Since my retirement from active executive life, I have maintained my ongoing involvement in commercial enterprises by serving as a non-executive director at Orora Limited and Worley Limited here in Australia, and Alcoa Corporation in the United States.
I believe my experience with these other boards helps to strengthen my commercial skills and allows me to bring this relevant experience to the Sims board. While I presently live in the United States, I travel to Australia frequently and believe I have the capacity to manage my workload and to provide strong counsel and guidance to the Sims board and to the operating management team. I'm committed to the Sims purpose, which, as you know, is to create a world without waste, and believe I can deliver value over the coming years. Your support of my candidacy as a non-executive director is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Thanks very much, Tom. And look, from my perspective, Tom, does bring a global perspective to our board deliberations, which is so important for our company, and, is a very, very effective member of, of the board. So, the board fully endorses, Tom's candidacy. So I'll put the resolution that Mr. Gorman, who retires by rotation at the annual general meeting, in accordance with the company's constitution and the ASX listing rules, and having offered himself for re-election and being eligible, be re-elected as a director of the company. Are there any questions? No questions.
Mr. Chairman, there are no questions online.
Any questions from the room? As there are no further discussion, the proxy situation will be put up on the screens behind me. So, there are the proxies that have been lodged. I'll move to the next item of the meeting, which is ordinary resolution two, which is the election of Ms. Katherine Hirschfeld as a director. Before I read the resolution and ask for your vote, I would like to ask Ms. Hirschfeld to say a few words about her background and experience. Kathy?
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for extending me the honor of serving your company board, on your company board. I was really pleased when Jeff called me to invite me to join the board earlier this year. At Sims' purpose of creating a world without waste to preserve our planet is something I am really committed to, and I look forward to making a contribution to the future of our planet. Yeah, once you read that purpose, it's just so easy to get engaged with a company like Sims. I have over 18 years' experience as a non-executive director, and I currently chair Queensland's high-voltage transmission company, Powerlink, in a very busy time for the energy transition.
I've served on listed company boards in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., as well as government-owned corporation and not-for-profit boards. So I bring a lot of governance experience, but my background in chemical engineering and almost 20 years with BP in oil refining and logistics means I have that safety, operations, risk management, commercial experience as well, which I hope to bring to the Sims board. I'm excited and honored to have joined the Sims board. On my side, I've been to two site visits, one to Rocklea here in Brisbane and to Claremont in New Jersey, and I was really impressed by the safety focus and the innovation that is happening in the business to recover more from waste and to reduce the waste to our planet. And I'm really honored to have joined this board, and thank you for your support.
Thanks, Kathy. And look, in the short time you've been on the board, Kathy's executive experience and non-executive experience has really been quite evident in the way you've made a contribution, not just around the board table, but your observations and comments on site visits. So I'm sure in the future, you'll make a very, very valuable contribution to the company. Are there any questions online?
No questions online.
Any questions or comments from the room? If not, we'll put the proxy situation. So, you seem to have quite a groundswell of support there, Kathy, so, we'll look forward to closing out the poll later in the day. The next item on the business on the agenda is the non-binding ordinary resolution 3, in respect of the in respect to the adoption of the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2023, as set out in the directors' report. I note that the company will disregard any votes cast on this Resolution 3 by the key management personnel of the company and their closely related parties, and otherwise, in accordance with the voting exclusion statement contained in the notice of meeting.
The resolution is that the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2023, as set out in the directors' report, is adopted. Are there any questions online?
No questions online.
No questions. Are there any questions or comments? We've had some comments on the remuneration, which we noted earlier. As there are no further questions and no discussion, the proxy situation will be put up on the slide. There is a 98.16% voting in favor of the resolution. So please take an opportunity, if you're in the room, to record your vote in relation to that resolution. The final item of business is ordinary Resolution four, the proposed participation in the Sims Limited Long Term Incentive Plan by Mr. Stephen Mikkelsen. Now, in its 16th year, the Long Term Incentive Plan provides, among other things, the grant of performance rights. If approved today, Mr.
Mikkelsen will receive a grant of performance rights with a relative total shareholder return performance hurdle compared to a peer group of ASX listed companies in the company's sector. A grant with achievement measured against a scorecard of three-year strategic goals, and a grant with vesting based on the company's performance against a return on productive assets metric. All those details are set out in the notice of meeting, and I don't propose to repeat them here. All, those grants, those three, separate tests, are contingent on continued service with the company. Details of how the plan will operate in respect of the proposed issue of 140,996 performance rights to Mr. Mikkelsen, are fully described in the explanatory memorandum to the notice of the meeting. The board believes it's appropriate that Mr.
Mikkelsen be entitled to this issue, subject to the criteria described in the plan. I note that the company will disregard any votes cast on this resolution for by any director of the company and any of their closely related parties, and otherwise, in accordance with the voting exclusion statement contained in the notice of meeting. The resolution is that approval is given for the company to issue Mr. Stephen Mikkelsen, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company, 140,996 performance rights under the terms of the company's Long Term Incentive Plan, as described in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the notice of meeting. Are there any-
No questions online?
No questions online. David, would you like to...?
Final question. Thank you. Mr. Mikkelsen, in presenting your report, and that you did so and presented the social license with respect to the company, et cetera. Can we present a different perspective to be considered when considering this motion? Specifically, that shareholders remain wary about reading too much about the sustainability, diversity, culture, and all the green dream stuff in annual reports. And as previously stipulated, virtue signaling in these regards can come with a price tag which shareholders pay. And so SGM demonstrates good corporate governance as an environmental citizen, and cannot to date be accused of not meeting its obligations. So will the company resist the criticisms from the various green brigade lobbies, bearing in mind that other resultant costs are borne by the shareholders when the companies cave in to political correctness demands? Thank you.
Thank you for the question. The first observation I'd make is every decision this company makes to invest money, to spend money, is made in the context of demanding return requirements. So this is not a company who prints glossy brochures, talks about sustainability for the sake of sustainability. Social license is actually a very, very important asset of the company. For example, we operate in the Chicago region, and we have a competitor who invested over $100 million in building a new plant in a new location, but failed to get community support. And that facility is sitting idle because they didn't pay attention to the necessity of having a social license to operate.
We see so often companies fail to engage with communities on new projects and run into costly problems down the track. So what I will commit is that we will continue to value the communities in which we operate so that we can continue to operate effectively and positively. We're also in an environment where, like it or not, we are transitioning from carbon-based energy generation to renewable energy generation. We're part of that trend, and every decision we make about reducing our carbon footprint is measured against the costs of that and the costs of not acting. Equally, we are facing more and more intense weather events around the globe. So when we make capital decisions, we take into account the impact that storms, for example, would have on our port facilities.
Take into account the impact of excessive temperature on the ability of our people to continue to work in a demanding environment. And I think, I think your point is well made, that we have to balance these objectives as we go forward. And my commitment, the board's commitment, is that we will continue to be a responsible citizen. We'll continue to build a sustainable company. And hopefully, our great-grandchildren will be able to sit in a room like this in 100 years' time, or be great-great-grandchildren, sit in a room like this in 100 years' time, and this will still be a great company. But thank you for your question. Are there any other questions or comments on the resolution? As there are no further discussion, I'll show the proxy position on the slide.
There are 98.71% votes for the resolution. So please record your voting if you haven't already done so for all the resolutions you're entitled to vote on.... So now we will conduct the formal poll on all motions put forward today. For those of us attending in person, if there's any person who believes he or she is entitled to vote but hasn't registered to vote, would you please raise your hand for assistance? I think everyone's comfortable they've got the right, right position. So the persons entitled to vote on this poll are all shareholders, representatives, and attorneys of shareholders and proxy holders who have yellow admission cards. On the reverse of your admission card is your voting paper and instructions. I'll go through the procedures for filling in the voting papers.
Shareholders, proxy holders, and corporate representatives with a yellow voting card need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how they wish to cast their vote. When you have finished filling in your voting paper, please lodge it in the ballot box to ensure your vote's are counted, and a representative from Link is in the room, and the ballot box will be passed, will be carried around the room so you can put your ballots in there. Please ensure you print your name where indicated and sign the voting paper. When you've finished filling in your voting paper, please, as I said, lodge it in the box. If at any time in the next five or so minutes you require assistance, please raise your hand.
If you need a pen, please raise your hand and a member of staff will provide you with one. So please go ahead and complete your voting. Does anyone need more time? Thank you. If not, we remind everyone online that they have a further three minutes, I think, to cast their votes, and then the poll will close. The results of the poll will be announced on the ASX later today, but I think having seen the proxy position, you've got a pretty fair idea of the outcome of those votes. So that concludes the business of the meeting today. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank you for your support and for your attendance and participation in this meeting. And I won't see you again. Thank you.