Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Katherine Grace, Stockland's Chief Legal and Risk Officer and Company Secretary. I would like to begin this afternoon by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. Before our Chairman, Tom Pockett, formally opens today's meetings for Stockland Corporation Limited and Stockland Trust, I would like to outline some procedural matters. Today's meetings are being held in a hybrid format, with security holders joining us both in person and online. We have designed the meetings to give security holders the opportunity to participate in several different ways.
For those of you participating in the meetings via the online Lumi platform, you are free to send in your questions now by selecting the messaging icon, then selecting the item your question relates to, typing your question in the box towards the top of the page, and pressing the send button. If you would like to ask your question verbally, please click the Request to Speak button and follow the prompts to ask your question. For security holders who have dialed into the meeting by the teleconference line, please follow the prompts if you wish to ask a question. For security holders in the room, we will invite you to ask questions at the relevant time.
The Chairman will shortly open the meetings, and at that time, the polls will be formally opened to enable security holders and proxy holders to vote by selecting the voting icon and selecting a voting preference for each resolution on the online Lumi platform. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. Your vote is automatically recorded, and there is no need to press a submit or enter button. For those security holders or proxy holders in the room, you will be able to vote using the handheld device provided when you registered at the door. Once voting opens, in-room attendees will be presented with a list of today's resolutions on the voting keypad. Use the trackball to highlight the resolution you wish to vote on, and press the green square to confirm.
The resolution text will appear, and you can bring up the voting options by pressing the green square. Press one to vote for a resolution, two to vote against, or three to abstain. To move on to the next resolution, press the green square, or to return to the full list of resolutions, press the red triangle. As advised in our notice of meetings, participants who have dialed into the meeting will be unable to vote using the teleconference facility. I will be moderating the questions submitted online today from security holders during the meetings. Questions may be amalgamated if there are multiple questions on the same topic. Please note that only security holders may ask questions during the meeting. We will address the questions during the formal business of the meetings, as is our customary practice.
While it may not be possible to respond to all questions during the meetings, we will endeavor to directly respond to questions we do not get to as soon as practicable after the meetings close. A recording of the meetings will be available on the Stockland website shortly after the meetings conclude, and I will repeat these instructions later in the meeting before we commence the formal business. For security holders attending the meeting today in person, please now ensure your mobile phones are switched to silent. I note that in the unlikely event of an emergency, you should follow the instructions of the Stockland staff. Finally, as this is a hybrid meeting, technical issues may arise.
If we do encounter any issues, we will have regard to the impact on security holders, and the Chairman may issue instructions for resolving the issue and may continue the meetings if it is appropriate to do so. I will now hand to Tom Pockett, our Chairman, to formally open the meetings.
Thank you, Katherine, and good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Stockland, the Stockland 2026 annual general meetings. My name is Tom Pockett, and I chair the boards of your company. As a quorum is present, I now formally declare the annual general meetings open. Voting on resolutions two to four in the notice of meetings is now open via the online Lumi platform. I am joined today by my fellow Directors, who I will now introduce. Tarun Gupta, our Managing Director and CEO. Bob Johnston, who at the conclusion of today's meetings, Bob will assume the role of Chairman of the Stockland boards, and I again congratulate Bob on his appointment. Melinda Conrad, Laurence Brindle, Chris Lawton, Kate McKenzie. Kate is standing for re-election at today's meetings.
Kate has over 30 years' experience in the telecommunications and government sectors in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, and is an experienced board Director. Andrew Stevens. Andrew Stevens is not seeking re-election today and will retire from the board at the conclusion of the meeting. I will share more on Andrew's contribution shortly. Also on the board, Adam Tindall and Penny Winn. Katherine Grace, who you have already met, is Stockland's Chief Legal and Risk Officer and Company Secretary. Jane Reilly, who represents our auditors, PwC, is here today. Today will be Jane's last Stockland AGM as we transition to a new lead audit partner, Jamie Wills. I thank Jane for her contribution and welcome Jamie. Also in attendance are members of the Stockland leadership team. As you will be aware from the notice of meetings, there are three resolutions for your approval today.
We will provide an opportunity for discussion and to answer any questions you might have when we deal with each of the formal agenda items. I encourage you to vote in advance of or during each resolution to ensure you have sufficient time. Before I hand over to Tarun, I will make some comments regarding Stockland's strategy and results. Over the past five years, Stockland has materially reshaped its portfolio and strengthened the foundations of the business. We have developed a clear strategy and a new operating model to deliver sustainable growth for our business, including new asset classes. This growth has been supported by a disciplined approach to capital management, with a focus on capital recycling to invest in higher returning assets, and the establishment of a high-quality capital partnering platform, which enables us to accelerate our development pipeline, improve our return on capital, and create high-quality fee income.
We have also delivered a step change in our development capability, establishing a AUD 6.1 billion development pipeline and achieving a record number of 9,670 settlements in FY 2026. That was across our masterplanned community and land lease communities. We have developed capabilities in relation to large-scale urban renewal projects, such as the Waterloo Urban Redevelopment Project in Sydney, which will deliver around 3,000 new homes, of which 50% will be social and affordable.
This year, we continue to invest in new capital opportunities, such as our data center pipeline, supported by our partnership with global data center operator EdgeConneX. All these achievements have been underpinned by and support our ability to attract and retain high-quality talent reflected in our high employee engagement scores. Our performance in FY 2026 demonstrated the benefits of this work with the group delivering strong outcomes both financially and strategically. Moving now to the FY 2026 result.
Our statutory profit was AUD 994 million, compared with AUD 826 million in FY 2025, with the statutory result for FY 2026, including a positive net investment property revaluation of AUD 202 million. This contributed to an increase in our net tangible asset backing, or NTA per security from AUD 4.22 to AUD 4.39. Funds from operations was up more than 10% to AUD 892 million, generating AUD 0.369 per security, which was at the top end of our guidance. Our full year distribution was AUD 0.252 per security, which is in line with FY 2025 and represents a payout ratio of 69% of funds from operations. In FY 2026, we advanced our sustainability priorities by embedding decarbonization, social impact, resilience, and circularity across our strategy, operations, and investment decision-making. Our FY 2026 reporting reflects the progress made in these areas and includes a new climate report.
We also met our scope one and scope two net zero targets and are progressing our plans for scope three reporting in FY 2027. I'd like to thank my board colleagues, the executive team, and the broader Stockland team for their continued dedication and commitment. As I mentioned earlier, Andrew Stevens will retire at the end of this AGM. Andrew has made a significant contribution to Stockland during his nine years on the board, including as chair of the Sustainability Committee. Andrew has been a passionate and focused director across all aspects of Stockland strategy. His deep knowledge of and commitment to sustainability has helped embed it into the way we think and operate at Stockland. His contribution has extended well beyond the boardroom, and he is widely respected externally for his expertise and leadership in the area.
Andrew, from myself and the board and the leadership team and our security shareholders, we thank you for your significant contribution in making Stockland successful, and we wish you all well for the very best in your future endeavors. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in thanking Andrew. Turning now to today's resolutions. The first item of business is a non-voting item to consider the financial statements for the group. Resolution two relates to the re-election of Non-Executive Director, Kate McKenzie, and you will have the opportunity to hear from Kate later in the meeting. Resolutions three and four relate to remuneration. We released the proxy results of all the resolutions ahead of the meeting, and these are now shown on the screen. As you can see, all the resolutions have a solid support. Thank you to our security holders for your ongoing support and investment in Stockland.
I will now hand over to Tarun.
Thanks, Tom, and good afternoon, everyone. I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders, past and present. As Australia's largest diversified property group, we play an important role in shaping the communities and places that support how people live, work, and connect. For over 70 years, we have been guided by a purpose, a better way to live. We bring this purpose to life through our mission: for people, for community, for something better. Together, our purpose and mission underpin how we respond to Australia's changing needs and create long-term value for our customers, communities, and security holders. The impact of this approach can be seen right across our portfolio.
For example, at Aura on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, more than a decade of investment in homes, community amenities, schools, and public spaces has helped create a thriving and connected community, generating more than AUD 330 million in social value. This reflects the strength of our strategy and our disciplined focus on delivering the places that Australia needs, from residential communities and town centers to logistics facilities and data centers. Pleasingly, the disciplined implementation of our strategy translated into strong operational performance across all parts of our business in FY 2026. Across our residential platforms, we delivered record settlements equating to nearly 10,000 affordably priced new homes and residential lots across the country, with around one-third going to first homebuyers in our masterplanned communities.
We delivered a significant increase in volumes across our commercial development pipeline, completing projects with an end value of AUD 830 million and commencing projects worth a further AUD 1.2 billion, creating high-quality investment product for our partners and for ourselves. With most of our capital now allocated to our preferred sectors of residential, retail, and logistics, we are making good progress in capturing change and use opportunities within our workplace portfolio and maximizing the value of existing logistics assets through conversion to data centers. We were pleased to welcome three new capital partners during the year: Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Marsh, and EdgeConneX, as well as expanding partnerships with several existing investors. A significant milestone was the formation of the Stockland EdgeConneX Data Centers partnership, which will develop, own, and operate an Australian portfolio of data centers.
In the land lease sector, we established a new partnership with M&G Real Estate, expanding our existing partnership with Invesco, and welcomed Marsh as a partner in our Stockland Residential Rental Partnership. We also formed a strategic partnership with Morgan Stanley Real Estate to invest in and grow a portfolio of convenience retail assets located within Stockland's masterplanned communities. FY 2026 was also a strong year financially. Funds from operations were up 10.4% on FY 2025 and demonstrated the strength and depth of the group's platform. FFO from investment management segment was AUD 606 million, which was up 2.6% on the prior year, reflecting operational growth and the contribution of new project completions. The portfolio delivered comparable growth of 3.5%, underpinned by logistics and retail, with positive leasing outcomes achieved across the portfolio. The development segment delivered FFO is AUD 540 million, which was up 17.3% on the prior year.
The result was driven by the step change in settlements across our residential portfolio, together with growing management income from partnerships. We finished the financial year in a strong capital position with gearing of 22.7%, which provides the group with significant capacity for investment into our strategic priorities. While market conditions vary across sectors and geographies, our focus is clear: disciplined execution, prudent capital management, and the creation of long-term value for our security holders. For FY 2027, we expect the distribution to be in line with FY 2026 at AUD 0.252 per security.
Along with our capital management settings and capital allocation framework, two other essential elements for sustainable growth are our comprehensive ESG strategy and our focus on building and maintaining a high-performing, collaborative, and innovative workforce. As Tom said, we achieved net zero scope one and two emissions, marking a major milestone in our journey toward a low-carbon future.
We continue to advance initiatives designed to reduce the intensity of our most material scope three emissions. Our people remain central to the successful execution of our strategy. The result we achieved in FY 2026 reflects the capability, the commitment, and collaboration of our teams across the business. Today, we released our operational update for the first quarter of FY 2027. Residential market conditions have softened across the country, with demand reducing in most markets following interest rate increases and federal tax changes. Australian consumers are navigating cost of living pressures, a higher interest rate environment, and stretched housing affordability. Against this backdrop, we are focused on providing affordably priced housing solutions and essentials-focused retail amenity for our customers. Our investments business maintains its consistent performance with positive leasing spreads over the quarter, and we have made good progress in executing our data center strategy by progressing powered land sales.
We continue to see the benefits of our diversified portfolio and disciplined execution, with positive operational momentum across the business and continued progress against our strategic priorities. Importantly, we have maintained our FY 2027 guidance and residential volume targets, and we remain focused on disciplined execution as we progress through the year. With a clear strategy and a commitment to the people and communities we serve, Stockland is well-placed to capture many opportunities ahead to truly create something better. Before I close, I would like to acknowledge Tom as he concludes his tenure as Chairman. Tom has provided outstanding leadership of the board during a period of significant transformation for the Group, helping guide the strategic repositioning that has strengthened Stockland and positioned it well for future growth. His support, counsel, and unwavering focus on long-term value creation have been invaluable to both the board and management.
On a personal note, and on behalf of the management team and all Stockland employees, I would like to sincerely thank Tom for his support, guidance, and commitment to the business. It has been a privilege to work with him, and we wish him every success in the future. Thanks, Tom. Now, I'll conclude by thanking the Stockland team for their contribution to this year's results and by thanking you, our security holders, for your ongoing support and investment in Stockland.
Thank you, Tarun. As noted at the start of the meeting, for those security holders joining us today through the online Lumi platform, the polls are open to enable security holders and proxy holders to vote by clicking on the bar chart icon. You may submit any questions on the Lumi platform by selecting the messaging icon, selecting the item your question relates to, typing your questions in the box towards the top of the page, and pressing the send button. To ask your questions verbally, click the Request to Speak button and follow the prompts. Security holders that have joined the meetings by phone have the option of asking questions during the moderated phone line by following the prompts on the teleconference facility. As mentioned in our notice of meetings, participants who have dialed into the meetings are not able to vote using the teleconference facility.
I'll be moderating the online questions from security holders during the meeting, and as mentioned previously, questions may be amalgamated if there are multiple questions on the same topic. Please note that only security holders may ask questions during the meeting. As noted by the Chair, we will address the questions during the formal business of the meeting, as is our customary practice. While we may not be able to address all questions, we will make every effort to follow up with responses to any outstanding questions as soon as practicable after the meetings close. Before Tom takes us through the formal resolutions set out in the notice of meeting, I'll run through the voting procedure again. Voting on all resolutions will be by poll.
As mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, the polls are now open in respect of resolutions two to four, and you may cast your votes at any time from now until the close of the polls. A representative of Computershare Investor Services will act as the Returning Officer and determine the results of the polls. For those security holders who are in the room today, you will be invited to ask questions when we move to each item, and at that time, I'd ask that you please come to the standing microphone in the aisle, state your name, organization, or association, and show your electronic voting device. Please direct all of your questions to Mr. Pockett as Chairman. The results of the polls will be made available to the ASX as soon as we have concluded the meeting, and I expect this to be later this afternoon.
If you are joining online and you need assistance with voting, please refer to the instructions available in the user guide available on our website by going to the Investor Center page, clicking on the Annual General Meeting link, and then clicking on the online meeting user guide located towards the bottom of the page. If you are in the room today and you require assistance with your voting, please ask a Computershare staff member for help. A simple majority will be required to pass resolutions two to four, and they must be passed by more than 50% of the total votes cast on those resolutions by security holders present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote. Any open votes given to the Chairman of today's meetings will be voted in favor of all items of business.
I will now hand over to the Chairman for the formal business of the meeting.
Thank you, Katherine. We now move to the first item on the notice of meetings, consideration of the 2026 financial statements and the annual report. The Corporations Act requires that the financial report, the climate report, the directors' report, and the auditors' report for the year ended 30 June 2026 be laid before the meeting. No formal vote is required on this item. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your opportunity to ask any questions you may ask about Stockland's performance and outlook. I ask that questions regarding resolutions two to four be deferred until we get to those resolutions. As noted by Katherine, for those security holders in the room wanting to ask questions, please come to the microphone holding your electronic voting device, state your name, and direct all questions to me as Chairman. Are there any questions, please? Hi, Natasha.
Hello, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Tom. Natasha Lee, shareholder. The last briefing we had here just seems like yesterday. I've got some follow-up questions from that, as you probably anticipated. Just how are the data centers progressing as far as development? I suppose, I take it that things are still in development. They're not up and running as such, but obviously, there's been a lot of discussion in the media and the like about data centers on various fronts. I suppose the issue is that whilst you have approval for a number of data centers because the government's still sort of laying the groundwork on how data centers would operate, are you looking at sort of the minimum requirements, what you've got approval for? Or are you looking forward to future best practice, even though that might be a bit unclear at this stage?
Well, let's answer that one first. There's several parts.
That's a big question. Data centers is a newish category. We have already built one out at Macquarie Park. We have a very well-thought-through strategy on data centers, and that strategy is still emerging as we go because it is a new category. We started looking at data centers quite a few years ago now seriously as a place to allocate capital. The team, led by Tarun and the leadership team that's here today, were pretty clear in their view that we needed to have a partnership with a provider like EdgeConneX, who knows a significant amount about data centers. They have about 80 around the world already. The combination of a Stockland and an EdgeConneX, us being the property experts and them being the data center experts, seemed to be the best way forward, and that's why we created that partnership.
I'll get Tarun to comment exactly on where we are. In terms of government and their rules, I'd say that is just in embryonic form. They're starting to get their head around what the zoning requirements should be, et cetera, water, power, et cetera. I think that will develop over time. It clearly is a category that the Australian government supports. But on the detail of where we are, Tarun, do you want to add a few comments? Yeah.
Yeah. We're still early stage in the execution of our strategy. Our current focus, we only formed the partnership with EdgeConneX in March this year, and the current focus is in progressing planning and power pathways before we really look to make any investments. We haven't yet made any substantial investments into the strategy, but that's going to come in the future. The seven or so sites that we're progressing as our more priority sites are all in logistics and workplace zones. They're already zoned for a data center use, and now we're working through community consultation and obviously statutory consultation. We did look at, in our portfolio, over 100 sites, and the sites we've picked are the ones where we think are the right balance of providing what is a critical infrastructure for the country, but also balancing community requirements will be there.
Really at the moment, we're looking at some land transfers in FY 2027, and the earnings from that strategy are starting to come through. In the second half, we've highlighted that because of land sales and land transfers, we will have some reasonable profits coming through. But in future years, once we start developing, then there'll be further earnings and capital requirements. Still early days, but as Tom said, a very comprehensive strategy in place with a lot of capital discipline and various gates that we even this morning were discussing with the board on how we would allocate capital. But we're very excited by the capability and the experience that EdgeConneX bring from their global experience. They're operating in 20 countries, and currently they have a pipeline of close to 9 GW, with, as Tom said, 80 operating data centers.
So that synergy with our capability here, local expertise with theirs, is what we're looking to add value for stakeholders and of course, security holders.
Okay. Last year we talked about renewable energy supplying the data centers and basically having a closed loop water supply. So that's still part of your strategy. I suppose the next part of this is the emerging issue about noise. I'm not sure how much noise pollution is actually caused by data centers, and possibly in the logistics site, it's less of an issue compared to those which are proposed for near residential developments. And possibly, there are things like enough amount of insulation to reduce the amount of noise. Did you have any comments on that?
Well, I think they are all located on logistics sites.
Yeah.
That helps, the fact that there are no communities around them.
Any large-scale logistic operation, such as a 24-hour warehouse, is going to create a significant amount of noise.
Yeah.
A data warehouse would produce some noise. It is in the right spot, which is the key thing. Yeah.
Okay. Part of the issue with data centers is about, like I said, the best practice in sort of getting community acceptance, whether it's in a logistics site or in a residential site. Have you considered the provision of these services to not-for-profits, universities, and the local community on favorable terms, or is that still being developed in your strategy?
Tarun?
Yeah. No, it is still early days. As we said, we've lodged some planning applications and we engaged in those communities with the local community. Clearly, there'll be jobs created, so we are very focused on making sure those jobs, as much as they can, go to people residing in the local trade areas. But also where required, we're exploring community benefit as well. So, they're all things we're exploring. But as I said, we formed the partnership in March this year.
Yeah.
We are early stage. But we commend both state and federal government, good regulation, good controls, to deliver what is, in the long term, a very significant infrastructure for all Australians. It needs to be done in a sensible way.
In a way that creates value for all stakeholders. We do have over 70 years track record of developing in community, in our residential and other parts of our business, and that same approach is what we're bringing to our data center consultation and going through engagement. That we have done, when we do big masterplanned communities, we consult widely, and that's a process that's underway. So, yeah, we'll be respecting all of that.
Okay. The final question on data centers specifically, I suppose, is given possibly long term, or whether this is just a bubble, it's-
Need for them.
But-
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. The next question concerns your AI adoption rollout. Where are things at on, as far as the company is concerned, and to what extent are you looking at, say, agentic AI adoption?
Yeah. I think there's two ways to look at AI. One is within the company and its utilization to make tasks easier and make things more efficient. The other one is the external threat that AI produces through increased cyber risks. I think there's two different types of risks here with AI. The one inside the company is much more easier to control, and the utilization of AI is already being developed in Stockland. The team have spent a significant amount of time deep diving into the AI world, both here and internationally, to understand it more and see what is actually possible with AI. In terms of cyber risk, our cyber risk teams are doing exactly the same thing in terms of improving our defenses as quickly as they can to prevent cyber risks through the use of things like agentic AI, et cetera.
Yes.
Agentic AI is a different type of tool altogether and has to be controlled by boundaries.
I would say that inside Stockland, we are still learning and thinking about the use of agentic AI, but that will come down the track. It is still a new and adventurous world with AI, I think.
Yes, and that is partly why I was just questioning all this.
Yeah.
I am glad you mentioned the cyber risk because you did mention that there was a data breach. Did you want to elaborate on the sort of cause and extent of that?
The data breach for Stockland?
Yes.
No, I don't think so. No, not us.
Probably bad reports.
No. Actually, haven't heard of that.
Maybe I was hallucinating. I have got to switch off that AI in my brain.
We have not had one. Thank you.
Okay. Sorry. I was obviously hallucinating on that point. Okay. On your portfolio, I understand that you review the valuations of your properties every two years. Although I noticed that the Point Cook valuations were done about three years ago.
Was that one missed, or was it?
No, I think it's every three years we do our property valuation.
Three years.
Sometimes we do them earlier if-
Yeah.
Things have happened.
Most of them seem to be about three years, not two years.
Yeah, we have a criteria that says if there's a movement in the property valuation, ± 5%, we may just go and revalue it just to check the valuation. That's what we do, so three years is normal.
Okay. No, that's fine. I should thank the board and management for the outstanding results last year, and also thank you, Tom, for your leadership and-
Thanks, Natasha Lee. Really appreciate it. Thank you for being a very good shareholder.
Thank you.
Are there any questions online, Katherine?
We have a number of questions online, but I do think we've got some more questions in the room, sir.
Yes. Okay, great. Oh, thank you.
No worries.
Hi, my name is John Simms, and I'm a-
Hi, John.
I've got two very simple questions. One, the data center that's been completed, is that in the old Johnson & Johnson building at Macquarie Centre?
Yes.
It's already completed about three years ago, but it is next to where Johnson & Johnson was.
Next to it, not in it?
No.
Okay. I used to work there. That's all.
Okay.
My second question is also to the Chairman. How do you define affordable housing prices?
Oh, that's a very good question. Well, I might hand over to the expert.
It's obviously a commercial market for more affordably priced homes, is what we would say. Because if you look at our masterplanned communities, about 60% of our product we sold last year, and generally our pipeline is what you would call very affordably priced, very suitable for first home buyers. At the moment, we're tracking at about 40% of our purchases are entry-level product for first home buyers. So it's priced more affordably. Generally speaking, across Stockland projects, our lots trade at, or house and land packages trade at around a 15% discount to the prevailing median price in that trade area. So they are more affordable.
It's something we are leaning in even more over the last two, three years as affordability has become more of a challenge, are trying to land that sort of price point so that the mortgage payments, as a proportion of disposable income, are somewhere below 30% for our customers. So that's how we define it. Obviously, it's not government-assisted affordable housing. We're doing something like that at Waterloo, but our general product is more targeted towards the more affordable end, which first home buyers can enter the market with.
Thank you.
Thanks. Any other questions in the room? No. I think we go to online.
Thank you, Chair. We have a couple of questions from Stephen Mayne that I'll read out for you. The first one, Chair, is to say thank you to Tom Pockett for his 12 years of service on the board, including 10 years as Chair. It's always helpful for investors to have access to some exiting reflections from retiring independent directors. Could you please comment on what you regard as your best decisions you believe Stockland made during your time on the board? And if you had your time again, would you do anything different?
That's a big question. Firstly, my first good decision was to join the Stockland board. There's been many. I think the way, on reflection, reflecting the other night, the way Stockland dealt with and reacted to the COVID pandemic and when the whole company closed down, and how Stockland continued to run its operations, it was actually quite impressive to see how the leadership team put all that together and continued to run Stockland almost as if it wasn't affected by COVID. So I think that was one. The second one was, I think, appointing the gentleman here on my left, Tarun, and his secondary appointments of all the leadership team that we have here today. With Stockland and Tarun and this leadership team, they have really reshaped the strategy for Stockland, which I think will benefit all shareholders for many years to come.
Thank you, Chair. The second question relates to the chair succession process. Mr. Mayne's question starts with a comment around the fact that last year at the AGM, the market cap was around AUD 15 billion. It is down to around AUD 10 billion today, meaning, in his direct words, "We're doing chair succession at what is hopefully the bottom of a downswing caused by interest rates and worries about the residential property market after unexpected tax changes in the budget." His question for you, Chair, is: How did we run the chair succession process? Was it handled entirely internally? Were there multiple candidates? Or was the intention when Bob was recruited in 2024 to succeed you as the chair at the AGM?
Right. Before I go on, Stephen, if you're listening, thank you for your questions over the many years. It's been valuable for your interest in our company. On chair succession, that was a very thorough process. Melinda Conrad, who chairs our people committee, she chaired the committee to provide a successor for me. It was both carried out with external view and an internal lens. After quite extensive process, the board decided that Bob would be the best candidate. So a very extensive process.
Thank you, Chair. Final question from Mr. Mayne in relation to resolution one relates to our external auditor, PwC. His question starts with a comment around the fact that PwC has been our external auditor for 14 years. He has asked whether we've conducted any competitive tenders for the external audit over the past 10 years. He has also asked whether we could hear from Jane Reilly in relation to how involved Mr. Wills was on the latest full year audit. When did she know Mr. Wills would be her successor? Was that a decision of PwC or the Stockland Audit Committee? Does Mr. Wills have any auditing experience with listed property companies?
Okay, I might do that in reverse. Jamie is a very experienced auditor. He has lots of listed company experience. I have known Jamie over many years, and he will be a valuable asset to the audit of Stockland. In terms of Jane, well, firstly, in terms of going out to tender for the audit, we have not done that, but what we do is we follow guidelines of rotating the lead audit partner every five years. I think since I have been on, we must have had three or four changes in lead audit partner. Jane has been an excellent audit partner. I would say she is tough and fair, and has done an excellent job representing shareholders in doing her audits. Did I miss a question or point in there?
Just the question around how involved or otherwise Jamie was in the latest full year audit.
Oh, yes. The process around selecting Jamie was, we asked PwC to put up what they believed to be three at least suitable candidates. They went through a selection process utilizing the board and two of them, and Jamie was selected out of that process. So it was our decision to select Jamie.
Just confirming for the record as well, Mr. Wills was not involved in the full-year audit for FY 2025.
That's correct. Yep.
There are no other online questions, Chair.
Okay. Is there any other questions in the room? No? Therefore, we will note the financial report, the climate report, Directors' Report, and Auditors' Report. Resolution two is for the re-election of Ms. Kate McKenzie to the Stockland board. The biography for Kate is set out in the notice of meetings and is available on the Stockland website. I now invite Kate to address the meeting.
Thank you very much, Tom, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for joining us today and for your ongoing support of Stockland. My name, as Tom said, is Kate McKenzie, and it's been my privilege to serve on the Stockland board over the last few years. As Tom mentioned, the company has evolved significantly during my time as a Director, and I've particularly enjoyed being part of governing Stockland's strategic direction and seeing the organization translate its ambitions into action. Over the past three years, I have been an active member of the board as well as the Sustainability Committee, ably chaired by Andrew, the Nominations Committee, and the Risk Committee. I always seek to bring my experience in governance, transformation, and technology to the board's deliberations, and I've also learned a great deal from the people across Stockland.
One of the things I value most about Stockland is the very tangible connection between the decisions we make and the communities and places that we create. I am excited by the opportunities ahead for Stockland and with your support today, look forward to continuing to contribute to the board and to the next stage of Stockland's journey. Thank you.
Thanks, Kate. The resolution is as shown on the screen. The election of Kate is unanimously recommended by the board. Are there any questions from the floor on this resolution? Natasha.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Look, I have known Kate for a long time, and I am happy with her nomination. I note, and probably the numbers might change a bit with Andrew stepping down, but you are below the 40% female target.
Yep.
Presumably, you will be looking for somebody else in the future with the changes happening, not you specifically.
Yep.
The other issue is that I believe that a board should be more reflective of the community. So, having diversity just beyond the male and female space is important for a future board to consider. I will just make that point.
Yep. I will note that one. On the male, female, that will change-
Yes.
Because both Andrew and I come off the board.
Yes.
And we are currently in the market recruiting for another female Director.
I think we will be at 50% by next AGM.
Yes.
Yeah.
No, like I said, the numbers were based on at the time of the annual report. I expected things to change. That is good to hear. Thank you.
Yep. That is all right. Thanks, Natasha. Any other questions regarding Kate? Nope. If there are no more questions, I will refer to the proxy voting, which is now shown on the screen. Congratulations, Kate, on your re-election. Our executive remuneration framework is designed to reward executives where strategy delivery results in value creation and superior long-term security holder returns. The board spends considerable time each year assessing the performance and remuneration outcomes for the Group and senior executives and considers a range of quantitative and qualitative factors in its decisions, which we have set out in detail in our remuneration report. The board is pleased to see that the reward framework and outcomes are aligned with security holder returns, and that this is working as intended. Resolution three seeks your approval of the remuneration report for FY 2026. The resolution is as shown on the screen.
As security holders will know, this is an advisory non-binding resolution, but your board gives great consideration to the views of our investors on the important subject of executive remuneration policy. Are there any questions on remuneration? Do we have any online?
Thank you, Chairman. We have one question from Mr. Mayne in relation to Mr. Johnston. His question relates to his ongoing holdings in GPT. The question is, he mentioned at last year's AGM he had sold down his GPT position, but it wasn't clear if he had sold out. Could he provide an update, including whether he hopes to buy some more Stockland shares during his first year as Chair of our company, and will his remuneration as Chair be the same as the current Chairman's paid in FY 2026?
I will let you ask the personal Bob question next time Bob is Chairman next year. You will have plenty of years to ask him. On the Bob shareholding, I do not know how many shares you have, Bob, but we will meet or exceed the requirement in due course. I think we give directors three years.
Three years.
To build up to the required amount, which is one year's annual fees. On the rem, yes, he's stuck with my remuneration. Any other questions?
No further questions relating to the remuneration report, Chair.
Okay. No other questions. As you can see on the screen, 96% of the proxy votes have been cast in favor of the resolution. Our next resolution four relates to the grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO, Tarun. Before moving to the resolution, I note that Stockland released a correction to the notice of meetings on 2 October 2026 relating to the composition and weighting of the peer benchmark for the relative TSR performance condition. The corrected notice of meetings is available on the ASX and on the Stockland website. All other aspects of resolution four, including the number of performance rights, the performance conditions, and the vesting schedule, remain unchanged. The resolution is as shown on the screen.
The board proposes to offer participation in the performance rights plan to the Managing Director, Tarun Gupta, who is eligible to participate in the plan as an executive director. Tarun's participation in the performance right plan forms part of his usual remuneration arrangements. The boards, excluding Tarun, believe that his participation in the plan on the terms and conditions described in the notice of meetings is an appropriate equity-based incentive, given his responsibilities and commitment. In line with the ASX listing rules, security holder approval is sought for the grant of these performance rights to Tarun. The details of which are set out in the explanatory statement attached to the notice of meetings. The directors, other than Tarun, unanimously recommend that security holders vote in favor of this resolution. Are there any questions from the floor? No. Any other questions online?
No questions for this resolution online, Chair.
Okay. I will refer to the proxy voting, which is shown on the screen. As you can see, over 98% of proxy votes have been cast in favor of the resolution. That was the last item of formal business. All persons wishing to cast a vote who have not already done so should now place their vote for the resolutions through your electronic voting device or the online Lumi platform. If you need assistance in the room, please speak to a Computershare staff member. For security holders joining online, if you need assistance with voting, please refer to the instructions available in the online user guide available on our website. I will just take a small pause in the proceedings to allow any final voting. Can't see anyone pressing any buttons, so I think we are okay. Yep.
Finally, it has been a privilege to serve on the Stockland board over the past 12 years. As I conclude my tenure, I do so with great confidence in the board and the management team, and their ability to continue to deliver on Stockland's strategy and create long-term value for security holders. I would like to thank the board for their support and guidance over my time as Chair. I have greatly appreciated it. To Tarun and the leadership team, I thank you for your wonderful support and your incredible passion and intellect in making Stockland serve its purpose a better way to live. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The polls for voting will now be closed, and the final results will be announced to the ASX later this afternoon. That concludes the business of the meetings, and I now declare the meeting closed.
Thank you, and hope you have a good afternoon.