Good morning, everyone. My name is Brett Chenoweth and I'm the Chair of Tabcorp Holdings Limited. On behalf of my fellow directors, I welcome you to Tabcorp's 2025 AGM. We're pleased to be holding the AGM in Melbourne this year. On behalf of the company, I want to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I've been informed that the quorum of shareholders is present, and I declare the 2025 AGM open. I would like to begin by introducing our Board of Directors. Joining us today on the stage are Karen Stocks, Janette Kendall, Raelene Murphy, and David Gallop. Also on stage we have our Managing Director and CEO, Gillon McLachlan, and our Company Secretary, Chris Murphy.
In the audience are members of our leadership team and Michael Collins, the lead partner of our external audit firm, Ernst & Young. Before we move on to the formal business of the meeting, I'd like to outline some procedural matters and some technical matters for the conduct of today's meeting. We are holding this meeting in person and we're also using an online meeting platform. In both cases, shareholders can watch the presentations, you can ask questions, and vote during the meeting. We've published our notice of meeting on our website and on the ASX, and there's an online meeting guide also on our website. We have also published the formal speeches and presentations that will be delivered today, and a recording of this meeting will be available on our website after the meeting. Voting on all resolutions today will be conducted via a poll.
I appoint Daniel Renshaw of Tabcorp Share Registry MUFG as the Returning Officer for the conduct of the poll. Shareholders and proxy holders who are present in the room and entitled to vote would have received a yellow admission card which sets out the resolutions and acts as your ballot paper. You may record your vote by placing a mark in the box either for or against the resolution. For any shareholders using the online meeting platform, you can vote by using the Get a Voting Card button and follow the instructions. I now declare the poll open for all resolutions so you may commence voting. I intend to close the poll approximately five minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. Details of the proxies received prior to the meeting on each resolution will be shown in the presentation slides after we've had a discussion of that resolution.
I am holding open proxies in my capacity as Chair of the meeting and I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of all resolutions. The final results of the poll will be lodged with the ASX as soon as possible. After our meeting this morning, only eligible shareholders and proxy holders can ask questions and vote at the AGM. We will have an opportunity to ask questions regarding each agenda item during the meeting, so we will make sure we have time to do that. For those present in the room today, any questions should be directed to me and then by going to the microphone. We've got one in the middle of the room there. Please give your name and we'll introduce you and then I will call for questions and you may then ask your question.
If you have more than one question, could you just please ask all of your questions and then we'll address them one at a time. If you're using the online meeting platform, then you can submit questions by clicking on the Ask A Question button and follow the instructions. Questions can be submitted online now and you don't need to wait until a particular agenda item to ask your question. We also arranged for a telephone line to be available today and I've been informed by Chris Murphy that no shareholders have opted to use that option. After introducing each resolution, I will respond to questions that have been already received that are relevant to that resolution and then I will ask for any additional questions from those in the room and then through the online meeting platform. We will cover all options.
May I please ask that you keep your questions as brief and to the point as possible and relevant to the particular resolution? If you have questions not related to any specific items of business, then please come and talk to the Company Secretary. Chris, after today's meeting, will be glad to address them. I would now like to formally address the meeting and give you my address for the day. FY 2025 was a year of real progress for Tabcorp. We had stronger performance and most importantly, stronger returns for you. Our shareholders group revenue was up 12% to $2.61 billion. EBITDA before significant items rose 23% to $391.5 million. NPAT before significant items jumped 77% to $49.5 million. Statutory NPAT came in at $36.6 million, which was a solid turnaround from the loss last year.
Twelve months ago, I said we'd focus on running a profitable, competitive business, and that's exactly what Gil McLachlan and the team have delivered this year. The new Victorian Wagering and Betting License added an estimated $84 million in EBITDA. That was for a ten and a half month period, which performed in line with expectations. That was despite a softer market. We achieved $39 million in OpEx savings, trimming underlying operating costs by 2.4%, which again was ahead of target. We had strong cash generation, which helped us repay debt and bring our leverage down to 1.6x net debt to EBITDA, leaving us with a much stronger balance sheet and well within our stated capital targets. This Board remains focused on sustainable returns.
In FY 2025, we announced dividends of $0.02 per share, both unfranked, an increase of 54% year on year and representing a payout ratio of 51% of NPAT before significant items and certain non-cash items. We're very comfortable with this balanced outcome, and we think this reflects a fitter, more disciplined business. Our story in FY 2025 was about execution, and Gil McLachlan will expand on this in his presentation shortly. We made our digital business genuinely competitive. We closed product gaps, and we lifted the customer experience. Initiatives like Tab Takeover and Tab Time are really starting to hit the mark, and we saw turnover lift in the back half of last year. We're now joining up our core strengths—digital, retail, Sky, the Tote, Max—to deliver a true omnichannel experience. That is one that's uniquely Tabcorp. Our focus for this year is simple.
Let's keep that momentum going and unlock the full value of our assets. During the year, we also strengthened the leadership bench with some top-quality appointments: Michael Fitzsimons, Jared Villani, Robert Fraser, Narelle McKenzie, Kayleen Snowden, each sitting here in front this morning, all bringing deep experience across wagering, media, tech, and operations to Tabcorp. In terms of customer compliance and safety, that is a non-negotiable for this Board and leadership team. Creating the safest possible experience for our customers is at the forefront of everything that we do. We've upgraded our frameworks and are investing in new AI-powered player safety technology to spot at-risk customers and, where necessary, to intervene faster. We've also reshaped our Safer Gambling team to lift capability. To be clear, Tabcorp is the most heavily regulated gaming and wagering company in Australia by some margin, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
We acknowledged some fines received for historical issues last year, and we've moved to quickly strengthen systems and oversight. To that end, Gil, the board, and myself maintain open and constructive relationships with all of the regulators in Australia, and that transparency will continue. We were also very pleased last week to announce the appointment of Vivian Stuart to join our board, who will join next month. Viv brings deep expertise in digital transformation and customer engagement, and it's exactly the sort of experience we need on this board. We're also in the market for an additional non-executive director with strong international wagering experience and international experience to broaden our capability and give us a more global perspective. That search is well underway, and we look forward to updating you in due course.
FY 2025 was a year that we got back on track from fixing to building and positioning strategically for growth in FY 2026. Our job is to keep that momentum going, to execute at pace, to capture the full year benefit of the Victorian Wagering and Betting License, to stay tight on costs and capital, and keep exploring how AI and data can lift productivity, compliance, and importantly, customer safety. I just now want to take a moment to personally thank Gil and the leadership team here. Gil's brought a new energy, a sharper focus, and a real clarity of purpose to Tabcorp. The company's metabolic rate has risen under his leadership. He's lifted accountability, rebuilt confidence across the organization, and delivered on what he said that he would. The turnaround we've seen this year isn't luck. It's the result of hard work, commitment, and a leadership team that's all in.
To everyone across Tabcorp, in Retail, Digital, Sky, Max, and every corner of our business, I want to thank you. Your pride, professionalism, and effort make all the difference to this company and to our shareholders. Thank you for your trust and continued support. We are building a leaner, stronger, and more competitive company. We have plenty more to achieve, but we're certainly ready for what's next. I'll now hand over to Gil to talk further about our strategy and the performance of the business. Gil.
Thank you, Brett, and good morning everyone. When I stood before shareholders at last year's AGM, I said we needed to become a fitter organization, which would require a reset of team culture and cadence. A year on, we have made significant gains on this aspiration. The new team are now settled into their roles, the functional capabilities are stronger, and we're building a winning culture. We also removed 230 roles and implemented a vertical structure with clearer P&L accountability. There is improved cost and capital discipline, all of which, along with a Victorian license, have underpinned the improved financial performance which Brett talked you through. We're executing an evolved strategy with a focus on people, planning, and culture. You can see on the screen, I think it's behind me, our Evolve plan. There will be a relentless focus in delivering this.
This is the scorecard that as shareholders you would want to continue to measure us on. Every single member of my team knows the role they must play to ensure we execute this plan. To be clear, we still have a lot to do, but I'm pleased to report we are moving with speed. At last year's AGM I said I supported a national tote. We're seeking to deliver it, we're engaging with state racing bodies, and I'm optimistic we can make a national tote a reality in FY 2026. This will be good for industry, good for customers, and it'll be good for Tabcorp. During the year we commenced execution of the first phase of a new Tab retail commercial model and are progressing on a longer-term commercial plan.
At the moment we're working to create a structurally profitable retail business and providing pubs and clubs with a better customer offering. Tab Time has become a Saturday fixture in local venues, and new wagering terminals and prototypes you can see on display out in the foyer here today are going to be rolled out from July 1 next year. Retail is changing right down to replacing the outdated Teletech screens. When I joined Tabcorp, I was attracted to the value that can be unlocked in a unique set of assets. Our assets are our competitive advantage, and our aspiration strategically is structural channel profitability combined with a true omnichannel wagering offering. Digital, retail, and Sky combining make that a reality for our customers. I want to echo Brett's earlier comments about the importance of safer gambling and harm minimization.
Our growth will not come at the expense of customer safety. One of the attractions that drew me to Tabcorp is that it's an iconic Australian brand owned by Australians. Many in this room and at the heart and as Australians, at the heart of everything we do. As part of our new operating model, we've increased capability in a Safer Gambling team. I'm really pleased that a new player monitoring tool will come online this year. We cannot guarantee perfection, but I can guarantee that we will be relentless in doing everything we can to keep our customers safe. Our evolved plan and outlook remains unchanged for FY 2026. We've been clear and transparent with what we want to achieve and the team will be focused on achieving the five strategic pillars you saw before.
I said the full year results that you are ultimately judged by your plan, people and culture. We have the plan. Increasingly we have the right people and we are building the culture. I stress again that there is still much to do but you will see continued improvement in FY 2026. Saturday at the Tab Everest was a great example of our evolved offering from Tab Time in Venue to Tab Takeover on track and Monster trucks and my wife didn't like it. Tab Everest Day was awash with green. That's what you can expect from us this year and I look forward to doing the same in Cup Week. We'll also talk more about our Media business as we look to maximize our distribution footprint. The way we present will continue to evolve. Sky is looking different. We have new talent and better integration with Tab, particularly in retail.
Max is similar. New plan, new people and a focus on growth. I'd like to acknowledge the Board for their support in my first year. Thank you all. Change is hard and it comes with risk. It's almost impossible without Board support. Specifically, I'd like to call out Brett for his leadership. All Chief Executives crave a strong relationship with their Chair and I'm pleased that this is the reality for me. To my team, we've got much to do. Thank you for delivering our improved FY 2025 performance and your personal support to our team members and officers and on the road right across the country and internationally. You've been through significant change this year. Thank you for staying the course and for delivering an improved offering for our customers and to our shareholders. I've enjoyed getting to meet many of you over the last 12 months.
Thank you for your support as we execute our evolved strategy. I'm pleased that we've been able to deliver improved financial performance and returns for you in the last financial year. FY 2025 was one of the most significant progress and improvement, but we need to get better again in FY 2026. There's a clear plan, which will require first class execution. I look forward to updating you on our progress across the year, and thank you for coming today.
Thank you, Gil. Okay, we'll now move to the formal business of today's meeting. The notice of meeting has been published and made available to shareholders, and I will take it as read. Each of the resolutions to be put to the meeting will be moved in the order set out in the notice of meeting, which everyone should have received, and at the end of each item of business I'll respond to the questions. I encourage you also to submit online any questions you may have for any item of business. The first item on the agenda is to receive and consider the financial report and the report of the Directors and of the Auditor in respect of the year ended 30 June 2025.
These reports were approved by this Board and were included in the annual report that was released on the ASX and published on our website on 27 August 2025. While this item is not subject to a vote, in a moment I'll respond to questions from shareholders regarding these reports and the performance of the company. Ernst & Young is the company's auditor. Michael Collins, sitting in the front here, is a partner of Ernst & Young who signed the audit report. He's present, obviously, and available to answer questions, which should be restricted to audit matters. This resolution is now open for discussion, so I'll now ask the Company Secretary to read out any questions received prior to the meeting in relation to this item.
Thank you. Chair, we received a question on this item from shareholder David Bryce, who asks, I am a shareholder of Tabcorp since it floated in 1998. Does the corporate bookmaker today make their fair contribution to raising that? Tabcorp used to state in its annual report as a reason for why Tabcorp's profitability was not as high as it could be. Has Tabcorp's foray into online betting helped Tabcorp rejuvenate its profitability outlook?
Thank you, Mr. Bryce, for your question and obviously for your ongoing support of the company. We're proud of Tabcorp's long-standing role as the largest contributor to Australian racing, as well as supporting the Australian economy and local businesses and local communities. Australian racing is at the heart of this company and we've long advocated for a sustainable and well-funded racing industry here. We now have a level playing field in Victoria and in Queensland, and we're working closely with the New South Wales racing industry as well on developing a sustainable New South Wales racing industry model. As I mentioned earlier, we saw the benefits in FY 2025 of the new reformed Victorian Wagering and Betting License through improved earnings during the year. With respect to digital, about 60% of our turnover today is digital.
It was necessary for us to invest into this aspect of our business and to remain competitive with the other bookmakers, which we certainly are.
Chair, we received another question on this item from shareholder Ms. Natasha Lee, who asks, finance costs increased from $51 million- $101 million in 2025, and in particular, interest on external borrowings increased to $62 million from $35 million. This is when overall interest-bearing liabilities decreased from $1.32 billion- $738 million. Could you please explain why there was a significant cost increase when it would be expected that finance costs should have been flat or lower with a lower debt position?
Thank you for your question, Ms. Leigh. The explanation relates to the timing of the $600 million upfront payment to the Victorian Government for the Victorian Wagering and Betting License. The payment was made near the end of the year, might have been nearly the last day of the financial year. For most of FY 2024, the amount of debt we had drawn on our bank facilities was much lower than in FY 2025.
Chair, we have a further question from Ms. Lee who asks, I note capital expenditure was $115 million when according to the remuneration report, the target was $135 million. The CapEx underspend gave a 5% contribution to the remuneration award. However, could you advise, was the $115 million expenditure covering all of the planned and necessary CapEx last year, or were there efficiencies or savings that resulted in the underspend? Was any expenditure delayed to future years?
Look, in FY 2025 we were very disciplined on CapEx. That includes stopping a whole bunch of initiatives to reassess their return on investment. We're very focused around the ROI on these projects. Following that review, we prioritize spending, and if you think about the year ahead, we've put CapEx guidance of $120 million- $140 million into the market. We'll continue to remain disciplined in our spending plans and our CapEx. It's a focus for the Board and we're feeling comfortable with those numbers.
Chair, we received a final question on this item from Ms. Lee who asks, while it is great that the company is transitioning to hybrid and low emission vehicles and that this is a long term plan, what is the expected time frame to achieve this? Similarly, other measures to use solar power and moving corporate head offices to a carbon neutral building is a good start. What is the time frame to be 100% reliant on renewable energy sources?
I'll try to answer that. Look, ESG matters obviously are hugely important. We're lucky we don't have the same carbon footprint as a lot of industries. We're low from a carbon footprint perspective and we understand and we also acknowledge that it's a pressing challenge not just for us, but for all companies and governments that are grappling with this globally. We're obviously committed to acting to minimize our environmental impact and manage our exposure to climate risks as best we can. We've got medium and long-term greenhouse gas emission targets and we've got a net zero target by 2050. We're pleased with the progress we've made towards these targets. There's more work to do and we'll continue to focus on initiatives, including ones around vehicles and the use of fleets to reduce those targets as we go.
There are no further questions received beforehand.
Okay, thank you. As that concludes the questions received prior to the meeting, we'll now turn to live questions in the venue. Are there any questions on this first item from anyone in the room? No. Okay. Are there any other further questions?
Chair, we have a number of questions online. The first one is from Stephen Van Emmerich from the Australian Shareholders Association, who asks, thank you to those shareholders that have appointed ISA as their proxy share. Shareholders are happy to see the share price recovering, although it's only back to where it was a couple of years ago. My reading of the annual report suggests that the main reason for the turnaround in profit are the renegotiated deals with the Queensland and Victorian racing boards in previous years. Is this correct? How are negotiations proceeding with the Racing New South Wales Board?
I touched on this slightly a second ago. There's a number of reasons why this business has turned around, not the least of which, as I said, is the focus and commitment of this leadership team to take cost out to the tune of $39 million. 230 heads have come out of this business. There's been major structural reform from within the business. Importantly, secondly, the strategic decisions that the business has made around retail, around customer strategy, around how we're thinking about media, about how we're dealing and working with partners, all have contributed to the momentum that's underlying this business. It is true that in the last couple of years there has been a lot of work done around the relationship with the Victorian government. That license has contributed, as I mentioned today, to the success of this business in Victoria.
The Queensland setting the level playing field has contributed. With respect to New South Wales, I mentioned in my speech, we've got ongoing discussions with them, a very strong relationship with Racing New South Wales and the New South Wales government, and we're going to continue to work with them in terms of racing reform.
Chair Mr. Van Emmerich of the ASA has a further question. He asks, we note the confidential negotiated payout of shareholder funds to the former CEO. A friend of mine who is a CEO tells me that being a CEO is the best job in the world because if things go well, you get a big bonus and if things go badly, you get the sack and still get a big payout. Can you explain why there was a significant payout to the former CEO given the write off of $1.3 billion of shareholder funds under his tenure and the allegedly unsavoury situation that led him to leaving the company.
There's not much I can say about the confidential nature of the settlement with the last CEO. It was an unfortunate situation. We ended up with a negotiated settlement, which we thought was the best use of shareholder funds. It was a practical settlement, and we can't say anything more on that.
Chair. There's another question from Mr. Van Emmerich from the ASA who asks, it was reported in the AFR that former Tabcorp CEO Elmer Funke Kupper is concerned about the impact of gambling on teenagers and has reportedly thrown his weight behind an immediate ban on ads in sports stadia, on team shirts, and in hours before sports broadcasts. Is this something that Tabcorp would support? If not, what would Tabcorp support in terms of restrictions on advertising?
I think it's been well documented that the government is reviewing this situation. It's nice that a former CEO has an opinion. I think everybody does have an opinion on gambling advertising. No one wants children gambling. No one wants people that aren't in a secure position to gamble. I think we're all aligned in that. Our position is we're waiting for the review. The government will obviously adhere to their recommendations and what comes out of that. We're supportive of that review.
Chair. There are no further questions online for this item.
Thank you. There's nothing more on the online meeting platform either? No, we're good.
Nothing on this item.
Okay, excellent. As there are no more questions, that concludes this item of business. We'll move to the next agenda. The next item of business is actually my re-election as a Director of the company. So Raelene Murphy is coming up here to chair this part of the meeting for us.
Thanks, Brett. Item 2A on the agenda is the re-election of Brett Chenoweth as the director of the company. Brett's been a Non-Executive Director of Tabcorp since August 2022 and Chair since October last year. He retires in accordance with the constitution and, being eligible, he's offered himself for re-election. Brett is Chair of Tabcorp's Nomination Committee and a member of the Audit Committee, the Risk Compliance and Sustainability Committee, and the People and Remuneration Committee. He is considered by the Board to be independent. The Board, with Brett abstaining, unanimously supports the re-election of Brett Chenoweth as a director of the company and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I'll now invite Brett to address the meeting.
Look, I'll just be brief. You heard from me just a short time ago around the focus of this business and what's happened in terms of this turnaround the last couple of years. From my perspective, I'm very proud to be nominated to be a Director again and I certainly put myself forward to be nominated to that role. It has been a challenging last couple of years for this business and I feel that this Board and this group of executives have now got real traction and we're really making headway and the big challenges that are ahead for us I think probably relate to some of my background in media tech technology, particularly in data and restructuring and thinking about how the future of this business looks are things that I think hopefully I can add some value to.
I certainly put myself up for re-election today and thank you all.
Thank you, Brett. This resolution is now open for discussion. There were no questions received prior to the meeting in relation to this item, so we will turn straight to any questions in the room. Are there any questions on this item?
No. I'll now ask the Company Secretary if there are any questions via the online meeting platform.
There are no questions on this item online.
As there are no more questions, we have now finalized discussion on this item. The proxy votes received prior to the meeting are displayed. I now move that Brett Chenoweth be re-elected as a Director of the company. Please cast your votes by filling out the yellow ballot paper or online using the voting card button. It seems from the proxies received that this resolution will pass comfortably. Congratulations, Brett. We'll now move on to the next item of business, and I'll hand it back to Brett.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you Raelene. The next item on the agenda is the re-election of Raelene Murphy as the Director of the company. Raelene's been a Non-Executive Director of Tabcorp since August 2022. She retires in accordance with the constitution and, being eligible, she has offered herself for re-election. The directors consider Raelene to be independent. Raelene is the Chair of the Tabcorp Audit Committee, a member of the Risk and Compliance and Sustainability Committee, the People and Rem Committee, and the Nominations Committee. The Board, with Raelene abstaining, unanimously support the re-election of Raelene Murphy as the Director of the company and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I would now like to invite Raelene back to address the meeting.
Thanks Brett. Thanks everyone for attending today. I'm delighted to offer myself a re-election to the Tabcorp Board and appreciative of the support shown through the votes cast. At this point I've been on the Tabcorp Board since demerger. It's an extremely hard-working board that operates in a sector that gets its fair share of attention in a very complex ecosystem. This board has a laser-like focus on shareholder value and necessarily revitalizing Tabcorp. Post demerger, FY 2024 wasn't a great year for shareholders and we're pleased to have it in the rearview mirror.
As I reflect on some of the board's achievements since demerger, FY 2025 starts to reflect the efforts of the board and management in reinventing Tabcorp, including the achievement of digital parity in our app to enable us to compete and the creation of a true omnichannel experience that you see in pubs or trackside whether you're at Flemington or the Everest on Saturday or at the Ball in May. The arresting of market share decline. In fact, we're taking share and penetrating sport at pace. The investment in Dabble, which is now contributing and multiplied in value, the renewal of the Victorian Wagering and Betting License on competitive terms with the delivery of strong earnings and return on investment, and it's been the foundation of our earnings growth in FY 2025. The focus on rightsizing of OpEx, the evolution of our retail strategy, and strengthening of our retail relationships.
In fact, digital in-venue growth is double-digit growth year on year. The reinvention and focus of our integrity services business, the rebuild of our risk framework, the reset of our relationship with regulators and racing bodies including Racing New South Wales, and importantly the importance of a tremendous leader in Gill as a first-time ASX CEO who has reshaped the image of Tabcorp with customers, stakeholders, and importantly our employees and hastened delivery on important key initiatives, in particular our retail strategy and omnichannel experience. Under Gill the team can dare to win. They can dare to dream about what's possible and are empowered to deliver it. That ability had been eroded with the emergence of digital competition which we were late to the party on. As I describe it, we are now playing offense rather than defense and that's after many years of defense.
In re offering myself for election, I continue to bring significant previous executive experience as a CEO and CFO in multinationals and as a professional in leading turnarounds and strategy and operational resets to release and realize value across many sectors, whether they be working for the Prime Minister in resetting the NBN after its disastrous launch or as the go-to partner for private equity across many investments. My functional experience is across finance, strategy, tech, and organizational efficiency. I've been an effective and engaged Audit Chair in the ASX 100 and 200 space since I began my portfolio career as a listed Non-Executive Director about over 10 years ago. How we show up in retail is a passion for me.
As most of you know, I grew up as part of a large pub group across Victoria and a publican's daughter with pubs all the way from Northcote to Warrnambool and North Melbourne to Ballarat. I think we had over 30 pubs on the journey and was one of the first pubs to partner with the Tab. To offer the Tab in the pub, I've seen firsthand what a tremendous value it can bring to publicans and the connection it provides to communities. I've also seen how the proposition engagement with Tab has evolved over the years to one with needless friction in the system. Under Gil McLachlan and Jared Vellani and the team, we have the opportunity to get this right with the customer as front and center. The Board have prioritized this since Demerger and Gil's team are taking it on.
Head On Tab is part of my DNA. Racing, punting, and pubs are very much part of my upbringing and in addition to my professional experience, I bring that passion to my role as a Director every single day. Our financial position is the strongest it's been since Demerger, with more to do. As Chair of the Audit Committee, I'm pleased with the cost and capital discipline that we've shown in FY 2025 and the way we have reduced net debt, but also in getting along the getting fitter theme in reimagining finance and internal audit function and our progress on mitigation of key risk, particularly as it relates to the regulatory obligations.
I'm looking forward to continuing to contribute to the Board, particularly as Audit Chair in FY 2026 and beyond, and being part of a team that has the capacity to deliver increased shareholder value through our innovation and execution and in doing that, create a fun and safe proposition for punters. I don't take our shareholders for granted. Thank you for backing Tabcorp and for your support since I joined the board and for your votes thus far. Thanks.
Thank you, Raelene. The resolution is now open for discussion. There were no questions received prior to the meeting in relation to this item, so we'll move straight to any questions from the floor. Would anyone have any questions around this resolution? No. Okay. Is there any questions on the online meeting forum? Chair?
There are no questions online for this item.
Okay. As there are no more questions, we've now finalized discussion of this item. The proxy votes received prior to the meeting in relation to this resolution are now shown on the slide behind me and I now move that Raelene Murphy be re-elected as a Director of the company. Please cast your votes by filling out the yellow ballot paper or online using the get a voting card button. As mentioned before and from the proxies received, this resolution will pass comfortably. Congratulations Raelene. We'll now move on to the next item of business. Item three of the agenda is the adoption of the Company's remuneration report in respect to the financial year ended 30 June 2025.
The remuneration report is set out in Tabcorp's 2025 annual report and the report contains details of Tabcorp's approach to remuneration including the outcomes for the most recent financial year and any changes made to the remuneration framework which are effective in FY 2025. Our remuneration philosophy is to attract, motivate and retain the best talent by rewarding them for delivering the business strategy and for creating long-term value for you, our shareholders. We do this through a market competitive, performance-linked and shareholder-aligned remuneration structure. As I mentioned in my earlier address, Tabcorp reported a strong set of financial results in FY 2025 with revenue, earnings and profit all up year on year. As a result, all financial targets in line for the FY 2025 STI plan were met or they were exceeded. This compared to last year when financial targets were not met resulting in no STI awards being paid.
Combining the group's strong financial performance with management's achievement against non-financial measures for the year, an initial STI pool, short-term incentive pool, equivalent to 122.8% of target would have been generated. The Board, however, exercised a combination of discretion and the use of a modifier to adjust the STI pool to 110% of target. The Board considered this outcome to be a balanced and appropriate reflection of the group's overall performance, aligning the interests of shareholders with recognizing management for a very strong year and we congratulate management for that year. There were no long-term incentive offers which vested during FY 2025. With respect to the last plan, the FY 2023 LTI plan, the Board determined to lapse all options last month because the applicable return on investment capital targets were not achieved.
These STI and LTI outcomes highlight the strong link in our remuneration framework between business performance, remuneration outcomes for executives, and the experience and expectations of our shareholders. The Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution to adopt the 2024 remuneration report. The vote on this resolution is advisory only. It does not bind the directors or the company. However, the Board will take the outcome of the vote into consideration when setting future remuneration practices. This resolution is now open for discussion. We did not have any questions, I don't think Chris received prior to the meeting in relation to this item. We'll go straight to questions from anyone here in the room. Are there any questions on this item? No. Thank you. I'll now ask Chris again if there are any questions via the online meeting platform, Chair.
There are no questions on this item online.
Thank you. As there are no more questions, we have now finalized discussion on this item. Thank you. The proxy votes received prior to the meeting in relation to this resolution are now shown on the screen. I now move that the remuneration report of the company for the year ended 30 June 2025 be adopted. Please cast your votes by filling out the yellow ballot paper again or online using a Get voting card button. I am advised that based on the proxies received and the votes held on the floor of the meeting and online, the resolution to adopt the remuneration report will be passed. We will now move to the next item of business. Item four is the proposed grant of options to the MD and CEO Gil McLachlan under Tabcorp's long-term incentive plan.
If shareholder approval is obtained, the options will be subject to a performance measure based on the achievement of a return on invested capital before performance condition measured over three financial years. The ROIC performance condition was chosen as an appropriate measure because it focuses management on achieving targeted returns on Tabcorp's invested capital and ultimately delivering healthy shareholder returns. The Board, with Mr. McLachlan abstaining, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. This resolution is now open for discussion. There were no questions received prior to the meeting in relation to this item, so we'll go straight to questions here in the room. Are there any questions from anyone present on this item? Doesn't look like it. Thank you. I will now ask Chris again if there are any questions via the online meeting platform, Chair.
We received a question from Stephen Van Emmerich from the ASA on this item. He asks, the ASA does not support the options-based remuneration scheme being used by Tabcorp. We've discussed this with Tabcorp over a number of years. We believe that option pricing is opaque and can lead to outlandish payments to executives that are not consistent with shareholder experience. The remuneration report makes reference to two big peer groups of peer companies for remuneration benchmarking. How many of these 40+ peer companies use an options-based remuneration scheme?
Thank you for your question, Stephen. You're right. We've talked to the ASA about this issue a few times. We've got a fundamental disagreement around whether performance rights or options are the appropriate measure for long-term incentive plans. This Board's chosen an option scheme that was voted last year as the scheme to be used for this company, was voted 98%+ of our shareholder support of the scheme. We've got strong shareholder support for an option scheme. We also use the return on invested capital measure that I mentioned, which aligns the three-year business plan, which does point to being sensible about the way that we invest into this company as a hurdle. We think the ROIC measure and the option scheme are the right measure for this company. We think that's entirely appropriate. It is a measure that's used by other companies.
I don't have the exact numbers of that 40, how many are using them, but it's something that we're entirely comfortable with and happy with and has the support of our shareholders.
Chair, I've got a follow-up question from Stephen Van Emmerich at the ASA who asks, following on from our previous question, given the vast majority of your peer group do not use an option scheme, why does Tabcorp persist with an options-based remuneration scheme when your own selected peer benchmarking does not use the option scheme?
The good thing about options scheme is they're perfectly aligned with shareholder outcomes. If you're building a company for growth, options are about growing share price. If the share price goes up, the shareholders receive benefit, the management team receive acknowledgement through the long-term incentive plan. They do not receive any acknowledgement if their share price goes down. We think that options plans are perfectly aligned to growth. We're a company in growth mode, it made sense for us and I think it makes sense for a number of companies on that list.
Chair, we have another question from Mr. Van Emmerich at the ASA who asks, last year the CEO was awarded 30 million options at $0.10 each. We understand that means that in 2027, if the current share price stays where it is and EBIT is up by 10%, the LTI would be worth approximately $17 million. In addition to base salary and STI payments, by way of comparison, Tabcorp's statutory NPAT this year was $36 million. How can this be justified given that one of the main reasons for the profit turnaround is related to the renegotiated deals that occurred before the current CEO was appointed?
Look, Stephen, all I can say on that again is we are very happy with the structure of the remuneration for our Chief Executive. We're very happy about his performance. We think he's outperformed during the year. As we mentioned, the future for this company is strong based on Gil McLachlan and his team's performance here. The option scheme does reward our entire team on a long-term basis. Again, entirely appropriate given the growth we've had. Just to remind you, the share price this time last year when the option scheme was approved was many, many levels below what it is today. We've had good growth during the year. We think it's perfectly aligned to our aspirations.
We have a further question from Mr. Van Emmerich at the ASA, who asks, the annual report shows 139 million options in total for KMP under presumably similar terms to the CEO. On the same logic as the previous question, this may result in a cash payment of approximately $75 million- $80 million to executives. How will this be accounted for? If it's to be accounted for on an equity basis over the next three years, then why, given it's a cash payment?
Again, we're comfortable with the structure of the option scheme. We do have the scheme reflected with our leadership team. We want to make sure that our CEO, our shareholders, and our leadership team are all perfectly aligned in the growth objectives of the business. The structure of the scheme is again entirely appropriate for this form of company in terms of how it's accounted for. Mark, I might get you to answer that if you want to.
The value of the grant is just. Advertised over three years.
Okay, so anyone online? We amortize that over the three years of the scheme with respect to the value of the grant.
Chair, there are no further questions online for this item.
Okay, thank you. Sorry. There are no further questions. We've now finalized discussion on this item. The proxy votes received prior to the meeting in relation to this resolution are now shown on the slide. I now move that approval be given for all purposes to grant options to Gillon McLachlan under the Tabcorp long-term performance plan and on the terms summarized in the explanatory notes. Please cast your votes by filling out the yellow ballot paper or using the get a voting card button. Again, it seems from the proxies received that this resolution will pass comfortably. Thank you all. That concludes the formal business of the meeting today. If you haven't already done so, please complete your ballot papers or submit your votes by using the online meeting platform.
For those in the venue, please hand your completed ballot paper to the registry staff when you leave the room, just out to the left here. The poll will close in approximately five minutes' time and the results of the poll will be advised to the ASX as soon as we can after that. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today and for your ongoing support. We really appreciate it. Thank you all. That concludes the meeting.