We're underway, are we?
Underway.
Yeah. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Vita Life Sciences' Annual General Meeting. I was just debating with Khoo, Mr. Khoo, because I can't quite recall, but I think this is the 27th Annual General Meeting of the company. It might be the 26th, but I think it's the 27th. Mr. Khoo has the slightly different view to me.
Too long.
Not too long. Not too long.
That's too long.
Perhaps the management's a little slow in building the company to its size and taking 26 or 27 years to do it. It's 12:00 or just after 12:00. I declare that there's a quorum present, and we will now move to the business of today's meeting. Before doing that, online is Jack Teoh, Non-Executive Director. Jack is overseas. We have Andrew, of course, I think everybody knows our Managing Director. And Non-Executive Director, Peter Osborne. Do we have the auditor with us?
He's on the way. He got caught up with some traffic and car park issues.
Okay.
He's expected to be in the room at some point.
Yeah, he should be here.
Yeah. That's Stephen Fisher. Mr. Khoo, our CFO, is there at the rear of the room. Business will start today with Andrew giving his managing director's presentation. Perhaps before moving to that, I'd ask that any questions for shareholders who joined this meeting online have been submitted through the Q&A function when each resolution is dealt with. At the front of any question, query, or comment those online shareholders make, could you please note that your comment is in relation to the Resolution 1, 2, 3 or 4 as the case may be. It's now over to you, Andrew.
Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Henry. Good morning, and apologies for the weather.
That'd be it.
I think last year it was pretty similar. It was raining cats and dogs last year, hopefully it's improved a little bit. Thanks for joining us here at the company's annual general meeting, for those of you that are here either in person or joining us online. Your continued support and engagement are really vital to our success, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to share with you the progress that we've made over the last year. More importantly, sharing the exciting opportunities that lay ahead for the company. As we gather today, I'm really proud to report that Vita Life Sciences has delivered another year of strong performance, discipline, execution, and meaningful strategic advancement. The 2025 results reflect not only the resilience of our business model, but also the dedication of our people and the trust of our customers across the region.
We have continued to grow, to innovate, and to strengthen our position in the markets that we serve, and we've done so while maintaining the financial disciplines and operational focus that have become hallmarks of this organization. Let me begin with our financial results, which demonstrate the strength and momentum of the business. For the 2025 financial year, the group delivered a record full-year performance with revenue reaching AUD 93.3 million, an increase of 17.3% on the prior corresponding period. Profit before tax rose to AUD 14.4 million, up 14.1%, and our gross profit margin increased by 1.7% to 61%. I think everyone would agree that was an absolute standout performance for the company. Our cash conversion remained exceptionally strong at 126%, and we closed the year with cash reserves of AUD 35.6 million, and equity of AUD 56.2 million with no bank borrowings.
This is a position very few companies in our sector can claim, and it reflects our disciplined approach to capital management and our commitment to maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet. We also executed a 2.2 million share buyback, further demonstrating our confidence in long-term value of our business and our commitment to delivering return to our shareholders. I really like this slide. This is probably one of my favorite slides in the whole deck, and hopefully by the end of it you'll agree with me. Just looking beyond the year in isolation, our five-year performance tells a compelling story of sustained growth and strategic progress. Over the past five years, revenue has grown by 101%. Pre-tax profit has grown by 70%. Our profit portfolio has expanded significantly, and our market presence has deepened quite significantly across the region.
Our focus on delivering sustainable value is reflected in our dividend performance. This year, the board declared a full-year dividend of AUD 0.14 per share, an increase of AUD 0.04 on the prior year. This marks 16 consecutive years of dividend payments at a compound annual growth rate of 24% over the past six years. Now, that's a number that we're exceptionally proud of. These results are not accidental. They are the outcome of a clear strategy, disciplined execution, and a commitment to long-term value creation. Our focus remains on delivering disciplined growth and maintaining margin resilience across the business. Our domestic channels continue to perform exceptionally well, providing a stable base for our growth. We are allocating capital carefully and maintaining a strong balance sheet to support long-term value creation. Despite competitive pressures, we protect margins through efficiency, pricing discipline, and portfolio strength.
I think you can see that in the earlier slide where our margin actually grew. Tough to do. We are prioritizing initiatives and segments that deliver sustainable, profitable growth. Our business remains profitable and cash generative, enabling reinvestment and strategic flexibility. These pillars position us to continue delivering disciplined, sustainable growth. Our growth this year was broad-based, with strong sales and profit contributions flowing through from our existing markets in both Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Of those of you that are close to the business and have actually read the annual report, you'll see that our Malaysian business, in particular, was a standout performance. During this period, the group deployed a revised strategy in China, including the appointment of a new exclusive distributor for the Herbs of Gold brand across the pharmacy and e-commerce channels.
This is a significant step forward in the market that remains strategically important to us, and we're confident that the refined approach will position us for long-term success. In saying that, the China market continues to experience an evolving regulatory environment and changing channel dynamics. The group will maintain a measured and disciplined approach to managing these developments moving forward. Vietnam, an exciting little market for us, is now really starting to begin to show encouraging green shoots following new product listings across key pharmacy chains for both the VitaHealth and Herbs of Gold brands, supporting improved market visibility and distribution momentum. I touched on at the last board meeting our appetite to go into the Indonesian market.
Yet there has been, I guess, a slower than initially anticipated performance out of our Indonesian strategy, but we remain focused on ensuring the right long-term partnership and operating model to support those market initiatives moving forward. The market itself continues to represent a strategic opportunity for the group and remains an active focus for both management and the board. Overall, the group enters the new financial year with strong operational foundations, a clear strategic focus, and confidence in our ability to execute across our respective markets. Our success is driven by our people. With over 350 employees across Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Vietnam, our team include naturopaths, nutritionists, herbalists, and pharmacists, all united by the shared commitment of improving health and wellbeing for consumers.
Our products are now available in over 3,000 retail outlets, including some of the largest offline and online health and pharmacy partners across the region. We're proud of our global footprint, and we remain committed to expanding our presence in a disciplined and strategic manner. We invested back into the brands. Our marketing investment increased by 23% last year, enabling us to connect with millions of consumers across television, digital, social, radio, outdoor, print, and in-store channels. This integrative approach ensures that our brands remain visible, relevant, and trusted. These initiatives are not just about visibility. They're about building long-lasting relationships with our consumers and positioning our brands as leaders in the health and wellness space. Innovation remains the heart of our growth strategy moving forward. Across the business, we now have over 350 registered products, and we've launched last year 23 new products across Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
These new products reflect our commitment to meeting evolving consumer needs, staying ahead of market trends, and ensuring that our product portfolio remains competitive and relevant. This next slide, I'm sort of boasting a little bit, but it's easy for me to stand up here and advocate how well we've done as a business. Really, the true benchmark is what your customers and consumers are saying about you. I think you can see from just that slide alone, that certainly supports that view. Our customers are recognizing us, our consumers are recognizing us for the things that we're doing exceptionally well in the marketplace. These accolades reflect the hard work that our teams that have trusted and the trust placed in our brands by consumers and our partners. Moving forward, our strategy remains clear and focused.
Our priorities for the coming year include maintaining momentum in our offshore markets, driving margin through product mix pricing and efficiencies, disciplined capital deployment, pursuing accretive acquisition opportunities, and defending and growing our profitable core channels. These priorities reflect our commitment to sustainable growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation. We are also committed as an organization to strengthen our environmental, social governance strategy. This year, we expanded our partnership, including receiving B Corp certification for the Australian business and developed programs focused on education and literacy. These efforts reflect our belief that long-term success is built not only by the financial performance, but also on the positive impact we create for our communities and the planet. In closing, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our shareholders, your continued trust to our partners for your collaboration, and to our employees for your dedication and your passion.
Vita Life Sciences is stronger today than at any point in its history. With a resilient business model, a very strong balance sheet, and clear strategic roadmap, we are very well-positioned to continue delivering sustainable growth and long-term value. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to another successful year ahead.
Thank you, Andrew. To the formal part of today's business. Voting will be conducted by way of poll and Automic, the company share register, is the returning officer, and will in fact technically be voting for anybody who is voting in person at this meeting today. If you've submitted a proxy, of course, you don't need to vote here this morning. We have four resolutions as part of the, welcome, Mr. Fisher. Mr. Fisher is the company's Auditor.
It's good to.
Who will be available to answer questions shortly.
Apologies I'm late.
It's right in the nick of time. Right in the nick of time. We've received proxies representing around 67% of the company's issued shares, being around 36.6 million shares having voted. Undirected proxies, in my hands, as provided in the notice of meeting, will be voted in favor of all resolutions. The first part of the formal business is the financial statements, reports, and directors and auditors reports. There's no vote on this item. It's for discussion only. The company's auditor for the 2025 financial year, Mr. Fisher from Nexia, is available, as I mentioned, to answer any queries on his report and on the company's accounts. If you're online, you can now, if you wish to ask a question, please do that now. Is there any discussion on the 2024 reports? 2025 reports, not 2024. 2025 reports. Does anybody wish to discuss? Well, listen, you must have something.
Not on this matter, thank you.
Not on this matter. Nobody's got anything? Is there anybody online who has a query?
None so far, Henry.
Okay. None so far. There being no further questions, I'll declare that the reports have been received, and considered at this meeting. Resolution 1 is the remuneration report, and that resolution is to consider, and if thought fit, pass, with or without amendment, Resolution 1, adoption of the remuneration report for the financial year ended December 31, 2025 as an ordinary resolution. I note that there's, even should shareholders vote against this resolution, or they vote for it, which I think will be the case, it actually, any decision or any voting on that resolution does not necessarily bind the directors or the company. I note that of course, directors would take into consideration the majority wishes of shareholders. Are there any questions on this resolution? Any queries? Anything online, Mr. Khoo?
No, not yet, Henry.
I note that key management, directors, can't vote on this resolution, of course, for obvious reasons. If there is no comment or query, we'll move on to the next resolution, and that is the re-election of Mr. Peter Osborne, the gentleman sitting at the table. Quite anxious about whether-
Yeah.
-shareholders may vote for continuation as a director.
No, that's me. I'm here.
I think there's nobody against. I must read that resolution, and that resolution is that Peter Osborne, a director retiring by rotation in accordance with Clause 14.4 of the Constitution, being eligible and having consented to act, be re-elected as a director of the company. Any queries or questions on this resolution? Formal counting will take place at the end of the meeting to take into consideration any votes handed in by shareholders. Are there any shareholders actually voting in person today? Yes. There are? Yeah. There are. Well, we'll hold the decision whether that resolution's passed or not until a little bit later in the meeting.
Resolution 3 is the share buyback, and that resolution reads that pursuant to, and in accordance with Section 257C of the Corporations Act 2001, as amended, Rules 7.29 and 7.33 of the listing rules of the ASX Limited, and for all other purposes, the shareholders approve, with effect when directors make the relevant announcement on the ASX, the on-market buyback of up to 15% of the fully paid ordinary shares of the company, expiring on whichever is the earlier of the anniversary of the passage of this resolution or the 2027 Annual General Meeting, and as otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement accompanying the 2026 Annual General Meeting notice at which this resolution is being put. I might just make a little comment before inviting questions.
I recall last year a shareholder, or the year before, or on a number of occasions in days gone by, where shareholders queried why the company should have the ability to buy back shares. The explanation for wanting to be able to buy back shares is in two parts. They concern capital management of the company, and perhaps by illustration, it's best answered by saying that in 2020, 26 years ago, the company had 55.5 million shares on issue. Today, it has 54.5 million, in round figures, 54.5 million shares on issue. That's notwithstanding that 4.4 million shares have been issued in the last six years to senior executives, directors of the company under the company's long-term incentive plan.
By having this approval in place from shareholders, we're able to avoid earnings per share dilution, which of course is very important to shareholders, and it also avails directors of the opportunity to buy back shares when they are of the view that the share price in the market does not represent value. In other words, it's less than what is fair value. By buying back shares, the company is actually enhancing the value of the company for those shareholders who continue to hold their shares. Are there any questions, queries? Mr. [Reid]?
Mr. Chair, could you explain the excluded vote, given that it doesn't appear to correlate to holdings by directors and officers?
Well, directors and officers have chosen not to vote on this resolution. I don't know why 19,160 have been excluded. Why is that, Mr. Khoo?
Just some of the shareholders have excluded themselves, so I can't say for why. I can't explain the reasons as well. There's no valid reason why they should be excluded anyway, but some of them did vote as an exclusion.
Well, I'm not sure that we have an answer for you, Mr. [Reid]. We can dig into it if you wish.
Okay.
Are there any queries online, Mr. Khoo?
Not for this resolution. Far, there's only one query that's a general query, which I'll pass upon the conclusion of Resolution 4.
Okay. Resolution 4, which concerns the issue of shares under the company's long-term incentive plan to Mr. O'Keefe. It's an ordinary resolution, that resolution is that pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 10.14, and in accordance with the Vita Life Sciences Limited 2024 long-term incentive plan, tabled by the chairman and initialed by him for the purpose of identification, approval is given for the directors to issue 600,000 new ordinary, fully paid shares, excuse me, in the company, and to make a limited recourse loan to Mr. O'Keefe, acting in his capacity as a director of the company, for the sum of AUD 1,515,000, which will be used to fund the purchase of the shares on the terms summarized in the explanatory statement accompanying the notice of 2026 Annual General Meeting. The explanation of the resolution can be found on page 13 of the notice of meeting.
Are there any queries, questions concerning this resolution? I think it's probably safe to say, Andrew, shareholders are going to approve. No queries, no questions? That takes care of the formal part of the business. For Mr. [Reid], who's voting in person, I understand I've got to tick some boxes as well as Peter does. We will collect those votes now, and while that's happening, I'll invite questions of a general nature, and perhaps we'll start with the one online.
There's a question from Mark, who asked comments about year-to-date trading so far.
Yeah. Year-to-date trading so far is in line with expectations. We've made a decision that we'll actually provide our formal guidance roughly around mid-June. At this stage, we're tracking in line with expectation, and that's ahead of last year for the first half.
There's another question from Paul. The across-the-board discounting of vitamin continues unabated at Chemist Warehouse. Is this disconcerting for the business? How do our retail partners feel about this issue?
It's a really good question, I suppose that's the advantage that we have in terms of our channel strategy. We have made a deliberate choice not to partner with, I'll call them big box discounts. I won't isolate Chemist Warehouse as a retailer. I think they're a great retailer, It's not part of our channel strategy. Our existing customers find it very difficult to compete when brands are being discounted by 50%, their margins are eroded. They look to brands like us and say, okay, well, if a consumer is walking in and asking for advice and wanting recommendations on brand, it would make no commercial sense for them to recommend a product that's 50% off because their margin gets eroded. I think it actually helps our proposition somewhat, where we won't allow our brand to be discounted to that extent.
We will have restrictions around the depth of our pricing in-market, and that's to protect both our margin as a company and to protect the retail margin. Hopefully, that answers the question.
Yeah. No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. [Reid]?
We touched on earlier that Malaysia was a standout last financial year.
Yep.
What were the key drivers?
We touched on it at the last AGM, John, I think if you recall, we talked about their enhanced, I'll call it sort of guerrilla marketing somewhat. They spent a lot of time on local marketing activities, in-store, lots of events, lots of activities that related directly to the sale or purchase of stock in stores. They were partnering with a lot of local pharmacies, independent pharmacies, running lots of events, and I think what they've been able to do is really connect with the local consumer. It's a very competitive market in Malaysia, and I've been involved in this business going on 10 years now. Henry, you're a lot longer than me, and Vanda, you've been around a lot longer than that. I've never seen those growth rates in a very competitive market like Malaysia. Will we replicate those growth rates moving forward?
I think it might be challenging to do that, I think when you consider the performance, the level of activity, the level of investment, the fact that the margin line is held up and it is still extremely profitable, we're quite buoyed by that performance. I think it's a combination of a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline, a lot of activities, some good NPD propping up the performance, and just getting the basics right.
If I could add to that. The senior team led by [Bay] are really top people, which is credit to Andrew for getting that in place in conjunction with [Bay], and [Bay] then doing what she had to do.
Yeah. When you consider, for those of you, as I said, that have been in this business for a long time, that was an extraordinary performance, both in terms of sales and profit contribution to the group.
That in-store promotion doesn't erode margin?
No. It enhances it, in fact. If you look at the margin contribution from Malaysia, I think, don't quote me, Khoo, but I think gross margins are up near 70%+ . In fact, at a group level, our gross margin increased by nearly 2%.
Any further queries, questions, comments? Stop me online there. Khoo, nothing?
No, nothing on my end, Henry.
All right. Well, I'll declare the meeting closed. No, we have a query. I'd like to come up-
I wanted to say is congratulations. I think on behalf of the shareholders, we very much appreciate the effort you, Andrew, and your team have put in. Well done.
Thank you, [Vanda]. I think, as I said in my speech, I think the company is in a really, really strong position, probably the strongest it's been in its history. It's really off the back of the groundwork, right? Which is having capable people in our markets, muscling up our capability, having aspirations to be a bigger and more bolder brand. I think that vision and that culture's coming to fruition now, and we've got to build on that and maintain that momentum. I appreciate your sentiment, [Vanda]. That's greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
There is one more question from Mark. Is the performance in Malaysia in 2025 one-off, and can it be maintained?
I think volumes will be maintained. I think to expect to grow nearly 30% is probably going to be ambitious. We would expect to see continued double-digit growth, but the growth rate is probably likely to soften relative to last year. Volumes will be maintained.
Margins.
Margins. Most importantly, that's your favorite word, Henry.
I think let's have a moment for people online. They have to park their query question.
I might just add an additional comment. I'm sure there's probably some interest around China, and I think while we've got probably Peter in the room, and he can probably add to this. Sorry, mate, I'm going to put you on the spot here. I've said for a long time we're not a China-centric business, but we've operated in China for a long time. We think strategically it still makes sense for us to have a proposition in China for a whole lot of reasons strategically. There is a changing regulatory environment up there. It's very unclear at the moment. It's a little unstable, if anything. What the government is essentially trying to do is weed out people that are probably not as legitimate as they should be.
Whilst there's a little bit of uncertainty around the regs environment, we think long term, if that's sorted out and clarified and it legitimizes brands like Herbs of Gold and Australian brands that are manufactured under TGA, GMP licensed facilities, and we produce relevant documentation to support that, it puts us in a really strong position long term. The problem that we've got is that the environment is a little uncertain. At the moment, when we trade through cross-border e-commerce, it's pretty easy to do. What we think might happen is there may be more rigor around a filing process to legitimize your products to be available for sale on cross-border e-commerce. If that happens, great. We would welcome that with open arms long term. There's just a bit of uncertainty around that, and the market has been a little spooked.
I think we just need to temper our expectations around contributions coming through from China, certainly for 2026. Once the regulations are clear and understood, we will relay our comments to the market and then give you a further view, further outlook around what our model will look like moving forward. I don't know if you want to add any further context around that. Obviously, everyone knows Peter and his expertise, certainly in Asia and in China. Maybe if you can add some color around that as well, Pete.
Yeah, look, I think that's a good summary of the market at the moment. As Andrew said, I think it's a little unclear what the regulations are going to do around ingredients and dossiers. As Andrew says, I think for strong legitimate science-based brands like Vita Life Sciences, I think that it really puts us in a good position for the future. I think the only other thing I'd add, Andrew, it's made it a little more complex over this period, is that the Chinese government has really cracked down a lot on live-streaming, on live-streaming influencer marketing after some challenges around not only the health food space, but food and other products.
I think you've almost got a double whammy of them looking at these legitimate and not so legitimate products from a formulation perspective and at the same time really getting somewhat concerned about sort of pretty much outrageous claims being made about, doesn't matter what it was, tech products, fashion, whatever, by live-streamers. A lot of cross-border e-commerce is driven by live-streaming sales. There's been a clampdown on the live-streaming as well. Again, I think for us, having legitimate health and nutritionist KOLs, influencers who promote our products, I think for us the scenario looks like it's quite good for us probably moving out towards the end of the year. Like all things in China, it's in a pretty constant state of flux, at least during this next few months, I think.
Yeah. I think shareholders should walk away quite confident in the fundamentals and foundations of the business. We've got really solid performance from our core markets. We'll continue to have an appetite for investing in markets like Vietnam. Hopefully, we can get our plan in place and up and running for Indonesia longer term, and we'll just wait and see what happens in the China space, and we'll relay our positions once that's clear and clarified.
Mr. Khoo, A lot of questions today.
Yeah, there's another question from Paul who asks if there's any ongoing issues with the problems of franchisees at Priceline.
No. No impact on us whatsoever.
Why is that, Andrew?
I mean, maybe you might be able to answer that question. Maybe I'll refer to Shaun. You know that little core group that was put into receivership? We have no direct relationship with them. We have no exposure to them. Therefore, no impact.
Yeah.
That sort of answers it.
That's a good summary. Yeah.
Should've just answered it myself.
You took Peter's ground, too.
Oh, sorry. I've got to learn to step back. That's a good question.
Yeah, no further questions at this moment, Henry.
All right. Well, We'll close off the questions, and polling anybody who had a late vote.
Exactly.
We officially closed, Henry?
No, I've got the polling.
Okay. Sorry.
When you're done, you can see who needs improvement.
Exactly. Okay. Polling's closed. Meeting's closed.
Thank you, Henry. Thank you everyone for joining us. We do have some light refreshments for those that want to hang around, have a chat. Happy to take any sort of further questions offline as well. Thanks for joining.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thanks, Jack.
Thanks, Jack.
Bye, Jack.
Thank you.