Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. A s the time is 10:00 A.M., we propose to propose to start the meeting. Can I start by welcoming everybody to Whitehaven Coal Limited's 2025 Annual General Meeting. My name's Mark Vaile. I'm the Chairman of the Whitehaven Board. of Directors and will chair today's meeting.
First of all, before we start, I'd like to welcome New South Wales elder and board member of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Uncle Alan Madden, who will perform a Welcome to Country. Please welcome Uncle Alan. The floor is yours, Alan.
Thank you. Once again, my name is Alan Madden, Gadigal elder, for my first song. Now board, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Annual General Meeting as we warm welcomes. Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge our First Nations and traditional owners of the lands that you may have come from or work upon, and pay my respects to all our Aboriginal elders, all elders past and present. Also pay my respects to all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters from whatever Aboriginal island nation you may have come from, welcome to Gadigal. To all our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters here today, a very warm and sincere welcome to you to Gadigal. No matter where you've come from, whether it be across the seas, across the state, or across town, once again, a very warm and sincere welcome to you to Gadigal.
As I've mentioned many times before, was, is, and always will be Aboriginal land. Only three things surer than that: coming, taxation, and going. It's an honor and a pleasure to be here today to welcome one and all to Gadigal. Gadigal is one of 29 clans of the Eora Nation. The Eora Nation is bounded by nature's own, the Hawkesbury River to the north, Nepean to the west, and Georges River to the south. In between those three mighty rivers is the Eora Nation. In that nation were 29 clans, and the clan's land we're on today is Gadigal. On behalf of members of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and of the Gadigal mob, once again, a very warm and sincere welcome to you to Gadigal.
As you travel across these traditional lands and waters, may the spirits of our ancestors guide, look over you, and keep you safe. Once again, on behalf of the Land Council, welcome, welcome, w elcome! Thank you.
Thank you, Alan, who's a regular face at Annual General Meetings for that Welcome to Country. Thank you, Alan.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is a quorum present and I formally declare the meeting open. The notice of the meeting has been distributed and will be taken as read. Just to go through some introductions of the people on the table with me today, starting from your left, is Tim Burt, our Company Secretary, Paul Flynn, Managing Director and CEO, Fiona Robertson, Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee, Wallis Graham, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Director Tony Mason, Director Mick McCormack, Director Brendan Pearson, Director Ray Sage. He is right on the end. Yes, he is right on the end.
The all important CFO, Kevin Ball. We also have Nicole Brook, the Chair of the Health, Safety, Environment and Community Committee, attending by audio link. Unfortunately, Nicole was unable to be here in person today. We also have representatives from our company auditors, Ernst & Young, Scott Jarrett and Mitch Fitzgerald. Thank you for coming along. We're also here and also able to answer any questions during the course of the meeting. If shareholders would like to question the auditors on any aspect of their work. Before we commence the formal part of today's meeting, I'd like to remind everyone to be respectful of shareholders who have taken the time to attend today. We welcome questions and comments, but anyone who is offensive or disruptive will be requested to leave the meeting. All attendees are asked to refrain from using photographic or recording equipment this year.
All resolutions will be determined by poll. Usually we use an electronic voting system. However, due to a global Microsoft outage, today we will be reverting to manual voting. You are able to vote by completing the reverse side of your admission and voting card and providing the card to the Computershare representative at the rear of the room. I now declare voting on resolutions one to six open, and I will provide the meeting with notice prior to the voting being closed later on in the meeting. If you require assistance with voting, please raise your hand and someone will come and assist you. As Chairman of the meeting, I'm holding open proxy votes. In my capacity as Chairman, it is my intention to vote all available proxy votes in favor of resolutions one to six. That's all the housekeeping for this morning.
I'll move now to my formal Chairman's address. Ladies and gentlemen, I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land in which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the Gomeroi people of New South Wales, the Barada Barna people and Gangulu people of Central Queensland, recognizing their enduring connection to the lands and waterways where we operate. Whitehaven is committed to building strong, constructive relationships with traditional owners, and we continue to engage in a manner consistent with our long standing approach. Ladies and gentlemen, FY 2025 was a crucial year of consolidation for Whitehaven marked by disciplined execution of our strategy and the shift into a more diversified and resilient business following the April 2024 acquisition of the Daunia and Blackwater mines in Queensland.
In March 2025, we completed the second stage of the acquisition process with the sale of Blackwater to long term customers, Nippon Steel and JFE Steel. The sell down of Blackwater for $1.08 billion and the associated long term offtake arrangements affirmed the mine's strategic value and further strengthened Whitehaven's balance sheet. During financial year 2025, the Queensland assets were seamlessly integrated into Whitehaven's business with strong operational performance in the first full year of ownership. Our high quality thermal coal business in New South Wales also delivered solid operational results, demonstrating strength in our balanced portfolio. The benefits of the acquisition are evident, positioning us to deliver long term value for our shareholders, customers, communities, and other stakeholders. In FY 2025, Whitehaven delivered exceptional growth and operational results. Managed run-of-mine or ROM production reached 39.1 million tonnes, up from 24.5 million tonnes in FY 2024, a 60% increase year-on-year.
Total equity sales of produced coal were 26.5 million tonnes, 14.9 million tonnes from Queensland and 11.5 million tonnes from New South Wales, up from 16.4 million tonnes in FY 2024. Our Queensland results were in line with acquisition plans, including delivery of $100 million of annualized cost reductions, a testament to the capability and focus of our team. Despite a cyclical downturn in coal prices, Whitehaven's increased scale and diversification together with cost and CapEx curtailments helped ameliorate pricing pressures. The PLV hard coking coal index average for FY 2024 was down 32% year-on-year to $196 per tonne, and the gC NEWC index was down 11% to $121 a tonne. Whitehaven's average achieved coal prices were AUD 232 per tonne in Queensland and AUD 193 per tonne in New South Wales, and unit costs of AUD 139 per tonne were better than our guidance range. These results reflect the resilience of our business model and the benefits of our strategic transformation.
Ladies and gentlemen. Introducing the banality of evil.
Okay,
Let's be real.
Can we please escort this gentleman out?
He is destroying my generation's future. You know all of this. Know it as well. They are willing.
They're going to let us get on with the orderly meeting of a legitimate Australian company that pays an enormous amount of tax that a lot of these p eople probably live off. Ok, back to the meeting.
For the information of other shareholders, I'm sure most of those people that just left got into the meeting carrying proxies of about 50 votes, about 50 shares from other people who are not even here.
They're basically in the meeting u nder false pretenses to disrupt the orderly m eeting of a genuine Australian business. That's what's becoming of our country. Okay, on with my speech. I apologize shareholders. Whitehaven generated revenue of $5.8 billion in financial year 2025, a 53% increase from the prior year with underlying EBITDA of $1.4 billion and underlying EBITDA margins of 27%. An underlying NPAT was $319 million before $330 million of post-tax gains associated with the acquisition, including the Blackwater sell down and re-measurement of contingent payments. Statutory NPAT for the year was $649 million. Our disciplined approach to capital management ensured growth was prudently funded while maintaining balance sheet strength. Net debt at 30 June 2025 was $0.6 billion with $1.2 billion of cash on hand. The proceeds of the $1.08 billion USD sale of 30% of Blackwater were received on 31st March 2025 and the first $500 million deferred payment to BMA was made in April.
The second payment, due in April next year, is already covered by cash on hand. We continued to deliver value for shareholders. Since FY 2022, sales tonnes per share have grown 2.5 x underpinning future EPS growth. EBITDA per share has increased more than 3x as a result of the acquisition and share buyback program. For financial year 2025, we declared fully franked dividends of $0.15 per share, being a $0.06 per share final dividend and a $0.09 per share interim dividend. During financial year 2025, we returned $199 million of capital to shareholders through dividends and the share buyback program, which was reinitiated in financial year 2025 and is continuing into FY 2026. At the end of FY 2025, we refreshed Whitehaven's capital allocation framework. We are now targeting a higher, narrower payout ratio range of 40% to 60% underlying group NPAT for dividends and buybacks combined.
The split between dividends and buybacks is expected to be broadly balanced by value and we'll consider franking benefits, share register composition, and the extent to which buybacks create value having regard to the share price. This framework is intended to reward shareholders while maintaining and optimizing operations, retaining a strong balance sheet through the cycle, and responsibly growing the business when returns are compelling. Ladies and gentlemen, maintaining good results in safety and environmental management is a core value of Whitehaven in FY 2025. Our employee and contractor total recordable injury frequency rate, the TRIFR, was 4.6, an improvement on the five-year average of 5.1 for the combined New South Wales and Queensland businesses. We reported zero events that resulted in environmental enforcement actions for the third consecutive year, reflecting our commitment to responsible operations and continual improvement.
While we had zero environmental enforcement actions to report for FY 2025, three historical pending EEA events in relation to blast events at Maules Creek in FY 2021 and FY 2022 are proceeding through the courts. If after any appeal processes these events result in convictions, we will report them retrospectively as FY 2021 and FY 2022 EEA events in our sustainability reporting. I can confirm that all three events were factored into remuneration outcomes in FY 2021 and FY 2022 and have been reported as pending EEAs in our sustainability data tables. Furthermore, in late September 2025, a penalty infringement notice was issued by the New South Wales EPA in relation to a dust complaint at Maules Creek in February of 2025. This PIN was received after FY 2025 reporting and not included as an expected EEA in FY 2025 remuneration KPIs. We are currently considering whether to appeal this PIN.
If it is upheld as an EEA event, it will be reported as an FY 2025 EEA retrospectively and considered in the FY 2026 Single Incentive Plan SIP outcomes as is appropriate. In FY 2025, we continue to invest in environmental management systems, including integration of environmental monitoring and reporting processes across our Queensland operations and refreshing our environmental standards and assurance program across the business. We rehabilitated 336 hectares of land in New South Wales and Queensland, and since FY 2018 the cumulative area of land revegetated in New South Wales totals 8,375 hectares of biodiversity managed land, further demonstrating our commitment to sustainable and positive community outcomes. In FY 2025, we contributed $2.1 million in corporate community partnerships and donations and paid and collected $1.4 billion in Australian taxes and royalties. Sustainability is central to our strategy.
We are progressing our operational emissions reduction measures and are aligned with our obligations under the Safeguard Mechanism. Our Scope 1 emissions intensity reduction target is on track. In line with our obligations under this scheme, we continue to support our customers' decarbonization goals while contributing to global energy security and industrial development. Whitehaven's existing climate reporting, which has regard to the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, or TCFD, provides a strong foundation for compliance with the Australian Government's proposed mandatory climate-related financial disclosures, which Whitehaven will report against for the first time at the end of FY 2026. We are well positioned to meet these requirements and to continue enhancing our sustainability reporting and performance. The global environment for coal remains complex and dynamic.
While the second half of FY 2025 saw global economic uncertainty resulting in softer prices arising from short-term oversupply, Whitehaven remained resilient. Demand for Whitehaven's high CV thermal and metallurgical products continues to be strong and our portfolio is well sold. Policy implementation in China and greater clarity around U.S. trade policies are supporting a recovery in coal prices and improved sentiment. We continue to expect long-term supply and demand dynamics to support stronger prices. The expected structural shortfall in global metallurgical coal production, particularly the long-term depletion of hard coking coal from Australian producers combined with the increased seaborne demand from India, is anticipated to drive higher metallurgical coal prices over the long term. Similarly, long-term demand for seaborne high CV thermal coal, together with a structural supply shortfall from underinvestment in new mines and depletion of existing supply, remains a driver for long-term price support.
Ladies and gentlemen, during the year the Board engaged with a range of shareholders, customers, joint venture partners, and government representatives. A considerable amount of stakeholder engagement occurs during operational and customer site visits, including a productive visit to our main market Japan, our largest market indeed, in March, two site visits to our Queensland operations since ownership, and visits to our New South Wales operations during the year. These engagements strengthened our confidence in the ongoing and long-term demand for Whitehaven's products as well as our confidence in the resourcefulness and capability of Whitehaven's people. In August 2025 we welcomed Brendan Pearson to the Board. He's a fellow up there with all the grey hair. His global trade, government, and mining experience adds to the Board's depth and breadth of operational, financial, and leadership experience across the resources, energy, and finance sectors.
Today we thank and farewell Ray Sage who retires from the Board at the end of this meeting. Ray has made a tremendous contribution to Whitehaven over the past 12 years. His deep expertise in investment and financial markets has added significant value to Board deliberations, especially around capital allocation and capital management. The Board has greatly valued Ray's insights and contributions throughout his tenure. We thank Ray for his long-standing service and extend our best wishes for his future. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings me to acknowledging that I've been on the Board and Chairman since the merger of Whitehaven and Aston Resources in 2012 and have a further two years of my current term. I am committed to ensuring that my succession is progressed in a responsible, timely, and well-planned manner.
I expect to be in a position to provide an update to shareholders on my succession in the next 12 to 18 months. I appreciate the ongoing support that I have received from shareholders and I value the support of my fellow directors. I'd like to thank each of our directors for their contribution and thank them for their commitment to Whitehaven during financial year 2025. As a company, our strategy is to own and sustainably operate large, cost-efficient mines producing high-quality thermal coal and metallurgical coal to meet the needs of our customers and support economic development both here in Australia and overseas. With our long-life mining assets, Whitehaven is well placed to continue to meet strong overseas customer demand for thermal and metallurgical coal, provide energy security and decarbonisation pathways through the energy transition, support local communities in Australia, and provide rewarding career opportunities for the longer term.
Our remuneration framework is designed to support delivery of our strategy and incentivise safe, responsible, efficient operations, delivery of long-term strategic projects, and a differentiating value driver for Whitehaven, a competitive long-term relative cost position, and optimised sustainable financial performance, all of which drive long-term shareholder value creation. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Board I would like to extend my congratulations to Paul Flynn and his executive leadership team and all the Whitehaven team for the strong results delivered in FY 2025. Their dedication, professionalism, and commitment have been instrumental in delivering on our strategy and positioning Whitehaven for enduring success. Finally, I extend my thanks to our shareholders for your ongoing support and confidence. We remain committed to driving performance and delivering long term value for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen for your patience in the earlier part and listening to my address. I'll now call on Paul Flynn for his Annual Address to Shareholders, Paul.
Thank you Chairman and thank you to our shareholders for joining us today at Whitehaven's annual general meeting for 2025. To begin, I'd like to reflect on how far we've come and the milestone we've achieved during the course of this year. The transformational acquisition of our two Queensland metallurgical coal assets in April of 2024 was a defining moment for Whitehaven and the seamless integration of these assets reflects the capability, hard work, and commitment of our people. In FY 2025, Our Queensland team embraced the challenges of that transition, embedding new systems and streamlining the operations while our New South Wales teams focused on delivering on guidance and collaborating across the expanded footprint to realize group wide benefits.
A highlight of the year has been the completion of the $1.08 billion sell down of 30% of Blackwater to Nippon Steel and JFE to long standing customers which recognize the value and long term importance of metallurgical coal produced at Blackwater. This transaction further strengthens our balance sheet and underpinned deferred acquisition payments to BMA. We have enjoyed strong support from the financial markets in relation to this acquisition and the pool of investors in Whitehaven has increased as a result of the diversification scale that has come from the acquisition and those institutional investors and sell side analysts who were able to visit our sites and safely visit over a two day site visit at Daunia and Blackwater at the end of FY 2025 were impressed with the assets and their potential and the capability of Whitehaven's people.
We are excited about the potential of Queensland operations and the results that they have delivered so far which are in line with or ahead of our acquisition plans. Throughout FY 2025, strong safety and environmental performance remained a priority. We achieved a total recordable injury frequency rate of 4.6, an improvement on the five year average for Queensland and New South Wales operations combined. As the Chairman outlined, we reported zero environmental enforcement actions for the third consecutive year. It should be noted, however, that we are considering whether to appeal the PIN referenced earlier that came to light subsequent to year end and should it stand, the EEA will be reported as part of our FY 2025 EEA events retrospectively, but of course be considered in FY 2026 SIP outcomes.
In general, the outcomes we are seeing in the areas of safety and environmental management reflect our ever-maturing safety and compliance culture, the commitment of our people to striving for excellence and continued improvement. Our teams across Queensland and New South Wales worked hard to meet and exceed the guidance we communicated to the market i n FY 2025. W e produced 39.1 million tonnes of ROM coal at the managed level, 60% higher than FY 2024 and at the top of our guidance range. Our expanded exposure to both metallurgical coal markets and our high-quality thermal coal markets proved particularly valuable through a cyclical weaker second half, and we focused on the things that we could control, being managing costs, productivity, and cash flows.
Our unit cost of coal was $139 a tonne, better than the guidance we set at the start of the year, and we removed $100 million of annualized cost from the Queensland business by the end of June 2025. We achieved an average coal price before royalties of AUD 215 per tonne for FY 2025 compared with AUD 228 per tonne in the prior year, reflecting the cyclical market downturn. In FY 2025, revenues reached $5.8 billion, 53% up on FY 2024, with a revenue mix of 64% metallurgical coal and 36% thermal coal. Underlying NPAT was $319 million, and statutory NPAT was $649 million, including $330 million of non-recurring net gains from the Queensland acquisition. The first deferred payment for the acquisition of $500 million was paid to BMA in April 2025. The second $500 million deferred payment due in April 2026 is already covered by the proceeds from the sell-down of Blackwater.
A final $100 million payment to BMA is due in April 2027. In addition, the Coal Price Adjustment payment arrangement in place as part of the acquisition funding structure is working as intended, with only $9 million paid to BMA on July 2, 2025, for the first year of our ownership, well below the $350 million cap for year one. Contingent payments for year two and three are similarly structured to provide downside protection in a low coal price environment at current coal prices. We are currently tracking to pay no contingent payments to BMA for the second year of ownership, which ends on 2nd of April 2026. Our refreshed capital allocation framework released in August 2025 is intended to reward shareholders for maintaining and optimizing operations, retaining a strong balance sheet through the cycle, and responsibly growing the business when returns are compelling.
As the Chairman outlined, we are now targeting a higher and narrower payout ratio of 40% - 60% of underlying NPAT for forward dividends, and combined with buybacks balancing shareholder rewards and operational optimization and growth, Whitehaven is returning up to $191 million of capital to shareholders in respect of FY 2025, including dividends of $0.15 per share, fully franked, and share buybacks representing a payout ratio of 60% of the underlying FY 2025 group NPAT in line with our capital allocation framework. We are well positioned to grow shareholder returns as coal prices improve. As I mentioned, we removed $100 million of annualized costs from the Queensland operations in FY 2025, and we are targeting to remove a further $60 million - $80 million of cost by the end of June 2026.
All of our operations, New South Wales and Queensland, are contributing to these cost savings, including our corporate and support functions. These savings are over and above the guidance that we provided on the cost side for FY 2026, which goes for a range of $130 per tonne- $145 per tonne for FY 2026. Further reflecting our focus on prudent cost management, a lower CapEx program for Narrabri stage three extension project was finalized at the end of FY 2025. The revised CapEx for stage three estimates expenditure to be between $260 million and $300 million on a managed basis compared with our previously estimated spend outlined in August 2023 of between $800 million - $850 million, which in today's terms, if inflationary adjusted, would be over a billion dollars.
This significantly reduced capital expenditure requirement is underpinned by a revised mine plan, eliminating the need to construct the 300 main series and associated infrastructure and deferring a decision to purchase a new longwall for at least 10 years. In addition to the lower CapEx program at Narrabri, we have been prudently containing capital expenditure across the business, which is particularly important through the current downturn. In FY 2025, total capital expenditure was $390 million, and our guidance for that year was $440 million - $550 million. Our guidance for FY 2026 is $340 million - $440 million. Looking more closely at our markets, metallurgical coal prices were subdued in FY 2025 primarily due to weak demand in China and broader uncertainties fueled by U.S. trade policies. The PLV Hard Coking Index averaged $196 per tonne, which was 32% lower than FY 2024.
On the thermal side of our business, the gC NEWC Index was down 11% year-on-year to an average of $121 a tonne , reflecting a strong first half but a weaker second half. Since June, thermal prices have recovered somewhat and metallurgical coal prices appear to have stabilized. Market conditions are showing signs of improving on the back of policies in China to address oversupply of coal and steel, together with more certainty around U.S. tariffs. For Whitehaven, demand of our products remains strong. We have maintained positive margins through the softer pricing environment, and we are well positioned to take advantage of the recovering market conditions. External forecasters continue to expect growing demand for the high CV thermal and coking coal products that we supply.
The latest forecasts have Commodity Insights estimating a 150 million tonnes supply gap opening up by 2040 for our high CV thermal product in the seaborne market and 61 million tonnes of supply gap for coking coal. These forecasts take into account the limited expansion projects in the pipeline and the depletion rates of current operations. This is an important reminder of the medium and longer term outlook for the markets in which we operate. In addition to Narrabri Stage 3 extension project, Whitehaven's development projects include the full scale development of our Vickery project and our Winchester South project. During the year, we continued to progress these projects while Winchester South continued through the external approvals process. All the external approvals to progress the full scale mining of Vickery have been received.
The successful ramp up of early mining at Vickery in FY 2025 is taking advantage of current infrastructure available for the Gunnedah Open Cut operations ahead of a major capital expenditure commitment. The timing of progressing the full scale development plans and further capital expenditure of Vickery will depend on coal and capital market conditions. We also progressed the development of the Maules Creek Continuation project, which is a proposal for the early renewal of the mining lease to 2044, providing greater opportunity for optimizing the productive exploitation and recovery of the valuable resource. Given that the life of mine actually extends beyond 2050, a further renewal of the mining lease will be required. We are building a strategic, sustainable business for the longer term. Our work at Whitehaven is meaningful, impactful, and purposeful, and our people are committed and energized.
Our people understand the purpose and the important role that Whitehaven will continue to play in providing energy security through the transition to a lower carbon future while supplying the critical resources needed to power economies, build industries, and support local communities. In FY 2025, we paid and collected $1.4 billion in Australian taxes and royalties. We contributed $2.1 million to corporate community partnerships and donations. We spent $1.9 billion in supplies in the northwestern regional Queensland, including 15 Indigenous businesses, and rehabilitated 336 hectares of land in New South Wales and Queensland. Mining continues to play a critical role in supporting regional communities across Australia, and we take great pride in contributing to the long-term prosperity by delivering benefits well beyond the workforce and the mine gate.
We actively support our local communities through job creation, prioritizing local hiring, partnering with regional businesses and suppliers, and investing directly in community organizations. Our work with traditional owners and Indigenous people is empowering these communities and helping create stronger families and futures for Indigenous people. Looking at the full year guidance for FY 2026, FY 2025 was a strong year, and while we have room to increase production and sales in FY 2026 within our guidance ranges, we are also providing guidance that is realistic for current circumstances and market conditions. Our managed ROM production guidance is 37 million tonnes - 41 million tonnes for the year, broadly split between Queensland and New South Wales.
Our managed coal sales of between 29.5 million tonnes and 33 million tonnes includes a year-on-year improvement in New South Wales, and equity coal sales guidance reflects the full year of owning just 70% of Blackwater since the formation of the joint venture. As mentioned earlier, our unit cost of coal is expected to be in the range of AUD 130 per tonne -AUD 145 per tonne, with the range primarily reflecting volumetric outcomes at the end of October 2025. We remain confident in the FY 2026 guidance. We are weathering the current soft market conditions very well, and Whitehaven is extremely well positioned to benefit from the market recovery and grow shareholder returns over time. The successful integration of the Queensland assets and the delivery of strong results in a challenging market environment are a testament to the capability and dedication of our people.
I congratulate the Whitehaven team for their strong results that they have delivered in FY 2025 and thank them, together with our Board of Directors, for their continued dedication and hard work. Over the past two years, we've doubled the size of Whitehaven without issuing equity, which we're all very proud of, and you as our shareholders should benefit enormously from this rare feat. Let me close by highlighting a couple of charts that will provide a powerful message to the benefit of you as shareholders. These two charts show the value uplift from both the acquisition and our buyback program, which commenced in March of 2022 and was reinstated in February of 2025. Following the acquisition, equity sales volumes per share have grown from 0.013 tonnes per share prior to the acquisition and prior to the buyback to 0.033 tonnes per share post acquisition and buybacks.
The value uplift for shareholders is even more stark when you look at the EBITDA generated per share. In FY 2025, we generated $1.70 per share of EBITDA, but without the acquisition and the buyback, this would have been closer to $0.54 per share. Earnings per share will continue to grow as the markets recover, as volumes increase, and share buybacks, of course, will amplify this effect. We look forward to delivering more value for you as our shareholders. An even stronger Whitehaven is also good news for our customers, our suppliers, our joint venture partners, the local communities, and for all of our people across our business. I look forward to building on this solid foundation and delivering further value for all of you as our shareholders in the year ahead. Thank you once again.
Thanks very much, Paul. It was a comprehensive report with a lot of detailed information for shareholders. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll now move to the Q & A section of the meeting. As this is a shareholders meeting, only shareholders, their attorneys, proxies, and authorized company representatives are entitled to ask questions. Shareholders will be provided with a reasonable opportunity to ask questions on each resolution. To ask a question, please raise your hand. A microphone attendant will come around. Introduce yourself or, if you're a proxy holder, who you're representing. If you have a question on a specific resolution, please ask that question when we are considering that item. Any general questions should be asked when we consider the financial reports. We welcome questions from shareholders, but it is important to give everyone an opportunity to participate.
Please limit the number of questions and also avoid using the time as an opportunity to make a speech. There will be an opportunity for further engagement with the board and management immediately following the AGM over a cup of tea outside. The meeting's first item of business is to consider the company's financial report and the reports of the directors and auditor for the year ended 30th of June 2025. The Corporations Act requires that these reports be laid before the meeting. However, there is no requirement for shareholders to vote on these reports. The matter is now open for discussion. If you'd like to ask a question, please raise your hand and one of the attendants will bring around a microphone.
Any questions? Oh my goodness, you've given them too much information, Paul. Sir.
My name is [Michael McCay]. I'm a long standing shareholder and I represent myself. I'm not quite sure who the question is for. Would be directed to, but it's $139 per tonne was given as the cost, and it excluded royalties. Could you just explain the royalties? How much are between New South Wales, Queensland as well, the differential?
Very good question. I'll leave that to Paul because he's f ull bottle on this. There's quite a delta.
Michael, thank you for the question. Yes, sadly.
As the Chairman states, there is quite a delta between the two frameworks. In New South Wales, the royalty rate is 10.8% for our open cut operations. Sadly, in Queensland it is, since the changes that occurred in 2022 with the previous government, the top rate now, like a progressive tax system, is now 40% above AUD 300 . That's a pretty low number unfortunately because at today's U.S. dollar met coal prices, say at $185, you're very close once you convert that from U.S. dollars to Australian dollars to that $300 threshold. It's quite a punitive regime up there. Of course, inflation has lifted the cost base of the industry in Queensland as well as New South Wales. From our perspective, there is a good opportunity for change given that this government obviously has inherited that position and is looking to stimulate further investment in the coal mining sector.
Differentially, they're on different planets, unfortunately. Fortunately for us as Whitehaven and [due] shareholders, we have development opportunities in both jurisdictions. The full scale development of Vickery, of course, and then Winchester South in time, once the approval process has completed itself. At that time, we'll need to consider the differences between those two royalty scenarios in terms of where capital allocation might dictate the best place to allocate that further investment dollar. That's the status quo in terms of it at the moment.
Thanks, Paul, for the questions. Madam.
Thank you. I'm a proxy holder. I'm representing Julianne Lacaux. This has to do with the growth expansion plans. According to Whitehaven's 2024 annual report, Whitehaven will only pursue a long term growth project which includes Winchester South if it has a minimum expected internal rate of return of 15% - 25% on a post-tax basis. Also, if a project's expected internal rate of return falls below the requisite level, management is expected to recommend to the board to terminate the project. According to Winchester South cost benefit analysis, which was shared in a recent legal proceeding, during cross-examination with CFO Kevin Ball, he confirmed that if there was just a 3% drop in coal prices, the internal rate of return would drop below 15%. The federal government's recent Treasury modeling projects metallurgical and thermal coal export prices to rapidly decline in the coming years.
Why is Whitehaven pursuing this expansion despite the huge financial risks it poses? How has Whitehaven decided that this new mine is viable to pursue? Another question to do with Winchester South and Daunia. In FY 2025, [WHE] started an integration study between Winchester South and Daunia. Has that study been completed, and what's the current status on plans to integrate the proposed Winchester South coal mine and Daunia? Thank you.
Paul or Kevin.
I'll try and address that as two questions.
Yeah, if you can, Paul. I'll leave it open if you want to comment, Kevin. Seeing as you're mentioned in the question.
I think I can cover off that in the context of the question about coal pricing and the question that you've referenced and the answer that Mr. Ball's given. The context of that is obviously we are at a cyclical low in terms of coal pricing, and of course we would like to see an improvement in coal prices over time. We're in a cyclical business. We wholly accept that. At this point in time, I think Mr. Ball's response to those questions would be appropriate. We are at the bottom of the cycle. I wouldn't suggest that that is the price future that we're expecting in terms of the outlook for coal prices. The government's forecast for prices is just a scenario that they use.
If we look at, if we back tested those scenarios, and we do this from time to time, you'll see that the forecast used for governments is very, very pessimistic, if I could say that. When you back test those forecasts, they have been wrong. The future for our coal demand we feel is very good. As I highlighted in my slides there earlier, the supply demand gap between the expected demand and the paucity of supply response to this growing demand will dictate that prices will be higher than today. We feel confident when the time comes that the thresholds, the IRR thresholds that you've mentioned, which we still hold to, they will be met with a better coal price environment. Of course, measuring it at the low is a particular point in time observation. We don't think that's the basis for which to configure long-term investment.
Thanks, Paul.
Sorry, the second question. The integration study is ongoing. My apologies for that. It's ongoing. It's not done quickly, that type of process, because it is complex to be able to draw together adjacent operations. That's part of the objective in buying Daunia, because we knew it was obviously an existing operation next door to a very large scale resource in Winchester South. The opportunities for integration of those two assets are very good and we look forward to coming to the market and explaining what our outcomes are from that work. At a very, very simple level, there's obviously opportunities to share infrastructure. There's water, electricity, you can look at the equipment between the two sites. We obviously have an increasingly productive autonomous haulage system at Daunia.
Part of that study is looking at the opportunity once Winchester South is approved and once the two approvals of Daunia and Winchester South are able to talk to each other, then that technology could be rolled out to the south, to the adjacent Winchester South deposit. There are plenty of opportunities and we look forward to bringing to you as shareholders an explanation of that study as that work continues. We still have plenty of time to do that given that we don't have an approval yet at the federal level for Winchester South. We have time in yet to do that work.
Gentlemen, just here.
James Murphy, shareholder. Given the sociable demand for energy from d ata centres, how does the board expect t o address that market and benefit from it?
I suppose I'll get Paul to comment as well, but front and center on your question is absolutely, I mean, it's going to be a major issue that this country and all developed countries across the world are going to have to face in terms of the demand for electricity. That is going to be significant with the development of data centres. I don't know that that has been appropriately addressed in Australia yet in terms of the consistent and reliable supply of energy that's required to run data centers.
I know that other countries, such as o ur major market in Japan is focusing very strongly on energy efficiency, cost of energy, and energy security. Part of their thinking is looking at the new economy in this particular area. They certainly are.
I think that I don't know that we have adequately focused on it in Australia as yet. Of course, as a major producer of high quality thermal coal, we are assisting greatly, for example, in Japan, with Japan's decarbonisation process, where they are still using a lot of thermal generation as a stable, reliable, dispatchable source of energy. They rely very heavily on our quality coal. That's part and parcel of our planning, particularly as far as our assets are concerned that produce high quality thermal coal. Anything else you want to add, Paul?
Chairman, if I could add to that. Data centers is a euphemism for all the things we do with all our electronic devices, of course. Every time we search on our phone and our computer, obviously we're putting load on the system in terms of that information infrastructure, but obviously the energy consumption that goes with it. One thing we observe both here and as our Chairman referenced in Japan in particular, where in Japan they've had essentially a declining pathway for electricity consumption with their declining and aging population, that has changed and such that the Japanese government has now acknowledged that electricity demand is growing despite that diminishing trajectory for population over time, and that they are looking very closely as all countries are, at how to make the existing baseload infrastructure last longer.
In Japan they have replaced coal fired power stations in recent times, as has Korea when they've come to the end of their lives. They've come to the conclusion that they will have to make their coal fired power stations last longer because data centers don't work very well on intermittent energy, as you can imagine. Because the construction of new data centers is accelerating, many countries are actually bringing forth regulation that requires construction of data centers to bring with it additions to energy generation capacity for the system. Just harvesting existing capacity, capacity from the existing infrastructure and generation fleet is putting upward pressure on the average consumer for electricity prices. Everybody's going to have to make their existing baseload generation last longer, if not replace them.
Thanks, Paul. Lady just here.
Hello. I'm a proxy holder for Julianne Lacaux. According to recent modelling from the Department of Treasury to meet Australia's newly committed climate targets and reduce our domestic emissions, a significant decrease in coal export by 2030 is required. The Australian Government is now treating this scenario as the baseline. Whitehaven Coal currently has four proposed coal projects across New South Wales and Queensland, all seeking to mine coal past 2040. Given this apparent mismatch between the national export outlook and Whitehaven's growth oriented production plans, can the Board explain how this changes Whitehaven's assessment of risk to its business? A supplementary question, given Winchester South project is still before the Queensland Land Court and acknowledging the growing scrutiny of new coal projects, can the Board advise what contingency plans are in place should Winchester South project be rejected?
Paul, do you want to cover off? On the first part or both of those?
I can attempt to deal with that. I'm not sure the reference there, and I'm pretty sure I've not seen any statement by the government that says coal mining needs to reduce by 2030 to meet those targets. I'm not sure what the source of that reference is that you're reading from there, madam, but that is not an explicit statement from neither the federal or state government that I have seen. There are many pathways, of course, to emissions reduction which the government is obviously exploring. We acknowledge the recently changed national commitments and targets with the range that's been promulgated. As a company, our duty here is to make sure that we are operating the business consistent with the regulation that is imposed on the business.
In the context of the revisions to the Safeguard Mechanism, the company is complying with the regulation and the emissions reduction requirement that that entails. We are in compliance with that as we are at a state level. In fact, at a state level, the emissions reduction performance of the coal sector has actually outstripped every other sector in terms of emissions reductions in the New South Wales carbon budget, which is a more aggressive trajectory than the federal level is. We feel pretty confident about where we're going in that regard. In terms of Winchester South and its prospectivity, last year, of course, the IEA acknowledged that coal demand peaked again. That's a recurring phenomenon which obviously the forecasting doesn't appear to be able to deal with appropriately. Winchester South is predominantly a metallurgical coal mine and the outlook for steel production using coal is very strong.
That was witnessed. We've seen the evidence of that obviously in this past year with Nippon Steel and JFE paying a significant premium over what we paid per percentage point for the Blackwater mine. Their focus there is their concern about the ongoing security of supply of that valuable commodity to continue to underpin the steel production that they plan and have announced that they will continue to use coal for steel making beyond 2050. We feel confident that Winchester South will be a very valuable project in time. That's been reinforced by visits by Indian steel producers in most recent months, one of which quoted that they need as a company 40 million tonnes extra of metallurgical coal supply by 2040. That's one company alone. There is quite significant additional capacity that we need.
Of course, the approvals pipeline does not appear to be anywhere near as full as might indicate that Australia might be able to produce that in the time required. Hence, the visit to Premier Crisafulli and Crisafulli's then visit to India in the weeks that followed reaffirming our view for our shareholders, our aligned shareholders, that the prospects for these important development projects that we hold and have developed over time, and the patience shareholders have exhibited in doing so, will be highly valuable for shareholders over time.
Just to add to that, Paul, I mean shareholders should remember that the acquisition of Winchester South was the first acquisition that we undertook as part of our diversification strategy in moving into metallurgical coal, which I might add is recognized as a critical mineral given its importance in traditional steel making across the world, as evidenced by the comment that Paul just made with regard to demand coming out of India. We do feel confident with regard to the ongoing process of approval for Winchester South and ultimately when we get to that point of approval, being able to analyze that and make a financial investment decision. Further questions.
Hi, I'm a proxy for [Andrew Dawn]. Just on the safeguard.
Sorry, Sue, what was your name?
My name is Chris Wright. Just on the safeguard kind of costs. My question is about if the company has an internal estimate of safeguard adherence to 2030 and how that estimate might be influencing on site investment decisions in mitigation.
Paul,
The company watches this very closely and of course the Safeguard Mechanism is controlled by the federal government, and not just the regulation stipulating the emissions reduction, but also the accreditation of the credits that underpin ACCUs that are used by many organizations to account for their emissions reduction activities. Our estimate of that is not a forecast we publish, but it's obviously important and influential in terms of the financial considerations for any particular project that you might contemplate that has an emissions profile, the mid-30s type profile dollars, that is Aussie dollars, that is the current market.
We assume over time that will escalate in price, but that also sends a signal to the market to produce more credits. This obviously is a market which is continuing to grow and deepen. Over time we expect more players, and the government is encouraging more players to participate in this market to ensure that ACCUs are freely available for those who use that as a means by which they complement their own emissions reductions on site, which Whitehaven's obviously engaged in itself.
Any further questions?
Okay, we've seemed to have exhausted questions in that part of the meeting, so we will now, that's finalized as the discussion on the financial report and reports of the directors and auditor for the year. We will now move on to Resolution 1 , which is the remuneration report. The first resolution is the adoption of the FY 2025 remuneration report. This is a non-binding advisory resolution. Before opening this item for questions and discussions, I'd like to briefly comment. To help shareholders understand the company's approach to remuneration, the Board is committed to a remuneration framework that is market competitive and fundamentally aligned with our strategy and the long-term interests of our shareholders. Continuous engagement with our shareholders is a cornerstone of this process. Throughout FY 2025, members of the Board and staff, senior management conducted over 250 meetings with investors and other stakeholders to listen to your perspectives.
This ongoing dialogue informs our decisions. A key focus for the Board this year was ensuring remuneration appropriately reflects the significantly expanded scale and complexity of our business following the acquisition of the Blackwater and Daunia mines. In recognition of the expanded roles of our executive team, who have doubled our production base and workforce, the Board increased total fixed remuneration for FY 2025. However, for FY 2026, the Board has implemented a fixed remuneration freeze for key management personnel. Similarly, there has been no increase in non-executive director fees for FY 2026. Turning to our performance, FY 2025 was defined by the successful integration of our new Queensland assets and strong performance across the expanded portfolio. The remuneration outcomes for our executive team reflect the group's strong results against key strategic, operational, and safety metrics. In summary, the Board is confident our remuneration framework is driving the right performance outcomes this year.
These results appropriately reward management for delivering outstanding results and are directly aligned with the long-term value created for our shareholders. The Board acknowledges these outcomes were underpinned by the stability and experience of our long-tenured executive team, and we thank them for their significant contribution. The Board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of resolution one. The screen shows details of the proxy votes received on this resolution. As a reminder, the voting will remain open until the conclusion of resolution six. The proxy results will be shown on the screen as each resolution is being considered, and I will provide the meeting with notice prior to voting being closed. The remuneration report is now open for discussions.
Any questions on the [rem] report? Just as a reminder, as we haven't got the electronic voting, you've all got voting cards to use there to vote with, and we'll get those collected by Computershare at the end of the meeting.
If there are no further questions, we've now finalized the discussion on this item. We'll move and voting will be open until the end of the meeting. We'll move on to the next item in Business. Resolution 2 is the grant of Single Incentive Plan awards to the Managing Director.
Oh, beg your pardon. Late question.
Thank you. You'll all be pleased to hear that unlike some more boisterous members of my generation earlier on, I have a particular interest in how Whitehaven develops and how its business is going. I'm very glad to hear that there have been some strong results and I'm interested from the presentations just before now. I should say, Justin McGovern, shareholder, before we move on too much further. I'm interested, given the down cycle that was mentioned, and I'm wondering how long the current prices would need to remain at their current levels before any capital raise was required. Given that there's potentially some pricing at a discount to 2023 acquisition prices and that we're well below the July [2024] share prices of almost $9, I'm wondering, is it the board's view that perhaps we missed the boat on any equity raise in that respect?
I'm interested further, the final point, that understanding that the Share Appreciation Rights that were approved at last year's AGM have a strike price of $6 and depend on that share price remaining above that level, could this create a potential conflict for management when deciding to raise equity capital, particularly when shareholder returns are considered as we face those headwinds going forward?
Question for the general part of the meeting rather than rem report. Anyway, we'll take the question. For t he lengthy period of time that I've been the Chairman of the Board of this company and others, we've had a very strong focus on conducting the business of the company and continuing to deliver growth for shareholders without any equity raising. It's certainly currently not in the view of the Board or the management team or planning that we're going to engage in the need for any equity raising. We have debt facilities in place, yes, and from time to time, depending on markets, the structure of our debt facilities might change. I'll just make that very strong point with regard to any equity raising. You want to add to that at all, Paul?
Just to reiterate your position, Chairman, we have not raised any equity in the entirety of your time as the Chairman. Haven't had the need to do that. In fact, have been doing the reverse of that, being buying back the stock, and that has put our shareholders in a very good position. We are at a low point in the cycle for sure, and coal prices are not where we think they will be longer term. Even at this point in the cycle, we are in the enviable position relative to some peers of being cash flow positive right through this period. The notion of needing to raise capital is not one that we need to contemplate. I would like to provide some assurance to shareholders that that is not something that we would like to be considering or we feel there's a need to be doing.
Quite the reverse, we feel at this share price we actually have the opportunity to continue to buy shares, which is to the benefit of all of you as shareholders, increasing your per share ownership in this business. We feel very confident with the existence of those financing facilities referenced by the Chairman and cash flows being positive, we can work our way through this cycle as we have done in previous cycles.
On your last point, as far. As the SARs are concerned, you'd understand the background of those, that was a mechanism implemented to fill the gap in the transition between the former STI LTI process and the SIP. Off the top of my head, the best response I can make to that is that all of our senior management team have significant exposure and alignment with their other, if you like, LTI type performance rights that are on foot as opposed to the value of that small component in the SARs. We're satisfied with the significant holdings that are held by senior management, they are completely aligned with shareholders' interests.
Okay, we will move on. We've dealt with rem. We're going to Resolution 2, which is the grant of the Single Incentive Plan awards to the Managing Director. The second resolution concerns the grant of deferred rights and performance rights to our Managing Director Paul Flynn under the company's FY 2025 Single Incentive Plan. Details of the grants are set out in the notice to meeting. The purpose of this resolution is to ensure that Paul's incentives are aligned with shareholder interests. This is achieved by having a large portion of his incentives provided as equity-based awards and through the implementation of challenging performance hurdles for performance rights designed to drive long-term company performance. It is important to note that all awards under the Single Incentive Plan are subject to upfront performance measures to ensure alignment with shareholder interests.
In addition, performance rights are subject to a second rigorous performance assessment at the time of vesting, ensuring that long-term value creation remains central to these incentives. Approval is sought for the grant of deferred rights and performance rights to Paul as earned under the FY 2025 Single Incentive Plan scorecard. The deferred rights will vest in three equal tranches over three years. The performance rights will vest on release of the company's FY 2029 financial results, subject to two further performance hurdles in relation to relative unit cost and achievements against key long-term growth projects. The Board, with Paul abstaining, considers the grant of the Single Incentive Plan awards to the Managing Director to be appropriate and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Resolution 2. The screen shows details of the proxy votes received on this resolution. Now we open this matter for discussion. If there are any questions.
As I said, voting on all resolutions will remain open until towards the end of the meeting. Any questions on Resolution 2? No?
Okay, we shall now move on to resolution three, which is approval of increase in non executive director fee pool. The third resolution seeks your approval to increase the aggregate fee pool for non executive directors. The current fee pool was set in 2012 and has not been increased in over 13 years. In that time, the scale, complexity, and responsibility of governing your company have increased significantly. The current pool is no longer appropriate for a company of Whitehaven's present scale. It limits our ability to manage board security succession and attract the high calibre directors needed to provide effective stewardship in a competitive market. This increase provides prudent headroom for the future. It is not for an immediate fee rise, and as I noted earlier, non executive director fees were held flat for FY 2026.
As the non executive directors have a personal interest in this resolution, they abstain from making a recommendation. The resolution is put to shareholders for their consideration, and the screen shows details the proxy votes received on this resolution w hich are up there.
The approval of the increase in Non Executive Director fee pool is now open for discussion, and voting is open.
I'll reiterate again, this is not an increase in director fee, it's just an increase in the available pool. Yes, Madam.
Thank you very much. My name is Gillian Raphael and I'm a shareholder. I note that the fee rises for $500,000 and that it's mainly for dealing with succession. I'm interested in the fact that given that five of seven of the board directors has been replaced relatively recently, that that money must be going towards perhaps your succession, Mr. Vaile, or perhaps Ms. Robertson's. I'm just interested to know whether a successor has been appointed or nominated rather to the board for you, Mr. Vaile, and also just how that money will be spent over the foreseeable year.
The last part of the question, obviously the directors' fee pool sits there as it being available. We have been very conservative and prudent over the years as far as directors. Fees, sometimes to chagrin of others, but w e have held them. This pool hasn't been adjusted since the amalgamation of Aston Resources and Whitehaven in 2012. We just are seeking the increase in pool to provide more flexibility. We are now a company that's twice the size in terms of production. There may in the future need to be an increase in the s ize of the board.
Yes, there are going to be changes. The first part of the question, no, a successor has not been found yet, but that's a process that I flagged earlier. We're going to be going through that. It will be a competitive market. You know, not everybody wants to be the Chairman of a coal company with some of the challenges that are presented. The reason that the board is suggesting this to shareholders is to give maximum flexibility. We're still going to act very prudently as far as remuneration of directors is concerned. That's the sole purpose of this, so that we've got that flexibility for finding new directors, ultimately a new Chairman. Also, in the future, if there's a need or a desire to increase the size of the board.
From time to time, when a director decides to step down and resign, then we go to the market looking for a new director. If we don't have anybody that we know or are aware of in our networks that would be a good fit to the skills matrix of the board, that is a process you need to go through, and that's a competitive process out in the marketplace. Often, you might in the intervening period come across someone that is available that would be a very good fit in that skills matrix on the board, and you might have an overlap for 12 months and have an extra director on the board. This also gives us flexibility in that regard.
I think that's one of the more important aspects of this, so that we can ensure that we have the best skilled and qualified people available to sit on the board at any given time.
Justin McGovern shareholder, I'm encouraged by your comments earlier about having a succession consideration window of 12 to 18 months within which you'll inform shareholders about any succession that takes place. I'm just thinking from the previous question, given there's been some significant renewal in governance already, I'm wondering that in the event that you do step down as the Chair, noting that there may be some difficulties finding people who are keen to take on the role of Chair of a coal company in the current environment. This morning is probably reasonable evidence for why someone might be thinking twice w hile
Not everybody enjoys that stuff like I do.
No. More power to you. It's a resilient attitude to have. I am wondering whether the board should have considered this at an earlier time, maybe, and thought about having a successor in place. I'm interested to know a little about the process of getting that plan in place.
Can I respond this way, that it's certainly been an issue in the front of my mind for a number of years, and it's certainly an element to be considered and has been considered in recent appointments. It's something that does take time. I just wanted to flag to shareholders that succession is something that at the Chair level we're dealing with, and I think the more important thing for, or just as important for shareholders, is the knowledge of the Board's ongoing support and desire to keep our CEO and Managing Director in place. I know that we often get questions on Paul's tenure, but there's no question about Paul changing. What you don't want is a Chairman and a CEO changing at the same time.
We're flagging this early in the piece, and we'll go through that process over the course of the next two years, but shareholders will be kept informed. Was there another question somewhere I saw? No. Okay, we shall c onclude consideration on that. The screen's got the proxies up. The voting is open on that item until the end of the meeting. We'll move to resolution four, which is the re-election of Nicole Brook. The next item of business is Nicole Brook's re-election as a Director. Nicole was appointed as an independent Director of the company in November of 2022. Nicole is also Chairman of the Health Safety, Environment and Community Committee.
Nicole's qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. Nicole is standing for re-election as an Independent Director. Now Nicole's on the line, is she, Tim? Okay, we're just going to hand over to. Nicole was unwell, and she apologizes for not being with us in person this m orning, she's just going to join by audio link. Over to you, Nicole.
Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. I hope that you can hear me. Good morning, shareholders. I'm very sorry for not being there in the room with you to speak with you in person today. I'm delighted to be standing for re-election to the Whitehaven board. Since I joined the board in late 2022, as we all know, the company has more than doubled in size. It's broadened its portfolio and taken really major steps to diversify and strengthen for the long term. It's been a period of remarkable transformation in my corporate career. I've led and overseen acquisitions and integrations of a similar scale. Let me tell you, they are never easy to get right. What Paul and his team have delivered, bringing new assets and people together safely, efficiently, and with discipline, is really industry-leading execution.
As we heard from Mark and Paul earlier, I think the results really speak for themselves. As Chair of the HSEC Committee, I've seen firsthand that safety, environmental care, and genuine community engagement remain fundamental to Whitehaven's culture. Maintaining that focus amid significant change is no small achievement. The improvement in TRIFR and the proactive approach that the team takes to identifying potential risks before they emerge are an absolute credit to the organization. I'm a mining engineer by trade and I bring over three decades of mining experience as a coal mine worker in operational management, in project and business development, technical governance, and corporate leadership. This experience has given me a strong foundation in operational excellence, capital discipline, and risk management, particularly across large complex portfolios. As past President and current Director of the AusIMM, I'm also closely connected to the broader resources sector here and globally.
That role gives me insight into emerging trends, technological advances, and the evolving standards of ESG. With your support, I look forward to continuing to contribute my experience and perspective to the board in the interests of shareholders. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Nicole. The board, with Nicole abstaining, recommends Nicole's election as a director. The screen shows the details of proxy votes received on this resolution. Matters now open for discussion.
Are there any questions or discussion required? Okay, thank you.
The voting on that will remain open until the end of the meeting. We'll now move onto the next item of business. Resolution 5 is the re-election of Tony Mason. The next item of business is Tony Mason's re-election as a Director. Tony was appointed as an independent Director of the company in August 2023. Tony's qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. I'll hand over to Tony to briefly comment on his re-election. Over to you, Tony.
Thank you Chairman. I will be brief. Good morning fellow shareholders, guests. As Mark's reminded you, my qualifications to represent you on the Board are listed in the notice of meeting. I won't repeat, sufficient to say that I've been employed in the mining industry for well over 40 years in various capacities. I've spent all my working life in the mining industry and during that time I have an observation to make about two characteristics shared by nearly all miners, except for some rogues along the way. The two characteristics shared are that they are optimists and that they are doers. They believe in investing and building things for the betterment of their shareholders, their employees, their community, the economy, and the country as a whole.
Nothing exemplifies this can-do attitude and enthusiasm more than the efforts of management and employees of Whitehaven Coal in the past two years that I've been very pleased to observe from close hand. With the full support of the Board, management and employees have doubled the size of the company and in doing so have created for you a much larger company that is far more robust and resilient, one that's capable of surviving, even thriving in the future in an often negative external environment. For my part, I have acted on the Board's Health, Safety, Environment and Community Committee for the past two years and I'm a continuing member of the Audit and Risk Committee. I've appreciated the opportunity to participate in a small way in Whitehaven's endeavors over the last two years and I look forward, with your support, to continuing to represent you. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Tony. The Board, with Tony abstaining, recommends Tony's re-election as a director. The screen shows details of the proxy votes received on this resolution. The matter is now open for discussion.
If there's any questions or comments, no questions or comments, we'll.
Move to the next item of business. Just a reminder that voting is open till the end of the meeting to Resolution 6, the election of Brendan Pearson. The next item of business is Brendan Pearson's election as a Director. Brendan was appointed as an independent Director of the company in August of 2023. His qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting and I'll j ust hand over to Brendan to briefly c omment on his election, Brendan.
It's on.
Thank you, Mark, and good day everyone. I was very pleased to be asked to join this board. Whitehaven is a company I've long admired and I've known the management for more than 10 years. As the material in the documentation points out, I come from a policy background, you know, 12 years working with the Foreign Ministry in trade negotiations in Cambridge, Paris, London, and Washington. As the senior roles at the Minerals Council of Australia for 10 years, as both Deputy and CEO, as a business journalist with the Financial Review in Canberra and Tokyo, working for Peabody Energy, and also several years working for Cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister. I'm hopeful that experience will be useful to a company in a sector which is subject to a wide range of policy interventions, both positive, negative, and neutral, as well as intense regulatory oversight.
I look forward to your support and I'm very appreciative to be here. Thank you.
Thank you, Brendan. The Board, with Brendan abstaining, recommends Brendan's election as a Director. The screen shows details of the proxy v otes received on this resolution. They're up there. Matters now. Open for discussion. Any questions or comments? Question?
Thank you. Just to remind you, my name is Gillian Raphael and I'm a shareholder. I'm just wondering, Mr. Pearson, it's a question for you, whether if you are elected and you subsequently are nominated to be the Chairman of the Board, what might be your position in relation to finding a successor potentially for Paul Flynn, given that he's been in position for about 13 years. Noting the comment that was just made that there's no immediate plan to have a successor, I'm just wondering if you have any comments to make in that regard.
Thanks very much. I have been on the board for two months. I think it would be premature for me to make any comment in that regard. I know the company well, I know the sector well, but I think it would be completely premature for me to be starting to speculate on how I might deal with that in a very, very hypothetical situation that I might be asked to be Chair.
Thank you. Yes, sir.
I'm very encouraged by your pedigree, Mr. Pearson, and it's very good to have you joining the board here and to hear that you have such passion for the company's interests and its history and indeed its future. I couldn't help but notice that there's a substantial degree of similarity between your background and that of the current Chair. I'm just wondering, in the context of potential succession plans, whether you've come on board with something of an understanding or would you consider yourself open to considering a chairmanship role if and when that becomes available?
Thank you. I mean, I've never stood for political o ffice. Like the Chairman, I actually enjoyed being around politicians because they're very much underestimated, and I admire their commitment to putting themselves forward. I've never made that commitment. I think there are some similarities. I've worked in Parliament House for a long time and I've been in parts of the political battle. I think this is new to me, that there is one stereotype for Chairs of mining organizations like Whitehaven. I think this is a very premature proposition. Thank you.
Thanks, Brendan. Any more easy questions?
Okay, we've had the proxy votes up, so no further questions and voting is still open on that item. As there are no further questions, I'll shortly be closing voting on resolutions one to six. I ask all shareholders who have not already submitted their votes to do so. Please complete your voting card and provide your card to our Computershare representatives.
Who are doing the room with a ballot box. Look at that. This is all thanks to Microsoft. Bill Gates went on holidays. Yeah, we just get. I'll just let these guys collate those, and we'll just wait a minute longer.
We do. Although we've done that voting manually. We do know the number of votes in the room, and so based on the votes in. I should first declare the poll closed.
Based on the votes in the room and the proxies received, each of the resolutions have passed. Final poll results will be announced to the ASX later today. With that final act, ladies and gentlemen, that completes the formal business of this year's annual general meeting. I now formally declare the meeting closed and invite everybody to come and join us for a cup of coffee. Or tea, whatever you like, outside.
Thank you very much for your patience.