...Welcome to ArborGen's Annual Shareholder Meeting. I'm Dave Knott, Chairman of the Board. It's great to be back in New Zealand to meet with shareholders and talk about ArborGen's performance and outlook. Thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to advise that a quorum is present, and the meeting has been duly convened. The notice of meeting, which includes the explanatory notes, has been circulated to all shareholders, and I intend to take it as read. The audited financial statements for the year ended March thirty-first, two thousand and twenty-four, were released on June twenty-fourth and included in the annual report. In attendance today are representatives from our auditors, Deloitte, and our solicitors, DLA Piper, as well as members of the ArborGen team and other advisors. Welcome to you all.
For those of you joining us online, if you'd like to ask a question, please select the Q&A tab on the right half of your screen anytime. Type your question into the field and press Send. If you require any assistance, refer to the virtual meeting guide or use the chat function, and one of the Computershare team will assist. I would encourage you to submit your questions as early as possible. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we have multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together. Voting today will be conducted by way of poll. I will shortly open the online voting for all resolutions. If you are eligible, you will be able to cast your vote under the Vote tab. Your vote has been cast when the tick appears.
You have the ability to vote at any time, up until the time I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. Moving on to my address. I'm pleased to be joined today by our two New Zealand-based directors, Paul Smart and George Adams, as well as ArborGen's CEO, Justin Birch, who you will hear from shortly, and our CFO, Christina Green. Joining us online from the US are directors Tom Avery and Ozey Horton. Tom and Ozey, as well as myself, are standing for reelection today, and you will hear from them later in the meeting. ArborGen remains a global leader in advanced genetic seedlings, with more than two thousand customers, twenty-four seedling nurseries and orchards, and a production capacity of almost five hundred million seedlings each year.
Our overall goal remains steadfast: to drive sales of our advanced genetic seedlings in our target markets, thereby delivering increased value for forest owners and greater returns for our business and our shareholders. Our dual pathway strategy provides the framework for our actions. We're building a strong platform for our business, and Justin has done some great work over the past year to optimize our asset base, improve efficiencies and productivity, and create a strong performance culture. The US South and Brazil remain our primary markets, and we have identified strong growth and commercial potential in both of these regions. Our focus on advanced genetics continues to deliver superior prices and margin. Long-term macro trends support our go-to-market story, and Justin will talk to these shortly.
Fiscal year 2024 was another year of improved performance and a positive upturn in our financial results, and we are pleased to report record revenue and record adjusted U.S. GAAP EBITDA results. In particular, our growth efforts in Brazil are yielding impactful contributions in record sales, pricing, and margins, supported by a solid performance in our long-standing U.S. market. The board has determined that the optimal allocation of available cash flow at this time is to reinvest in growth opportunities rather than distribute dividends. While we recognize the importance and desire of shareholders to receive a dividend, we believe that growth initiatives will deliver long-term value creation for shareholders. The tangible and positive results now being delivered as we execute on our strategy, gives us confidence that we are on the right track and have the right team and leadership in place to realize our goals.
Last year's strong result highlights the value of the strategic reset undertaken three years ago, which saw us divest our Australasian operation and expand in Brazil while maintaining our strong presence in our traditional U.S. market. This has proven to be a winning formula, with a significant reduction in debt and a 22% increase in gross profit over the last four years, with record revenue and adjusted EBITDA reported in fiscal year 2024. We are conscious that ArborGen's share price performance, seen in green, is not reflective of the strong underlying performance of the company and our recent record results. There are several reasons we can see for this. We have few institutional investors, low liquidity, and there has been selling pressure over the last 24 months. We understand that similar businesses to ours in the U.S. have sold recently for multiples up to ten times EBITDA.
ArborGen's current share price values our company at just around four and a half times EBITDA, a significant value gap. As ArborGen's debt decreases and earnings increase, this gap will become even more pronounced, and our company will be increasingly positioned as a value opportunity. While your board and management remain focused on sharing our story, it has been difficult to attract institutional investors to funds or funds to a smaller company listed in New Zealand, but with our operations offshore. We believe that ArborGen's share price does not appropriately reflect the intrinsic value of the business, and as announced this morning, we are therefore planning a share buyback of up to $500,000. We see the purchase of shares at current market prices as value accretive for all shareholders.
We are well positioned to continue investing in the business while also opportunistically repaying debt or buying back shares, depending on market conditions. The buyback reflects the board's confidence in the long-term strategy and opportunities for our business. We are finalizing the details, and we'll advise the market when it commences. We will continue to build value in fiscal year twenty-five, and are already onto a good start, albeit this season's planting and sales in the U.S. have been hampered by recent weather events and the ongoing industry and economic conditions. The team are continuing to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies. One important initiative has been the sale of the in vitro business and subsequent lease of the Ridgeville building ahead of a potential sale.
This allows us to recycle cash into growth, including the acquisition of additional nurseries in Brazil, increasing container capacity, and investing into R&D. We are committed to driving value for shareholders as a result of strong earnings and cash flow growth. As a horticultural business, ArborGen's operations are inherently linked with climate, which provides both risks and opportunities for our business. As we operate mostly outdoors, we face risks from excessive rain, hail, freezing, hurricanes, drought, and excessive heat. We have been managing these weather events for more than 30 years and feel confident that we have already taken many steps to protect our assets from extreme weather. As such, we consider that we are well-positioned to mitigate risks and respond to opportunities arising from the transition to a low-emissions, climate-resilient future.
These opportunities include the increasing emphasis on the role trees can play in offsetting carbon emissions through sequestration, reforestation, and afforestation projects, as well as a consumer shift towards more sustainable materials, such as timber. Given the nature of our business, there's also the opportunity for ArborGen to utilize green bonds and sustainability-linked loans, as there is for our customers. Recently, we released ArborGen's first climate-related disclosures under the New Zealand Climate Standards. This was a significant piece of work, taking into account climate scenarios in our two markets and building on our own knowledge and strategy. This report can be viewed on our website. Our company is strongly positioned for the future. The value and science behind our advanced genetics is now proven.
We are a leading provider to the forestry industry, and we have strong and established footprints in our target markets. We have an experienced sales force who work directly with foresters, providing advice and education to help our customers in their sustainable forestry journey. In Brazil, we are leveraging our strong position in the pine and eucalyptus seedling market to build a sustainable, highly profitable business that is recognized as the preeminent seedling supplier. And in the U.S., we are focused on driving increased adoption of advanced genetics across the U.S. South, leveraging decades of investment in developing best-in-class proprietary products. The long-term macro trends are positive, and we have the capacity and the resources to leverage future demand. I'll now pass you over to Justin to talk to you more about our operational performance.
Thank you, Dave. It is great to be in New Zealand with our shareholders and reflect upon the last year and talk about our plans for this year and for the future. I have now been with the company for just over fourteen months, having started in June of last year. It's been a busy time with a particular focus on productivity and operating strength. This has seen us streamline our organizational structure, reduce costs, and enhance operating efficiencies. We've also invested in growth, acquiring two nurseries and expanding container production, as well as continuing our comprehensive R&D and product development program, which allows us to create new genetics that provide our competitive advantage. If we look at the fiscal year twenty-four results, we reported record revenue and record adjusted U.S. GAAP EBITDA, improved our gross profit by 32%, and significantly reduced our net loss after tax.
Borrowings also reduced year on year. Revenue was up 21% to a record $67.7 million. This was driven by a strong performance from Brazil, which provided 31% of revenue, with U.S. revenue also up on the prior year, despite subdued volumes. Strong pricing and margins in both regions helped deliver year-on-year revenue increases. Adjusted U.S. GAAP EBITDA was also a record at $12.8 million, up 39% year on year. This was boosted by increased sales revenue and improved gross margin. During the year, as part of our strategic pillar to optimize productivity, we conducted a review of assets within our business to ensure these met the board's investment criteria and provide value for shareholders. In line with this, we elected to exit the Taylor Nursery and, subsequent to the year-end, sold the in vitro business.
Combined, this will provide around $1 million in savings per annum. We are using these proceeds to pay down debt and invest into growth initiatives, with borrowings down to $20 million at year-end. Positively, over the past four years, our interest cover has improved to 3.2 times. Our gearing has reduced from 23% to 13%, and bank debt as a percent of tangible assets has also reduced significantly down to 18%. This has substantially increased ArborGen's financial stability and flexibility, making our company more attractive to investors and providing the ability to invest into identified growth opportunities. We continue to invest into growth in FY 2024, with the expansion of container capacity at two nurseries and the purchase of Jasper Nursery in the US, which we have leased since 2018.
The acquisition of an additional eucalyptus nursery in Brazil, and continued R&D in product development. If we now look at each of our target markets, the U.S. market is facing economic and industry headwinds. Firstly, demand for pulp timber has reduced, with several major pulp mills closing due to historically low pulp prices. In addition, due to cyclical economic conditions, the level of residential and commercial construction and renovations has declined, leading to subdued demand for sawtimber, with many sawmills losing money in the current environment. These conditions have led some customers to postpone harvesting, subsequently affecting their demand for seedlings. On top of this, wet weather conditions during the summer impeded ground preparation for replanting. This all had an impact on our U.S. sales volume in FY twenty-four year. Pleasingly, revenue was ahead of last year as we focused on selling higher-margin products.
Current conditions in the U.S. are expected to continue into FY twenty-five. Looking ahead, while we anticipate a return to a more commercial processing cycle for U.S. pulp production, the long-term trend suggests a continued decline. Meanwhile, a recovery in demand for sawtimber is projected by twenty twenty-five. These market dynamics support ArborGen's go-to-market story. Our advanced genetic seedlings offer customers the opportunity to achieve higher yields and returns from premium-grade timber, meeting the growing market demand. We will continue to focus on the sale of higher-value advanced genetics products and thoughtful growth. This will be primarily organic growth, such as expansion of our container offering, but we also consider M&A, if appropriate, and it meets the board's criteria. As Dave mentioned, extreme weather events are becoming more common with climate change.
This has been particularly evident in the US South, most recently with Tropical Storm Debby, which brought huge rainfall in the South, as well as earlier storms in the spring, including Hurricane Beryl, which dropped 30% of the annual rainfall in one month in some areas of Texas. We are using science-based planning and investment to build our resilience and have initiated strategic measures to both mitigate and offset the potential weather impact of such events. We are investing in containers, which help protect seedlings, and use agricultural products to help hold seed in the field. We are managing our planting schedules and aiming for wider planting windows. We are undertaking contour mapping of our nurseries and orchards and improving drainage. We have also mitigated our risk through orchard diversification, both geographically and age class.
By recycling older orchards, we can ensure they are younger, more resilient orchards, which are better suited to withstand tropical force winds. We're also invested in backup power systems to combat damage from storms and maintain our ability to grow crop and store our seed. Brazil has continued its positive track record and delivered another record result in FY 2024, with volume growth bolstered by strong pricing and margins. Over the last three years, revenue has grown at 51% per year, with a record $26.5 million delivered in FY 2024. We see a great potential in Brazil to leverage our strong positions in the pine and eucalyptus markets and convert customers to products with superior genetics. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of hardwood pulp, and ArborGen is one of the largest commercial providers of pine and eucalyptus seedlings.
While the production capacity has expanded across the industry, yields have declined due to environmental and weather-related factors. The market is seeking new clones with higher yields that are able to be more resilient, and this presents our opportune landscape for ArborGen. Our superior trees offer higher yields and higher wood density than standard market clones, improved disease and insect resistance, and good drought tolerance. We are moving quickly to leverage this demand with investment into nurseries and orchard development to transform more product from the market or unprotected to protected clones. In October last year, we acquired an additional eucalyptus nursery, and our production capacity sits at now over 135 million seedlings per year through our own nurseries as well as contract growers.
As we are expanding our production in Brazil, we have identified promising opportunities across the broader South America region and are continuing to investigate those. If we now look at our progress in the current fiscal year, the headwinds seen last year in the US South are ongoing. Lumber demand and prices are down, sawmills are curtailing production, and weather has impacted the ability for some customers to prep for planting. Taken together, this has seen some forestry owners defer harvesting and therefore planting until conditions improve. The introduction of new sales terms with stricter cancellation terms has also delayed orders, with customers waiting until they have more certainty on their requirements. We are continuing to identify new and innovative ways to grow and market our superior product, as well as explore further ways to streamline the business.
As previously advised, cost of sales will be higher due to the freeze event in late 2022, which will reduce the amount of seed available. Momentum is continuing in Brazil, and we expect another strong year in the region as we benefit from reach and expansion of our production capacity. We are continuing to shift sales from licensed products to proprietary ArborGen genetic seedlings and will deliver superior prices and higher margins.... In FY 2025, we expect to see ongoing growth momentum in Brazil, while headwinds in the US South will continue to impact on demand across the industry. Given this, we are expecting full year sales volumes to be flat or slightly down to last year, with adjusted US GAAP EBITDA expected to be largely in line with fiscal year 2024. Thank you, and I'll now pass back to Dave.
Thank you, Justin. I would now like to invite questions in relation to the annual report or today's presentations. There will be an opportunity to ask questions about the resolutions once they have been put to shareholders. If you would like to ask a question and are in the room, please raise your hand and wait for the microphone to be brought to you. Are there any questions? Yes. Hold on one second. They're coming with the mic.
Thanks. Hi there. My name is Alan Best, and I'm carrying the Shareholders Association proxies today. The sale of the in vitro business now, as I saw it in the history of the company, there was a great deal made initially of genetic editing, but the company concentrated, quite sensibly, I felt, on MCP, which in Darwinian terms, wasn't natural selection, it's managed selection. With the sale of the in vitro business, what's your thinking about gene editing as a contributing factor in the future? Does it open more opportunities?
Uh-
Yeah, I think it's a good question. You know, as we looked at the in vitro business, we had looked at kind of the decades that had been put in as ArborGen and the previous company or as it was built up in the previous years. And the headwinds of putting forward genetic editing into forest are pretty significant, at least in the U.S., with a lot of significant animosity really towards that piece. And then, you know, so we weren't seeing that that was really a viable path forward, and that, you know, predated me, that how far that was going. And then we weren't seeing that the use of that business was really returning our capital and that we were making good margins.
As you said, the MCP was advancing at such a rate with even the work that we've been doing, utilizing more, you know, trying to find markers to help our advance the speed of our breeding process and to build that up, that was catching up quicker than we could really do that. But to your original question on the genetic, you know, changing of the seedlings, in the U.S., that seems, especially for forest, where that's seen as kind of a bastion of really, you know, pure nature, there was a really significant resistance that we saw. You know, like I said, that predated me, but there was significant resistance, and I think they'll continue to see that for a while, at least in that portion of that piece.
Dave, I've got lots of questions, but I'll try and just concentrate on a couple of things. In the report, it was quite clear that the admin expenses, the overhead part, had increased very dramatically.
I'm sorry, I missed that first part there.
Uh, the admin-
Okay.
or overhead expenses of the head office and others, had increased quite dramatically. How's progress on controlling that bit? Just the overhead expenses of the operation.
I think a lot of those have increased, which ultimately... You know, we view those as one time because a lot of those are part of the transition, the CEO transition. So as far as, like, the actual, what I would say, run rate, administration expenses, I'd have to look back at the exact numbers, but I think they're. We're very focused on keeping those in line. And in fact, one of the points that Dave just talked about was, we are currently working to lease our Ridgeville facility.
We felt there was a significant amount of overhead expense, and now that we don't have this in vitro program, we're taking a, I'm sorry, I'm going to use feet because I'm, you know, from the U.S., but a 66,000 sq ft facility, and we're now looking to move into a 5,000 sq ft facility for a head office and save on things like insurance and that. We ultimately hope to sell that facility. You know, real estate markets can be a little bit tough, and we don't wanna take it too cheap, but we have leased that facility, so we are making income from that.
But to your point on overhead expenses, that was one of the areas that we identified that we really wanted to try and make some long-term cost savings: to not be carrying this large facility that was underutilized, and we were paying for, you know, maintenance, electricity, insurance, all those things that were really contributing to that administrative expense.
There's also, you know, the normal inflationary pressures that we're feeling across the board with all levels of employees.
Yeah.
Dave, I'm not very familiar with Brazil or Southern USA, so in your marketing, have you given any thought to the total market that you're addressing and your percentage market share in those two key markets?
Yeah, sure. I mean, Justin, if you want to talk about this.
Yeah. In the US. So they're very, very different markets. So in the US South, right, that's primarily loblolly pine with a few other varieties of pine called longleaf and some what we call hard leaves, hardwoods, which would be oak and sweet gum, and some of those other type of deciduous trees. Our marketing there has really been an educational piece because a lot of people, you know, know the trees, know the providers, and so our push has been: How can we show people that it's worth the investment to actually buy you know, plant this higher genetic tree.
So to your point about marketing in our piece, we have a couple other competitors, and frankly, as Dave said, we're also investigating, are there opportunities or other smaller nurseries that would be open for M&A opportunities if they're competing with us? Because oftentimes it's just competition on pure price, not on the actual quality of the product or the genetics of the product. In Brazil, the confusing part is we call it market, or we call it protected or unprotected. Unprotected are just kind of what they call market clones, which is just genetics that are, you know, anybody can plant. And protected, we have several licenses in some of our own products there. And so in Brazil, very different market, where we are approximately 80% eucalyptus, 20% pine.
And so the marketing there has really been building these partnerships as there's just been a tremendous amount of investment in hardwood pulp mills, that's just driving a tremendous amount of growth. And given that is, it's a, you know, Loblolly pine is a 25-30-year harvest cycle. Eucalyptus is six, so there's a lot more churn every year to be planting those things. So our marketing there is I think we've got a lot of trees. It's just really trying to make sure that we are, we call it. Our strategic pillar is measured and opportunistic expansion. Given the market down there, and that, you know, obviously, we understand it's a, that market can be very up and down.
We're trying to make sure that we don't overinvest, get ahead of ourselves, just because it looks good initially, that we want to. And so the acquisition opportunities we're looking at, we're trying to make sure that we're not just building a bunch of capacity to own the market, and then that will cause a big price drop. So hopefully, that answers your question. That's what I was trying to-
Yeah. I think it's also important to note, in the US, we kind of have two markets, right? The MCP and the OP markets, and it, you can kind of think of it as the luxury market versus kind of like the consumer market. And so I think with the MCP market, we're stable to increasing market share, and the OP market is where we've seen some increased competition from our competitors, and that's generally a very low-margin product that we use as kind of a driver to sell advanced seedlings. Thank you. Any other que... Yep.
Hello, it's you, not Holden. Eucalyptus, you're saying... What was it, seven years turn around?
Yeah, six to seven years, harvest cycle.
Wow!
Yeah.
So why, why in America you don't have them going more for that in America?
We've tried. Eucalyptus doesn't grow very well in the States.
To build on that, eucalyptus needs a little bit warmer temperatures. So years ago, and again, this predates me, but ArborGen did look at building a more freeze-tolerant eucalyptus tree. But even a lot of the areas in the US that are very productive forest areas just would get down cold enough that it really caused an issue.
Right.
It's the benefit of Brazil that they just have an average warmer temperature, and so it can really spit that out.
Amazing. Also, do you have trouble also people wanting to go and change for different product because they're so used to using the product or the trees they've already been growing? Meaning, you know, that... All right.
Yeah, are you talking more in the U.S. South or, or any specific geography or?
South and in Brazil, because obviously, you've moved them there stronger, haven't you?
Yeah, I mean, I think if, maybe I'm-
Especially South. South would be a problem, I imagine, because-
Yeah, I mean-
You're only moving in there.
Yeah, I mean, I think the competition we have for the... I guess, if I might, if I'm speaking to it correctly, would be the land, right? What's the highest and best use of the land? Obviously, you have some of these areas can be development potential as people need to build homes, right? And so people take a forest and say: Hey, actually, I can make a ton, a big turnaround if this is developed into some sort of housing unit. We've had some areas, the competition has been putting in large-scale solar, you know, and so that's been a better return for some of the landowners, so they've kind of moved to... And I know that's broader than your product, but that's kind of a competing land use. Typically, these forests typically don't go into agriculture.
They're lower land, but that can also be a competing use if there's a good, if there's good tillable ground, that they could do that. But for other product, those are really the other kind of, I think, competitions for the, for the lands. And then in Brazil, usually, the land base is pretty big there and opportunities to plant, so we've not really seen a lot of competition. It's more just kind of right-sizing the right amount grown for the capacity grown and making sure that,
You don't overdo it.
that everything has a...
The other thing you're saying in Brazil is, all right, the eucalyptus grows so fast. What are they using it there for? Pulp or for? What are they using it for?
Yeah, they tend to use that for hardwood pulp, is the biggest point. Brazil's really become a worldwide, the worldwide producer there as more other markets. I mean, it was, and it still is growing other places in the world, you know, Indonesia and other places, but Brazil has just shown that it has a very good capacity for that. There's also some kind of, you know, it can be used to make charcoal for steel production, so that's another ancillary use. But the majority of it in Brazil does go for hardwood pulp, which that country's just become the kind of worldwide leader in production there.
And one other question I want to ask is the, how do I say? The, what do you call it? What do you call it, their currency?
The real.
Real.
Real.
Yeah.
How does that balance for you to be there? Because every time we read the papers or news on, we always seem to hear there seems to be a lot of strife in Brazil.
Along with the rest of South America.
... Does that affect what you're doing or is-
It will. I mean, ultimately, we, I mean, look, all our costs there are in the real. So luckily, we, and then, you know, we've continued to build some cash flow there so that we're not.
So you leave it there?
Yeah, as much as we can, we can leave it there to do that. Ultimately, how it reports up to us, yes. I mean, we report in U.S. dollars, so if the real, you know, tends to weaken, then that doesn't, you know, that can have some. But, look, I think Dave kind of offhandedly said, like, other parts of South America, Brazil, you know, although it can have its volatility for sure, still is probably one of the more stable, you know, the most stable ones down there.
Yeah. The board is always considering hedging strategies along with that as well, when they make sense. Are there any other questions in the room? Yep. Right here.
Thank you. My name Haley Ching, shareholder. I'm, what should I say? Hang on the shares, even though the share price is low, because it's just in honor of my elder brother, of my father, Edmund Ching. He was the professor of biology, dealing with pollination at that time in the University of Iowa. But he just died in the early forties because of car accident. And I'm quite interested in this subject as well, and I wish to compliment those two shareholders about another prospect. Alan mentioned about the MCP. Then MCP is of heat resistant, and for this heat resistant, we have another big opportunity, and it is cotton.
Because the U.S. government have just compensated about to the farmers for $1 billion because of the high heat, destroyed all the cottons in the cotton field. And I think even of both government, whether which government, what should I say, wins, they will the cotton, they will try to grow in USA. It is now the trend. And now
I would just-
Because you still have the research department in USA about genetics. I wish to mention about now, generative AI is very quick and fast, and we can dig into this to develop the IP for the high heat-resistant cotton, and that will be a win-win situation for ArborGen, not to miss this opportunity. Thank you.
Yeah, I appreciate that. Currently, we don't have any plans to enter into the cotton business, nor do we kind of want to chase U.S. subsidies around. They're always doing that for various agricultural products, but I don't think that's a great use of our time or capital. But thank you.
But I think we can say in our breeding program, we are working with some very sophisticated technology partners on using AI to help our breeding process, and try to, you know, the selective breeding that we do in the MCP, because we're trying to speed up that turnaround as much as we can and use any tools we have for our advantage.
Great. I think we have one more question here.
Question.
Okay.
One general and one accounts. The general question: My understanding is that the last really major event you had, weather event, was the freeze of 2022. Do you think you could just explain how long that has consequences for?
Sure.
Absolutely. No, it's a very good question because for me, coming in as well, that was it was new. So our product life cycle, and this is one that we are obviously, as we talked about pushing more stringent sales terms. We're trying to explain to our customers how long this is. So it's about almost an eighteen-month, almost two-year product cycle to grow seed. So that is grown in our orchards. So these are existing kind of full, mature trees that grow cones. We pollinate those cones, harvest that seed, and so when that's done, that's almost an eighteen-month or just just under two years life cycle to get that. So that's why although it was 2020, you'd say, "Okay, aren't we past that already?" The seed that we harvested for that came in, you know, fall of last year.
So then that seed then is turned around, and then we have. And this is all in the US, by the way, that I'm talking about. This is all US-based, pine. And then so that seed is then can be immediately planted after harvest, and that, you know, that harvest happens in, call it in the fall, or I guess US fall, so that'd be October, November-ish type timeframe. And then that can be planted in the April timeframe going there, and then that's another almost year life cycle. So it can be, you know, as you have a big weather event in our orchards. So there's two weather events that can hit us. In the orchards, that impacts our seeds, so then if we don't, that can then hit us two years out.
So if we have a big hurricane today that wiped out all of our seed, you know, we could still be good for this season, but it would be once we harvest that seed that we depend on kind of two years out, that it could really cause the damage. And then we also have, obviously, weather in season, when there's plants in the ground, do they get flooded? Do they have weather there? Hopefully, that makes sense, that we've got kind of the seed, which can really have, I would call it, roughly call it a two-year span, that it can damage. And then, you know, obviously then our in-season, just the normal agricultural risk of growing the crop within that one. You know, it's a one-year cycle to grow the crop, plant it, and then harvest it within that year.
... I'll work on it. The second question-
Could you use the mic just for the webcast? Thank you.
Let's do accounts. Right. So, it's page forty-nine, the where you kind of explain to us what your model is, I guess. Your... It talks about terminal year assumptions and things like that, but I can't see any reference to what the terminal year is.
Yeah.
You know, it's a whole lot of... What is it? It's a kind of showing you good case, bad case kind of scenario. It's a scenario.
Yeah, it's a ten-year model that's run.
Okay.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Okay, Pam, do we have any questions online? Okay,
Oh, I guess.
Oh, we got one more here.
Good morning.
Morning.
My name is Richard Flower. I was at the AGM last year, where there was considerable discussion about the twenty million shares that were being issued to the CEO. We tried to get some information out of you on what, how those were to be allocated. I think the terming was applicable performance criteria determined by the Remuneration Committee. That was slightly vague, and there was a lot of discussion about it at the time. How is that all going now? I see there were some shares to be allocated on June twenty-fourth. Presumably, have they been done? Have they all been done in full? And have we got any more information on what criteria these are being issued?
Sure. George, you want to take this as the head of the Remuneration Committee?
Thank you for the question. Half the stock, as you will recall, was actually issued on Justin being here for 12 months, so that was issued. And half was issued against budget being hit for the year. And if you recall, there was quite a bit of discussion around budget. Yeah. So, so-
Very nice.
Yeah. So we were in the process of sorting that out. So basically, those were not allocated because budget was missed by a little bit during the year. And I think, as Dave had said, it wasn't a slam dunk. It was a reasonable number to be hit. So that half, essentially, which was available this year, has not been allocated. Does that help? Okay.
Yeah. All right. Thank you. I would now like to move to the resolutions before the meeting. These were notified in the notice of meeting, and explanatory notes have been provided. Voting on each of the resolutions in the notice of meeting will be by way of poll. Only shareholders, proxy holders, or corporate representatives of a shareholder may vote on today's resolutions. We will take questions on each resolution as they are put to shareholders. The first resolution is to authorize the directors' fee, to fix the fees and expenses of Deloitte as the company auditor. Are there any questions regarding this resolution? Pam, do we have any questions online? Okay, great. We now move to the directors' resolutions. I am standing for re-election today, as are Tom Avery and Ozey Horton.
As the next resolution regards my re-election, I will hand over to Paul Smart to chair the meeting briefly. Before I do, I'd like to say a few words in support of my re-election. All right, well, hello again. I hope most of you know me by now, but for those that don't, I'm Dave Knott, and I am the Chairman of the Board. I've served in this capacity for the past six years or so and believe I have served ArborGen shareholders well. I'm happy to roll up my sleeves and put the time in that this company and its shareholders deserve. I oversee a lot. Most recently, I've overseen several management transitions, the most complex one being the transition from Andrew Baum to Justin Birch in the CEO role, which I view as a massive success for the business.
I appreciate the support I have received in the past, and I hope to receive the same from you today. Thank you.
Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everybody. Dave Knott is retiring by rotation and being eligible, is standing for re-election. Dave is a supportive and committed board chair, and the directors unanimously support his re-election. Are there any questions regarding Dave's re-election? Seeing nothing from the attendees here. Is there anything online for... Okay, thanks very much, Pam. In that case, we will see the voting by way of poll, and I'll now hand the meeting back to you, Dave.
Thanks, Paul. Next is the resolution for the re-election of Tom Avery. Tom is an experienced director with nearly forty years of investment banking and venture capital experience. He was appointed to the Board in 2018, and his insights have been valued as we have reviewed and reset our strategic direction. The Board unanimously supports his re-election. Tom is with us online and will say a few words.
Thanks, Dave, and good morning or good evening, as the case may be. As Dave said, my name is Tom Avery, and I've been an independent director on the ArborGen board since July of two thousand and eighteen. I am assuming that you have had the opportunity to read about my background from the ASM information, so I won't be repeating that. I would like to say, however, that I believe my forty-year background in investment banking and venture capital somewhat uniquely qualifies me to advise growth companies in broad technology businesses like ArborGen's on strategic matters such as capital formation and mergers and acquisitions.
I've advised well over a hundred boards of directors over my career in these areas of the growth challenges that boards like ArborGen's sometimes face, including, for example, what's the appropriate capital structure design for the company and how do we implement it, and in the valuation of marketable securities. I believe my experience in working in capital markets is of value to ArborGen, and as it periodically has to access equity and debt capital markets to support its growth. I also spend a fair amount of my time, as you might expect, as a board member, on making sure that we have the right people in the right slots and properly motivated to ensure that the company is able to execute on its business plan.
As you know, we have spent a fair amount of time and some of the company's capital recently in these endeavors, and I feel confident that we have an excellent team to deliver on our growth opportunities. I would appreciate your support of my reelection effort today, and if it's helpful to you, I thought I'd mention that I'm also a big, and have been, a fan of the All Blacks for many years. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any questions in regard to Tom's reelection? Any questions online? Okay. The final resolution is for the reelection of Ozey Horton. Ozey is Director Emeritus of McKinsey and Co, and has extensive experience in global operations, strategic planning, merger and acquisition integration, and change management. He joined the board in 2018, and is a value contributor. The board unanimously supports his reelection. I'll now ask Ozey, who is online, to say a few words.
Let's try it again. Thanks, Dave. Good morning to all of you. I appreciate the opportunity to address you. As Dave said, by way of background, I've been a director of the company since July two thousand and eighteen, and I bring more than four decades of experience as a senior business consultant, an operating manager, and a board professional. As Dave said, I'm a director emeritus of McKinsey and Company, an international consultancy, where I spent thirty years. I retired from McKinsey thirteen years ago and have since served as a board member and independent business advisor, as well as a senior advisor at my former firm. Since my retirement, I've developed broad and deep experience as a board professional at several global, mostly industrial public companies, with listings on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Nordic exchanges.
Currently, I'm on the boards of Worthington Industries and Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, both in the U.S., and a family-owned enterprise, Al-Dabbagh Group, in the Middle East. Previously, I was on the board of Metsä Corporation, based in Helsinki. In all these settings, I also served on committees focused on governance, compensation, and audit. As well, I'm a board member of a nonprofit, which happens to be a cancer hospital. At McKinsey, I developed broad experience across a range of industries and topics in all major geographies. In particular, in global basic industrial companies, I led fundamental transformation efforts, both at the corporate and the business unit levels, involving strategy development, portfolio shaping, performance improvement, and cultural change, and over my career, I also led or co-led four global practices within the firm.
Of particular relevance, I developed deep forest products-related industry experience as founder of McKinsey's global paper packaging and forest products practice. In this arena, I worked up and down the value chain with major forest products players in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, in particular working with a few majors in their forestry divisions, and prior to McKinsey, I worked at a global fiber-based packaging company, Sonoco Products, where I gained first-hand industry experience, so through this combination of experiences over the decades, I've developed both top-down perspectives on industry fundamentals and dynamics, as well as bottom-up know-how around the critical value levers at the ground level. This has enabled me to be a material contributor to the ArborGen Board across a range of topics: strategy, performance, organization, and governance.
ArborGen's undergoing a fundamental transformation, with a focus on high-performance growth as a leader in advanced genetics. The hard work and investment over the last decade, and especially now, the drive of new leadership, is becoming apparent, and it is my goal to help ensure that we continue to successfully execute the strategy. Hopefully, this has provided some additional perspectives as you consider my reelection. Your support is greatly appreciated, and as Tom says, he's a supporter of the All Blacks. I have actually been to Eden Park, and I'm a big supporter as well. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ozey. I'm also a fan of the All Blacks. Are there any questions regarding Ozey online? Nope. All right. Thank you. That concludes our discussion of the resolutions. In a minute, I will close the online voting system. Please ensure that you have cast your vote on all resolutions. I will now pause to allow you time to finalize those votes and for forms to be collected. Okay. Voting is now being completed by Computershare. The results of the voting will be posted to the NZX as soon as practicable. That brings the formal part of the meeting to an end. Is there any other business shareholders would like to discuss? Thank you for joining our meeting today and for your questions. I now declare the meeting closed. For those shareholders present today, we invite you to join us for some refreshments.
Thank you all.