Afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Geoff Ricketts. A very warm welcome to shareholders and guests present today at the 2021 annual general shareholder meeting of Heartland Group Holdings Limited. I will provide you with instructions on how to vote and ask questions as we progress through the meeting. If you encounter any issues, please refer to the virtual annual meeting online portal guide or phone the helpline, 0800 200 220. Since a quorum is present, I declare the meeting open. I will now outline the agenda of the business for today's meeting. As Chair of the board, I will shortly introduce you to the board of directors and the strategic management group who are joining us from various locations across New Zealand and Australia.
I will then take you through the formalities of the meeting before I provide a high-level overview of Heartland's performance and activities in the 2021 financial year. This will be followed by an address from Heartland's Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Greenslade, who will provide you with more detailed performance overview of Heartland's business and an update on Heartland's current strategic objectives. Following this, there'll be an opportunity to answer any questions you may have concerning Heartland's performance, strategy, or operations. I encourage shareholders attending online to begin to submit their questions now to assist us in answering as many of these as we can at the appropriate time. Thereafter, we will move to the formal business of the meeting, including voting on the resolutions posed to you today. Firstly, I'd like to introduce and acknowledge the directors.
As directors are joining us from various locations today, I'll begin with introducing the Heartland Group and bank directors who are with me today in Auckland, followed by Christchurch and in Australia. First of all, it's my pleasure to welcome Sir Christopher Mace, who has been a director of Heartland since its establishment. Next to me on my right, John Harvey, who has been a director of Heartland Bank since its establishment. Next to John, Shelley Ruha. Shelley was appointed a director of Heartland Bank in January 2020. Joining us from Christchurch, we have Geoff Greenslade, our Chief Executive Officer. Geoff has held this role since Heartland's establishment in January 2011 and is a director of both companies. Greg Tomlinson, our Deputy Chair of the Heartland Group. Greg was appointed a director in March 2013. Bruce Irvine, our Chair of Heartland Bank Board.
Bruce has been a director since establishment. Kate Mitchell. Kate has been a director of Heartland Bank since March 2019 and was appointed to the Heartland Group board at the start of this month. Joining us from Australia, Ellie Comerford. Hi, Ellie. Ellie was appointed as a director of Heartland in January 2017. Geoff Summerhayes. Geoff was appointed a director of Heartland Group at the start of the month. For myself, I have been a director of Heartland since establishment of the bank, and I'm on both boards. In addition to Jeff Greenslade, other members of Heartland Strategic Management Group are also present today. In Auckland, we have, on my left, Chris Flood, Chief Executive of Heartland Bank, and Andrew Dixson, who is the Chief Financial Officer for the group.
Online, we have Laura Byrne, our Chief Operating Officer, and Lydia Zulkifli, our Chief Digital Officer. Michael Drumm, Chief Risk Officer, is currently on leave and unable to join us today. Keira Billot, Chief People and Brand Experience Officer, is currently on parental leave and unable to join us today. Returning to the business of the meeting, I advise that all valid proxies and postal votes received from shareholders in the prescribed time have been admitted. I can confirm that a total of 818 proxies and postal votes have been accepted. This represents 1,000,222 shares and some odd numbers, which represents 20.69% of the total issued shares in Heartland Group Holdings. I can say that all resolutions before us today, approximately 84% of those proxy and postal votes are in favor. Turning to meeting procedures.
This is a meeting of Heartland Group Holdings Limited shareholders. Accordingly, while our guests are very welcome to witness the proceedings of the meeting, participation in the shareholder discussion and the business of the meeting is confined to ordinary shareholders present online by proxy or by authorized representative. In regard to voting procedures for today's meeting, all resolutions will be decided by way of a poll. This is in line with the practice increasingly adopted for listed companies and is the preferred method of NZX and the New Zealand Shareholders' Association. By having resolutions decided by way of a poll, we are counting all postal votes, proxy votes, and votes online. For those shareholders attending the meeting online today, you will be able to cast your vote using the electronic voting card received when your online registration is validated. You would have received.
To vote, you will need to click Get Voting Card within the online meeting platform. You will be asked to enter your shareholder or proxy number to validate. Please then mark your voting card in the way you wish to vote by clicking For, Against, or Abstain on the voting card. Once you have made your selection, please click Submit Vote on the bottom of the card to lodge your vote. Please refer to the virtual meeting online portal guide or phone helpline 0800 200 220 if you require some assistance. Voting will remain open for 5 minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. The notice calling this meeting was dispatched to shareholders on the 27th of September, 2021. That notice outlined the formal business for this meeting and also provided some background information on each resolution to be voted on.
The minutes of the last annual meeting held on the thirtieth of November have been approved and confirmed by directors as is our custom. A digital version of those minutes is available on Heartland shareholder website at shareholders.heartland.co.nz. I will now share with you my chair's address before inviting Jeff Greenslade to address you. We will then move to shareholder discussion. Please ensure you submit your questions now to allow us to answer any of those in time. It's quite warm in here. Throughout the year, COVID-19 pandemic has continued to present challenges for our customers, communities, and our business. It has changed the environment in which we are all operating. As we face continued uncertainty with restrictions in travel and gatherings, and with your health and safety a priority, Heartland will again today host this year's annual general meeting online.
I am proud of the way in which Heartland and our customers have responded to the economic and social impacts that have resulted from COVID-19, especially as the situation continues to evolve. Heartland's priority remains on supporting our customers, ensuring the health and wellbeing of our employees, and delivering exceptional value for you, our shareholders. In the financial year ended 30 June 2021, I am pleased to report that Heartland achieved a net profit after tax of NZD 87 million. On an underlying basis, which excludes impacts of one-offs, the net profit after tax was NZD 87.9 million, an increase of NZD 11 million over the prior year. This is another strong result for Heartland, and it continues to deliver against its strategy to provide best or only products.
Heartland grew its finance receivables by 8% to NZD 5 billion during the year as a result of strong performance across asset finance, motor, and reverse mortgages. Reverse mortgages in New Zealand saw a record year for the business, up 34.4% from the previous financial year. The New Zealand portfolio was also pleased to achieve a Consumer Trusted accreditation for the reverse mortgage business for the fifth year in a row. Australian reverse mortgages also achieved significant milestones, including the achievement of various awards and its loan book surpassing AUD 1 billion in Australia. Heartland Bank was once again named Canstar's 2021 Bank of the Year Savings for the fourth consecutive year, which awards were also given for its Direct Call and YouChoose accounts. Importantly, significant progress continued towards Heartland's digitalization goals.
Jeff Greenslade will speak to this in more detail later. Progress has been made in Heartland's sustainability journey, and we are pleased to announce that our absolute reported greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 was 17% lower than for our 2019 emissions. This is a very great step towards our goal, which is to reduce 2019 baseline emissions by 35% by 2025. Turning to credit ratings. Earlier this month, Heartland's rating agency, Fitch, affirmed the credit ratings for Heartland and Heartland Bank at BBB and Heartland Australia at BBB-, with the outlook remaining stable for all three companies. Heartland Bank remains one of only two Australasian banks to have no reduction or adverse change in its rating or outlook since January 2020, despite the impacts of COVID-19.
That's a very good outcome for us at Heartland. Dividends. We paid a fully imputed final dividend of NZD 0.07 per share on the 15th of September this year. Together with the interim dividend of NZD 0.04 per share, the total dividend for the year was NZD 0.11 per share. This compares to NZD 0.07 per share in 2020, which admittedly was affected by the Reserve Bank rules on dividends. Heartland is pleased to be able to deliver a shareholder return, notwithstanding the dividend restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank on distributions by banks in New Zealand. The total shareholder return or TSR was 107.2% for the five-year period, 20 August 2016 to 20 August 2021, compared to the TSR of 81.9% for the NZX50 during the same period. This is a great result for our shareholders.
Conduct and culture. Heartland's commitment to doing the right thing for customers is reflected in the social impact of our products, the way in which we conduct our business, and in one of our core values, Mahi Tika or do the right thing. During the year, Heartland continued to support customers affected by COVID-19. This support included providing more than 150 business customers with access to the New Zealand government's Business Finance Guarantee Scheme and providing consumer and business customers with additional repayment flexibility through our Heartland Extend product which we offer. Heartland launched its conduct and culture work plan in 2020 following the recommendation that came from the 2018 Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank of New Zealand review of conduct and culture in New Zealand retail banks.
Heartland's work plan was completed in financial year 2021 and included initiatives such as the creation of internal digital resource to support the provision of good outcomes for our customers, improve tools and reporting for customer feedback, and the development of an alert within our core banking system to help identify customers who are experiencing vulnerabilities. Also, that we can mitigate possible issues before they occur. Heartland Bank recently became the National Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing's first hearing-accredited workplace in New Zealand. The accreditation is established to enable us to better support customers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Supporting our communities, the Heartland Trust is an independent and registered charitable trust which is closely supported by Heartland and is a shareholder in Heartland.
During the year, the Heartland Trust made grants totaling over NZD 448,000 to support our communities, including in the areas of education, sport and wellbeing. Through 2020 and part of 2021, many organizations or groups the trust supports were impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns. Some are currently experiencing this as COVID-19 alert levels have allowed. It has been fantastic to see rugby teams returning to the field, scholarship recipients able to connect with their cohort in person, and festivals run as planned. The Heartland Trust continues to be a proud supporter of the InZone Education Foundation, a registered charitable trust that aims to enhance the educational outcomes for Māori and Pasifika youth. A number of InZone students have participated in our Manawa Ako Internship P rogramme and are now working in permanent roles at Heartland or have continued on in tertiary education. Excuse me.
The Heartland Trust also continued its funding support for the University of Auckland Kupe Leadership Scholarship, the Auckland Writers Festival, WORD Christchurch Festival, Auckland City Mission, Lifeline, and a number of both boys and girls First XV rugby teams across the country. Turning to the group's outlook, the board is confident Heartland's ability to deliver growth and profitability as it continues to deliver against a strategy to provide frictionless service at the lowest cost. Reducing Heartland's cost-to-income ratio and passing on the benefits to our customers through lower pricing. Noting uncertainties associated with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Heartland expects the net profit after tax for the year ending 30 June 2022 to be in the range of NZD 93 million-NZD 96 million. Board changes. There are three directors up for re-election this year.
Earlier this year, Ellie Comerford resigned her directorship of Heartland Bank, but continues as a very valued director of our parent company, Heartland Group. She chairs the Heartland Group Audit and Risk Committee. Ellie is a strong board contributor, and having a broad financial experience in Australia will assist us in the growth of our business over there. Geoff Summerhayes has recently or very recently been appointed to our board and is a professional director and senior advisor with extensive commercial and regulatory experience. He is our second Australia-based director and is recognized as a global leader on climate change, financial risk, and regulatory matters through his work at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, also known as APRA.
Finally, Kate Mitchell has been a director of Heartland Bank since March 2019, and she will continue in the role of Heartland Bank, but will bring her considerable banking and international experience to the Heartland board as she joins the Heartland Group board. Finally, I would like to take a few minutes to acknowledge and thank Sir Christopher Mace for his very valuable contribution to Heartland Group. Sir Chris is today retiring from the board after having been a Heartland director since the company's inception a decade ago. In that decade since the merger of the Canterbury Building Society and Southern Cross Building Society with Marac Finance, the Heartland Group has tripled the size of its loan book and achieved a more than 10-fold lift in annual profit. In recent days, the share price hit NZD 2.39, valuing Heartland at over NZD 1.3 billion.
When Heartland first listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange a decade ago, the shares were worth NZD 0.88 each, which valued the group at NZD 264 million. Accordingly, in that decade, over NZD 1 billion of shareholder value has been created by Heartland during Sir Chris's board tenure. Sir Chris has made a significant contribution, not only to the establishment of Heartland, but with his wide experience in guiding the business to where it is today. Sir Chris, we thank you for your service. I'm delighted to say Sir Chris will continue to have a relationship with the Heartland Group, and he has been appointed kaumatua to Heartland. Jeff Greenslade will comment on that later. To conclude my address this afternoon, I want to do so by thanking and giving my gratitude to my fellow directors for their wise counsel and support.
Thank you, too, to Jeff Greenslade and Chris Flood and our executive team, who continue to provide strong leadership for Heartland through their diverse set of skills. On behalf of the board and executive team, I wish to thank our Heartland employees for their hard work during a challenging year that continued to be impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. Last but not least, I would like to thank you, our shareholders and customers, for supporting Heartland. We appreciate the confidence you place in us, and we look forward to continuing the delivery of strong shareholder returns. Thank you. I'll now ask Jeff Greenslade to address you from Christchurch.
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Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us. I'm Jeff Greenslade, the Chief Executive of the group. I just want to make a few comments around some of our strategic focus, particularly in digitalization. Beginning with, as the Chair outlined, Heartland achieved earnings of NZD 87 million in the recently concluded financial year, which was at the top end of the range. This occurred in another year of challenges, but it was also another year of opportunity.
As the saying goes, "It was a game of two halves." The first half impacted by lockdowns giving rise to postponement of activity, and in some cases, plans that were put on hold. However, in the main, growth returned in the second half, as COVID concerns eased, and more particularly, we adapted to the new environment. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. We have adapted to the COVID environment and those behaviors that reflect those adaptations will continue on. We have embraced remote commerce. We're all very much more used to remote purchasing through online channels or through the near remote version of click and collect. The COVID environment has served to hasten the adoption of digital commerce.
This is very much consistent with our plans. Not only were we able to meet our clients' needs during the time of the lockdown, we were able to process deposits during level four and most loans at level three. It all bodes well for the future. It is increasingly Heartland's point of differentiation, and that's just what I wanted to talk about for a moment. We always, it seems, talk about digitalization, and we do so because it's very, very critical to our success, and it's very important. Our aim is for Heartland to be one of the world's top digital banking groups that is fully digitalized by 2024. What does this mean? What does it mean to be totally digitalized? Doesn't everybody claim to be digital?
Banks claim to be digital because they have internet banking or a mobile app. However, much of what they ask us to do as customers can't be done digitally. Customers are required to wait in queues to make an appointment or to spend time on the telephone waiting for someone to pick it up. Heartland doesn't have any branches anymore. Yes, we have telephony, but over time, we want to remove the need for customers to call. If customers have to call us, we have failed. This may sound strange, but the reality is telephony-based services based on the premise that the customer has to shell out his or her precious time waiting for the telephone to be picked up is not consistent with where we think expectations are leading in terms of service standards.
Ask yourself, do you wake up in the morning and say, "You know what? I think I'll give myself a treat and call the bank today." I'm sure like me, your heart sinks when you hear the sound of soporific music, and the accompanying recorded voice reassuring you how important your call is to them. Your call is important, but your needs are greater. This is the key to digitalization, anticipating customer needs and providing instant self-service via a mobile app. As I said, it may sound strange, but that's our aspiration for customers, that they don't have to call. We believe that is the future, fast and immediate and accessible self-service.
This leaves our people free to focus more on high-value activities, anticipating the needs of customers, getting to them before they even know that they need something via an outbound call or by texting. Digitalization makes this possible. In short, it takes out the hassle, what is known as friction, the things that cause customers delay or inconvenience. Here is the interesting bit. Friction comes at a cost. By taking out friction, we can become more efficient. This was demonstrated with our residential mortgage platform offering, which we launched during the course of the last financial year. We were able to offer best-in-class rates because the mortgage was only available online. We recently reached the NZD 100 million mark in loans, and we're now writing upwards of NZD 30 million a month.
This has been achieved without any telephone calls, without meetings, without queuing at branches, totally online. Customer behaviors are adjusting. They are changing. They're moving to online as the preferred way of transacting their financial needs. During the year as an organization, we reached a critical milestone in our digital evolution. When we integrated our platforms, which are our channels to our customers, into the customer business units. This marked a high point of maturity in our journey. We're effectively making digital mainstream. As I said earlier, everybody claims to be digital. First digital is a board paper, then it's a project, and finally it ends up being a strategy. More advanced businesses like Facebook, Amazon, and LendingClub reach a stage where they no longer have a digital strategy. It becomes unnecessary because they are digital. It is integrated.
That's the stage where we are now reaching. I'd like also now just to turn to sustainability and just sort of reiterate some of the comments that the Chairman made, that we've made good progress towards our sustainability goals. We've had interruptions in terms of regulatory requirements that we've had to attend to and COVID, but we're now on track in terms of our journey, in terms of reaching our sustainability goals. We have three sustainability pillars. In the environmental conservation, we have reduced our vehicle fleet size by 7%, reducing greenhouse emissions, and our internal green team continues to drive energy efficiency in our offices and audit our waste management. The Chair has spoken to our social equity activity and the work undertaken to complete our conduct and culture work plan.
In financial year 2021, we're also pleased to have increased the proportion of employees who identify as Māori, gone from just below 4% to now around about 7%, which is a significant achievement given that in the financial services sector, Māori only represent about 2.5% of the workforce, and we've still got some work to do, but we're very pleased with that progress. Also in the economic pillar, the digital platforms are a key part of delivering cost savings to our customers through the provision of lower rates, as we showed with our residential mortgage product, and it is something that we will see as being part of our sustainability journey is increased digitalization. Moving on to the financial performance.
A further consequence of COVID has been the impact on the flow of asset growth. As we saw in FY 2021, in the first half, growth was 2%. In the second half, it was 15%, producing an overall result of around 8%. This reflects the ebbs and flows created by lockdowns, exacerbated by uneven supply chain logistics. In motor, for example, the financing of motor vehicles, monthly lending flows varied by plus or minus 25%-35%, where in the low months we were literally waiting for ships to come in and deliver cars to the market. This lumpiness has at times placed strain on our staff working remotely, and I'm very grateful for the tolerance and commitment of our people during this time.
Working from home has become a reality due to COVID, and it can be a very effective tool which we will use and continue to use employing in all circumstances. Some tasks are better suited to remote environments. It has also allowed us to reduce our reliance on expensive real estate rental space. But it has its limitations, particularly with our rangatahi, our youth, where that mentoring you get from close proximity is hard to replicate in a virtual environment. The lumpiness in lending has also impacted on our reporting as we saw last year. We no longer can expect to see linear flows of business coming through month to month.
However, despite that, and despite the lockdowns, as the Chair said, we still expect to achieve result within the guidance range of NZD 93 million-NZD 96 million. In terms of individual business units, just to give you an update on how we're tracking this year, since the financial year, reverse mortgage growth continues, if you like, business as usual. It's COVID-proof in both countries. In particular on that, I'd like to pay tribute to the resilience and dedication of our Melbourne-based employees who have endured over 260 days in lockdown. Motor and asset finance are doing well despite that uneven supply that I referred to. We're very pleased with the growth we're getting in our recently launched residential mortgage book.
As I said, it's passed through NZD 100 million, and we're now hitting in excess of NZD 30 million per month. Finally, I'd also like to join the Chair in thanking Sir Christopher Mace for his contribution over the years. As one of the founding directors, he shared the vision of what was possible and helped mold Heartland to be what it is now. He's a man of tireless enthusiasm and goodwill, a wonderful mentor, a wonderful provider of sound advice. I'm very pleased, at the next stage of this journey, he will continue to be involved as kaumatua.
This is a new role, and one which we have designed to reflect our commitment to relations with Tangata Whenua, and also to provide some cultural leadership internally for our rangatahi. Sir Christopher is of Ngāti Porou descent, and in 2012, he was Māori businessman of the year. I know that we'll look forward to the guidance and mentoring that he can give to particularly our younger staff, and I am pleased to see we'll benefit from the continuation of his mana whakatipu. Finally, I'd like to thank all of our Heartland people for their exceptional efforts. It has been a challenging year, as I said, but also a year of opportunities, and we have grasped those opportunities, and we have met those challenges.
We have been blessed with a very good support from our board and senior management, and I thank them all for your long hours and contribution. I'd also like to thank our shareholders [Non-Englishcontent] . You, we are Heartland, so thank you very much. I'll now hand back to the Chair.
Thank you, Jeff, for that address. We are now opening the meeting up for questions. I advise that Graeme Edwards from KPMG, the company's auditors, is present online today and is available to answer any questions relevant to the conduct of the audit and the preparation and content of the auditor's report for the year ended 30 June 2021. Shareholders who wish to ask a question on Heartland's performance, strategy, or operations can submit their questions, as I've said, on the online meeting platform, and I will aim to ensure their those questions, as many of them as possible, are addressed. Any comments, questions, or matters raised for discussion during the meeting must be relevant to the business of the meeting.
If you have matters you would like to raise as a customer, please submit those online and we'll endeavor to respond after the meeting. Shareholders were also invited to submit questions prior to the meeting. One of those we received was a comment relating to the location of the meeting and a request that it be held in Christchurch next year. Of course, it was planned to possibly hold this annual meeting at the new Christchurch Convention Center. Unfortunately, due to delays with construction and COVID-19 alert levels, we had to defer that meeting to an online meeting. Rest assured to the questioner, we'll consider Christchurch in planning next year's meeting. I'll now move as to whether there are any other questions that we have received while Jeff and I have been talking.
Yes, we've received a few questions online, Jeff. The first one here relates to NIM. How would a quick upward interest rate environment impact Heartland's NIM and credit risk this year and onward?
Well, I think I should ask the Chief Executive to respond to that. Jeff.
Yes. We, we've seen the return of inflation and with it we've seen interest rates move up. What we endeavor to do is ensure that our net interest margin stays constant by making to the extent we can that our lending yields and our deposit yields move in line with each other. That's easier to say in theory than it is to achieve in practice, but that's our expectation. In terms of the issue on risk, what we are seeing so far is no increase in any risk coming through in the books, given that there has been an increase in interest rates and reflecting that interest rates still at a historically very low rate.
Thank you.
The next question here relates to dividends. This year's dividend payout ratio reached around 75% of net profit. Does this already completely restore to normal level or still has some impact by the restriction of RBNZ's dividend freezing policy?
Okay. Well, I think the RBNZ restriction will lapse in March next year, as I understand it currently. In terms of dividend, we'll determine dividends based on the net profit after tax each year and subject to maintaining a prudent level of capital for its needs. Heartland's capital needs will vary from time to time, depending on a range of factors. If you look in the past, we've been able to gradually increase our dividends each year as we grow our profits, and that broad trend will continue, I think, and we'll be able to payout ratio aligning with historical levels.
The next question here relates to our ASX listing. Heartland listed on the ASX recently and incurred a significant amount of costs at that time. What benefit has Heartland derived from this?
Yeah, I'll have a crack at that, and Jeff might wanna make a comment. The cost is not that significant for listing because it was a well-executed listing. The benefit of us being listed, certainly the ASX transactions are thin, but we now have a scale business there in reverse mortgages of AUD 1 billion. We are on the lookout for other opportunities in Australia as we have disclosed. I t's an appropriate thing for us to do looking forward. Jeff, you might like to comment if there's anything else.
Yeah. One thing I'd say is that, we have always been, encouraged by investment bankers to, seek out, Australian shareholders, institutional shareholders. Before we are listed, we might go to Sydney and have, four meetings in Sydney, and maybe two in Melbourne. Now. Well, when we could go, prior to COVID or when the bubble was in place if we went to Australia, we would have a full card for a week of appointments. That was the difference of having the dual listing, was, we're now on the radar screen of a much larger group of Australian institutions.
Just to be clear, the ASX listing is under the Foreign Exempt format. Again, the costs are minimal. I think the benefits and the upside are important for us to focus on. Next question.
This next one relates to COVID, I think COVID overlay. Is the group still retaining a COVID financial provision or has this been released?
No, it hasn't been released. We've got an overlay of NZD 9.6 million, which we introduced last year. It hasn't been touched, b ut we're living in volatile times and uncertainties. The Delta, we never anticipated the Delta variant coming along, so it's appropriate, we think, that we keep and retain it at this stage in case things worsen. T he regulators are also like to see it there as well. At this stage, we will still retain it for the current year and review it at the end of the year.
The final question at this stage, which areas of the business do you see as the growth drivers in the medium term?
Jeff.
What we expect to see is that continuation of good growth that we have seen in reverse mortgages in both countries, and motor, of course, continuing, but possibly the growth being lumpy, but on a year-to-year basis, we expect to see those sorts of historical experiences to continue, if not improve. Alongside that, we've got sort of like the newer lines which are now coming through and starting to do some of the heavy lifting, such as asset finance, which has grown really well, and we expect to see a lot more of that. We're very positive about asset finance. It's really exposed to the infrastructure, transportation, and agri sectors here, which are all very active at the moment.
Of course, we've got from a zero base, a low base of the residential mortgages. We expect to see that growth rate to continue very strongly.
There are no further online questions at this time.
Thank you. There are no further online questions that have been received. With that said, we'll move on to the business of the meeting, unless there are any further questions. Voting. As I've said, we'll now move to the formal business of the meeting, which is to vote on resolutions set out on the notice of meeting. As mentioned earlier, if you are attending the meeting online, you can cast your vote using the electronic voting card received when your online registration was validated. Turning to the business, the first item for resolution is the reelection of Ellie Comerford to the Board of Heartland Group Holdings Limited.
Good morning, all. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today in support of my standing for re-election as a director of Heartland Group Holdings. I've been a director of Heartland Group Holdings since 2018, in November, when it was first formed, and I also chair the Audit and Risk Committee, and have been doing so since that time. My journey with Heartland began in 2017 when I joined the board of Heartland Bank, and I continued in that role till late 2020, and then stepped down from that role so that I could dedicate time to my role on the group board, and particularly to making sure that I was acquitting myself well as chairing the Audit and Risk Committee.
My governance capability stems from 35 years plus in a financial services career in both executive and non-executive capacities. I had a number of executive C-suite roles across a number of different companies that operated out of Australia, New Zealand and globally. I've been extremely fortunate to be able to bring those executive capabilities and now my non-executive capabilities to my governance roles, I think for the benefit of the companies on which I serve. I do serve on a number of different boards at the moment in other governance roles. That includes mortgage broking, it includes insurance, and it also includes, more recently, as the Chair of Audit and Risk for a technology services platform.
I do gain great in`sights from all of the roles that I play, and I do believe that the knowledge, insights and currency that I gain are something that I bring to Heartland and leverage in terms of undertaking the role of as a director. I'm also very aware that I'm accountable to the board and to you as shareholders for making sure I dedicate enough time to undertaking the role. I believe I do that. I think that is something that we're all highly conscious of, particularly in the last 18 months or so since the pandemic because that's been made obviously slightly more difficult with travel being prevented and lockdowns that we're all experiencing.
T he board has acquitted itself very well, and I have really tried to augment the time that is spent with management normally face-to-face with meetings with finance, risk and audit personnel. Yes, on a virtual basis, but making sure that we are staying in touch with the business. While COVID-19 has really presented a lot of challenges to us, well, to the whole world really, the tyranny of distance between Australia and New Zealand and the need to operate virtually is something that I think we've managed well. I sincerely hope to be able to continue to serve as a director of Heartland Group Holdings for the benefit of the company.
Like all of you I am really looking forward to that time where lockdowns are over, where travel's not restricted, and face-to-face meetings become a reality again. Thanks for your time today.
Ellie's background and qualifications were included in the notice of meeting. Ellie stands for re-election with the very full support of the board. The resolution to re-elect Ellie as an ordinary resolution requires approval of a majority, being more than 50% of the votes of those shareholders entitled to vote. I move that Ellie Comerford, who retires by rotation, is eligible for re-election, be re-elected as a director of Heartland Group. Are there any questions?
No questions. I'm listening.
No questions. Thank you. Please mark your intention on your voting card for selecting for, against or abstain at item one. Please click submit a vote at the bottom of the voting card to lodge your vote. Thank you. The second item of business is the re-election of Geoff Summerhayes to the board of Heartland Group. Details regarding Geoff's background, qualifications and experience were included in the notice of meeting. Geoff stands for re-election with the full support of the board. The resolution to re-elect Geoff Summerhayes is an ordinary resolution requiring approval by a majority, being more than 50% of the votes of those shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting and voting. Geoff will now address the meeting.
Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to address you as shareholders. In the context of my nomination for re-election to the board, I've been fortunate to lead several financial services companies in senior executive roles in banking, investments and insurance in both Australia and in New Zealand. More recently, I've been a board member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA. As a prudential regulator, you are responsible for the financial soundness of firms. In this role, I work closely with regulators internationally, including the RBNZ in New Zealand. As a regulator, you have a privileged market position in that you see all firms firsthand. You quickly form the ability to benchmark those firms and understand how they sit relative to other firms in the market. I used this lens to assess Heartland when I was approached to join the board.
In the short time that I've been a director of Heartland, I've been impressed with Heartland's sense of purpose, strategy, capability, culture, and performance. I'm excited about Heartland's prospects in both New Zealand and in Australia, and I'd be honored if I was re-elected to the board and will work diligently to further Heartland's success. Thank you.
Thank you, Jeff. I now move that Geoff Summerhayes, who retires in accordance with the constitution and is eligible for re-election, be re-elected a director of the group. Geoff Summerhayes has the full support of the board. Are there any other questions?
No questions online.
No questions. Okay. Could you please mark your intention on your voting card by selecting for, against, or abstain. Press click submit vote on the bottom of the voting card to lodge your vote. The third item of business is the re-election of Kate Mitchell to the board of Heartland Group. Kate is in Christchurch, not in Australia, so we have her live on screen. Details regarding Kate's background, qualifications, and experience were included in the notice of meeting. Kate stands for re-election with the full support of the board. The resolution to re-elect Kate as an ordinary resolution requiring approval by a majority being more than 50% of the votes of those shareholders entitled to vote and voting. Kate will now address the meeting.
Good afternoon to you all. My name is Kate Mitchell, and I've been a director of Heartland Bank since March 2019, and was recently asked to join the Heartland Group board as well. I am a shareholder in Heartland Group. My professional background is in investment banking, advising large corporate clients on market and credit risk management. After moving to New Zealand in 2014, I embarked on a new career as a business consultant and professional director. I'm currently on a number of boards in New Zealand in addition to Heartland, including Christchurch International Airport, FarmRight, Link Engine Management, and also chair of the New Zealand Merino Company. I am drawn to ambitious growth-oriented companies who like to challenge the status quo. I was delighted to be given the opportunity to work with Heartland, for which that description is very apt.
I celebrate the many initiatives that Heartland takes and has taken which differentiate us from the mainstream, including our strategy to operate in and grow market segments where we can be either the best or the only provider. Our mission to deliver frictionless, efficient, and cost-effective banking services. Our leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion, and in particular, our ongoing commitment to the Manawa Ako internship program, which has supported 76 Māori interns over the past four years to develop their skills and experience in banking. Finally, our quest to set high standards for how we engage with all of our stakeholders, as demonstrated by our recent recognition among NZX companies for ethical leadership. The combination of these attributes with our track record of delivering robust financial outcomes, in my view, positions Heartland extremely well for the future.
I'm excited to have the opportunity to continue to bring my experience in banking, risk management, and business consultancy to Heartland, and very much look forward to working with Jeff and his management team to execute on the opportunities that lie ahead. I would be grateful for your ongoing support for my directorship of Heartland, and I'm very happy to take any questions you may have.
No questions online.
No questions, Kate. I move that Kate Mitchell, who retires in accordance with the Constitution and is eligible for re-election, be re-elected a director of Heartland Group. As I've said, Kate stands for re-election with the very full support of the board. There are no further questions. Please mark your intention on your voting card by selecting for, against, or abstain. Please click submit vote on the bottom of your voting card to lodge your vote. Thank you. As I mentioned earlier, all votes will be by way of a poll, and that will be announced to the NZX probably tomorrow, I think, or maybe this afternoon, if there is time. Resolution four is the auditor's remuneration. This is to record the automatic reappointment of KPMG as the company's auditor and to pass the following resolution.
I move that the board be authorized to fix the remuneration of Heartland's auditor, KPMG, for the year ending 30 June 2022. Are there any questions online?
No questions.
There's no questions online, so we'll move to voting. Again, I've moved the resolution. Please mark your intention on your voting card by selecting for, against, or abstain at item one. Please click submit vote at the bottom of the voting card and lodge your vote. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of the meeting. You should now submit your votes. Voting will be open until the close of the meeting. The results of the poll will be advised to the NZX and ASX after the conclusion of the meeting. There is now an opportunity for any matters which may be properly brought before the annual meeting to be considered. Are there any other matters or questions shareholders wish to raise? No, Nicola? I've got one question here.
We have one further question, which relates to sustainability, and the question is: Does the continued financing of motor vehicles go hand in hand with the group's commitment to reduce its own internal carbon footprint? Has the group considered expanding its financing of green fleets, such as electric bikes or trucks? For example.
We do and have considered financing electric cars, definitely, and we're moving that way in our own fleet. Jeff, would you like to make any further comment?
Maybe Chris Flood could
Chris.
Provide more color on that.
Chris is Chief Executive of Heartland Bank.
Chris is our Chief Executive of Heartland Bank but also oversees the motor business.
Yeah.
Thank you, Chair. Heartland does finance a number of electric vehicles, and in fact, some of our distributors produce a number of electric vehicles now, so it is very much in our future. The issue, as many commentators will know in New Zealand, the actual number of electric vehicles coming into the country is relatively modest at this time. I see that continuing to grow, and Heartland looks forward to being a part of that. Not just electric vehicles, but also other green projects that we are pursuing right at the minute. It is very much part of our plan, our financing plan, and you'll continue to see that play a bigger part of our receivables as time progresses.
Any further questions, Nicola?
No further questions.
No, thanks. Thank you very much. This brings us to the end of Heartland's 2021 annual shareholders meeting. Accordingly, I declare the meeting closed. Thank you all for your attendance and participation here today. It's appreciated, and I'm sorry we cannot share a drink with you today as our normal custom after an ASM, but maybe next year in Christchurch, hopefully. Thank you very much.