[Foreign language] . Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow shareholders. My name's Rob McLeod, Chairman of Sanford Limited. Thank you for joining us. We're delighted that we can meet both in person for those present and by video with shareholders who are joining online. The Notice of Meeting and Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report have been circulated and made available to all shareholders. You can also access these at any time via our website. As noted, today's meeting is being held as a hybrid meeting here at Eden Park and online via the Computershare Online Meeting platform. If you are online, congratulations, you've made successful entry. Before we commence the formal business of the meeting, I should advise those present, in the event of an emergency, please remain calm and follow the clearly marked signs to exit the building safely.
Please ensure that your mobile phones are on silent during the meeting. I'm pleased to advise that there is a quorum of shareholders present today, and so I declare the Annual Meeting open. To begin, I take this opportunity to introduce you to those people who are alongside me today. On my immediate right is David Mair, our Managing Director. Alongside David is Paul Alston, Chief Financial Officer. Alongside Paul is Tom McClurg, an Independent Director. Alongside Tom is Joanne Curin, an Independent Director. On my left is John Strowger, a Non-Executive Director, and alongside John is Craig Ellison, a Non-Executive Director. Also in attendance with us today are our representatives from auditors KPMG and our Legal Advisors, Chapman Tripp, so just addressing the order of events, the order of events will be as follows. First, I will provide my address to shareholders on the company.
I will then hand over to David to give his presentation. I will provide an opportunity for questions at this point on both my address and David's presentation. I will then put the resolutions outlined in the Notice of Meeting. We will cover each resolution in turn and invite questions specific to those resolutions. There will then be an opportunity for any queries or discussion by shareholders on Sanford's business and performance. For online attendees, you may submit a question at any time. To do so, select the Q&A tab on the right half of your screen. Type your question into the field and press Send. Please note that while you can submit your questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. Your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, they may be amalgamated.
Finally, due to time constraints, we may be unable to answer all questions, but if this happens, we will provide answers to those questions in due course by email. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. For those in attendance, you should all have a voting paper, which was given to you when you registered. If you do not, can you please indicate that now by raising your hand, and a member of Computershare will come and assist you. For those online, I now declare voting open on all items of business. To vote, simply select your voting direction from the options shown on the screen. You can vote for all resolutions at once or by each resolution in turn. Now, just turning to the Chairman's address.
This first slide shows a series of graphs of the performance of Sanford over 10 years. The bars in red show our Fiscal Year 2025 performance. Sanford's annual financial result to 30 September was a record that achieved significant media attention. Net Profit After Tax, or NPAT, was NZD 63.7 million, more than triple the prior year NPAT, and its adjusted EBIT, or earnings before interest and tax, was NZD 105.2 million, being 142% of the prior year equivalent number. This record result corroborates the board's primary focus on total shareholder return via the share price and dividends. This is the second consecutive year that Sanford had its strongest ever adjusted EBIT result compared with all prior years. To cap things off, the Deloitte Top 200 Awards recognize Sanford as one of three finalists in this year's Most Improved Performance Award.
The table that's here before you now shows the 10-year full results, or full year results. This is a very different business today than even two years ago. The board has declared a final dividend of NZD 0.05 per share. Sanford continues to emphasize the management of its operating cash flow, capital expenditure, and debt in setting the dividend policy. The board would like to congratulate David Mair and his team for achieving this outstanding result. David was appointed Managing Director of Sanford on the 1st of May 2024, having joined the board on 7 November 2022. David is resetting the direction of the group. He will describe the key elements of Sanford's operational performance and strategic direction in his address to you shortly. David is the only director that is up for re-election at this year's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. The board presently comprises six directors, three independent and three non-independent.
The board remains comfortable with its composition and spread of skills among its directors at this time. I announced at last year's ASM, when I was re-elected a director for a further three-year term, that I was approaching the 10-year mark as a director and would not therefore be seeking re-election to that position at the next ASM, which is the one after this. Accordingly, I plan to retire from the board during calendar year 2026, at which time the board will appoint a new chair. Just turning to climate reporting disclosures. Reporting against the new climate reporting standards was required legally from the financial year beginning on or after the 1st of January 2023, being from the 1st of October 2023 for Sanford.
Now, the recent CRD reporting amendments, which have been enacted by government, or which are about to be enacted by government, are expected to move the compliance threshold from a market capitalization of 60 million to a market capitalization of 1 billion for listed issuers next year. In addition, the Financial Markets Authority has issued a waiver for Sanford's Fiscal 2025 CRD climate reporting disclosure requirements. While welcoming the changes proposed, the board has determined that Sanford will continue to meet the previous disclosure and audit requirements with our sustainability report due to be issued in January 2026. Sanford's success depends on sourcing the right stakeholders and establishing successful relationships with them, particularly our shareholders, our customers, and our staff. I want to thank each of you as shareholders for your confidence in Sanford to achieve a strong result this year, particularly.
I also thank our customers and staff for the ongoing commitment to the company. These stakeholder relationships depend on our license as a company to operate, which emphasizes the role of the community in our stakeholder mix. Finally, I thank my board colleagues for their contribution during the year. I'd like now to hand over to David to make his presentation to you.
Thanks, Rob. Good afternoon. I'm David Mair, Managing Director of Sanford, and I'm here to help you understand some of the changes that are happening within Sanford. Before I start, I'd just like to introduce you to some of my team that are here. So the senior team obviously is Paul Alston, CFO, Vaughan Wilkinson, and Debra Lumsden, and Danae Smith, my EA in the corner, Roberto, thanks, Roberto, [audio distortion], Chris, Anthony, and over here we have Louise and Paulette. So I encourage you, after the meeting is finished, to go and have a chat to the team. They've done a fantastic job. Right. As you've heard, we had a great FY 2025 result. Revenue of NZD 584 million, round figures, was up only 0.2% on the prior year, so relatively flat.
I'd like to provide more insight into the improvement in profitability by starting with a bridge between FY 2024 and FY 2025 at the Adjusted EBIT, earnings before interest and tax, level. So this slide shows record Adjusted EBIT, up NZD 31 million, or 41.8%, on prior year. We've increased profitability from both our aquaculture businesses, salmon and mussels. Mussels had a very good result, mainly from the very good condition of the mussels themselves. We continue to pull salmon to create a connected demand-driven business that is highlighting areas of opportunity to improve. Wild catch suffered from downward price pressure and a lack of volume. However, we expect the new scampi boat to assist with volumes in the second half of FY 2026. We have also significantly reduced overhead costs. I've been focused on operating cash flows, operational cash flows, and that meant a review of overhead, particularly head office-related costs.
We had operating cash flow of NZD 135.3 million, up 85.3% on the prior year. We had increased profitability, as I said, from salmon and mussels. We also sold through some aged inventory, particularly orange roughy, and we reduced overhead spending on mainly consultants, donations, and some of those other things, as well as some people-related costs. And of course, as debt was repaid, and I'll come back to that later, we had reduced interest costs. We maintained a disciplined approach to CapEx, yet we still maintained essential CapEx. Shareholder funds are very important to us. So finance costs were reduced, as I mentioned, to NZD 12.1 million, a drop of 28.4% on the prior year. We reduced debt by NZD 92.1 million, leaving net debt of NZD 93.4 million. That was a big change.
I discussed the business with several shareholders, and I said to them, "I would like to see the net debt down," and I said, "I would prove that we would use operational cash flow to pay down debt." I'll come back to that later. Okay. This is a summary of Aquaculture New Zealand revenue for salmon, mussels, and oysters available from the Aquaculture New Zealand website. It's a little bit out of date, but it kind of gives you the picture. So aquaculture is worth approximately NZD 760 million of revenue to New Zealand. As you can see, aquaculture is an important part of Sanford's future. We're roughly 1/3 of the revenue. Salmon. We had very solid pricing, probably better than we expected right through to the end of the fiscal year.
We've worked hard on finished goods rationalization, leading to better margins, and there's a lot more to do. And as I mentioned earlier, we've created a pool system better matching customer demand to operations. We had a great year in mussels as well. Although revenue was down slightly, as you can see, we had a record EBIT result, mainly due to great mussel conditions. I guess we're not claiming credit. That was just the mussels did really well. Wild catch. We had reduced pricing on scampi and the inability to catch all the available scampi, and that has hurt our performance again. We do have a better plan going forward, and we look forward, as I said, to the final commissioning of our new scampi boat. Inshore. There were many questions previously about inshore. It has performed as expected. Capital allocation.
For me, there are five key points, and these are being driven into the business. First of all, capital allocation is about not just dollars. So people think of capital allocation as, "Where do you invest the dollars?" But for me, it's about getting the right people first focused on the right projects, then following up with dollars, particularly after proof of concept. It's important to fund strategies, not individual projects. We should have zero tolerance for bad growth, and it should be zero-based allocations annually. In other words, at the end of each year, you don't just carry on. You seriously review. And there's an interesting view. I mean, I've been involved in some other businesses in New Zealand. There are two views about capital. A lot of time is spent on trying to get the CapEx right and getting approval at board level or whatever level.
And then it kind of people lose focus, so the attitude a lot of people have is, "Capital is scarce, but afterwards it's free." They're not held accountable to that investment. The second view is, "There's plenty of capital available, but it's expensive. You better deliver." Which do you think we're moving towards? Okay, this is a diagram, and this was used in our presentation of the financial results. I think it shows kind of how we look at the business, so in particular, you can see the operational cash flow, NZD 135.3 million. The point I've made is we maintained essential spend, so on the right-hand side at the top on the blue, you can see salmon CapEx, mussel CapEx, wild catch, and other CapEx. Now, last financial year, we had one big survey of our boats, our wild catch boats. This year, there are two.
So this will change around a lot, and I'll come back to capital thinking after this. But the key thing is the bottom right-hand box. We've reduced debt. We've made our position more solid, and we can take advantage of opportunities as they arise. So next. Thanks. So what went well for us in FY 2025? Gosh, it seems a long time ago now, doesn't it? The financial year, that is. Firm prices and positive demand from half-shell mussels and salmon. They held up much better than we thought. People were worried about the U.S. market, the impact of tariffs, all that stuff. But in reality, for a variety of reasons, our pricing held up well. And make no mistake, our sales team worked very hard. So very pleased with the outcome. We had good mussel condition, as I said.
I'm not sure that was a controllable thing, but hey, if the mussels are really good, thank you, and that led to better yield, both in the farming operation but also in our operations. Our ACE trading business performed well. We had a good look at overheads and a serious reduction in overhead costs, and we did have some favorable exchange rates. Please note carefully, several of the key contributors to this year's result were factors outside Sanford's direct control, and it should not be assumed that FY 2025's financial result will be repeated in FY 2026. When I explained this to a number of the analysts, the first thing they said is, "Oh, you know something that means you can't deliver the same." That's not the intention of this. Just don't assume it, but I can assure you, our team are very focused on improving our results. Capital plans.
So this is a relatively new way of talking about Sanford from my point of view. I've started with mussels because the reality is we have a lot of undeveloped or unused water space. We have capacity that is scalable, available through Whakatōhea, which is in Ōpōtiki in the North Island. So that's really in sort of the Coromandel area for mussels. And because that's scalable, that means we don't have to spend a lot of capital doing it. And we can expect the growth in mussels to be funded from operational cash flows going forward. So this is not an area where we see huge chunks of capital being required, and that's great. So the heading says, "Mussels, no cost, low cost, and fast payback." Our Japanese friends at the back would understand no cost, low cost. That's a Toyota model.
If you don't have to spend capital, don't reorganize. If you can, spend small amounts of capital and get a result that turns into cash very, very quickly. We look at salmon. It's a very high cost, and if you started a new salmon farm or something like that, you have at least a four or five-year cycle. Excuse me. Sorry. Our existing water space has capped at about 5,000 greenweight tonnes in Big Glory Bay, in Rakiura or Stewart Island. So despite that, we've invested in a major capital item in FY 2025, and we're expecting the new salmon workboat. It's just been delayed, but about March, April this year, which will replace the Hau raki, a very old boat and in need of replacement. We do need to invest in some hatchery development, but I believe that will come from operational cash flow.
Growth, true growth in salmon will require a large amount of capital and willing partners. I mean, it seems obvious that salmon is better the further south you go, so inevitably that means a discussion with Ngāi Tahu. Wild catch needs a long-term view, and we are in the middle of working through the separation of asset-intensive parts of the business and value and reviewing the existing assets. It's very easy to look at one year and then say, "Oh, that boat doesn't make money," but you have to take a longer-term view. Just to finish, I can't resist saying it. I appreciate the support of the board, and I think our team have performed really, really well. Thank you.
Thank you, David. Before we move to consider the resolutions, we will invite questions from the floor and online participants on the presentations provided by David and myself.
A reminder to please state your name and whether you are a shareholder or proxy holder. So I will take questions from the floor first. Yes, down here.
Hold your back. Shareholder back again. Thank you, David. I have got to bring the record you said. Is that on? Can you hear me?
Barely. Sorry.
I don't think it's on yet. I've got one that works.
He's just turning it on.
Yes.
There we go.
Okay. I don't disagree with anything you said, and I'm thrilled with the result. Thank you. It's great to see the share price go back up again from where it was when I was a new shareholder. You had gotten an awful lot right in my mussels and salmon, and having got out of oysters, can you hear me? It doesn't seem.
I can hear you, but I'm not sure the microphone is working.
Shall I just talk loud?
Yeah, please do that. Yes.
I'm going to bring you up first. Haven't got out of oysters, and of course, Watercare 's been the disaster of Mahurangi with the pollution.
Better, I'm lucky.
Musical mics.
Talk into it.
A lot. Right in front of the salmon and mussels. Now, I'm back on my old bandwagon. I've just come back from Sydney and gone through the Sydney Fish Market again and looked at the magnificent big building waiting to be opened in the new year, which I understand the New South Wales Government has invested AUD 800 million. Taxpayers can pay for that. You've still got to think about the reasons important and the name Sanford. And I know you've got a - there we go. I know you've got the building back there. You have the parking area this way, on the side. Do you still have rights to use parking on that parking area for your fish market?
I'm not sure about the rights. We own that, yes.
Okay. So last year, you know, I've never had trouble using the mic before. I really just don't think this one likes me. Last year, there was all that kerfuffle before the AGM about apartments being built on the site. And the other thing with your fish market is it's very small, and it's not any cheaper than going to the supermarket. I just feel that you must keep in mind the Sanford brand, the Sanford history going back to how Albert used to pull his boats up to the wharf and unload his fish. Don't lose that because if anything did happen, that you had a bad salmon or a mussel year or the wild catch goes down or you can't bottom trawl anymore, you still could have an opportunity as a tourist destination with all those big tourist ships coming here.
All they have to do is catch the red bus at the bottom of Queen Street, and it brings them right to the fish market. And Doyles at Watsons Bay in Sydney is another wonderful fish shop, a fish eatery to go to. We lost that fish and chip shop round the back where you could have a cheap meal in a cardboard container, and families could come down and all the workers from around the area. I just think you mustn't lose that opportunity to improve what you've got there already.
I'm not sure what the question, sorry. I'm not sure what the question is really, but, but I won't forget that.
The question is, will you please upgrade the fish market and improve the eateries around it so that it is another profitable tourist destination for the future?
No, we're not a tourist business. We're not a property business. We don't make a lot of money out of the fish market, no offense to those who enjoy it. I also enjoy it, by the way. It's a great place to buy salmon and mussels and products. I'm here to represent shareholders of Sanford, and we invest to make a return. We don't spend money to make things look good for tourists or whatever. That might sound hard, but that's very important. My view.
Yes, I suppose putting it another way, essentially, Sanford has close to NZD 600 million of turnover. It's an export company, and we often have discussions around the table whether we're a commodity business or not. And I think the general sentiment is that we don't apologize for being a commodity company because a lot of the product we're dealing with is commodity, and it's volume-based business. So yes, at the same time, we have got the fish market, and we need to make that fish market as high profile and make it a contributor. So it's not to say let's turn our back on that. But I think in terms of David's point, it's a relativity thing. I think the fish market is utterly dwarfed by the bigger side of Sanford and looking at Sanford as a whole.
I mean, one of the other observations you can make is that we've never been as a company that big on brands in supermarkets, right? So that reflects to my mind the kind of commodity export nature of the business. Most of our product goes overseas. So that also dampens, if you like, the role that the domestic market and particularly domestic locations play in our company strategy. So it's not that I think you're wrong in what you are saying. We should be the best we can be on the footprint that we've got in the fish market, but I think it needs to be kept in proportion. Okay?
So can I have any other questions, please, over here?
My question, Mr. Chairman, is some time ago, thank you. My question is some time ago, you opened up a research facility. I believe it was in the Blenheim area to look into the byproduct of fish, possibly a product could be used in the cosmetic area or the pharmaceutical area. Now, what has come of that research? Have you had any results? Can you give us a report?
Thank you. I'll invite David to respond.
Thanks. Sorry. Is that wrong? The facility is, we refer to it as bioactives. There was a lot of talk about collagen and other interesting things, which has gone nowhere. The facility is really set up to make mussel powder and mussel oil, and we're in the middle of running some trials to prove whether we can make money from that or not. It's promising. Otherwise, I think we would have already dealt with that asset and some people. But one way of thinking about that is the demand for mussel oil is growing, and the CAGR, compound annual growth rate, is around 8%. So it's not something I just want to let go because we haven't been good at managing it or something like that.
It's early days, and I'm hoping at the half year I can give a little bit more of an update on how that process is going. But some of the other speculative things using hoki skin to do this or whatever, we're not doing that.
Thank you. Any other questions, please? Yes, down here.
Thank you. Barbara O'Connor, New Zealand Shareholders Association, but also a shareholder as well. I've got two questions. One is in relation to what was paid to the auditors last year. There was a significant increase, and there doesn't seem to have been an explanation for that.
Perhaps Paul, you might be best to answer that.
The increase to the auditors will be, I guess, in alignment to the actual cost. I'd argue that we've probably been paying not enough for the last couple of years, so we've increased the payment to reflect the market.
My second question is in relation to the skills matrix of the board. As shareholders, we have no idea what the skill level is from the independent non-execs, the executive directors. And I would certainly like to know more about what the relative contribution is from each.
Thank you. We'll take that on board. Appreciate that feedback. Right, there's another question down here on my right. Is that right?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes. My name is Hailey Cheng. Yeah, shareholder and fish lover. Before I have any question or suggestion, I would like to share some good news among us because reading the New Zealand Herald.
Excuse me, can we just let me interrupt for a moment at the beginning? This will be a question and answer session, so if you would not mind asking your question and being reasonably to the point about the question. It's not really a platform or a design for questioners to make comments or long comments. So just please appreciate that requirement. Thank you.
I wish to know whether, what shall I say, the company will sell bluefin tuna. Is it inside our quota? Because I have read some amateur fishermen, and they can catch bluefin tuna. And bluefin tuna, just one big, big fish, they can sell for more than $1 million in Japan. Are we allowed to catch bluefin tuna?
Bluefin tuna. Vaughan, perhaps yes, the answer is yes.
Yes.
Oh, that's good. Then I wish to recommend David for The Economist, the last issue of last year, the 24th of December up to the end. That is after the shareholder meeting last year. It has an extra edition article about how to, what shall I say, kill the bluefin tuna so that it can remain fresh. And that is science of anatomy. And if David, you haven't read that article from The Economist, I highly recommend you to read that. It's the science. And if we earn more money, the staff will be very happy to share among those profits, isn't it? Yeah, thank you.
Okay. Thank you very much. We'll take those comments on board. Thank you. Any other questions from the floor? No? Okay. Stuart, have we got any questions online?
Chair, we have no questions online.
Thank you, Stuart. So let's now move to the formal business. And following this, there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions of me and David Mair and other directors and executives in attendance today about the business and performance of the company. We have two resolutions to be voted on. The first relates to the re-election of David Mair as a director of the company, and the second relates to the auditor's fees. I shall give the opportunity for discussion on each resolution, and we will also monitor the online platform for questions. At the appropriate time, should you wish to raise a comment or a question, please raise your hand, and we will bring a microphone to you or submit your question on the online platform.
By way of introduction, please advise your name, whether you are a shareholder or if a proxy holder, the name of the shareholder represented. In accordance with the NZX Listing R ules, voting will be by poll. Those here at Eden Park should all by now have a voting paper, which was given to you when you registered. As noted before, online attendees can vote at any time. Several shareholders have cast a postal vote or have appointed proxies to cast their vote ahead of today's meeting. I advise that the board is holding discretionary proxies that will be voted in favor of both resolutions. So resolution number one, the re-election of David Mair. In accordance with the company's constitution, David Mair retires at this meeting and being eligible offers himself a re-election. The board recommends David to you as a director of Sanford and unanimously supports his election.
Before we consider the resolution, I would like to invite David to briefly address you in support of his election. David.
Thank you. I'm seeking your support for my re-election as a director of Sanford. I believe I have relevant skills and experience to drive the business forward and develop longer-term plans. I have a shareholder focus and regularly engage with our shareholders, and I explain to our analysts from my point of view how we run the business, and I'll keep it short. I'd like to thank all the shareholders that have already voted for me. Thank you.
I now move as an ordinary resolution that David Mair be elected as a director of the company. I'll pause now for any questions on this resolution, and again, we'll take questions from the floor first. Are there any questions? Yes, over here on my right.
David, how's our go-to-market. And because I noticed that you have been knowing the market in Japan, may I ask whether you have any intention of exporting salmon to Japan?
Ohayou gozaimasu. Anyway, we have some Japanese friends here. They are representatives of Maruha. It's not just salmon. We want to do business in Japan because we believe it's a good market. They will pay a fair price, and we can develop mutually good business.
David, why I mentioned salmon is, says Naomi Osaka, the world's number one tennis star, and she mentioned that the New Zealand salmon is the best in the world she had ever tasted. But it's a regret that she would not attend the ASB Classic this year in Auckland because her agent just transferred her to Australia. Then it will be great if you can develop the market in Japan for salmon for Naomi Osaka. Thank you.
I won't be developing a market for one person, for sure.
Are there any other questions from the floor on this resolution? No? Stuart, are there any online?
There are no questions online.
Thank you, Stuart. Resolution number two is the remuneration of the auditor. KPMG are the existing auditors of Sanford. Pursuant to Section 207T of the Companies Act, KPMG are automatically reappointed as auditors for the ensuing year. The board seeks the approval of shareholders to be authorized to fix the remuneration of KPMG for the Fiscal Year 20 26. I now move as an ordinary resolution that the directors be authorized to fix the remuneration of the auditor for the year ended 30 September 2026. Are there any questions on this resolution from the floor? No? Stuart, are there any questions online?
No. There are no questions online.
Thank you, Stuart. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our discussion on the resolutions. If you wish to vote on the resolutions, whether in person or online, you should do so now as I will shortly be closing the meeting. Once all the votes have been cast, they will be counted by the company's share registrar, Computershare. The results of today's meeting will be released to the NZX on the completion of the verification of voting. I will now pause to allow you time to finalize your votes. Okay. Okay. I think that's it, and voting is now closed. For those of you here in the room, I now ask well, Computershare has indeed collected the voting papers, so that's very efficient. Thank you. May I ask if there is any general business? Yes, Valerie .
Having your insight into not improving or expanding the fish market, can I go back to the publicity last year about the plan to build apartments on the site? I believe you were talking to a developer at that point, but I understand there are some leases on the property that require the use of the land to be for marine purposes. Could you update us, please, on where you're at on the apartment development business?
I'll invite David to, or Paul, our CFO, will address it.
We don't have plans to develop apartments, but we still are under a conditional contract with a developer that's due to conclude or finish the due diligence on the 5th of January. So we'll wait and see the outcome of that.
And he's doing due diligence on all of the sites that you have done at the Wynyard Quarter?
That's all of the site, yes.
Including the part that says that you have to retain some of it for marine purposes?
No, the part for marine purposes, it's our discretion so that's our decision whether it's for marine purposes.
Okay. So we could still see apartments down there?
I don't know what we'll see down there if anything is still under a conditional contract.
Any other general business, please? Yes, over here. Thank you.
Thank you.
David Cushing from Rural Equities as a shareholder. Afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, Chairman and Directors, well done on that outstanding result. Tremendous. And to David, Vaughan Wilkinson, Deborah, Paul, brilliant effort. That's a really good turnaround for this company, and I think we're all very impressed. Also, the annual report is a major improvement in our opinion. And David, your Managing Director's report is a masterclass. It's compulsory reading, very focused, a professional. Well done. Chairman, historically, Sanford shares have traded on a multiple of 13x-14x after tax earnings. Currently, they're trading on a multiple of about 10, which is a very steep discount when you consider the quality of Sanford's assets, 20% of New Zealand's quota. Big Glory Bay, one of the best and incredible salmon business. So you've got some fantastic assets for long-term investors.
We think one of the reasons for that is the modest dividend yield. We agree with what you've done this year. David's slide, taking debt down by about NZD 100 million net debt, that's an incredibly good effort. Net debt at NZD 90-odd million, which is great. Going forward, most of the analysts are forecasting earnings this year after tax of about NZD 0.70 this year, and hopefully they're right. If you paid out a 50% dividend ratio, that'd be about NZD 0.35 add on the imputation credits. It's about a 7% gross yield on the current price. We think that might go somewhere towards closing the multiple gap. I think we need to be at a more respectable multiple. I think 10's a bit light.
I suppose my question is, if we do make NZD 0.70 earnings per share and in the absence of a major transaction, would the board consider a dividend payout ratio around 50%, which would be NZD 0.35 fully imputed? That's my question.
Thank you, David. I'll ask David Mair to come and respond to your question in addition to perhaps remarks that I can open up with. I mean, the first thing is the multiple is low. You can look back and say that that's a bad thing, but you can also look forward and say, "Well, that's an area that can improve in the future and increase the share price." I don't think it's wrong to be optimistic about that multiple situation in terms of where we go to from here. That's the first point I would make.
I think your reference to the past performance of the company, the fact that it came through very hard times in the COVID period and performed at a much reduced level of profit and resulting share price, also effectively locked the company into those lower multiples and higher discount rate. So essentially, the company is coming hopefully, it will come out of that. Certainly, share price improvement that we've experienced in more recent times as a result of our 2025 reporting has been partly, of course, an improvement in the multiple. So the company's ability to improve is part of the story for the share price. But the dividend issue is one that the board spends a lot of time with. It's something that the David as Managing Director is very focused on.
Obviously, the dividend decision needs to blend and balance a number of factors, which includes CapEx and that kind of thing. In a sense, a moderate or a more conservative dividend policy is analogous in some respects to issuing share capital rather than basically the company going back to shareholders and trying to raise equity capital for particular projects in the future. The management of its dividends through time is a cheaper de facto way of, in a sense, raising capital from shareholders because all of the capital in the company belongs to the shareholders. Okay? If we choose to keep it, essentially, in a sense, it's a source of finance that comes from the shareholders. That's a cheaper and more flexible option in the short run. I think those are sort of moderating aspects of the deliberation at the board table.
But I think it'd be useful to hear from David directly on the point as well.
Thank you. So first of all, thanks, David. I follow the logic of what you've said, and there's a couple of little things. One is if there's no other opportunity for a transaction, and there are a few caveats around that. But given the thrust of the way you've outlined it, and of course, it's a board decision about the level of payout, but I'm very positive about rewarding shareholders. And so I think that's a fair position to put to the company as we go forward. Of course, one of my roles is to try to invest capital, and we don't have an investment plan yet. And I've been criticized by a number of people for not having that plan yet, and we're getting there. It takes time because this is an interesting business in that sense, and I tried to outline some of my thinking around capital.
Just before I carry on, if you don't mind, I'll just say one thing, and then I'll come back specifically. I forgot to introduce two people. One is Stuart Houliston, who, of course, answered the question. So thanks, Stuart. And Calvin down here. He works in the finance team. So I hate leaving people out, but I'm sorry, Calvin, I missed you. And Stuart, I should have introduced you. Anyway, coming back to the point, my role is to focus on improving cash flows and EBIT, and then the market values that in some way. I never get distracted by the share price itself, but I am a shareholder in Sanford, and I agree with your analysis. But from my point of view, if we end up in a situation where we cannot use capital, it should be returned tax-effectively to shareholders. Thank you.
Thank you also, David, for those very kind remarks that you made about the board and the management. So they're well appreciated. Is there any other general business? No? Okay. Thank you for your attendance. I now declare the meeting closed, and I invite you to join with the directors and the management for afternoon tea and refreshments at the back. Thank you.