Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Kirstin Jones, and I'm Sky's Company Secretary. I will shortly hand the meeting over to your Chairman, Philip Bowman, but first I will take this opportunity to outline a few procedural matters. As well as our live audience here in Auckland, we are joined today by shareholders and guests from around the world attending online, who can watch the live webcast and see the presentation. In addition, shareholders and proxies attending online have the ability to ask questions and to submit votes. I'll now take a moment to outline the process for doing this. Online questions can be submitted at any time by selecting the Q&A icon to the right of your screen. Type your question into the field provided and press Send to submit your question.
You can also use this method to ask for help, and a member of the Computershare team will respond to you directly through the chat function. While you can submit questions from now on, we will not address them until the relevant times in the meeting. Whether you're attending the meeting virtually or in the room, we do ask you to ensure your questions are relevant to the meeting, and we encourage you to be succinct and specific. Please note that online questions may be moderated, and in the interest of time, if we receive multiple questions on the same topic, these may be grouped together. We will endeavor to answer all online shareholder questions during the meeting. However, if we run out of time, we will answer any outstanding questions directly via email after the meeting.
Turning now to voting, this will be conducted by way of a poll on the two resolutions. Those in the room who are eligible to vote should have received a registration card when you entered. If you did not receive your card, please visit the registration desk now, and a member of the Computershare team will be able to assist you. For those online, if you are eligible, you will be able to cast your vote by selecting the Vote tab to the right of your screen. To ensure those online have enough time, we will shortly open the voting. Once open, you can select your voting direction on each resolution from the options shown on the screen. You will know when your vote has been cast when the tick appears.
Lastly, for those in the room, if there is an emergency and we need to evacuate the building, please follow the instructions of the Maritime Room staff. They will direct you through the doors which you entered from. If you entered via the elevator or need assistance, please make yourself known to the staff. They're here to help you. Thank you, everyone. With the housekeeping now complete, I will hand the meeting over to our Chairman, Philip Bowman.
Kirstin, thank you. As Kirstin mentioned, my name is Philip Bowman, and I'm Chairman of Sky Network Television Limited. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Sky's 2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting. To all our shareholders, proxy holders, and guests joining today's meeting, thank you for making the time to be with us, whether you're in the room here in Auckland or are attending online. As we have a quorum present, I'm pleased to declare our Annual Shareholders Meeting open. I'm also pleased to officially open online voting. I'm joined today by our Chief Executive, Sophie Moloney, Sky's Company Secretary, Kirstin Jones, whom you've already met, and of course, my fellow board members, Keith Smith, Sky's Deputy Chair and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Mark Buckman, who chairs Sky's People and Performance Committee, Belinda Rowe, Mike Darcy, and Dame Joan Withers.
Members of Sky's executive leadership team are also in attendance today. I also welcome representatives from our auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and our corporate solicitors, Chapman Tripp. Turning to the format of today's meeting, I'll shortly comment on the 2024 fiscal year, as well as some of the key matters the business is focusing on in the current period. I'll then invite Sophie to provide more detailed commentary on plans for the year ahead before commenting on how the business is tracking, and we'll then move to the formal business of the meeting. Finally, I will open the floor here and virtually for questions of a general nature from you, our shareholders.
Sophie and I look forward to the opportunity to engage in a good discussion, and following conclusion of the meeting, there'll be an opportunity for those in the room to continue discussion over morning tea and to explore the new Sky experience firsthand. My Chairman's letter in the FY24 Annual Report gave a concise summary of events during the year and also commented on the key priorities for FY25. I'll comment briefly on the FY24 financial results and then touch on the two key priorities I mentioned in this letter before providing the usual update on capital management matters. Against a very difficult economic backdrop, your company delivered a solid performance in FY24, reporting all key metrics within the market guidance ranges provided, albeit with revenue at the lower end.
At the time of first releasing the market guidance in August 2023, we were aware of the potential challenges ahead for the local economy, given the impact of rising inflation and borrowing rates on employment and disposable incomes. For many households and companies, the challenge turned out to be significantly greater than initially anticipated as economic pressures intensified during the second half of the year. It's encouraging, therefore, that a combination of strong management and the resilience of Sky's business model allowed the company to deliver these results against this difficult backdrop. Under Sophie's leadership, the Sky team demonstrated a disciplined performance with revenue growth of 1.6%, driven by strong execution on a number of initiatives, including strong growth in advertising market share. This revenue growth was combined with expenses increasing by just 0.8%, a long way below the prevailing rate of inflation, reflecting management's focus on cost control.
Together, these factors delivered an expanded margin performance and a growth in earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation. Net profit after tax was down slightly, largely due to increased depreciation as we rolled out the new Sky experience, which many more of our customers are now enjoying. Importantly, free cash flow grew strongly. As well as funding investment and improved customer experience, this allowed your board to significantly increase the dividend paid to shareholders. Your company concluded the year in a healthy financial position with a strong balance sheet, cash on hand of NZD 38 million, and a bank facility successfully renegotiated on more favorable and flexible terms, reflecting Sky's much improved financial position and outlook. While your company has performed well, we are mindful of a disruption and change within the local media sector.
While not immune, we are somewhat insulated due to steps we've already taken to respond to industry changes and through a more diverse revenue profile. Maintaining a strong and vibrant local media ecosystem is vitally important both nationally and at a community level. The value and cultural importance of local voices, stories, and perspectives should not be underestimated, and I'd highlight Sky's longstanding and deep investment in local sporting codes, the impact of which is not perhaps always fully appreciated, but is of vital importance to the local sports landscape. Over recent years, our commitment to the local creative sectors through Sky Originals, especially in partnership with NZ On Air, has grown to be an important part of our content strategy as a New Zealand-focused business.
We're extremely pleased with the audience response and the external recognition that our commissioned productions are generating, with several of our recent titles nominated in the upcoming NZ TV Awards. These include Dark City: The Cleaner, which has been nominated in no less than six categories. Importantly, the strategic steps we've taken to expand Sky's product and revenue base in a fiscally prudent way see us well positioned in a global context. Internationally, the dash to digital has led to challenging debt levels, industry consolidation, and in some instances, a choice to deepen local partnerships with existing customer relationships rather than going direct to consumer at this time. Your board and management believe this bodes well for local providers with a well-established and unique market position, such as the one that Sky holds in this country.
Sky remains an organization in change, but one that over the past few years has developed a strong record of delivering on the initiatives it set out to achieve and of grasping new opportunities at pace. This greater agility is important in the context of the two significant priorities that I mentioned in my FY24 letter to shareholders. Firstly, migration to a new satellite. As we announced to the market in August, we were advised that the new Optus 11 satellite, expected to be in service from 2025, was experiencing further manufacturing delays. As a result, this spacecraft is now unlikely to be in service until 2027. At the same time, an updated fuel assessment resulted in the end of useful life of the current Optus D2 satellite being brought forward by seven months to May 2025.
We have a longstanding agreement with Optus that provides Sky with security of supply over satellite services to 2031, and the need to migrate to a new satellite was always appreciated and planned for. However, this news has required a significant acceleration of our efforts to meet the new timeline and an increase in costs, which are largely offset by financial support from Optus. Optus has provided two satellite path options to replace Optus D2, both of which come with challenges and opportunities. We are currently progressing both of these paths in parallel, and Sophie will provide more details on the options and the overall migration program in her address. From a board perspective, and for you as fellow investors, the migration to a new satellite in this expedited timeframe is not without risk. The process will take careful navigation by Sophie and her team alongside our external expert partners.
For this reason, the migration program is the core priority for Sky over the coming six months, and your board is providing significant oversight, guidance, and challenge. A second significant matter for Sophie and her team is the negotiation with New Zealand Rugby and SANZAAR to renew the current rights agreement, which runs through to December 2025. We've entered into these discussions in a significantly improved position to when we last negotiated the SANZAAR rights in 2019. We have a much better understanding of the value our customers place on this content derived from extensive analysis of what they choose to watch and how much they're willing to pay. Sky is committed to continuing the positive relationships we've built with New Zealand Rugby over more than three decades, producing and delivering the rugby that New Zealand has loved to watch and helping to grow the game across the country.
At the same time, we recognize our customers cannot and should not be expected to take on a disproportionate share of the cost of funding New Zealand Rugby's business. These negotiations are confidential to the parties, and we do not have further information to share at this juncture other than to note that while the exclusive negotiating period concluded at the end of October, we remain in constructive dialogue with representatives from New Zealand Rugby Commercial against the backdrop of significant potential changes in the governance of New Zealand Rugby. We continue to bring a constructive and future-focused mindset to the negotiating table and will look to achieve an outcome that reflects the value that our customers and shareholders place on this partnership. Before I turn to board matters, I'll briefly mention that, like other New Zealand-listed companies, your board and management have worked to deliver Sky's first climate-related disclosure.
We acknowledge the important intent behind the new regime and support the role it serves to ensure appropriate preparation and action on climate impacts. At the same time, the heavy compliance and financial burdens and punitive overlay are real. We therefore welcome the external reporting board's recent consultation moves and ultimately believe this work should lead to improved outcomes for businesses, society, and our environment, and we are committed to playing our part. Those of you who are avid readers of our annual reports will be aware of the role Sky has played for many years in the ESG space, including proactive steps to improve our environmental outcomes, our commitment to helping girls and women to see the possible through showcasing women in sport, and broadcasting and championing the use of Te Reo Māori on our screens.
We'll continue to report to you on these initiatives where we're making a difference alongside the mandated climate report. Turning now to board matters and our capital management program, as you've seen, we're delivering strong dividend growth and remain on target to achieve our target of NZD 0.30 per share fully imputed by FY26. The 26.7% increase delivered in FY24 reflects both the strong free cash flow generation of a business and the board's confidence in the future as economic conditions improve and further initiatives are delivered by management. Adding to this, NZD 16.9 million was deployed in FY24 to buy back shares, which reduced the number of shares on issue by 4.3%. Summarizing all this activity, the amount of cash returned to shareholders over the course of FY23 and FY24 was approximately NZD 0.89 per share. The current buyback remains in place with NZD 7.8 million available to deploy.
However, from time to time, Sky must pause market activity when it is engaged in significant negotiations, which are potentially price-sensitive. Given the ongoing negotiations with New Zealand Rugby, we're not currently in the market buying back shares. That said, your board maintains its view that Sky's shares remain undervalued, with the share buyback a tangible means for us to communicate this to the market whilst also delivering value for shareholders. Once the satellite migration and negotiations with NZR have been concluded, it will be appropriate to review further capital management opportunities, including the option to introduce a prudent amount of leverage to the company's balance sheet. Over the past 12 months, your board worked diligently in its stewardship of your company, providing advice and constructive challenge to management against the challenging microeconomic environment.
As with any good board, directors can and do bring different views, and debate can be intense. Shortly, you will be asked to consider the resolution to be put to the meeting regarding a proposed increase to the director fee pool. I'll reserve my comments on this subject for that part of the meeting. However, I will make the point now that Sky is a complex business. Your directors are effective and hardworking with an exceptional mix of international and local expertise, and I'm privileged to lead them. I'd like to take this opportunity publicly to thank Sophie, her executive leadership team, and the wider Sky team for their significant contribution on behalf of customers, business partners, and each other. In doing so, the Sky team delivered another year of positive performance for shareholders. These are both exciting and challenging times ahead.
Management is focused on refining and executing a clear strategy, and under Sophie's leadership, is well equipped to address the challenges and deliver the opportunities that will present. So with that, I'd like to pass over to Sophie, who will give her address. Sophie, please.
Thank you, Philip and Tēnā koutou katoa . Good morning, everyone. What we've just seen is a brief taster of the content Sky has the privilege to share with customers every day. It is apt that this clip includes some of the many highlights from our Olympics coverage, where we brought the challenges and triumphs of our athletes in Paris to supporters back home in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This was an important brand moment for Sky as we delivered these incredible scenes to New Zealanders across all of our platforms in a very real expression of our purpose: to share stories, to share possibilities, to share joy. Behind the scenes, it takes an incredible amount of planning, hard work, and dedication across the business to deliver in this way.
And I couldn't be more proud of the way our teams in Paris and back home performed. I mentioned in my letter to shareholders a favorite quote from Patrick Lencioni. Not finance, not strategy, not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare. Teamwork is indeed one of Sky's most powerful competitive strengths, and through it, we've been able to deliver for customers, partners, each other, and for you, our investors in FY24. We will see this in action again in the year ahead, particularly as we work through the migration to a new satellite, which I will come on to shortly. This time last year, I shared with you our purpose, our ambition, and the strategic pathways that would drive future success.
One year on, we see that clarity of purpose has supported operational outcomes that underpin our financial performance. On the financial performance of your business, my focus continues to be on driving margin to support our free cash flow generation and, as Philip touched on, our dividend yield. While the share price doesn't yet reflect our confidence in the free cash flow generation of this business, the dividend yield does as we head towards our FY26 target of NZD 0.30 per share. In addition to noting our three-year targets in August, I also reference our delivery against the three key priorities of lifting employee engagement, rolling out the new Sky experience, and generating new revenue streams. In the interest of time, I won't step through all of them at this time, but I'll encourage you to please read about the achievements in our annual report if you haven't already.
The short point is we've delivered significant uplifts and improvements against each of these priorities, as is depicted on the accompanying slide. It took a huge amount of teamwork to secure these uplifts, and because we are a business that is about staying the course despite the macroeconomic challenges, these key priorities remain in focus into FY25. But in addition, we've added a fourth priority: to deepen content engagement. We know we have some incredibly engaging content. In fact, by the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, New Zealanders had collectively watched more than 58.3 million hours of our coverage, which is quite a statistic. Our continued focus is on securing the right content at the right price and to ensure we are measuring the performance of each investment through content engagement metrics.
On this front, we're very pleased to have secured an expanded partnership with the BBC as we showcased with the launch of BBC First on 1 October, which is already engaging our loyal Box customers, myself included. More recently, on the sporting front, we signed a three-year deal with the A-Leagues just as the local competition is heating up. And just a couple of weeks ago, we announced a new partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, confirming Sky as the exclusive home of Max in New Zealand, with a new Max-branded content already engaging customers on both Neon and the new Sky experience since the launch on 30 October.
In highlighting these four priorities, I do want to point out that had we known about the seven-month acceleration required to migrate satellites at the time we were setting our FY25 priorities, this critical project would have been front and center on this page, and it now is. Despite the ability to deliver via IP, satellite connectivity remains a vitally important delivery mechanism for this country and for our higher ARPU customer base. Since becoming aware of this acceleration, we've been very clear with our team that Project Migrate is our number one priority until it's delivered by May 2025, and so as to take precedence over any other plans where there is contention on resources. Now, of course, where there is no contention, our teams are delivering to plan.
As an example, in keeping with the priority to accelerate advertising, our ad sales team delivered an important milestone this last month with the introduction of digital ad insertion on Sky Sport Now. Reflecting on the other three key priorities for FY25 and how these are effectively encapsulated by Project Migrate, I believe there is no better opportunity for employee engagement than a single galvanizing focus as a team, which this project certainly gives us. Continuing to deploy our new Sky experience is a vital part of our mitigation strategy, with the IP-only operating mode on the roadmap for delivery early next year. And from a content perspective, we will not only be utilizing our creative storytelling abilities to communicate with customers, but also to ensure they continue to deepen their engagement with our content throughout this period. So, where are we at with Project Migrate?
As Philip mentioned, our current Optus D2 satellite will reach the end of its useful life in May, and we have expedited our migration to a new satellite. As we advised the market back in August, Optus has offered us two satellite options, and we're actively preparing for them. As Philip said, both have challenges and opportunities. Our preferred option is a satellite that is able to be moved to the same place in space as our existing D2 satellite at 160 degrees east, and therefore allows a smoother customer transition as there is no change to the current satellite signal location. However, there are some dependencies and events that must occur in order for this spacecraft to be made available to us.
This work is being undertaken by our satellite provider, Optus, and on the current plans, we should have confidence in this option by the end of January. While the process of getting the satellite ready for service is a business-as-usual activity, it still carries some risk, and we're therefore running a dual pathway program and preparing for use of another Optus-provided satellite in parallel. It is readily available to us now, but in a different location of 156 degrees east, and therefore requires us to undertake a program to ensure that every customer home can see the signal from the new location. This is something we've previously anticipated, such that the majority of our customers already have a dual signal device attached to their satellite dish to point to the two locations. What we need to do is test the signal with the satellite at 156 degrees east.
For those customers who have an internet-connected box, we can do this remotely without the customers needing to do anything. For those customers who don't have an IP-connected box, we're now in the process of communicating with them to ensure they're able to receive the signal through a test channel on their Sky Box. If they can't see the test channel, we'll schedule and deploy technicians to each home to get them set up. Now, as many of you who are customers will know and perhaps have experienced, technicians visiting Sky Homes to check dishes and satellite signals is a very standard everyday business-as-usual activity. Of course, if a customer has a more complex home setup or living in a multi-dwelling unit, such as a block of flats or similar, then it may take a little bit longer, a longer visit to resolve any signal issues.
Now, the good news is that, especially with our support of our new Downer outsourcing partnership, we have more than enough capacity to meet the demand based on the test results we've achieved to date. In this scenario, we will be relying on our customers to engage, and you'll see us ramp up communications as we work to reach everyone over the summer period. So, to summarize, there are two options we are pursuing. And to give comfort, while there are varying degrees of complexity, risk, and cost, either option provides us with assurance of satellite supply, and we're currently progressing on both pathways until we have certainty of supply to move ahead with our preferred option. From a cost of delivery perspective, as shared in our cover release today, we have commercial arrangements with Optus, which means this program will remain largely cash neutral by the end of FY26.
While the preferred option comes at a lower upfront cost, the final cost of the alternative option cannot yet be precisely quantified. Accordingly, we've taken a conservative approach to forecasting, including significant contingency, and have thereby increased the upper limit of our satellite migration CapEx to 20 million, from the CapEx envelope of 10-15 million outlined at our year-end results. Now, as a reminder, satellite migration CapEx is excluded from our FY25 CapEx guidance, and the important news is that whichever the scenario, the dividend is protected. Before I close out, I'll share a few comments on the performance of our business this financial year. General revenue pressures have continued in the first half as New Zealanders take a cautious approach to spending. As a result, we're seeing some softening in customer and advertising revenues.
We're also rescheduling certain planned revenue-driving activities due to the focus on Project Migrate. I also note that costs will be weighted to the first half, which is largely driven by our programming line, given the timing of the Paris Olympics early in H1. And we have a one-off amortization acceleration relating to the exciting agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, as announced last month. Rest assured, we remain disciplined as always, with a number of initiatives underway across revenue and cost lines. The guidance provided at the time of our full-year results is unchanged, noting that the one-off accelerated amortization is excluded, and we have a firm path and conviction on our dividend guidance of at least NZD 0.21 per share. I'm incredibly proud of how we've performed in FY24 and the proof it provides of what we can deliver together as a team.
My sincere thanks go to our hardworking and dedicated board. I don't underestimate how fortunate we are to have such incredible depth of experience to draw on for me and my executive team. This is visibly on display both in the board context and within each of the board committees. The balance of challenge, advice, and support you provide is truly appreciated. Thank you. And to my executive team and the wider Sky crew, you are making a positive difference every day. Please know this, and please keep it up. And to our shareholders, thank you for your trust in our team and your support of our business.
Acknowledging the way we have reshaped and reinvigorated Sky these past few years, despite the challenges, leaves me in no doubt of our determination as a team to deliver on our priorities in FY25 for the benefit of our customers, our partners, and of course, for each of you, our shareholders. And with that, I'll hand back to Philip. Thank you.
Sophie, thank you for a great address to the meeting. I'd now like to move to the formal business of the meeting. There are two ordinary resolutions for shareholders to consider. The ordinary resolutions relate to authorizing the board to fix the auditor's remuneration and authorizing an increase in director's fees. The resolutions are set out in the notice of meeting, and you will also find them in the voting section of the online platform, as Kirstin described earlier. There'll be an opportunity to ask questions on each of the resolutions and a reminder that only shareholders and proxy holders are able to ask questions.
Kirstin has already outlined the process for submitting questions online, and for those in the room, we ask that you raise your hand and wait for one of our team to bring you a microphone and to please state your name and whether you are a shareholder or a proxy holder. As mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, voting today will be conducted by way of a poll. We've been accepting online votes throughout this meeting, and for those in the room, we ask that you vote by marking the card issued by Computershare. If you need a pen, please raise your hand, and the Computershare team will provide you with one. No pens? One there, please. Once the discussion of the final item of business has been concluded, members of the Computershare team will collect voting cards in the room.
For those online, I'll give you notice shortly before voting will close. Moving to the two resolutions, the first resolution to be considered by this meeting relates to the auditor's remuneration. You'll now see the proxy voting position on the screen with 97.8% votes in favor, 0.9% against, and 1.3% discretionary, with a small number of votes abstained. I now move, as an ordinary resolution, that the board be authorized to fix the auditor's fees and expenses for the financial year ending 30 June 2025. Do we have any questions on the resolution? I don't see any in the room. Kirstin, have there been any questions received online?
There are no questions relating to resolution one online.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd now ask you to cast your vote on resolution number one. The second resolution to be considered by this meeting relates to directors' fees. Shareholders are asked to consider that for the purposes of NZX listing rule 2.11.1 and all other purposes, the maximum aggregate amount of remuneration payable by the company to directors in their capacity as directors be increased by NZD 165,000 per annum from a total pool of NZD 950,000 per annum to NZD 1,115,000 per annum, effective from the 1st of December 2024, with such sum to be divided amongst the directors as the board may from time to time determine. You will now see the proxy voting position on the screen with 90.3% votes in favour, 8.4% against, 1.4% discretionary, and a small number of votes abstained.
Before moving to resolution two, I'll take a few moments to go over the reasons for bringing this matter to you as shareholders. As we outlined in the notice of meeting, the overarching issue is the lack of headroom within the existing fee pool. In FY24, this was 7%, providing very little flexibility. We've clearly set out the proposed fees for FY25 in the notice of meeting, and this does not include an increase in the base director fee, and the adjustments to bring some chair and committee fees into line are relatively small. To be clear, there are no current plans to utilize the additional headroom, and the percentage is consistent with independent advice and general market practice.
If there is a significant additional call on directors' times, such as considering a potential offer, this would provide flexibility to reimburse directors for work that is over and above the current scope. In the event that a top-up payment was considered appropriate, the reason and allocation would be clearly disclosed. We recognize the current base fee is a little higher than the average for New Zealand companies of Sky's market capitalization, although it is relatively low compared to similar-sized Australian companies. Ernst & Young was asked to include comparator groups from both countries in the report that was made available to shareholders, as this more accurately reflects the mix of international and local talent that serves on your board. Sky is effectively in a category on its own in this market.
We believe that having access to relevant international sector experience has and will continue to be critical to navigating the global industry trends as they reach these shores. Combined with the expertise of the local directors, this provides a broad and compelling mix of skills and experience that is put to great use around the board table and in the committee setting. That said, while application of the funds being sought is at the discretion of a board, any significant or structural changes in board remuneration would first be canvassed with shareholders. We would also not expect to seek a further increase to the fee pool without the delivery of above-market total shareholder return.
On that understanding, I now move, as an ordinary resolution, for the purposes of NZX listing rule 2.11.1 and all other purposes, the maximum aggregate amount of remuneration payable by the company to directors in their capacity as directors be increased by NZD 165,000 per annum from a total pool of NZD 950,000 per annum to NZD 1,115,000 per annum effective from the 1st of December 2024, with such sum to be divided among the directors as the board may from time to time determine. Do we have any questions on this resolution? Coralie, good morning.
I'm going to vote against this on principle. At previous meetings, I've elaborated quite clearly what I've disagreed with you over, with your reducing the number of shares and the rugby, which I felt has been disproportionate to your other content. So I got a NZD 30 dividend. I think when you go up to a NZD 1 dividend, it might be the time that I vote for you to get a pay increase.
Coralie, thank you for your comments. I think we all have different views on the question of the capital return and also on the question of the value that was paid for the rugby rights in the last renewal in 2015. I think my address today gave a very clear steer as to how management and the board is approaching the negotiations with New Zealand Rugby this time around. I also look at the question of the returns to shareholders, and I would love to be able to pay a dividend of NZD 1 per share per year. The reality is that we have repaid to shareholders over NZD 0.80 per share over the past two years with a combination of capital returns, share buybacks, and a very progressive dividend policy.
We've said this year we intend to pay a dividend of no less than NZD 0.21 per share, and in FY26 have set a target of NZD 0.30 per share. I think management and the board are working very hard on your behalf to actually increase the amount of money that is flowing back to you as shareholders, while at the same time repositioning the business in a very rapidly changing media market. From my perspective, it is important that we have a board which has got international participation. The trends we are seeing in the media sector are not starting in New Zealand. They are starting on a much greater global basis. If I look at the U.S. in terms of the last five years, this rush to digital, as I said, has caused most of the studios to rack up enormous amounts of debt.
It has triggered a wave of consolidation, and there are a lot of companies out there which are not paying any dividends at all to shareholders as a result of this. I think we have positioned Sky well, as I said, and Sophie said as well. There are issues facing the company, such as satellite migration, that are not without risk. But we are focused in generating returns for shareholders, and that is not just necessarily share price appreciation. It's total shareholder return, which is where is the share price, what dividends have you received, and what actually steps have capital management of the company taken to return cash to shareholders and to make the balance sheet more efficient. So while respecting your comment, Coralie, I disagree, but thank you. I understand that. I'm sorry that you're going to vote no.
I wish I could persuade you, but you are not for moving. I understand that and respect that. Any other questions on this resolution in the room? If not, Kirstin, any online?
Yes, thank you, Philip. There are a number of questions online. The first question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Which of the proxy advisors cover us, and did any of them recommend voting against this resolution?
Kirstin, do you want to answer that one or Sophie?
I can have a go. We've got the ISS proxy advisor who voted for. I don't believe there are any others who voted against. The New Zealand Shareholders Association also supported the resolution with the approach that the chair has set out. That's as far as I'm aware, and we can always follow up with Stephen Mayne if there's any further information.
I think the only bit of further information is we don't actually receive all the proxy agency reports, and the reason for that's very straightforward. Some of them charge a ridiculous amount of money to gain access to the reports. We understand that Glass Lewis prepared a report. We are also led to believe that they voted in favour. I think if we look at the votes today, about 60% of the company's shareholders lodged votes. Only one significant shareholder voted against, which accounts for almost all the votes against the resolution. Kirstin.
We have one further question from Mr. Mayne, Philip. While it is good we are voting on this director remuneration resolution, this doesn't cover executive pay structures. New Zealand is becoming a governance backwater as it continues to resist mandating annual voting on remuneration reports, which are standard in many countries around the world. Will the chair undertake to consult with major shareholders and lead a board decision discussion on the issue of whether you will voluntarily put up a remuneration report resolution for an advisory role at next year's AGM?
Thank you for the question. My answer to that is very straightforward. We are a New Zealand company. We comply with the law and the listing requirements in New Zealand. At such time, if there is any change, we will obviously comply with the new regulations that come into force. But otherwise, we do not propose making any change at this time. Any other questions, Kirstin?
There are no further questions online, Philip.
Okay. Thank you for those questions, and I'd now ask you to cast your vote on resolution two. Everyone cast their vote. I can see someone walking around with a box to collect voting forms. Very good. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our discussion on the items of business which were on the agenda. Please ensure you've cast your votes on all resolutions. Computershare have now collected votes from within the room, and following this, online voting is now closed. Thank you. The outcome of the voting will be released to the NZX and ASX later today. I'd now like to open the meeting to questions of general business, and we'll begin, if we may, with any questions from the room before moving to online questions. So do we have any questions from the room? Yes, sir, over there. Just you can wait for a microphone.
Thank you very much. I'd just like to say that I think that the board and Sophie have done a hell of a good job this year, and I think that should be acknowledged. And the fact that you're getting a pay increase, well, that's good. I would have perhaps given you a bit more than what has been offered up. Be that as it may, however, what I'd like to talk about just briefly is my black Sky Box gave up the ghost about March, I think it was, and I rang the service number which goes through to the Philippines, I believe. The girl was very helpful on the end of the phone, extremely helpful to the effect that I asked to speak to her supervisor to explain that she'd done a damn good job.
However, when it comes to and the Sky Box duly turned up, the new white one turned up a couple of days later, so good courier service and all that sort of stuff. Installing it is a bit of a nightmare. In fact, it was worse than a nightmare. It was sort of like, you know, my wife and I were at loggerheads, and in the end, we found somebody online, or she found somebody online on the North Shore that could come in and do it for us. I think there's an element of making it appear very simple, and Filipinos are very good at customer service, and they're very keen to make sure that people understand things and get it right.
The girl did all of those sort of things, except when it comes to Joe Bloggs on the end of it that's installing the box in their own home, and it's meant to be very simple. She told me three times it was very simple and straightforward, and I wouldn't have any problems. I think it's the opposite, personally. I think it was a real you know, there's ladies present, so I won't say what I was thinking, but it's very, very it is difficult. So we found a guy locally that came in and did it. It was NZD 150 or whatever it was, and got it all sorted out. That was all right, fine. We're all up and running, and everything's fine.
About a month ago, I turned on Sky again, and all of a sudden, we get everything is being updated, and if you wait a few minutes, you'll be able to watch Sky. I waited 10 minutes. Nothing happened. It was still going bzzzzzzzzzz around and what have you. I thought, well, it must be a pretty big upgrade or whatever. I waited another 10 minutes, I think it was. Finally, I rang again the service number. The lady I got this time was not quite as flashy as the first one that I'd spoken to, and she was telling me, well, you pull out this cord, and you push on this button, and do this, and do that, and do the next thing. We tried all of that. Everything's still whizzing around.
In the end, I turned everything off, left it for 10 minutes, and everything seemed to reboot, but it wasn't a flash experience, especially when you're waiting half an hour, at least half an hour, and I understand I've worked in customer service myself, and you can't be answering the phone every five seconds and helping people. I quite understand that, but I think that from a customer service perspective, I think there's some either some more training needed with the people in the Philippines, or you need to make your communications or make the communication that they offer the customer somewhat more simple than what they're doing. Because, you know, I've been a shareholder in Sky right from the inception, so you know I follow the company all the way, and it's a great company, and so forth, but this really got right up my nose, I must say.
So I think you need to address that issue, and I think also in some of your other communications, like the one about the free movies for the month and all that sort of stuff. Great. Good initiative. I've been able to watch Ferrari and Lamborghini and all those sort of stuff and so forth. So there's some good stuff there to watch. But how you sort of it says you don't have to do anything, but it's not really spelled out very well. It needs to, you know, you need to take the newest member of the staff and give them the communication, and if they can understand it, well, everybody will understand it sort of thing. But it was a bit of. I found it a bit of a nuisance.
Yesterday, I went online to book a movie and all the rest of it, and you've got to scroll right down the bottom of the screen before you find, yeah, it's on Thursday or whatever the heck it is and so forth, and you can record it and watch it later, yadda, yadda, yadda. I just think that your communications with people like me, and I don't think I'm thick, but I haven't got a degree in applied computing or Sky technology from Harvard or anything like that. So it is quite consuming and quite annoying. Again, every time you've got to ring the Philippines and you're hanging on for half an hour or whatever. Sky service in New Zealand, when you rang and spoke to somebody out in Mount Wellington, used to be really good. I think it's regressed, personally.
Thank you very much for your comments. Firstly, thank you for your positive feedback on the board and on the management team. Yes, it's very frustrating when things don't go as you want. It's very good to have your feedback on this. I think it's probably better debated outside the general forum of the meeting, your personal experience on this. But before we move on, I'd ask Sophie just to give a couple of comments.
Thank you, Chair, and look, thank you. Good news, because in the room today, I've got the two executives who are responsible both for the contact center and both for communicating, and I feel like there may be a great opportunity to take on that feedback direct, which we really do appreciate. I know what it's like when we all know what it's like when technology doesn't work. We are really striving to try and make our communications as simple as possible, and so I'm going to encourage both of those leaders who are here in the room to come and see you, and thank you very much for that feedback. We do want to make it more straightforward for customers, and I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised when you see our satellite communications shortly.
No, I hear you. You don't want to have to ring.
Sophie, thank you. Coralie.
Thank you. Similar experience with One New Zealand with my landline. You call and you get to the Philippines, and obfuscation is an understatement. Finally, I knew that I could ask for a technician to come from Noel Leeming because One New Zealand have a deal, and it took I think I was on the phone for about two hours before they agreed, and he asked me my age because apparently if you're elderly and perhaps a bit doddery, they will actually send somebody free, so they did, and I suggest that you also do a deal with Noel Leeming or somebody like that so that you can send somebody out to fix it instead of like this poor man having to go and pay NZD 150 for someone on the North Shore. That's my suggestion.
Coralie, thank you.
I won't get a new Sky Box until I know that I'm going to be looked after.
So, maybe if I just leap in, Coralie. Good news for you too. Good to come along to the annual shareholder meeting because there's a couple of young men just there who are going to come and have a chat with you about how we can support, and we also have support of Noel Leeming. So, I think we'll be able to help you with that experience because it's super important. Where you need tech support, we'll deploy it.
They're going to make a very good effort to persuade you to move to the new box, Coralie, as well.
Good.
Good. At the back, please.
Thank you. Look, I'm going to put a stop to this nonsense. My wife and I are dedicated Luddites. We are close to combined age of close to 200, and we think the new Sky Box is utterly marvelous.
Thank you.
Marvelous. The reason we think it's marvelous is because when I ordered it, I ordered it prepared to pay the NZD 100 for the very smart guy who turned up with it. And in 20 minutes, it was all clear, easy, even for a couple of Luddites. So people, stop your moaning.
Very good. Any other questions in the room? One over there on my right.
John Hume, shareholder. The current box, when you get a new box or change over, do you keep the same card or do you get a new card or you've got the same card?
I'll pass that to Sophie.
The new box, you won't actually see a card. So one of the issues that some customers have is they've got recordings on their existing Sky Box, and there's no way to transfer those over from a technical and content rights perspective. So in that instance, what we're encouraging is that you might think about a Multiroom, and we can look to do a special deal to support that. So no need for a card and no card swap over.
And the other thing with the share buyback that you've been doing, you're the biggest purchaser of the shares, so you inflate the price, and as soon as you pull out of the market, the shares go backwards. I've never seen a share buyback that's been successful. You look at Spark, for example, their shares have tanked from their share buyback. You've seen Fletcher Building do it. They tanked from the buyback. It just seems to be not a good way of rewarding shareholders.
I think what I would say to that is I think some share buybacks do better than others. The reality is that the New Zealand market has been very weak for a whole host of issues, which we touched on earlier. Interest rates, squeeze on disposable income. If you look at the average price at which we've bought back the shares, and I think it's important to recognize we are not buying most of the shares back. We have a limit, so every time we do go into the market, we limit ourselves to a relatively small percentage of a trade in the market on that day. So the impact we're having on the share price, I do not believe, is that significant. I think what you're seeing is just more an overall market view given the state of the economy.
And also, I think there is, you know, in the case of Sky share price, a degree of people waiting to see what happens in terms of the discussions with New Zealand Rugby, given it's the company's most significant rights contract. But I note your comments, and I could have the debate on share buybacks for a very long time. There are some that have generated a lot of value for shareholders. There are some that have destroyed a lot. This board is convinced that the shares in this company are undervalued. If we were paying a dividend of NZD 1 a share, which Coralie aspires to, that goes to show that. But I would make the point that, you know, having returned over NZD 0.80 a share over the last two years, your share price is not going to go up as fast as if you retained that cash.
It's about total shareholder return. Question over here.
Yeah, it's coming.
Good morning, everybody. My name is Jurg Seltz. I'm a Sky consumer and shareholder, also running JS Alpha from Auckland. My question is, Sophie, you've seen four and a half months now of your operations. Can you elaborate a little bit more about the severity of the recessionary trends you have been witnessing in your company?
Thank you for the question. You're right. Kiwis are doing it tough. You know, the interest rate move hasn't yet flowed through, and we're seeing that in both our customer and advertising lines, as I said. But we are, as we demonstrated in the last financial year, a business with lots of different ways to communicate with customers and to work with them. And so, we're very conscious of that. As I said, there are other revenue-driving activity that we've also had to pause this financial year as we deliver on Project Migrate. And of course, we'll be updating the market in the usual course of the half year.
So, shall we? You seem to be reluctant to talk numbers. So shall we assume that in your core business, you're facing a re-acceleration of customer losses, while in a non-cyclical, like broadband, you can continue your slight growth path?
Yeah, so I think your questions are very apt, and that's why the joy of our business having a portfolio of products, and we're really happy with where broadband is. What's going to be important is that we work hard as a team, and we look at the year to go, and we do the update at the half year. So no, I'm not going to be drawing on any of the customer numbers outside of that usual reporting cycle. And of course, if there's something else we need to communicate with the market with continuous disclosure, we will. So I'm sorry not to be able to answer you with specificity. That's just the nature of being a listed business and having the reporting cycles that we do.
I think it's worth adding the comment that was included in the presentation that the board and the management have reaffirmed the guidance that was given in August 2024. We made the comment about the economic conditions being difficult. We said we would be watching how the market developed very, very closely, but at this stage, we have maintained that guidance. Now, our next scheduled announcement is the interim results in February of next year, and that's when we will provide updated detail.
I've seen that. Thank you. I think you also said that you're very confident to be able to pay this NZD 0.29. So you did not say you're very confident to achieve the EBITDA and the CapEx outlined. So there's a slight distinction here. Maybe my last question would be, this NZD 0.29 dividend, are you as Sky willing to defend that by whatever it takes, or should recession become stronger and you do not achieve EBITDA and/or CapEx targets, would a lower dividend be appropriate?
I think what we said in the announcement is that we gave guidance in August that the dividend this year would be at least NZD 0.21 per share.
21, sorry.
Yeah, and that we are targeting NZD 0.30 per share in FY26. What we're saying today is based on the performance of a business so far this year and what we see at present. We are not changing our guidance of at least NZD 0.21 per share for this year. Clearly, the board will take a decision at the half year as to what level of interim dividend will be paid. That will incorporate a view on what level of cash reserves we have, how we see the second half of the year. What we're saying currently is that we are standing by the guidance we gave in August.
Thank you.
Any other questions in this room? Yes, in the front second row.
My name is Hailey Cheng, a shareholder, and I wish to know that for all five-star hotels or four and a half or four-star hotels, do they all have Sky News?
That's an interesting question and one that I'm not competent to answer as I haven't stayed in all of them, but I'll pass that to Sophie.
We certainly would like them to all have access to. We've got the ability to deliver Sky News, and we have a range of deals with a number of hotels across the country. We can certainly answer that with more specificity in the break with the right people in the room to confirm who we do have deals with and who we don't. Will that help you make a decision of where you're staying? Is that your query?
Is this about the observation? Just like this morning, when I was walking to this venue, I noticed that many, many more tourists than before coming to New Zealand. It's a turning point now because our New Zealand dollar is still very low when compared to other countries, and if they stay in the hotels, if they have such services, that would be good, and also when the hotels, they earn more revenue. If they do not have Sky subscription yet, then they are happy to subscribe because of better revenue, but better earning, and also I noticed an article by Lauren, Lauren from Christchurch. She's absent today. Is that correct, Lauren?
Oh, yes, Lauren is here today. She's just over here, so you'll be able to see Lauren. Yes, it was a great article, wasn't it?
Yeah, yeah. Lauren is also a director of Turners Auctions. Yeah, a very awesome, I say, company getting better and better after Lauren joined the board.
Yes, very good.
Yeah.
Thank you for your question, your comments.
And also Lauren, the article in the New Zealand Herald suggested that the company will more going to be more customers by several means. And I wish to have maybe included some more motels into the list as well. Motels, not just hotels.
Yes, exactly. The accommodation sector around the country is a very important customer base for us, which we operate under our Sky Business brand. So you're spot on. We're all so pleased, as many New Zealand businesses are, that tourism is picking up, that maybe the weakening New Zealand dollar will support. And you're spot on that it's a great opportunity for us to showcase our products around the country. So thank you for that feedback, and I'm sure Lauren will look forward to having a cup of tea with you shortly. Thank you.
Thank you. Kirstin, any questions online?
Thank you, Philip. Yes, there are a number of questions online. The first question is from Margaret Lindsay. Just a question to satisfy my curiosity. What benefits are received for having Sky shares listed on the ASX?
It's a good question. The primary listing of a company clearly is in New Zealand. We have a secondary listing as a foreign exempt issuer in Australia. I think the reality is that provides a small amount of additional liquidity for the shares. It provides the opportunity for Australian individual or institutional shareholders to buy shares in Sky easily without having to have an account with a New Zealand broker or trade on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and from the company's perspective, I mean, one of the advantages of a listing clearly is the ability to raise capital, and there are deeper pools of capital in the Australian market than there are in New Zealand, and if I go back to the capital raise we were forced to do at the beginning of COVID, that indeed was supported quite heavily out of Australia.
So from that perspective, I think there are some benefits. I fully accept, though, that the volume traded on most days in Australia is relatively low, but it does provide additional liquidity, and it does provide an easy way for anyone in Australia who wants to buy the stock to do that through their local broker. Next question, Kirstin.
Thank you, Philip. Second question from New Zealand Shareholders Association. Is it possible for the share buyback program to resume before the expiration of the current program on 31 March 2025?
That question is a little bit like the proverbial one of how long a piece of string . The board has decided, as we said in the presentation, to suspend the share buyback while we are still in negotiations with New Zealand Rugby about renewal of the rights. I would love that process to take place quickly. On the other hand, I would have to say, as I commented earlier, there are governance changes afoot at New Zealand Rugby, and they could or could not delay that process. So as soon as we are out of that, the board will take a view. It will inform the market of the outcome of those discussions and will then take a view as to whether we can resume the share buyback.
So I cannot give you a concrete answer today other than to say that we will update the market as soon as we conclude negotiations with New Zealand Rugby. Next question.
Question from Stephen Mayne. The ASX is currently in the midst of an unprecedented deluge of takeovers that has contributed to listed entities falling by 176-2,118 after 21 straight months of declines. There have been 27 major takeovers above AUD 200 million completed so far in 2024. Why are public markets not valuing ASX and NZX listed companies like ours more highly? And what special protections do we have to avoid being taken over? Also, with a market cap of AUD 323 million, would it make sense to bulk up and merge with NZME, which is currently capitalized at AUD 177 million? What regulatory approval would be required for such a deal?
That's quite a shopping list of questions, and I'm going to confine myself pretty much to answering one. I don't think it is healthy that we are seeing a continued reduction in the number of listed companies in New Zealand particularly, but also in Australia. That comes down to a question of the fact that in many cases, private equity has raised large amounts of money and is looking to deploy this and is therefore looking at companies. I think the question of valuations is more vexed, and from that perspective, I don't have an answer. I think we have at Sky done a number of initiatives to stimulate demand for our shares. We have been through the normal issues of consolidating our capital, of doing share buybacks. We're paying a very progressive dividend. The reality is the New Zealand economy is very depressed.
Consumer sentiment is low, and that is not positive in terms of valuations of companies in the market. In terms of whether there should be any form of special protection, I don't believe that would be either constructive or would be appropriate. In terms of mergers and acquisitions, your board continues to look at opportunities in the marketplace. Suffice it to say at this stage, we have found no compelling opportunity to pursue. So that, I think, is the answer to that. Next question, Kirstin, please.
Another question from Mr. Mayne, several parts to this question. It must feel quite strange having the former CEO of a public company, Chris Luxon, suddenly becoming Prime Minister. Did any of our directors or senior executives know Mr. Luxon before he went into politics? And are there early signs that the new government is more pro-business than the previous? If there is one policy change or investment the Luxon government could do to assist our business, what would it be? Also, any early thoughts on what Trump's election could mean for us? Is his chief advisor, Elon Musk, potentially influential over our future satellite choices, which are currently provided by Optus?
Thank you for the, again, shopping list of questions. Sophie, you wanted to discuss Mr. Trump, I believe.
Well, we do have Fox News available to Sky customers if they're interested in following that, as well as CNN. I just wanted to pick up, obviously, there are a number of my team who know the Prime Minister well, but the one policy change that I think we would adore to see as Sky and our investors is the removal of the Sunday advertising restriction. It only applies to broadcast television. It does not apply online, and we would welcome that change if possible.
Sophie, thank you for that. Next question, Kirstin, please.
Question from Margaret Lindsay. Does a recent weakening of the New Zealand dollar versus the US dollar represent a threat to future programming costs, or will your hedging strategies mitigate against this adverse movement?
I'm going to pass the question to Sophie, but simply comment, of course, that hedging is a finite process. We're hedged ahead for a year or so, but beyond that, one has to look at where market rates go. So, Sophie.
Thank you, Chair. Yes, look, we have experts who support us on the hedging strategy. It was one of the first things that my Chief Financial Officer and I talked about as soon as the Trump election was confirmed. And so we're comfortable with what we have. We're very aware, obviously, of all of our U.S. dollar exposure, and we'll be working hard to make sure we can offset any impacts going forward. Thank you, Chair.
Kirstin.
A question from Jordan Kiteley. As a customer, some of the changes to the Sky Sport Now service, example, being able to replay two days now reduced to six hours. Cost has gone up, but the service has gone down. How does Sky listen and react to customer feedback? My feedback on the example above was met with, "We are doing the best thing for the customers," which didn't land well with me.
Thank you, Sophie.
Well, look, I acknowledge that feedback. We do listen. There is the ability to communicate with the team online, and I think what we will look to do is follow up directly. We obviously communicated these changes with clarity. We're always looking to try and improve the experience. And so, what I can say is I'm sorry that that doesn't feel like we've done the best thing in this instance, but of course, we do take on all customer feedback, and my email is always open to anyone.
Sophie, thank you. Kirstin.
Thank you, Philip. A question from Mr. Mayne. News Corp and Telstra are trying to sell our Australian equivalent, Foxtel. Have we dropped into the data room and had a look? There would be lots of synergies between Sky and Foxtel. It runs the increasingly popular Sky News Australia, which has just cracked 5 million subscribers on YouTube. Also, how do the licensing arrangements work in terms of who can use the Sky name in the Australian and New Zealand markets?
Sophie.
Perhaps if I just lean in on, no, we're not dropping into any data centers at this juncture, and we have, just for clarity, yes, we have a perpetual license in terms of the use of the name Sky from the original transaction, so we have the free ability to use that intellectual property in this market, but there is no connection with either Sky up in the UK or Sky News Australia. Obviously, we do carry that channel, which is a choice for customers who like that type of content.
Thank you, Sophie. Kirstin.
Thank you, Philip. Final question from the New Zealand Shareholders Association. I note that two of the six directors do not own shares in Sky Network Television. The association encourages share ownership in the companies on whose boards they sit. We know share ownership exists. The policy is to ask why not. Hence, could those two directors please touch on why they have chosen not to own shares in Sky?
Kirstin, thank you for that question. My answer to this is very straightforward. I've had discussions with both of the directors that you reference. They both have the desire and intent to buy shares in the company. I would make the point that we have been effectively in blackout for a significant part of the year, partly because of our insider trading policy, but also because of the various transactions that have been taking place. So, from that perspective, I would very much hope and expect that by the time we come to the meeting next year, both those directors will be shareholders like the rest of us. Thank you.
There are no further questions, Philip.
Kirstin, thank you very much for moderating those questions. Before I close the meeting, I'd like to thank all of you for your attendance and for your support of Sky. As we've outlined today, we have a clear strategy, we have well-formed plans, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver on these despite the economic backdrop. Sophie and her team have a well-established track record of execution evidenced over successive financial years, and they have full support of the board. The board and executive team look forward to reporting to you on the company's progress at the half-year results in February 2025. I now declare today's meeting closed and invite those of you in the room who wish to join the board and management for a slightly late morning tea. Thank you all very much indeed.