Hello, and welcome to the 2026 U-Haul Holding Company annual meeting of stockholders. Before we begin, I'd like to remind all participants of this event that certain of the statements, including without limitation, statements regarding revenue, expenses, income, and general growth of our business, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's business and future operating results, please refer to our most recent Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and any updates as may be provided in our periodic Form 10-Q filing. I will now turn the meeting over to Joe Shoen, chairman of U-Haul Holding Company.
Good morning, and welcome. I'm Joe Shoen, chairman of the board of directors of U-Haul Holding Company, and I'll be presiding today as chairman of this meeting. I am therefore calling the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company to order. On behalf of our board of directors and management team, I welcome all of you. I would like to acknowledge those stockholders and others who are viewing the meeting by means of the webcast. This year, once again, we are conducting our annual meeting both in person and via live webcast as part of the company's sustainability initiatives. We encourage our stockholders to attend the meeting by means of the webcast, and we encourage our stockholders to access our annual proxy statement materials electronically over the Internet. This virtual meeting platform reduces the cost and the carbon footprint of the annual meeting.
This is our 20th year using this format. I want to acknowledge our board of directors who are present here in person or via the webcast. James Acridge, John Brogan, James Grogan, Richard J. Herrera, Karl Schmidt, Roberta Shank, and Samuel Shoen. As well as our non-director members, Doug Ducey and Laurence De Respino. For those of you who are here in person, if you have not already done so, please register with the secretary of the meeting. By affidavit of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., we have been informed that our proper notice of this meeting was distributed to certain stockholders on July 1, 2026. At that time, our stockholders were provided with notice of the meeting and access to our 2026 proxy statement and fiscal 2026 annual report. Certain other stockholders were mailed paper copies or were sent electronic copies of these proxy materials beginning on July 1, 2026.
The materials were distributed to those persons who were stockholders of record as of June 23, 2026, the record date for this meeting. I have been informed that a quorum is present, and I declare that this is a duly constituted meeting of the stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company. It is my objective to encourage open communication and the free expression of ideas that are conducive to the best interest of the stockholders of the company and to conduct an informative meeting in a fair and friendly manner. Accordingly, at the end of the meeting, I will take questions and comments from stockholders or their proxies. If you would like to address the meeting at that time, please wait to be recognized by me and then state your name, state whether you are a stockholder or a proxy.
If you are a proxy, state the name of the stockholder you represent. Then you may concisely state your business or pose your question, trying to limit your statements to two minutes. For those stockholders viewing the annual meeting through the webcast, on your screen, there is a text box. If you have a question or comment, please type it into the box and include your name. Our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Kristine Campbell, will assist with any questions or matters that may arise relating to the rules and conduct of the meeting. Additionally, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time today, we will hold our 20th annual virtual analyst and investor webcast. All stockholders are encouraged to join us to learn more about our organization from a variety of U-Haul management. You can sign in to the investor webcast at investors.uhaul.com.
We have six proposals for consideration at this meeting. The proposals are as follows. Proposal one, the election of the following directors, each to hold office and serve as a member of the board of directors of the company until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders. Edward J. Shoen, James E. Acridge, John P. Brogan, James J. Grogan, Richard J. Herrera, Karl A. Schmidt, and Roberta R. Shank. Proposal two is an advisory vote to approve the compensation paid to the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the proxy statement. Proposal number three is an advisory vote on the frequency of future advisory votes on the compensation of the company's named executive officers. Proposal four is the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027.
Proposal five is a proposal received from company stockholder proponents to ratify and affirm the decisions and actions taken by the board and executive officers of the company with respect to U-Haul Holding Company, its subsidiaries and its various constituencies for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026. Finally, proposal six is a proposal received from a company stockholder proponent requesting that the company issue a report disclosing current greenhouse gas emissions associated with its fleet and any targets for measurably reducing them. We will now hear a recording from the stockholder proponent of proposal number six.
My name is Giovanna Eichner. On behalf of Green Century Capital Management, I am presenting proposal number six, asking U-Haul to issue a report disclosing the current greenhouse gas emissions associated with its fleet and targets for measurably reducing them. A warming climate has direct financial consequences. U.S. emissions have caused over $10 trillion in global economic damages since 1990, and 94% of North American companies reported moderate or significant cost increases linked to physical climate impacts over the past year. Companies are responding. The number of global businesses setting both near-term climate goals and net zero targets grew 61% year-over-year in 2025. By tracking and reporting their emissions, these companies demonstrate that they are taking the necessary steps to create and execute plans to mitigate and address climate risks.
U-Haul, on the other hand, has yet to publish a standard sustainability report and did not respond to Green Century's inquiries about its sustainability strategy. U-Haul fails to keep pace with peers in addressing climate transition risks, including changing customer preferences, energy market volatility, and capital reallocation. U-Haul's 10-K acknowledges competition, particularly total user cost, and forthcoming regulations as business risks. As fuel prices rise due to supply shocks and legislation, actions to reduce reliance on more volatile commodities will address climate-related risks and create business opportunities. Competitors are already leveraging fleet electrification to reduce climate risks. Avis Budget Group, Enterprise Truck Rental, and Penske Automotive Group have comprehensive sustainability reports that detail strategies and progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition their fleet to EVs. U-Haul has yet to indicate whether it intends to introduce EVs into its truck rental fleet.
Without a report disclosing greenhouse gas emissions and related targets, U-Haul fails to demonstrate that it is working to develop more resilient business models, which further heightens its exposure to competitive and regulatory risks related to climate change. We therefore urge a for vote on proposal number six. Thank you.
Thank you. The Carideo Group, Inc., as the designee of Broadridge Financial Solutions, has been appointed as the vote tabulator and inspector of elections for this meeting. You should have already reviewed with Carideo any proxies that you intend to vote in person at this meeting. If you have not done so, please do so at this time. There is nobody going to do that, so thank you. Voting is now concluded. No further votes, proxies, changes, substitutions, or revocations are permitted. As they are tabulating that, I would like to comment on our operations and our results for fiscal year 2026. Revenues for both self-move and self-storage increased throughout the fiscal 2026, but we underperformed on profits. The year-over-year earnings decline was heavily driven by elevated fleet depreciation expense and losses on the disposal of retired rental equipment.
Managing our fleet and expanding our dealer network will help further balance the current reality of our equipment economics. The public is depending on U-Haul to offer reliable and economical equipment. During the fiscal year, we added 5.3 million net rentable square foot of self-storage. We have slowed real estate CapEx as we continue to rent up underutilized existing storage capacity. Our one-year price lock guarantee for self-storage codified our long-standing approach to treating customers with transparent and fair pricing. The U-Box program grows in awareness with every passing day. We are well-positioned with warehouse capacity and U-Box containers and delivery equipment to meet future demand. The board of directors authorized a $350 million share repurchase program across both classes of shares. The company is optimistic about the operational investments we have made and the value they will create over the long term.
Our team members and neighborhood dealers operate in a competitive and demanding environment and continue to serve our customers well. Their efforts and the trust placed in us by our customers define our future prospects. I will now ask Richard Leza of The Carideo Group, our independent inspector of elections, to provide a preliminary vote tally. Richard?
The preliminary results for each of the proposals are as follows. For proposal one, each of the seven named director nominees has received a majority of affirmative votes. For proposal two, the advisory vote on compensation has been approved. For proposal three, which is the advisory vote on the frequency of future advisory votes, the three-year frequency has received the majority of affirmative votes. For proposal four, the ratification of Deloitte & Touche has been approved. For proposal five, the stockholder proposal to ratify and affirm the decisions and actions taken has been approved. For proposal six, the stockholder proposal regarding greenhouse gas emissions did not receive approval, as a majority of the votes cast were cast against proposal six. Thank you.
Thank you, Richard. You have heard the preliminary results of the voting. The final election results will be filed on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With that, we are adjourning the main part of the meeting, and we will now take questions, if any, from the audience or submitted over the webcast. Sebastien, do we have some questions?
Yeah, we have one question here, Joe. Given the opportunities energy efficiency, including fleet electrification, provides U-Haul's business and customers, what is the company's assessment of disclosing a comprehensive sustainability report?
Well, we'll have to start with the predicate of that, which is given the opportunity of energy efficiency, including electric fleet electrification. There is no such opportunity. That's simply smoke and mirrors. To the extent that they reference our competitors doing it, you can go on their website and read it and evaluate it for yourself whether it's smoke and mirrors. What is our assessment of disclosing a comprehensive sustainability report? Well, an actual comprehensive sustainability report would have to go back to 1945 when we started, and I think they call that Scope 4 emissions. Am I correct on that? Scope 4 greenhouse gas accounting. Because you see, the problem is it's always measured relative to a point in time. So if you've already handled things, it's not as flattering.
But of course, if you build trucks that have no streamlining, even though you know better, if you make comments like, "We don't buy the gas the customer does," which you can attribute to our competition, well, the day they decide to focus on this, they're going to see a tremendous improvement. Now, whenever that day is, I don't know, but for us, that was over 25 years ago. So, it would be to spend money, and this could not be done in anything that I would be willing to put my name to for less than in the millions annually. So my appetite for spending shareholders' money to do this is zero. Zero. Exactly nothing. Any other questions?
Those are all the questions.
Okay. Well, thank you very much. There is no further business requiring stockholder action, and I now adjourn the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company. Once again, I invite you to sign in to our virtual analyst investor webcast at investors.uhaul.com at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time today for a more extensive discussion of our operations. I thank you for your continued support. 2027 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company on the web again next year.