Aussie Broadband Limited (ABB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. My name is Adrian Fitzpatrick, and I have the privilege of being the Chair of your company and will be your Chair for today's meeting. It's my pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Aussie Broadband. It's now 10:00 a.m. and as we have a quorum, I declare this meeting open. Before proceedings begin, I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the country of the many lands we are meeting from today throughout Australia and recognize their continuing connection to lands, waters, and communities. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians and elders of this nation, both past and present, and the continuation of cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I'd like to recognize, in particular, the land that I'm standing on today, the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Today's meeting will be held as a hybrid AGM and has been convened in accordance with the Corporations Act and the company's constitution. Shareholders have the choice of participating in today's meeting in person or online via the Computershare meeting platform. The agenda today is on the screen with addresses from myself and our Group Chief Executive Officer, followed by the items of business being consideration of the financial statements, and the items requiring shareholders' votes. It's my duty as Chair to ensure the shareholders in attendance as a group have a reasonable opportunity to discuss the management of the company and the items of business before the meeting. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions during and towards the end of the meeting. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. Only shareholders, validly appointed proxies, and corporate representatives are entitled to vote at today's meeting. Holders attending in person today need to have obtained a yellow voting card or blue non-voting card when they registered. Please see the registration desk if you have not received your yellow or blue card. Those shareholders attending online, please refer to the instructions contained in the virtual online meeting guide and on the screen. If you're eligible to vote, once voting opens, press the vote icon and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select the one of the options. There is no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. Only shareholders, validly appointed proxies, and corporate representatives are entitled to ask questions at today's meeting. If you are participating virtually and did not submit a question before the AGM, you will be able to submit questions at any time during the meeting by registering as a shareholder or proxy holder and selecting the Q&A icon. To ask a verbal question, follow the instructions below the broadcast window. I will request online questions first and then invite questions from the floor. If you would like to ask a question in the room, please approach the microphone at the appropriate time and display your yellow or blue attendance card. When I call for questions, state your name and the organization you represent, if applicable, and please keep questions courteous and concise. Questions may be merged if we receive multiple questions under one topic. Please note that there will be time for shareholders to ask general questions after we have dealt with the formal business of today's meeting. I would now like to introduce my fellow directors, Sue Klose, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the People and Community Committee. On her left, Sarah Adam-Gedge, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee; Jean-Baptiste Rousselot, Non-Executive Director; and Michael Omeros, Executive Director. Our Company Secretary, Cheryl Cai, is also present in the front row as well as the company's auditor, KPMG, represented by Simon Dubois in the back corner. The auditor will be available to answer questions on the conduct of the audit and the audit report for the year ended 30 June 2026. I'd also like to welcome [ Jim MaCoyle ] from our share registry. Jim is at the front, who will be the returning officer for the poll to be taken on the resolutions at today's meeting. Before we start the formal part of the meeting, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last 12 months for Aussie Broadband Group. FY '26 was a transformational year for Aussie Broadband. While the scale of activity was significant, what is most important is that each step we took was part of a deliberate strategy to strengthen and diversify the business while positioning for sustainable, profitable growth. Through a combination of organic growth and strategic transactions, we have enhanced each segment and further advanced our look to '28 ambitions. The Aussie Broadband team completed 4 strategic transactions within 6 months, delivered the largest migration in NBN history, and exceeded 1 million total broadband connections over the second half of FY '26, an amazing effort. Throughout the year, our focus remained consistent: building a larger, more diversified, and more resilient business, capable of delivering sustainable, long-term growth. The company delivered a strong financial result in FY '26. Group revenue increased by 9.2% to almost $1.3 billion, while underlying EBITDA reached $165.3 million at the top end of our upgraded guidance range. Importantly, the growth achieved during FY '26 was substantially organic with the benefits of a number of strategic initiatives expected to contribute more meaningfully from FY '27 onwards. Earnings per share increased by 25.8%, demonstrating our continued ability to translate growth into improved shareholder returns. The Board was also pleased to increase distributions to shareholders. During the year, ordinary franked dividends increased by 50% from $0.04 per share to $0.06 per share. In August, we also announced an on-market share buyback of up to $115 million, reflecting the Board's confidence in the company's outlook, balance sheet strength, and cash generation capability. Growth was achieved across all operating segments, highlighting the strength of our diversified business model. While residential remains the largest contributor to the group, our business enterprise and government and wholesale operations continue to expand and provide additional revenues for growth and earnings diversification. FY '26 was also a year of portfolio evolution. We completed a number of strategic initiatives that strengthened different parts of the group, increased scale, and broadened our capabilities. These actions were not undertaken for short-term outcomes, but rather to support our long-term ambitions and create enduring value for shareholders. Much of the activity now complete, our current focus is integration, execution, and realizing the benefits from those investments. FY '26 also saw several changes across both Aussie Broadband Board and our leadership team. I'd formally like to welcome Group Chief Financial Officer, Darren Rowland. Darren? [ He was like before ] -- to his first Aussie Broadband AGM. Darren joined the company earlier this year and has already made a significant contribution through his commercial insight, strategic perspective, and focus on disciplined execution. I'd also like to thank Andy Giles Knopp for his contribution to the business over the past 2 years. At Board level, we recently welcomed John Baptiste Rousselot as a non-executive Director. JB brings deep communications experience and a strong industry perspective that will be valuable to the company as the company continues to grow and evolve, and we'll hear from JB a little later. I would also like to acknowledge those who have recently departed the Board, in particular, to thank Philip Britt for his extraordinary contribution to Aussie Broadband alongside John Prosser and Pat Greene, who's here today, Phil helped build a business that has become one of Australia's leading telecommunications companies. I would also like to thank Graeme Barkley for his contribution during his time on the Board. On behalf of the shareholders and the broader company, we thank them for their service and commitment. The Board continues to review its composition and capabilities, and we remain well progressed in the search for an additional director to complement the skills and experience already represented around the table and before you today. Finally, I would like to recognize our people. The achievements, which I mentioned earlier for FY '26, were only possible because of the dedication, professionalism, and commitment of more than 1,600 employees across the group. Their efforts have enabled us to grow, evolve, and continue delivering for customers and shareholders alike. On behalf of the Board, thank you to you, our shareholders, for your continued support and confidence in Aussie Broadband. I'll now hand over to Brian, who will take you through the FY '26 performance and provide a brief update for the year ahead. Thank you.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us here in the room and online. 12 months ago, at my first AGM as Group CEO, I told you that the More/Tangerine agreements that we announced that week would take us past 1 million broadband connections. Today, we have more than 1.3 million connections on our network and have nearly completed the migration of AGL telco customers, and we are now Australia's third largest NBN provider. FY '26 was a defining year for Aussie Broadband. We delivered organic growth across all 3 operating segments, increased earnings, completed a number of important strategic initiatives, and continue to grow our market share. Broadband connections exceeded 1.1 million during the year, and our NBN market share increased to 12.1%. Importantly, we also completed the largest NBN migration undertaken to-date and materially strengthened the scale and diversification of the business. While the second half of FY '26 and the start of FY '27 have been operationally busy with multiple migrations occurring at the same time, the strategic work we set out to complete is now largely behind us. Today, the business is larger, more diversified, and better positioned for future growth than it was 12 months ago. Turning to our financial performance. Group revenue increased 9.2% to almost $1.3 billion, driven by organic growth across all operating segments. Importantly, much of that growth was achieved before the full financial benefit of our strategic initiatives began to flow through. The strongest story was below the revenue line. Underlying EBITDA increased 19.6% to $165.3 million, while earnings per share increased 25.8% to $0.239. Operating cash flow increased by more than 40%. These results demonstrate the increasing scale of the business, improving operating leverage, and our ability to convert growth into stronger earnings and cash generation. As Adrian mentioned, the Board increased fully franked dividends by 50% to $0.06 per share and announced on-market share buyback of up to $115 million. To-date, we've purchased more than 11.7 million shares, which represents 37% of the total buyback. Together, these initiatives reflect our confidence in the outlook for the business and our commitments to creating value for the shareholders. We continue to be disciplined with our capital management and remain in a strong financial position, enabling us to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the future. In terms of operational performance, broadband connections grew by 323,000 in the financial year to reach 1.1 million by the end of June. That number continues to grow, and as previously mentioned, is now sitting at over 1.3 million. Our share of the NBN market share -- market rose 3.7 percentage points to 12.1%. And to put that into perspective, when we listed on the ASX in 2020, it was 4%. Mobile continues to build momentum with 22% growth in services across the year. International roaming was launched in May, followed by eSIM capability in August. These product additions made bundling services together even more attractive for our customers. And as we have seen, customers that bundle services do stay with us longer. I want to spend a few minutes on the strategic transactions because each one strengthens a different part of our business. Starting with the residential segment. We completed the acquisition of AGL's telco business in June. Just as important, though, is the long-term partnership that comes with it. AGL keeps selling telco under its own brand, bundled with energy, and we provide the network and the customer experience. That opens a channel into one of Australia's largest energy retailers. Our 5-year goal is 500,000 connections, just 12% of AGL's 4.2 million energy customers. Migration started on time in July, and we expect to finish by the end of this month with approximately 320,000 connections across broadband and mobile. AGL launched new customer acquisition campaigns in late September to drive growth. In the Wholesale segment, we added 269,000 broadband services with the More and Tangerine migration. Through More's partnership with CommBank Yello, it also gives us an indirect Big 4 banking channel. Short-term volume impacts on migrated More and Tangerine connections as communicated in August have now been mitigated. We've seen modest volume growth in October to-date, and we expect continued growth going forward. Nexgen gives us stronger small and medium business capability for our business enterprise and government segment. This includes national reach, an experienced sales team, and a broader product set and includes agentic AI tools for small businesses. It's performing in line with expectations with leads from Aussie driving additional growth. Last year, I said we would refresh our look to '28 strategic ambitions to reflect the More and Tangerine wholesale services agreement. Since then, we haven't just successfully delivered the More and Tangerine migration, we've also materially strengthened the business through the acquisitions of AGL Telco and Nexgen while continuing to deliver organic growth across our operating segments. As a result, we significantly upgraded those ambitions to reflect the increased scale, diversification, and earnings potential of the business today. As always, these are ambitions, not guidance. The path is clear; FY '26 was the year we executed the transactions. FY '27 is the year we complete the migrations and embed the teams and operations that joined us. And FY '28 is when we start -- really start to see the benefits of scale showing up in our earnings. Our overarching ambition hasn't changed: to be the telco people love for our customers, our people, our partners, and importantly, you, our shareholders. Before we move to the formal business, here's how FY '27 has started. Broadband connections have continued to grow, migration activities are nearing completion, and integration of our recent initiatives is progressing well. As we work through the more Tangerine and AGL migrations, there was inevitably some short-term customer disruption and operational noise. That is not unusual when moving hundreds of thousands of services, and these effects will dissipate in the next few weeks. Year-to-date, we've added more than 193,000 broadband connections, which means our total connections now exceeds 1.3 million. We've continued to deliver organic growth across all 3 segments. Excluding the recently migrated AGL and More and Tangerine customers, we've grown by 18,800 connections. And of this, 11,000 represents organic net growth within our residential segment. We today reaffirm our FY '27 guidance of underlying EBITDA between $205 million and $215 million and capital expenditure between $60 million and $65 million as announced at our FY '26 results. Beyond that, the business has started the year really well. Our priorities remain straightforward: continue to grow organically, complete integration activities, realize the benefits of recent transactions, improve productivity and operating leverage, and continue executing against our look to '28 ambitions. My key messages today are straightforward. FY '26 was a transformational year. We delivered organic growth, increased earnings, and successfully executed a number of important strategic initiatives. The last 6 months have been busy operationally as we work through 2 of the largest migrations undertaken in Australian telecommunications market. That disruption has created some short-term noise in our operating metrics and customer numbers. Now that the migration activity is nearing completion, we will now be focused on integration, growth, and benefits realization. We remain well-positioned to deliver our look to '28 ambitions. The business is larger, more diversified, and has multiple drivers of future earnings growth across residential, business enterprise, and government, and wholesale. To the more than 1,600 people across Aussie Broadband, Symbio, and Nexgen, thank you. Moving more than 0.5 million services onto our network in a year while always keeping the customer front of mind is no small thing. You are the reason we continue to win accolades for service. Thank you to our customers, and thank you to our partners at AGL and More and Tangerine for trusting us to service your customers. And to you, our shareholders, thank you for your support through a big year. I'll now hand back to Adrian to take us through the items of business.

Thanks very much, Brian. Exciting things ahead. I now turn to the business of today's meeting. Notice of this meeting and explanatory information has been sent to all shareholders, and I propose that the notice of meeting be taken as read. I can confirm that I propose to vote those proxies left to my discretion as the Chair in favor of all resolutions. Proxy votes received prior to the meeting will be shown on the screen for each item of business to be voted on today. Please note that voting exclusions apply to the company's KMP and their closely related parties for items 2 and 5 as outlined in the Notice of Meeting. The first item of ordinary business is the consideration of the financial report, Directors' report, auditor's report and for the first time, the sustainability report for the year ended 30 June 2026. These were circulated as part of the annual report, which members received via printed hard copy, if they so elected, or were able to access on our website. There is no requirement for shareholders to vote on these reports. However, you now have the opportunity to ask questions about the financial statements and reports, including the sustainability report for the year ended 30 June 2026. Please state your name or the organization you represent before doing so. As a reminder, I will request questions from online attendees first and then questions from the floor. Cheryl, are there any questions on the financial statements and reports online?

Chair, there are no online questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the floor in relation to the financial statements and reports? Thank you. If there are no further questions or comments on the financial statements and reports, I will declare them as considered and received. We will now move to the items of business on which shareholders are being asked to vote. This item is a nonbinary -- nonbinding ordinary resolution and relates to the adoption of the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2026, as set out in the Notice of Meeting and displayed on the screen, which is as follows: that the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2026 be adopted. The results of the proxies received prior to the meeting are displayed on the screen. Are there any online questions on this item, Cheryl?

There are no online questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the floor? No. Thank you. I will now formally put this resolution to the meeting. The next resolution concerns my reelection. hence, the tie-in, thank you today. I'll now hand over to Sue Klose to chair this part of the meeting. Thank you, Sue.

Thank you, Adrian. Item 3 relates to the reelection of Adrian Fitzpatrick as a director as set out in the Notice of Meeting and displayed on the screen as follows: that Adrian Fitzpatrick, being eligible, be reelected as a director. The results of the proxies received prior to the meeting are displayed on the screen. I invite Adrian Fitzpatrick now to address the meeting in relation to his reelection.

Thank you, and thank you to the shareholders for the confidence they've displayed in me and your Board. It's a privilege to be a director of a public company, especially a company like Aussie, and it's not lost on me. I'd like to acknowledge the fellow directors that we've been able to assemble are here in front of you today, the diverse experience of the Board and the hard work and experience is going to make sure your Board is going to be effective going forward. I'd also like to recognize Brian and what we've been able to assemble with the management team and the ELT. The interaction between the Board and the management is professional and respectful and a basis for sound strategic development and decision-making, key elements for any Board. I'm very conscious that if elected, this is my third term. And God willing, if I make it to the end of the third term, it will be 9 years as a director. At the appropriate time during this term, my succession will be an item of discussion for your Board to consider. Finally, I have a saying a week in Telco can be a very long time. While I'm not sure what's in store for Aussie in the next weeks, months, and years ahead, rest assured, as shareholders, your Board will be seeking to continue to enhance shareholder value while upholding the values upon which Aussie was born. Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Adrian. Are there any online questions on item 3?

There are no online questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the floor? No questions from the floor. I now formally put this resolution to the meeting. Back to you.

Thank you very much. Item 4 relates to the election of Jean-Baptiste Rousselot as Director as set out in the Notice of Meeting and displayed on the screen and which is as follows: Jean-Baptiste Rousselot being eligible, be elected as a Director. The results of the proxies received prior to the meeting are displayed on the screen. I now invite JB to address the meeting in relation to his election. JB?

Thank you. As Adrian mentioned, my name is Jean-Baptiste Rousselot. I go by JB, and it's an honor to be considered to be elected on the Board of Aussie Broadband. For more than 20 years, I've worked in the telecommunications and the media industry, both in Australia and New Zealand, starting with Aussie Mail back in the days of Dialup Internet for those of you who remember that time, also the early days of voice over IP. I then spent 10 years with Telstra BigPond, working in broadband and new media, 6 years at NBN in strategy, regulatory and in operations, and then most recently, 5 years as the CEO of Chorus in New Zealand. And during that time, I was also a member of the Board of the Telecommunications Forum and its Chair for about a year. I look forward to bringing this experience to the Board. It's an experience that was gained at both the retail and the wholesale level. I think that Aussie Broadband is in an amazing position, especially after the strategic deals that were mentioned by Brian and Adrian. I look forward to working with the Board and the team. And as you would expect, I encourage you to support this motion. Thank you.

Thank you, JB. We are, indeed, very fortunate to have someone of your experience being eligible to join our Board. Are there any online questions in relation to this item, Cheryl?

There are no online questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the floor? Peter?

Thank you. [ Peter Caliero ]. First of all, Jean-Baptiste, welcome aboard. I also -- as well as a shareholder of Aussie Broadband, I'm also a shareholder of Chorus New Zealand. So I understand your background. So I appreciate your background. What attracted you to Aussie Broadband?

Thank you for your question. Looking at the experience I've had, I mentioned Aussie Mail, I mentioned BigPond. Those were really iconic brands back in their time. They were also challengers and they had really strong values. And so when I was offered the opportunity to consider Aussie Broadband, I felt exactly that. It's a brand that's well-known. It has really strong values and it's growing, and it's offering something different in this market.

Any other questions? If there are no other questions, I will now formally put this resolution to the meeting. Item 5 relates to the approval of securities under the LTI plan as set out in the Notice of Meeting and displayed on the screen and which is as follows: that approval be given, for all purposes, for the grant of 56,8060 exercise price option, zpos to Michael Omeros, under the FY '27 LTI plan. The results of the proxies received prior to the meeting are displayed on the screen. Are there any online questions in relation to this item, Cheryl?