Central Petroleum Limited (CTP.AX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Okay. We're good to go. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, we're having far too much of a good time over there and almost lost track of the time. So good morning, and welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Central Petroleum Limited. I'm Agu Kantsler, and I'm the Chair of Central Petroleum Limited. I'll be chairing the meeting today in accordance with the company's constitution. In accordance with the Corporations Act, today's AGM is being held in person here at the Christie Conference Spaces in Brisbane and as a virtual online meeting via the Computershare meeting platform. Before we start our official proceedings, for those in attendance here, I ask you please to note the emergency exit for this room is via the entrance to my right. Please note the basic fire and evacuation procedures, which we have put up on the screen. In the event of an emergency, please follow the directions of the Christie Conference Spaces' staff. I also wish to advise all of those attending that these proceedings are being audio recorded. It's now slightly after 10:00 a.m., and I've been informed by the Company Secretary that a quorum is present, so I declare the Annual General Meeting properly constituted and open. As this meeting is being held both in person and virtually, there are a number of process matters, which I would like to bring to your attention. Firstly, for those shareholders and proxy holders who are online, your questions can be submitted at any time. To ask a question, select the Q&A icon. Type your question into the text box. Once you've finished typing, please hit the send button. To ask an audio question, follow the instructions written below the webcast window. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. At the relevant time, Central's Chief Financial Officer, Damian Galvin, will be reading out the questions submitted online, and Damian is sitting over there to my left. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on the same topic, they will be amalgamated together. For those in attendance here at the Christie Conference Spaces, you'll be afforded the opportunity to ask questions. And I ask that at the appropriate time, you direct your questions to me or the other Chair of the meeting at that time. Accordingly, after each item is read out, comments from the floor will be invited. However, please note, questions will be limited to the item of business being considered. I would ask that you state your name for the record when you address the meeting. Upon conclusion of the meeting formalities, shareholders will also be given the opportunity to ask additional questions to the Board and the company's senior executives. Finally, due to time constraints, we may run out of time to answer all of your questions. If this happens, we will answer them in due course via e-mail and posting them to our website. Voting today will be conducted via a poll on all items of business. In order to provide online attendees with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, press the Vote icon, and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a Submit button or Enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. You do, however, have the ability to change your vote online up until the time I declare voting closed. For shareholders and proxy holders in attendance here, when you registered at the attendance desk this morning, you should have received a card from Computershare. Shareholders and proxy holders holding a blue card can vote and speak at the meeting. Shareholders holding a yellow card are not eligible to vote but can speak at the meeting. Visitors are not eligible to vote or speak at the meeting and have been issued a white attendance card. If there is anyone present who is eligible to vote but has not received a blue card, please see a representative of Computershare now. On the reverse of your blue admission card is your voting paper instructions -- and instructions. I'll now go through the procedures for filling in the voting papers for those shareholders here at the Christie Conference Spaces. Proxy holders have attached to their admission card a summary of proxy votes, which details the voting instructions for business items on the appointment documents in your favor. By completing the voting paper when instructed to vote in a particular manner, you are deemed to have voted in accordance with those instructions. In respect of any open votes a proxy holder may be entitled to cast, you need to -- you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your open votes. Proxy holders should refer to the summary of proxy votes form attached to your voting paper for further information. Shareholders also need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your vote. Please ensure that you print your name where indicated. And when you have finished filling in your voting paper, please lodge it in a ballot box to ensure that your votes are counted. In respect of voting at today's meeting, on a poll, each member online or present in person or their proxy, attorney or corporate representative has 1 vote for each share held. Only one vote is allocated per joint holding. If more than one joint holder tenders a vote, the vote of the member named first in the register must be accepted to the exclusion of the others. If a proxy has been directed to vote in a particular manner, if the proxy is entitled to vote, he or she must vote in accordance with the direction. And for some items of business, certain votes will be disregarded as explained in the voting exclusion statements in the notice of meeting. The persons entitled to vote on the poll are all shareholders, representatives and attorneys of shareholders and proxy holders who hold blue admission cards or who duly attend online. The order of business will be that I will read out each item of business in turn and take questions on that item of business. For those here in person, I will then defer voting until the end of the meeting, at which time, I'll explain the voting procedure for the poll to be conducted for the resolutions on Items 2 through to 6 using the blue voting card. Importantly, should you require assistance with the technology, please call Computershare Investor Services on +61-3-9415-4024. If you require any assistance here at the Christie Conference Spaces, please raise your hand. I now declare voting open on all items of business. For those online, please submit your votes at any time. I'll give reminders to vote after every resolution, and I'll give you a warning before I move to close the voting. Firstly, let me introduce to you our Board members. Leon Devaney, our Managing Director; Stephen Gardiner, Non-Executive Director; and Kathy Hirschfeld, Non-Executive Director. In addition to our Board, [ Mr. Bob Little ], a member of our Risk and Sustainability Committee, retired this year. Bob was first engaged by Central Petroleum as a consultant 18 years ago. Born in Hatches Creek and a member of the Arunta tribe of Alice Springs, he has played a key role as an adviser in the negotiations for our oil and gas fields in the Northern Territory and helping [Audio Gap] us to maintain our local relationships. Also present is our Secretary -- Company Secretary, Daniel White, at the end of the table. And in addition to the Board and also in attendance from Central's executive team are our Chief Financial Officer, Damian Galvin; who we introduced before; and Chief Operating Officer, Ross Evans. I would also like to introduce you to Mr. Marcus Goddard and Mr. Michael Crowe, our auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Mr. David Maffescioni, General Manager of Computershare, the company's share registry. David is at the back of the room. So, on to my Chairman's address. Shareholders and guests, welcome, and I'm very pleased to chair this Annual General Meeting for Central Petroleum, my first in the role. The past 12 months have provided clear evidence that the deliberate actions taken by the Board and management in recent years are beginning to deliver tangible results for our companies and our shareholders. And I'd like to acknowledge my predecessor, Mick McCormack, for his role in helping to stabilize the company's fortunes. Mick did plan to join us today, but unfortunately, he was unable to make it and sends his apologies. Operating in the Northern Territory has always required perseverance, resilience and an unrelenting focus on cost due to its remote location, large distances and unique market characteristics, not least of which is the increasing prevalence of closures of the Northern Gas Pipeline in recent time, and that's our sole delivery route to customers in the Eastern states. When the Northern Pipeline closed last year due to the decline in production from the offshore Blacktip gas field, we acted swiftly to secure long-term sales agreements with the Northern Territory government to help them underpin stable domestic gas supply and largely mitigate our own market risks. More recently, we have contracted the remainder of our firm gas supply to McArthur River Mining through to year-end 2027. The positive impact of the new Northern Territory government gas contracts has become evident across our operations this year as they've not only strengthened our revenue base and balance sheet, but have also delivered the certainty that enables us to contemplate strategic reinvestment. Our underlying profit of $6.5 million in financial year '25 is an impressive turnaround from last year's $1.4 million underlying loss and reflects the effectiveness of the initiatives we've taken, especially considering that our new gas contracts have only contributed for the second half of the financial year. Our improved financial position supported investment in 2 new and very successful production wells at Mereenie and the announcement of a share buyback program, our first step in providing returns to shareholders. Looking ahead, our production assets are positioned for reliable cash generation through 2027 with firm offtake agreements covering expected output from existing wells. This foundation provides a robust platform for the pursuit of further growth opportunities. Nonetheless, we remain vigilant to evolving market conditions, including the potential impact of new gas supply from the Beetaloo Basin and the prospect of gas marketing reforms, including domestic gas reservation policies, which may impact our gas production and contracting activities. As we assess an optimal capital allocation strategy, our strengthened financial footing allows us to consider a broader set of value-creating alternatives, whether through production expansion, targeted exploration, mergers and acquisitions, early debt repayment or the introduction of sustainable dividends. Another facet of our business is the potentially sizable sub-salt helium, hydrogen and hydrocarbon resources, particularly in the Southeastern Amadeus Basin. And our strategy is to advance these projects through the introduction of new partners to help shoulder the considerable capital costs and risks entailed. We, therefore, announced last week a pathway to restart drilling activity in this play by vending our interest in 3 prospective sub-salt exploration licenses into a U.K.-listed entity, Georgina Energy, in which we hold a 25% -- we would hold a 25% equity interest. This transaction will only complete if, in advance of completion, Georgina raise sufficient funds on our current estimates to participate in the drilling of the Mt Kitty / Jacko Bore appraisal well. It has 2 names. Sometimes it's Mt Kitty 2 and sometimes it's Jacko Bore. And that well will be operated by Santos. We believe that this structure provides a neat solution for all shareholders with a nimble, focused pure-play vehicle to pursue the potentially high reward price in these sub-salt plays. Our plan then is to subsequently distribute the Georgina shares to shareholders, giving shareholders the option to remain -- to retain exposure to the upside or alternatively crystallize value from these assets, which are currently undervalued in our hydrocarbon-focused portfolio. Our achievements this year are the result of the dedicated efforts of Central's Board, management and staff, all of whose commitment to safety and operational excellence has been outstanding. I extend my appreciation to my colleagues on the Board, our CEO, Leon Devaney, and the executive team for their leadership. and I acknowledge the ongoing support of our fantastic staff in the field and the office here, stakeholders, suppliers, local communities and traditional owners. With a strong operational and financial foundation, I'm confident that we are well placed to deliver further positive results in FY '26. I look forward to Leon regularly updating you as we build on this year's progress. And at this stage, I'd like to hand over to Leon for his Managing Director's presentation. Leon?

Thanks, Agu, and good morning, everyone. It's great to be here. Last year, the Board and management established a set of ambitious targets for the company, and I'm pleased to say that we achieved many of those goals. We also made commitments to shareholders that the hard work we put into transforming Central's business fundamentals would start to deliver tangible results. Over the course of this year, that outcome has been realized with a significant step change in our operational and financial performance. During today's presentation, I'll be outlining some of these achievements and in doing so, illustrate the direction we are determined to pursue as we progress forward and drive the business into the coming years. Let's take a look at the achievements and the list that we have over the past 12 months. We began with driving a gas supply agreement that was negotiated and settled, and we started delivering gas under that agreement, which underwrote new drilling, reduced our exposure to the Northern Gas Pipeline and elevated our average portfolio price. We successfully delivered 2 new production wells at Mereenie ahead of schedule, under budget and at a production rate well above target. Our financial position improved significantly over the year. We announced that we had replaced 96% of our produced 2P reserves, demonstrating the quality of our producing assets. We launched a share buyback program as a maiden shareholder return milestone. We agreed to a spin-off for our sub-salt assets to a listed helium-focused company, which is expected to restart Mt Kitty drilling by mid-2027. Operational performance remained strong across our 3 producing assets. We continued to support local communities, delivered reliable gas to critical customers in the NT and maintained environmentally responsible practices. And we maintained safety as a focus with our total recordable injury frequency rate, TRIFR, on track to return to 0 by next month. It's a great outcome and something we're very proud of the people we have out in the field and their focus on safety and the culture of safety that we have out there. However, this year was not without its own set of operational challenges, something that's part of operating remote gas fields in the oil and gas sector and something that we have dealt with many times over the past 8 years in particular. One of those has been managing oil offtake constraints imposed by others, which has had a small but noticeable impact on our gas production at Mereenie. That's been seen over the past few months. We're working on mitigations, and we have several that we're pursuing. I fully expect this impact to only be temporary. The NT gas market continues to be less certain for long-term gas contracting. That is something that is critical for our planning and decision to invest in new wells, either at Palm Valley or Mereenie. And I'm proud of the way our team has dealt with these challenges, along with other challenges that have popped up, finding solutions, mitigations that allow us to deliver strong results that we have reported over the past year. Let's turn now to financial performance. That's improved significantly over almost every key metric. Underlying profit reached $6.5 million in fiscal year 2025, marking a substantial increase from the loss of $1.4 million reported in the previous year. Underlying EBITDAX also exhibited strong growth, increasing by 43% to nearly $20 million. Of note, our gross margin rose by 26% with our margin in the second half of fiscal year 2025 posting a 43% increase over fiscal year 2024. There are 2 primary drivers behind these improvements: first, the additional production from the 2 wells at Mereenie, which began in January; second, there was a step change increase in our average portfolio price. Our average portfolio price for fiscal year 2025 increased by 19% compared to the prior year. In the second half of 2025, however, our average portfolio price was $10 per gigajoule equivalent, an increase of 33% compared to 2024. This is a significant increase in margin over just a 12-month period, and it reflects a tighter Northern Territory gas market and the commencement of new gas supply agreements in January. Now, let me turn to our balance sheet, which has also improved over the past year. In our most recent quarter, we reported a cash balance of around $27 million, a substantial figure relative to our current market cap of about $50 million. If you look at the chart on the right, you'll see that our net cash balance now stands at more than $3 million. This improvement continues a clear trend of strengthening over the past 8 years and reflects our disciplined fiscal management. I want to also highlight that our gas balancing repayments will conclude in 6 months' time. This is a major financial milestone, freeing up 2 terajoules per day, equivalent to about $7.3 million per year. So certainly a step change milestone that shareholders can look forward to in the near term. Moving on to the share buyback. We announced this earlier this year as our maiden shareholder return milestone. The program allows the company to purchase up to 10% of its outstanding shares over a 12-month period. While the program is in place, I want to emphasize that we have not yet conducted any share purchases under this program. This lack of activity is not by intent, but from regulatory rules that restrict the company on when they can purchase shares. For example, we are unable to purchase shares while in possession of nonpublic market-sensitive information. This includes periods leading up to the release of financial or operational results, as well as during negotiations for material transactions such as significant gas supply agreements, asset sales, farm-ins, et cetera. We are still not able to purchase shares under the buyback at this time. However, I anticipate that Central will be in a position to do that in the near future. We will keep shareholders updated regarding any future share buyback purchases when they occur, which is required under the ASX listing rules. Turning our attention to the NT gas market, which is always of interest. The NT gas market has become increasingly short of gas over the past year. This tightening supply is evident when you look at the production figures from the Blacktip field, shown in the blue area in the chart on the right. You can see a steady decline in Blacktip production over the past 4 years. Yes, so if we look at the area shown in blue, that reflects the Beetaloo production over the past few years. You can clearly see over the past 8 years, there's been a very steady decline in that, and it's very substantial relative to the NT gas demand. You can see a steady decline also in more recent periods. Earlier in the year, Blacktip drilled a well. The intent of that well was to hopefully reverse this trend. But as indicated in the circled area, you can see on the right side of the chart, output from that has continued to decline significantly. The growing shortage of the NT gas market has had tangible impacts. Most notably, the Northern Gas Pipeline has now been shut in due to insufficient supply. And NT customers are relying more and more on expensive gas diverted from LNG sources. With peak summer demand just around the corner, we can expect this supply tightening to increase further over the near term. Looking ahead, the medium and longer-term outlook for NT gas supply will be shaped by appraisal activity in the Beetaloo Basin. New supply from the Beetaloo is scheduled to commence around next year, mid time. However, timing, volume and the long-term viability of this supply is still uncertain, and that makes the NT gas market very difficult to forecast in the medium and longer terms. Adding to this market dynamic are projects like the Arafura rare earths plant, which if sanctioned, could increase demand in the NT by around 25%, and that would obviously have a significant impact on the supply-demand equation for that market. In response, Central is actively marketing our uncontracted gas, which has the advantage of being backed by proven reserves and a track record of reliable delivery performance in the NT. We're particularly focused on bringing new gas production capacity online quickly by drilling wells at Mereenie and Palm Valley. Our permitting and approval processes are well underway. They're very advanced. And we could potentially be in a position to deliver new production next year. The requirement for any new wells, however, is securing a term gas supply agreement, something we are actively pursuing at this time. Changing subjects, if we look at our sub-salt sale, our recent sale of our interest of 3 Santos-operated sub-salt prospects, which we announced last week, has given us a pathway to unlock shareholder value and kickstart drilling at Mt Kitty potentially. In summary, we've reached an agreement to sell our interest in the Dukas, Mt Kitty and Mahler prospects to Georgina Energy, a dedicated small-cap helium explorer, listed on the London Stock Exchange. And in return, we will receive 25% shareholding in Georgina. There are a few key points I want to highlight. First, appraisal drilling at Mt Kitty is required by June 2027. That's an obligation under our current renewal application with the government. It's worth noting too that Mt Kitty is already an existing helium and hydrogen discovery. So initially focusing on this prospect makes a lot of sense. The transaction is also subject to Georgina successfully raising $14 million in equity. This is to help ensure that they are fully funded for their share of the Mt Kitty drilling program. Importantly, this equity raise needs to happen before our deal completes. So Central won't need to contribute to the capital raise, and its 25% interest isn't diluted by the share price inherent in that equity raise or how many shares they actually issue to accomplish that $14 million target. Another important element to mention is our intention to distribute the Georgina shares to Central shareholders after the transaction is completed. We anticipate the transaction to complete in the first half of 2026 with the distribution of Georgina shares anticipated by late 2026 and drilling at Mt Kitty scheduled for the first half of 2027. There are several drivers behind our decision to sell the sub-salt permits and structure the deal in this way. First, in line with Central's core business of oil and natural gas production, we're focused on maximizing operating cash flow, increasing production through new wells and expanding reserves through lower-risk appraisal activities. Sub-salt helium exploration and appraisal is a very different ball game with a very different risk profile. Georgina is an existing helium exploration company that is familiar with the Amadeus Basin. So these assets can benefit from dedicated technical expertise and access capital from global helium investors. This could be increasingly important as the permits advance through exploration, appraisal and potentially development. Another benefit of this transaction is that Central shareholders will continue to have upside exposure to the sub-salt permits, including drilling at Mt Kitty on a fully funded basis. The distribution of Georgina shares to Central will give recipients of those shares the ability to determine their own level of exposure to the Mt Kitty drilling and Georgina's broader helium portfolio. Shareholders can, for example, maintain their exposure to the potential upside by retaining their shares in Georgina. They can increase their exposure to the upside by acquiring more Georgina shares, or alternatively, they can reduce their exposure by selling. I want to highlight again that the sale of our sub-salt permits is subject to key conditions being achieved, notably Georgina's equity raise. Now, switching over to our capital allocation strategy. Over the past few months, we have made 2 capital allocation decisions. The first was the implementation of our share buyback program, which we anticipate will cost in the order of $3 million, taking into account the various trading constraints currently in effect. The second is our decision to sell our sub-salt permits through which Georgina would be required to fund the Mt Kitty appraisal well, as well as future sub-salt activities. Notwithstanding, we still hold a cash balance exceeding $25 million and enjoy a strong outlook for operating cash flows, supported by fixed-price contracts. In conclusion, the past year has been a period of achievement and considerable progress for the company. We've delivered on ambitious objectives, continued operational excellence and demonstrated disciplined fiscal management, all while navigating operational and market challenges and staying true to our commitments to safety, the environment and our communities. With the financial capacity to consider significant new investments, along with shareholder returns, we are well positioned to build on this success. Thank you all for your support over the past year, and we look forward to a very rewarding year ahead. At this point, we do have the management team and the Board available for any questions. And so, I'll probably hand over to Damian at this time to see how we want to proceed on that basis.

Thanks, Leon. I don't have any questions online at this stage.

Okay. Anybody from the audience in attendance? No? That's easy. Well, okay. Well, I must have answered everyone's questions. It's fantastic. Okay. Well, at this point, I'll hand it over to Agu to continue on.

Thanks, Leon. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of today's meeting is to deal with the formal business as set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting dated the 17th of October 2025. As shareholders, you've all received the notice of meeting. If there are no objections and in an effort to expedite proceedings, I move that the notice of meeting be taken as read. The items of business on the agenda are set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting. These are represented by consideration of the financial report for the year ended 30th of June 2025 and 8 individual resolutions. The minutes of the previous meeting of shareholders held on the 20th of November 2024 are available by request from the Company Secretary, Mr. White, at the conclusion of the meeting or by e-mailing [email protected]. Based on Item 2, proxies and direct votes have been received from 140 shareholders, representing 197,327,351 shares, which is 26.21% of the company's issued capital. All proxies and direct votes have been received by and validated by Computershare. As Chair of this meeting, I advise that I intend to vote all undirected proxies in favor of Items 2 through to 6. As discussed earlier, we will conduct a poll on Items 2 through to 6. And I appoint Mr. Maffescioni of Computershare as the returning officer to conduct the poll and report to me the results of the poll. Mr. Maffescioni will have power to co-opt as his agents, member of his staff and/or company representatives. So Item 1 is the financial statements and reports. The first item of business of the meeting is to receive and consider the annual financial report of the company for the financial year ended 30 June 2025, together with the Directors' report and the auditor's report. I now table the annual financial report of the company for the financial year ended 30th of June 2025, together with the Directors' declaration, the Directors' report and the auditor's report. This is an opportunity to ask questions of the company's auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, on the conduct of the audit. And Mr. Goddard and Mr. Crowe from PwC are available for responding to questions relating to the financial reports. Are there any questions on the financial statements?

No.

Very good. There is no requirement for a vote on the acceptance of these reports. And as such, we now move on to the first resolution of the day. So Item 2 is adoption of the remuneration report. The Corporations Act requires all listed companies to present their remuneration report for each financial year for adoption by shareholders at the company's Annual General Meeting. The report can be found within the Directors' report section of the annual report. This resolution of shareholders is advisory only and is not binding on the Directors or the company. Members of the key management personnel and their proxies and closely related parties who received remuneration under the remuneration report are restricted from voting on this resolution. The resolution for Item 2 states that for the purposes of Section 250R(2) of the Corporations Act, and for all other purposes, approval is given for the adoption of the remuneration report as contained in the company's annual financial report for the financial year ended 30 June 2025. Is there any discussion on the motion?

No online questions.

Damian, thank you. I confirm that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 2, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? In-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. Item 3, reelection of directors. There are 2 resolutions under this item of business, each dealing with the election of -- reelection of directors. The first one is the reelection of myself. And as this is a resolution which relates to myself, I'm going to ask Kathy to chair this part of the meeting. Thank you, Kathy.

Thanks, Agu. Ladies and gentlemen, the resolution for Item 3A states that Agu Jan Kantsler, a Director, retires by rotation in accordance with the constitution and the ASX listing rules, and being eligible, offers himself for election as a Director, is reelected as a Director. Agu, would you like to say a few words to...

Sure. Just a couple. Yes, I can do that. I can sit here and do that. Thank you for activating the microphone. Ladies and gentlemen, I have over 45 years of experience in the international and Australian upstream oil and gas industry. And along the way, I've spent more than 20 years in senior leadership positions and 15 years serving on the Boards of several listed and private companies. I spent 15 years working for Shell International Petroleum in various international exploration assignments, including Australia, Nigeria, the Dutch sector of the North Sea and Indonesia. I then spent 13 years as Executive Vice President for Exploration and New Ventures with Woodside Petroleum, where I led teams credited with discovering numerous oil and gas discoveries totaling over 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and that included the giant Pluto and Calliance gas fields. When all of my exploration dollars at Woodside were committed to the Pluto development, as they should have been, I then ran health and safety for a time. And that included looking after 9 major construction projects with over 16,000 workers in Asia and Southeast Asia and our 9 operating facilities at the time, including the North West Shelf LNG plant. Along the way, I've spent a considerable time with management teams and Boards considering a myriad of finance, development and operational matters, including safety and risk management. And I feel that I have the requisite experience and skills to diligently serve Central shareholders. Thank you.

Thanks, Agu. Is there any discussion on the motion? I confirm that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 3A, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? In-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. I'll now hand back to Agu.

Thank you, Kathy. We're now on to resolution 3B, which is the reelection of Mr. Stephen William Gardiner. The resolution for Item 3B states that Stephen William Gardiner, a Director, retires by rotation in accordance with the constitution and the ASX listing rules, and being eligible, offers himself for election as a Director, is -- and is reelected as a Director. Stephen, can you say a few words about yourself?

I can indeed. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I've been on the Central Board now for just over 4 years, and I currently chair the Audit and Financial Risk Committee, and I'm very pleased to offer myself for reelection. A bit about myself. I was fortunate to have a 40-year career in corporate finance across some of Australia's largest multinational companies, including CSR and Pioneer International, if your minds go back that far. More recently, I spent 17 years at Oil Search, where I was in various executive roles, including 8 years as the Chief Financial Officer. That gave me a lot of responsibilities across the usual areas of CFO, including financial control and reporting, treasury, tax, audit, Investor Relations, IT and corporate sustainability, so a very wide sweep of responsibilities. Over the 40 years, I gained a particular expertise in raising capital from debt and equity markets. I've raised several billion dollars of equity and several billion dollars of debt in various forms in many companies. So a lot of experience in that space, particularly working on very complex project financings. Probably one of the more interesting ones was the development in PNG of its first LNG project, where USD 15 billion was raised from a variety of banks and governments around the world to get that funded, a very challenging exercise in a developing country. I also served as Group Secretary at Oil Search, so I have a strong appreciation of corporate governance. So I believe that this breadth of experience, both in corporate finance and in governance, largely gained at a major oil and gas company, makes me well suited for a role on the Board of this great company. So thank you very much.

Is there any discussion on the motion?

No online questions.

No? Okay. I confirm then that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 3B, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? In-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. We move on then to Item 4, which is approval of future issues under the employee rights plan. And the resolution for Item 4 states that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 7.1 and in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 7.2, Exception 13, and for all other purposes, the issue of securities under the company's employee rights plan on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement is approved. Is there any discussion on the motion?

No online questions.

Okay. I confirm then that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 4, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? In-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. Moving on to Item 5, which is the issue of share rights to Nonexecutive Directors. There are 3 resolutions under this item of business, each dealing with the issue of share rights to Nonexecutive Directors. By way of explanation, similar to the annual processes we've undertaken since the 2021 AGM, this resolution seeks to approve the issue of share rights to Nonexecutive Directors who elect to sacrifice up to 25% of their 2026 financial year base fees, inclusive of superannuation, but excluding committee fees, in order to receive an equivalent value in the form of share rights issued under the company's employee rights plan. This in turn is to enable the Nonexecutive Directors to progressively share in the growth and sustained value of CTP, Central Petroleum, by acquiring a shareholder in the company with a value equal to their total annual base fee remuneration, plus superannuation, so that over 4 years, you basically get to commit 100% of your base salary to buying shares. Over the years, it's been somewhat problematic for those Directors, like myself, who whilst wanting to buy shares in the company have been unable to do so because we're in possession of market-sensitive information. If any of the resolutions in Items 4A to 4C are not carried, the company will not be able to proceed to issue the share rights in respect of the relevant Nonexecutive Director and the 2026 financial year base fees will be paid in full in cash. Are there any questions on the resolutions to issue share rights to Nonexecutive Directors? No? So 5A is the approval of the issue of share rights to myself. And as this resolution relates to myself, I'm going to ask Kathy to chair this section of the meeting. Thank you, Kathy.

Thanks, Agu. Ladies and gentlemen, the resolution for Item 5A states that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and for all other purposes, approval be given for the grant of a number of share rights determined in accordance with the formula outlined in the explanatory statement to Agu Jan Kantsler or his nominee under the company's employee rights plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement. Is there any discussion on the motion?

Nothing online.

I confirm that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 5A, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? In-person voting on the resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. I'll now hand back to Agu.

Thank you so much, Kathy. We move on then to Item 5B, the approval of the issue of share rights to Mr. Stephen Gardiner. The resolution for Item 5B states that for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and for all other purposes, approval be given for the grant of a number of share rights determined in accordance with the formula outlined in the explanatory statement to Stephen William Gardiner or his nominee under the company's employee rights plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement. Is there any discussion on the motion? Damian?

Nothing online.

Thank you. I confirm that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 5B, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? And in-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of the meeting. Moving on to 5C. It's the approval of the issue of share rights to Ms. Katherine Hirschfeld. The resolution for 5C states that for the purpose of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and for all other purposes, approval be given for the grant of a number of share rights determined in accordance with the formula outlined in the explanatory statement to Katherine Anne Hirschfeld or her nominee under the company's employee rights plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement. Is there any discussion on the motion?

Nothing online.

Thanks, Damian. I confirm then that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 5C, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? And in-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting. We then move on to the issue of share rights to the Managing Director under the financial year 2026 long-term incentive plan. And the resolution for Item 6 states that for the purpose of ASX Listing Rule 10.14 and for all other purposes, the issue of 6,120,189 share rights to Leon Goss Devaney or his nominee under the company's employee rights plan and otherwise on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory statement is approved. Is there any discussion on the motion?

Nothing online, no.

Okay, Damian, thank you. I confirm then that the company has received valid proxy votes and direct votes in relation to Item 6, and these are displayed on the screen. Would those online attendees now please cast their votes to the resolution if you have not done so already? And in-person voting on this resolution will be conducted at the end of the business of this meeting, which is coming up. I would like to advise that voting on all resolutions will close shortly. I will now pause to allow shareholders and proxy holders to finalize their votes online and in person. Please complete your voting now. [Voting] Would you please indicate by raising your hand if you require more time to complete and lodge your voting paper? [Voting] Before moving on, Damian informs me that we -- do we have one question?

We do have a question, yes.

Okay.

I'll read it out. It's from one of our shareholders. It's a general question saying, will Georgina Energy be listed on the ASX for ease of trading for Australian shareholders?

I'm happy to answer that one. At this time, I do not believe they have any intent to do a list or...

Can we just [ get Leon's ] microphone?

Is it on? Testing. Okay. I'll just get closer. At this point, we don't believe that Georgina have an intent to have a dual listing and list in Australia. Part of the logic is that the helium-specific risk capital is quite sufficient in the U.K., Europe and Asia, and that's what we're going to be targeting. But obviously, that's a decision they'll be making over time.

I think, if I could say something, my experience with holding international shares is that you will need a licensed stock broker here in Australia to manage them for you. I think that's the case, but I think every shareholder will probably need to do their own diligence on that.

Okay. That's all. Thanks.

Very good. Mr. Maffescioni, have all the voting papers been collected? Yes? Okay. Mr. -- ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Maffescioni has confirmed that all required voting papers have been collected and sufficient time has been permitted to allow online voting. So I now declare voting closed for the poll for Items 2 through to 6. The results of the voting will be notified to the ASX in accordance with the Corporations Act and the ASX listing rules later today. Ladies and gentlemen, that now concludes today's formalities. I would like to thank you for your attendance and your interest in your company and invite those here in the Christie Conference Spaces to join the Board and the company's senior executives for refreshments outside. And there is also the opportunity then to ask additional questions. I would also like to thank those who attended online, who are encouraged to ask any further questions via the company's website or e-mailing [email protected]. Thank you, and have a very good day.