Coronado Global Resources Inc. (CRN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Stockholders of Coronado Global Resources, Inc. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Bill Koeck, Chairman of the Board. Mr. Koeck, the floor is yours.

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, ladies and gentlemen, depending on where you are, and welcome to the 2022 Annual General Meeting of Stockholders of Coronado Global Resources, Inc., our fourth AGM as a listed company. I am your Chairman today. Today's meeting is being held in a virtual meeting format. Always a lovely term, that term, virtual meeting. Given the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 global pandemic, our Annual General Meeting of Stockholders is being held virtually this year to support the health and well-being of all our stockholders, employees and directors via online webcast using Computershare's online platform. While our Annual General Meeting of Stockholders is being held virtually today, I would like to begin with the customary acknowledgment of the Turrbal Traditional Owners of the land on which offices in Brisbane are located. And I'd like to pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. Security holders and proxies have had the ability to ask questions and to submit votes today. I have been informed by Kerri Shenkin from Computershare, the inspector of elections for this meeting, that there are represented in person or by proxy a majority of all the common shares and the holder of the preferred stock Series A entitled to vote at this meeting. In accordance with the company's certificate of incorporation and bylaws, I am advised that the necessary quorum is present here today. I declare the meeting open at 10 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. I'd like to begin by introducing my fellow directors, some of whom are attending virtually today. Firstly, I would like to note that our Managing Director and CEO, Gerry Spindler, has recently contracted COVID-19. And whilst he's recovering very well, I've requested him to take another few days to fully recover, so he is not joining us today. And Gerhard Ziems, the Chief Financial Officer, will present the paper on Gerry's behalf. Non-Executive Director Laura Tyson is joining us from the United States and Independent Non-Executive Directors Greg Pritchard and Philip Christensen are here with me at our Brisbane head office. In addition, Chris Meyering, our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, is in the United States. And Susan Casey, our General Counsel of Australia, is with me here in the Brisbane office. We are joined by members of our executive team in Brisbane and the United States, including Gerhard Ziems, the Group Chief Financial Officer; Douglas Thompson; the Chief Operating Officer, Australia; and Jeff Bitzer, the Chief Operating Officer, United States. Also joining us today is Andrew Carrick from Ernst & Young, the company's auditors. So the meeting is obviously convened to consider the matters specified in the Notice of Meeting, Annual General Meeting of Stockholders dated April 13, and I will be conducting this meeting in accordance with the order of business contained in that notice. It's important that I note at the outset that Coronado is incorporated in the State of Delaware in the United States, and today's agenda and procedure reflects the requirements of Delaware and U.S. law, which is obviously different to what is customary and required under Australian law. The Proxy Statement and the Notice of Meeting provide explanatory notes on the proposals to be put for resolution to the meeting today. The Notice of Meeting included a form for security holders to submit questions of the company's Board or its auditors in advance of this meeting. In addition, Coronado security holders or their duly appointed proxies had the opportunity to appoint themselves or another person as their proxy in order to vote and ask questions at the virtual meeting today. We haven't received questions from security holders in advance of the meeting, and no security holder has elected to appoint themselves or another person as a proxy to vote and ask questions during the meeting by the Computershare online platform. But we're always happy to have your questions, and you can e-mail us, the details are on the website, and submit questions to us at any time. Following my report in a moment, I will hand over to our Group Chief Financial Officer, Gerhard Ziems, who, on behalf of our Managing Director and CEO, Gerry Spindler, will deliver the brief Chief Executive Officer presentation covering current market conditions, Coronado's performance and objectives in '21, full year '21, and '22 and outline -- sorry, in '22 and outline how the company is positioning itself for the future. From the second half of 2019 through to the first half of 2021, as many of you will know, Coronado endured some of the toughest market and economic conditions faced by the global met coal industry ever. A series of trade disputes, the severe impact of COVID-19 and a reduction in demand from key markets caused massive disruption with severe and prolonged downward pressure on pricing. In stark contrast, renewed demand and the unprecedented rise in met coal pricing sustained over the second half of 2021 contributed to a much improved financial performance from Coronado, including a return to paying dividends, and I'm pleased to say that the outlook for 2022 is looking very positive. While the turnaround in demand, access to new markets and the limits to global met coal supply combined to create substantially better market conditions, Coronado's success in '21 was built on 4 key factors: firstly, materially strengthened balance sheet, improving liquidity and more flexible capital structure; secondly, geographic diversity as a met coal supplier of scale; thirdly, sustained record met coal pricing; and fourthly, improved operating performances from our U.S. and Australian operations. Looking at global met coal markets. A rapid recovery in demand for met coal across ex-China markets from mid-2021, and the positive impact on met coal pricing, was a fundamental driver of improved performance in late 2021. The average hard coking coal index price for Australian met coal increased by 92% in the third quarter of 2021 to $264 per tonne and a further 40% in the fourth quarter to $369 per tonne. Average Australian index prices increased again by 32% in the first quarter of '22 to $486 per tonne with the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushing spot prices to unprecedented levels and reaching a peak of $670 per tonne in March. Throughout this period, we are focused on increasing production. Our U.S. operations are at full capacity servicing the domestic market, where we increased contract pricing by $100 per tonne over the previous year, and export markets such as China. Our Australian operations continued to export to long-term customers in India, Japan, Taiwan and Korea and are increasingly receiving inquiries from European markets. However, with current production already contracted, there is little opportunity to service additional markets until we expand production at Curragh. Our Chief Financial Officer, on behalf of Gerry Spindler, will talk more about the One Curragh expansion plan in the presentation. While met coal prices are expected to moderate over the course of 2022, we anticipate they will remain elevated above historical averages due to ongoing trade restraints from -- involving Russia and China, elevated thermal coal pricing, providing a floor for met coal prices. And as we know, there is no new production coming of any scale. So moving to 2021 financial performance, just briefly going over that. Coronado is, obviously, as I said, in a significantly stronger position, stronger financial position than 12 months ago. A very strong second half delivered increased revenue, EBITDA and net profit, and we returned the balance sheet to a net cash position. We were able to take advantage of the rapid increase in met coal prices because of the hard decisions taken in mid-2021 to restructure our debt arrangements through our $550 million refinancing package and the sale of various noncore assets. These decisive actions enhanced liquidity and provided a more flexible structure that enabled us to respond to volatility. A solid operating performance and a positive approach to the challenging conditions in the first half of '21 underpinned Coronado's strong second half and full year financial results. Revenue at $2.149 million, this is U.S. dollars, of course, up 47%. Net income of $189 million, which is 184% turnaround. Adjusted EBITDA of $486 million, up 804%. Net cash, $123 million at year-end, compared to a net debt position of $282 million in the prior year. Saleable production of 17.4 million tonnes, which exceeded the 2020 production of 17 million tonnes. A group realized met coal price of $138 per tonne, which is a 52% improvement over the $90-odd price -- average price achieved in 2020. And group mining costs per tonne sold increased by 18% to USD 65.7, primarily on account of higher FX but was lower than the revised guidance. And we were one of the first pure-play coal operators to return to a net cash position following the impacts of COVID in the lower price cycle. And as a result of this much improved performance, we distributed $151 million in dividends in April 2022. So that brings me to capital management and dividend policy. This reflects the renewed strength of our balance sheet, and Coronado is committed to a balanced capital management plan that involves 4 things: maintaining a strong balance sheet; distributions to shareholders -- we're not going to be building up a war chest; pursuing organic growth opportunities; and pursuing accretive inorganic growth opportunities. First, let me state that there is no change to the company's policy to distribute between 60% and 100% of free cash flow per year. Reflecting the strength of the balance sheet and substantially improved liquidity, the Board resolved to initiate a biannual fixed dividend of USD 0.005 per CDI or USD 0.01 per CDI per annum, in addition to the variable dividend, which may take the form of cash dividends, share buybacks or other distributions. Subject to Board approval, Coronado expects to distribute fixed dividend payments following the release of the company's half year and full year results. The payment of dividends under this policy will be subject in each instance to board review and approved in the context of Coronado's profitability, retained earnings, capital priorities, working capital requirements, covenants in the terms of the senior secured notes, acquisition opportunities, market conditions and forward financial assessments. Dividends, including fixed dividends, will remain unfranked until sufficient franking credits are accumulated. Payment of dividends remains at the discretion and approval of the Board of Directors at all times. The recently announced $200 million unfranked special dividend declared in May 2022 is a special dividend that was declared after Coronado's record first quarter results and will be paid on 21 June 2022. This dividend is the result of a unique set of circumstances and does not signal an intention to pay dividends on a quarterly basis. Once this special dividend is paid, Coronado will have distributed in excess of $1 billion since listing on the ASX in October 2018. So safety and well-being. Despite the many successes I've referred to, we were deeply saddened by the passing of Clark Peadon, who was fatally injured while working with -- in the dragline operations. And again, on behalf of this Board, I want to extend our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to Mr. Peadon's family, friends and colleagues. This tragic incident serves as a reminder to all of us that safety is the most important aspect of our operations and is our #1 priority. While our reportable safety rates in Australia and the U.S. were below the relevant industry benchmarks in 2021, a workplace fatality is just unacceptable. And we continue to focus on safety and well-being of all employees and contractors and continue to execute action plans to manage risks and safeguard our people. It's been a renewed focus. And this is one of the things we've learned is that we need to ensure that it is a fresh look at safety and that we keep the message safe, that people don't just glaze over and -- as you would when you get on a Qantas flight, you just tune out. So maintaining the psychological focus and moving this into the absolute priority for every worker to leave work as they arrived is a priority for your Board and for this company right down to every work. The substantial improvement in safety metrics in Australia and another year of safety excellence in the U.S. are a credit to the efforts of our employees and contractors, and Coronado is committed to developing best-of-class safety initiatives to achieve the target of zero work-related fatalities. We have a COVID-19 Steering Committee, which operates globally and continues to manage the risks associated with the virus, including being prepared for any COVID-19 mutations and variants. That committee remains vigilant in dealing with variants and their impacts on our people, operations and customers. We have sanitation processes, social distancing, mask wearing, vaccine advocacy, vaccine rollout, education and regular prestart routines. Our U.S. operations were heavily impacted by COVID-19. Several employees were hospitalized, and 2 of our employees died after contracting the virus. A total of 376 employees tested positive and 770 employees were quarantined. To encourage U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated, Coronado initiated a vaccine incentive plan with monetary rewards. Prior to the introduction of the vaccine incentive plan, only 32% of the employees were vaccinated. At the end of the program, we had an additional nearly 400 employees fully vaccinated, pushing our total vaccination rate up to 66%. This program more than doubled the number of our workforce that were fully vaccinated, and we now have about 60% -- 66% vaccination rate, which is above the U.S. national average and well above that, that applies in West Virginia. In Australia, we're committed to promoting vaccination to the current workforce through COVID-19 education, promotion of local government vaccination clinics and targeted vaccination and booster clinics for employees and contractors on site within our own accommodation facilities. Vaccination rates within the local region of Curragh, a Blackwater area, exceeded 70% fully vaccinated by December last year and have continued to increase. Sustainability and carbon management. Coronado strives to be socially and environmentally conscious, putting its people and their communities first. The values of Coronado are underpinned by the core values of collaboration, accountability, respect and excellence. And Coronado continues to engage very positively with local communities and to support a diverse inclusive culture and put safety and well-being at the center of these -- of its operations. Our Sustainability Report, which you'll find on our website and has also been filed with the ASX, highlights progress we are making across a number of areas. We've implemented a directional intent to be net zero by 2050. We're advancing our action plan on greenhouse gas emissions, particularly through the introduction of measurable targets and further research and investment into decarbonization projects. For example, we're committing to a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, maintaining our record of zero cultural heritage and significant environmental incidents. We've rehabilitated 54 hectares in the U.S. We're increasing the use of our recycled water and the recycling of commercial and industrial waste. We have published our first Modern Slavery Statement. We're formally reporting against the Global Reporting Initiative core option and partially reporting against the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures for the first time. Those initiatives, particularly emission targets, decarbonization projects and the climate-related financial disclosures reporting underlying the strategic importance of sustainability for our met coal business as developed economies transition to low-carbon energy sources in coming decades. As one of the world's largest producers of met coal, we stress again how Coronado has a pivotal role in meeting the growing demand for steel globally. Steel is an essential material in the creation of future technologies, including electric vehicles, solar panels and, of course, wind turbines. Coronado is monitoring technologies, which have the potential to decarbonize the steel production process as we work to achieve our aspiration of net zero by 2050. So that brings me to the year ahead. I'm pleased to report that the 2022 financial year is off to a great start with record first quarter results. Those results, together with a strong balance sheet and high liquidity levels, have allowed us to declare a $200 million special dividend payable in June, which is a welcome reward for our shareholders and security holders. Looking ahead over the remainder of 2022, notwithstanding the recent extensive rainfall we've had in Queensland, Coronado will continue to take advantage of sustained high prices. Our mine plans are weighted to higher production in the second half of the year, and we're targeting full year saleable production of 18 million to 19 million tonnes, which is up from 17.4 million tonnes in 2021. To achieve this, we are doubling our investment in the business, increasing capital expenditure from $91 million to between $170 million and $190 million, and we're continually strengthening our business to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Our employees, contractors and management have worked tirelessly in the face of a huge number of challenges over the past 2 years. And on behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank them for their efforts and commend them for their resilience, commitment and very positive attitude. Already as the threat of COVID-19 appears to dissipate, our workplaces are once again becoming a more enjoyable social environment. I would also like to thank my fellow directors for their contributions, insight and support. While we have entered a period of sustained high prices, that also comes with risks such as inflation and cost control, and I look forward to working with all of the Board on meeting the challenges ahead. In closing, Coronado is a significantly stronger company now than it was just over a year ago. We're focused on safety, operational efficiency, production, cost reduction and liquidity to ensure that Coronado is well positioned to maximize opportunities and deliver growth. So on that note, I now hand over to our Group Chief Financial Officer, Gerhard Ziems, who will deliver the Chief Executive Update on behalf of Gerry Spindler, our Managing Director.

Thank you, Bill, and thanks to all of Coronado shareholders for their investment and continued support of the company during the past 12 months. I would also like to thank all of our employees for their hard work and dedication over the last year. Turning to Slide 9. At Coronado, the health and safety of our people is our #1 priority. As outlined by Bill earlier, our 2021 reportable incident rates in both the U.S. and Australian segments were better than averages. In the U.S., several of our operations received the West Virginia Holmes Safety Association Awards and Mountaineer Guardian Safety Awards for strong safety performance. In Australia, our 2021 total recordable injury frequency rate represented a 67% improvement compared to the prior year. However, despite the rate improvement, the entire Coronado Group was deeply saddened by the fatality of one of our colleagues at Curragh in November 2021. And I echo Bill's comments that the company extends its deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr. Clark Peadon. Across our operations, new health and safety initiatives continue to be implemented to improve our safety performance. In Australia, the implementation of fatal hazard and critical control verification programs has commenced. Health leadership programs are in place. Contractor management alignment to Coronado's Safety Health Management system has occurred. Effectiveness audits have taken place and the development of a health and hygiene standards have been implemented. As workforce availability increases following the COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented a back to basics campaign at our U.S. operations focusing on significant in-person training for all new miners and miners with less than 2 years of Coronado experience. These initiatives in both Australia and the U.S. are proving to be successful. Our first quarter safety results for the U.S. operations were the best in Coronado's history. At Coronado not only do we aim to be a safe, reliable, environmentally conscious employer of choice in each of the communities in which we operate, we also seek to give back in meaningful ways. In 2021, Coronado continued to support local charities and sponsored various educational programs in the community. For further details of Coronado's community involvement and workforce engagement, please refer to our recently released sustainability report. Turning to Slide 10. I appreciate that most people understand our operations, but it is important for me to emphasize again Coronado's unique diversification of geography, met coal product offering and customer base. As a leading supplier of high-quality met coal, Coronado continues to support met coal customers across 5 continents. Our broad range of met coal products are well established and highly valued for their attractive coke-making characteristics. Our geographically diverse asset base is located near key rail and port infrastructure, providing access to both domestic and seaborne markets. We continue to maintain a diverse high-quality customer base across a range of global markets, with India being our #1 destination for Coronado met coal. Furthermore, Coronado's Tier 1 U.S. business is currently exporting to China while restrictions on Australian coal continue. Slide 11. Turning to coal markets and our price realizations. You can see that Coronado is currently operating in unprecedented times with the Australian met coal index reaching $670 per tonne in March and today currently around $500 per tonne. In the first quarter of 2022, Coronado achieved record net price realizations for its products, and we expect realizations to further improve in the second quarter given the prolonged higher pricing. Coronado's record realizations are fundamentally underpinned by strong demand for our high-quality products, tight supply and, in part, the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen Europe impose a ban on Russian coal from August this year. As a result, Coronado is experiencing heightened interest from European and other steel mills for our met coal from both existing and new customers. Strategically, Coronado's well positioned to supply met coal in both its traditional Asian markets, but also increasing its exposure to Europe. And looking at Slide 12. Steel prices in recent times have hit record highs. These highs are due to government stimulus packages focused on infrastructure spend in order to boost employment rates as most major economies push for economic growth post pandemic. India is forecasting GDP growth rates of 7% for 2022 and 6.4% for 2023, underpinning steel demand and met coal forecast, with most other key markets generating modest GDP growth rates of 2% and more. Indian crude steel production is forecast to grow 246% by 2050 to 403 million tonnes per annum based on the latest Wood Mackenzie forecast. And Coronado sells approximately 26% of our seaborne met coal to India, making the country as Coronado's largest customer. Turning to Slide 13. The higher global steel demand outlook therefore requires growth in seaborne met coal demand. As you can see on Slide 13, forecasts indicate a 24% increase in seaborne met coal demand by 2050. The majority of seaborne demand growth is planned to come from blast furnace steel production in India, Coronado's #1 customer. India seaborne met coal demand is forecast to increase by 141% by 2050, the majority of which will be filled by supply growth from Australia. By 2050, Wood Mackenzie forecast that 61% of all global seaborne met coal supply will come from Australia. Turning to Slide 14. The manufacturer of steel is integral in achieving a low-carbon future. The inherent chemistry of steel production requires both, mined iron ore and met coal commodities. And it is these commodities that will underpin the growth of renewable energy infrastructure and technologies such as wind and solar. Blast furnace steel production is essential in the construction of a low-carbon technologies and renewable energy infrastructure. In a recent article released by Mackenzie, they show that steel is the #1 critical component in development and advancement of renewables. Steel infrastructure is used in hydro, nuclear, wind power, electric vehicles, and the list goes on. As of today, blast furnace steel production methods will make around 70% of total global crude steel production. While we expect green steel production methods will emerge in the coming decades, and electric arc furnace methods will expand, Wood Mackenzie research still forecast 54% of total global crude steel production will be from blast furnace methods in 2050. We are, therefore, confident in our assessment that metallurgical coal is here to stay. And in particular, high-quality producers such as Coronado will continue to service the market for a long time to come. Turning to Slide 15 and our growth plans. We have previously communicated our expectations to grow Curragh production to 13.5 million tonnes by 2025. This level of production will ensure we are maximizing utilization rates of our existing well-capitalized preparation plans. In 2022, we are currently investing in box cuts to enable higher dragline utilization rates. Box cuts for new mining areas will decrease congestion in existing pits along improved productivities and will increase coal availability and CHPP utilization rates. We also plan for incremental highwall mining volumes in our Curragh plant this year and the conversion of 4 feet at our Curragh North operations to dry high arrangement is progressing well. Expansion plans to 15 million tonnes per annum still remain in our sites. We are currently assessing our options in this regard and hope to provide an update to the market in the second half of the year. Turning to Slide 16. At our U.S. operations, we are targeting 6.9 million tonnes of production from our Buchanan and Logan mines by 2025. This will bring total group production to just about above 20 million tonnes per annum, a 17% improvement on 2021 production levels. At Buchanan, we are initiating the construction of a new raw coal storage area, which will reduce the risk of the mine being stock bound due to logistic chain delays. We're also installing additional skips, undertaking construction of the refuse belt extension, undertaking enhanced ventilation works and progressing tailings reclamation bars. At Logan, in 2022, we are improving productivities at our Eagle mine and commencing mining operations in the new Winifrede mine. We also plan to undertake refuse belt works and continue reclamation activities. Outside of our existing operations, we are also progressing permitting works on our Mon Valley project in Southwest Pennsylvania. Once operational, the project will produce a hard coking coal and upwards of 2 million tonnes per year. The project has approximately 197 million tonnes of run-of-mine reserves and is strategically located along only a few miles for multiple works and end users. Slide 17. As one of the largest producers of met coal globally, Coronado is inherently focused on capitalizing on the current high price environment and accelerating our growth plans. Our focus for 2022 can be categorized into 3 buckets. Number one, health and safety. The safety and well-being of our workforce remains our #1 priority. And in 2022, we continue to drive a stronger safety culture and continue to implement various safety initiatives to reduce injuries. Second, improved production. We remain inherently focused on meeting production guidance levels and taking advantage of the diversification and arbitrage of our U.S. businesses. Third, financial. Maintaining a strong balance sheet will ensure we retain the flexibility and optionality for both organic and inorganic and the ability to make distributions in future periods. I'll now hand back over to Bill, our Chairman, to undertake the formal business of the meeting.

Thank you, Gerhard. I now propose to deal with the more exciting part of this procedure today, the formal business. Firstly, I'd like to explain the order of and processes for this part of the formal proceedings. I'll explain the voting. There will be 2 forms of resolutions. The first is a resolution of the holder of the preferred stock Series A in relation to the reelection of Laura Tyson and Sir Michael (Mick) Davis as Non-Executive Directors. As you know, they are current directors of the company. Secondly, there are 3 resolutions of common stockholders and holders of our CHESS Depository Interests, or CDIs. As set out in the Notice of Meeting, CDI holders must have completed one of the following actions in order to vote. They must have instructed the CHESS depository nominees as the shareholder of record to vote the common shares underlying CDIs and informed the company that you wish to nominate yourself or another person to be appointed as CHESS depository nominee proxy with respect to the common shares underlying your CDIs. Valid proxies must have been provided to CHESS Depository Nominees no later than 10 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time on Monday, 23rd of May or 8 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Sunday, the 22nd of May, in order for your vote to count. As required by the company's bylaws, a list of stockholders entitled to vote in today's meeting is available for inspection on the company's website. Voting on all resolutions at today's meeting will be conducted by way of a written ballot, submitted by electronic transmission via the Computershare online platform, as authorized by the Board of Directors by the Notice of Meeting in accordance with its bylaws. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote, a new polling icon will appear on your screen. Selecting this icon will bring up the resolutions and present you with the voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There's no need to either submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You do, however, have the ability to change your vote up until the time that I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. If you're using the Computershare online platform, the vote icon will appear. Please submit your votes at any time, and I will provide a warning before I move to close voting. No ballot, proxy or vote, nor any revocation or change will be accepted by Computershare after the closing of those polls, as announced by me during the course of the meeting. As Chairman, any undirected proxies given to me in relation to any item of business will be voted in accordance with the unanimous recommendation by the Board in favor of all resolutions. The proxy vote tally indicates that the polling on all items will be passed. The proxy votes cast per resolution will be displayed on the screen for you to see when each resolution is formally put. Computershare will tally results of the ballot, and details of the voting results will be provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, and the Australian Stock Exchange after the meeting, as is normal practice. In respect of any open votes a proxy holder may be entitled to cast, please cast your vote using the Computershare online platform in accordance with the instructions provided. So that covers off the procedure for voting, which is similar -- which is exactly the same as last year, by the way. So I will now move on to the formal business of today's meeting. I propose to take the Proxy Statement and Notice of Meeting as read. Copies are also available on our website and on the website of the SEC and the ASX, depending on where you are. The items of business to be considered today are now displayed on the screen. So I'll now take you to Item 1, the reelection of Series A Directors, Ms. Laura Tyson and Sir Michael (Mick) Davis. Wonderful directors. They've been with the company for quite a while. In the case of Laura Tyson, from the IPO forward. And in the case of Sir Michael (Mick) Davis, he is well known to most investors. Full background and details are available as set out in our Proxy Statement or the Notice of Meeting. The Series A holder is being asked to consider and, if thought fit, pass that ordinary resolution shown on the screen. And the Board of Directors unanimously recommends that the Series A shareholder vote in favor of the election of those directors. The proxy vote of the Series A holder was received before the meeting and the Series A holder has voted for the resolution, as is displayed on the screen. I confirm that Laura Tyson and Sir Mick Davis have been reelected to the Board. Congratulations. I now move to Item 2, the reelection of the directors, the next item, all directors must seek reelection at each Annual General Meeting in accordance with the company's Certificate of Incorporation and the bylaws. The specific experience qualifications and skills considered by the Compensation and Nominating Committee and the Board of Directors in assessing the appropriateness of each of the directors elected or reelected today were outlined in the Proxy Statement or Notice of Meeting. Further, in assessing the independence of each, Mr. Pritchard, Mr. Christensen and myself, the Board specifically considered the independent standards of the Australian Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. And the Board considers that each of these nominees is independent. The ordinary resolution is now shown on the screen. I will ask that those of you eligible to vote on this resolution, please do so now. [Voting]

The proxy votes received before the meeting on this resolution should now be displayed on your screen. I confirm the election of all these directors, and I look forward to working with all of you. Congratulations. I now move to Item 3, the nonbinding advisory vote on named executive officers' compensation, the so-called say-on-pay. As outlined in the Notice of Meeting or Proxy Statement, pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Section 14A(a)(1) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, we are providing security holders with the opportunity to cast a nonbinding advisory vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the Notice of Meeting or Proxy Statement. The company seeks to provide compensation to each named executive officer that's designed to attract and retain suitably qualified executive officers to incentivize them to create sustainable performance aligned with the interest of security holders. The vote on this proposal is not intended to address any specific element of compensation, but relates to overall compensation of the named executive officers. The Board acknowledged that -- some negative commentary from proxy advisers in relation to this proposal. Our response as a Board is that the short-term incentive values determined for the executives and specifically for the Chief Executive Officer are all reasonable given the following key points. We note that there were no bonuses paid in the year 2021 to the Chief Executive Officer or the executives. It was a tough year, nothing was paid. Number two, there was no increase in base salary awarded to the Chief Executive in 2021. The Chief Executive Officer's base salary remained consistent with 2020 levels. Three -- thirdly, the continued demonstration of exceptional global leadership from the Chief Executive Officer in 2021 during the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic and his willingness to continue to travel and undertake quarantine measures throughout this period in order to provide the direction and support that was required in our business. And I'd like to mention that Gerry, during the depths of COVID, traveled to Australia during the pandemic, stayed in Australia for 5 months. And on behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank him personally for his commitment to the company during an extremely difficult period for the company. Fourthly, strategic foresight in 2021, which drove the company's refinancing efforts and enabled the business to maximize on strong market conditions and return to a net cash position. And fifthly, the ongoing focus in 2021 on succession planning and the prioritization of developing a pipeline of senior leaders within the business. Due to excellent strategic management from the executive team, Coronado was one of the first pure-play coal operators in the world to return to a net cash position following the impact of COVID-19 and the lower price cycle. As I mentioned in my earlier address, '21 revenues were up 40%, income up 184% and EBITDA was up 804% compared to 2020. Saleable production levels were also higher. Coronado has recommenced payment of dividends to shareholders from the excellent late 2021 results and achieved rating agency upgrades from S&P and Moody's during the year, and it's maintaining that positive momentum. I also note that due to there being no salary increase in 2021, the salary benchmarking for the CEO reflects conditions in 2020 at a time when Coronado's market cap was at the lower end of the ASX 300. Today, the company is closer to the top 100. Additionally, remuneration levels need to be commensurate with global resources companies, many of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Hence, our comparisons are to both the ASX and the New York Stock Exchange, and other metrics are used to determine remuneration levels. We're a global company, and we have a hybrid system between the U.S. and Australia. Slide 27, the text to the resolution, the say-on-pay, I've taken this as read. Your Board unanimously recommends that security holders eligible to vote, vote for in favor of this item. I ask that those eligible to vote on this resolution, please do so now. [Voting]

Proxy votes received before the meeting on this resolution will now be displayed on your screen. The -- you will see the votes on your screen that there are 73 -- over 73% vote in favor of the nonbinding advisory on say-on-pay. I now move to Item 4, the ratification of appointment of independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. As outlined in the proxy statement, the Audit Governance and Risk Committee has appointed Ernst & Young to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Although we are not required to seek stockholder approval of this appointment, we intend to seek ratification of the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm annually. Representatives of Ernst & Young are present at our meeting in Brisbane here today, and I welcome Andy Carrick. The text of the resolution is now -- should now be on your screens. And I ask those eligible to vote, please do so now. [Voting]

The proxy votes received before the meeting on this resolution are now displayed on your screen. I note that, that has been carried overwhelmingly. So that concludes our discussion on the items of business for this Annual General Meeting. Thank you. We've now come to the end of our formal order of business. And in a couple of minutes, I will close the poll and voting system. Please ensure you have cast your votes on all resolutions. I've confirmed with the secretary for this meeting and Computershare that there's been no notice of revocation of any proxy submitted by our common stockholders. And I propose to now pause to allow you time to finalize your votes. [Voting]

I confirm that the polls are now closed and voting has closed. Computershare will tally the final results of the poll, and details of the voting results will be provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. and the ASX after the meeting closed. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formalities of today's meeting. On behalf of the Board and management of Coronado, I'd like to thank you for your attendance and participation in our virtual Annual General Meeting. Again, thank you for your continuing support of Coronado and reinforce the commitment to delivering long-term value for security holders. I now declare the Annual General Meeting of Stockholders of Coronado Global Resources, Inc. is closed. Thank you.

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.