GrainCorp Limited (GNC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow shareholders. Welcome to the AGM of GrainCorp Limited. I am Peter Richards, Chairman of the Board, and I thank you for joining our second virtual AGM. We felt that a virtual meeting would deliver the best experience for the greatest number of shareholders relative to the risks of a large gathering at this time. We are pleased to be able to provide our shareholders the opportunity to participate in this meeting in a way that is safe and responsible. It is now 10:00, the nominated time for the meeting. And I've been advised by the Company Secretary that a quorum of shareholders is present, so I declare the meeting open. Before proceeding with the formal parts of the meeting, on behalf of GrainCorp, I would like to respectfully acknowledge the many traditional owners of the land on which we are all located today. For those of us at GrainCorp's head office in Sydney, these are the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. I would now like to introduce you to GrainCorp's Board of Directors. Joining me at our head office in Sydney is our Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway; and non-Executive Directors, Nicki Anderson, Kathy Grigg, Donald McGauchie, Dan Mangelsdorf and Clive Stiff. Our Company Secretary, Stephanie Belton and Annerly Squires; and Chief Financial Officer, Ian Morrison, are present today. Also in the room are our Investor Relations Manager Luke Thrum; Kristin Stubbins and Eliza Penny from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company's external auditor; representatives from Link Market Services, GrainCorp's share registry provider; and John Williamson-Noble from Gilbert + Tobin, our external legal advisers. I will now outline the procedural matters for the meeting. Our virtual meeting guide has been lodged with the ASX and is also available on our website. [Operator Instructions] If we experience any technical issues today, a short recess or an adjournment may be required depending upon the number of shareholders being affected. If this occurs, I shall advise you accordingly. Or where I am unable to do so, details of any adjournment will be announced on the ASX announcements platform. In case you have any difficulty viewing the presentation slides during the AGM, these were lodged with the ASX earlier today and can be accessed via the ASX website. On the online platform, there are 2 icons. These allow you to ask a written question online and vote. You can also download the FY '21 annual report and notice of meeting. If you did not submit your questions prior to the meeting and would like to do so today, you might either type written questions into the online platform at any time or ask questions orally by telephone, provided you have a pin. I confirm you may start submitting written questions at any time. You do not need to wait until we get to that item of business. In fact, we encourage you to start now. We will deal with questions when we reach the relevant item of business in the meeting. [Operator Instructions] While we'll endeavor to answer as many questions as possible during the meeting, should we not be able to address all relevant questions or where that your question is detailed, we may respond to you following the meeting. We may choose to moderate or amalgamate some of the written questions together, particularly if we have received multiple questions on the one topic. I would now like to briefly summarize the voting procedures which will apply to this meeting. Each resolution will be conducted by a poll. To vote, please click on the Get a Voting Card icon on the platform. Please select for, against or abstain on each resolution. Please ensure that you click the submit vote or submit partial vote button to complete your vote. You may vote at any time during the meeting once you have registered. You can also change your vote at any point up until the poll is closed. I confirm that, where undirected proxies have been given in favor of the Chairman, those shares will be voted in favor of all resolutions to the extent permitted. During the meeting, we will display and discuss each resolution. We will then display the number of direct and proxy votes received on its resolution prior to the meeting. Votes cast during the meeting will be counted by our share registry provider, Link Market Services, after the meeting closes. Results of the poll will be released as soon as available today on the ASX and will also be displayed on our website. I now declare voting open on all items of business, and we invite you to start submitting your votes and questions. Turning to the agenda for the meeting. I will deliver the Chairman's report, and then our Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway, will present a report on the financial year 2021 and an overview and update on our strategic priorities. We will then proceed to consider the resolutions set out in the Notice of Meeting. Before we move to the addresses, we will begin with a short video that provides some context to the year that was as well as our FY '22 strategic priorities and how they will guide us through another century of growth. [Presentation]

Despite the ongoing disruptions from COVID, FY '21 was an exceptional year for GrainCorp. As an essential service, we operated without interruption and successfully delivered on one of the largest crops on record in East Coast Australia, known as ECA. Each of our business units delivered an outstanding financial result, and this is testament to the capabilities of our people and the efficiencies of our leading infrastructure assets. I am pleased to report that the strong performance in FY '21 has continued into the new fiscal year. And as we reported to the market last week, our earnings guidance for FY '22 represents a material increase on last year's result. Robert will talk through this shortly. Turning to safety. In FY '21, throughout the heightened activity of the large harvest, we made good progress with our critical injury frequency rate and in reducing the seriousness of injuries sustained. However, we did experience a deterioration in our lost time injury frequency rate and recordable injury frequency rate. And this was disappointing after the good progress in previous years. We continue to pursue sustained performance improvements. And this year, we are focusing on the key areas of behavioral safety and risk management, including enhanced induction and training procedures. Moving to our FY '21 results. GrainCorp reported underlying EBITDA of $331 million, up from $108 million in the previous year. Underlying net profit after tax was $139 million, up from a $16 million loss. This was an exceptional result and a significant turnaround from the preceding drought years. The FY '21 result was included -- also included the maximum annual payment of $70 million by GrainCorp under the Crop Production Contract. This further emphasizes the quality of the performance of GrainCorp. The Board declared a final dividend of $0.10 per share fully franked, bringing total dividends for the year to $0.18 per share. We are also on track to commence the proposed on-market share buyback, which was announced last year, through which we will return up to $50 million of capital to shareholders. As we look to the future, GrainCorp is well positioned to deliver on our strategy. We are already seeing substantial benefits from the initiatives that were put in place to improve efficiencies and drive greater asset utilization, including record receivables at many sites across the ECA. Additional benefits will continue to be recognized over the next few years. We are also progressing key growth opportunities identified in our strategic review announced last year in the areas of animal nutrition, alternative protein and digital and Agtech. Some of these have started with research and development partnerships, while others have involved GrainCorp taking small financial stake in existing businesses. GrainCorp is in a strong financial position. We have a high level of confidence in our capacity both to pursue targeted growth opportunities and return capital to shareholders. Turning to ESG. Over the past year, we have taken a new approach to our sustainability reporting, engaging directly with stakeholders, capturing more of what we're already doing, identifying areas where more work is required and setting a clear path to complete that work. We are reporting against the Global Reporting Initiative framework, and we are starting to align with both the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I encourage shareholders to read our 2021 sustainability report. Robert will also talk in more detail about the progress we are making in this area. For more than 100 years, GrainCorp has supported the rural and regional communities in which we live and work. In 2021, we were delighted to launch the new GrainCorp Community Foundation, which comprises our community fund, silo art and volunteering programs. We are already working with many communities on a range of initiatives, including small infrastructure projects, silo art projects and sporting sponsorships. We look forward to expanding this important program in the coming years. In October 2021, I was delighted to welcome 2 new Nonexecutive Directors to the Board, Nicki Anderson and Clive Stiff. Their appointments followed a comprehensive review of existing board skills and an assessment of the additional skills our Board requires for the future. Ms. Anderson has extensive experience in strategy, sales, marketing, customer experience and innovation within the food, beverage and consumer goods industries in Australia and internationally. Mr. Stiff has extensive experience in fast-moving consumer goods, digital and supply chain transformation and strategy. Both Nicki and Clive will stand for election today, and we'll hear from each of them when we reach the resolutions on their election. I would also like to make a special mention of Donald McGauchie, who is retiring from the Board at the conclusion of today's meeting. Donald first joined the Board of what would become GrainCorp in 2000 and has made an outstanding contribution to the company. Over the past 20 years, Donald has helped steer the company through deregulation, privatization and, ultimately, amalgamation of the 3 state-owned enterprises that created GrainCorp as we know it today. An officer of the Order of Australia, a highly respected Nonexecutive Director and Chair of several key farming rural and commercial enterprises, Donald happily can see as that, notwithstanding his many and varied hats, Australian agriculture lies at the core of his professional and personal life. Donald's family has farmed in Northern Victoria since the 1850s, and the combination of strategic commercial and agricultural experience that he's brought to our Board has been invaluable and will be very much missed. The directors and I thank Donald for his significant contribution and wish him and Elizabeth well for the future. In conclusion, I'm excited by the opportunities in front of GrainCorp. We operate in an industry that provides essential products and now more than ever presents a favorable long-term outlook and a growing global market. We have a valuable set of infrastructure assets, leading market positions and outstanding people. We are delivering on the hard work from recent years to drive core earnings, and we are pursuing those selective growth opportunities that make most sense for our business. I would like to thank my fellow directors, our management, employees, growers and other customers for their ongoing commitment to GrainCorp. I would also like to acknowledge the continued support of you, our shareholders. I now invite Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway, to deliver his presentation. Thank you.

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to join with you today for this meeting, albeit in a virtual setting. Following on from Peter's comments, I'd like to focus on the following areas: our operational and financial performance for financial year '21; an update on the current crop; our progress with strategy to deliver long-term sustainable value and growth for shareholders; the step changes that we've made were sustainability and ESG; and our outlook for financial year '22. GrainCorp delivered an outstanding result in financial year '21, with underlying EBITDA of $331 million, up 206% on the prior year. Underlying net profit after tax was $139 million, up from a $16 million loss. And return on invested capital was 11.1%, up from 1.6%. Both of our business segments performed extremely well. Agribusiness reported underlying EBITDA of $275 million, up from $79 million last year. This was largely driven by our ECA Grains business and the significant increase in receivables and export volumes. We saw an acceleration in the use of CropConnect, our online marketplace, with over 12,000 growers using the platform to transact over $4 billion in grain trades. Pleasingly, our Net Promoter Score, or NPS, improved significantly over the past 4 years, reflecting the strong focus that we place on our grower and customer relationships. GrainCorp's International Agribusiness had a successful year developing new and existing markets and expanding our customer base. In addition, while the drought in North America challenged our GrainsConnect Canada joint venture, the conditions assisted our ECA business by driving an increase in demand for Australian grain. The result for Auscol, our used cooking oil business, was particularly strong due to the rising global demand for products in biofuel markets. Our Feeds business, the bumper -- sorry, in our Feeds business, the bumper harvest did result in a decline in volumes due to the widespread availability of pasture and alternative feed sources. Now moving to our Processing business unit. We reported an EBITDA of $78 million, up from the $46 million in the prior year. Our Oilseeds business achieved strong crush margins due to robust global demand for vegetable oils and the strong performance of our crush facilities. Our Foods business continued to improve plant efficiencies and enhance its product mix. Turning to the following slide. This chart shows the group results on a pro forma basis, including the theoretical impact of the Crop Production Contract and so demonstrates the significant improvements we achieved in our core business since financial year '17. While both '17 and '21 had similar ECA crop sizes, the total -- end total grain handled by GrainCorp, our financial year '21 earnings were $169 million higher. That's when, excluding the impact of AASB 16, the lease accounting standards. This significant improvement in our underlying performance reflects the hard work undertaken over several years to improve efficiencies, create a more variable cost structure and drive greater asset utilization. We are delivering results on the investments that we have made. As we announced last week, we also expect strong earnings growth in financial year '22. This increase is being driven by higher grain inventory levels, the benefits of investment in capacity ahead of harvest and a full 12-month export program and continued strong demand for Australian grain and oilseeds. I shall cover the outlook in more detail shortly. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged populations around the world, and the associated restrictions have certainly tested some global supply chains. Very pleasingly, as Peter stated earlier, GrainCorp operated without interruption throughout the pandemic, ensuring continuous service for our growers and customers. Our focus has been on keeping people safe and minimizing operational downtime. We have achieved this through extensive COVID-19 management plans and comprehensive safety and hygiene processes. I am extremely proud of our people for their commitment to our customers, and I believe our COVID-19 response has highlighted the strength of our values and the resilience of our company. As we look forward, we continue to plan ahead and to monitor government requirements and advice and to ensure that we remain both resilient and safe. Following the bumper winter crop harvest of '21 -- of 2021, we've experienced another bumper season in '21/'22. And it's fantastic to see the positive impact this has had across regional areas and the grains industry as a whole. ABARES is forecasting total ECA winter production of 29.1 million tonnes, which is 0.5 million tonnes higher than the equivalent forecast last year. ECA sorghum production is estimated at 2 million tonnes, which is also above the long-term average. As of today, GrainCorp has received over 14 million tonnes into our network. That's ahead of the 13.8 million tonnes we reported at last year's AGM. We have exported 3.3 million tonnes of grain year-to-date and expect another full export program throughout the remainder of FY '22 and into FY '23. Notwithstanding the size of the crop, once again, our industry faced numerous challenges, including mice, floods and a wet and interrupted harvest. The successful delivery of such a large harvest in these conditions is a demonstration of the resilience and expertise of Australian growers and the operational efficiency of GrainCorp's supply chain. In terms of strategy, the video we shared this morning highlights our focus on results, sustainability, strength and people. Our commitment to delivering on operational initiatives, including a strong focus on business improvement and cost control has helped to lift return on invested capital. We will continue to identify and execute opportunities to improve our supply chain efficiencies and deliver on our commitment to lift return on invested capital. Alongside this commitment to our core business, we remain pleased with the progress we have made in partnerships and investments across our growth themes. This includes the ongoing development of CropConnect, investment in Hone, FutureFeed and, indeed, research partnerships with the CSIRO. We are well placed for continued improvement and growth in our business. Now turning to sustainability and ESG more broadly. The world's agriculture industries must work to feed a growing population in a changing climate with diminishing resources. As a leading Australian agribusiness, GrainCorp has an important role to play. We operate an extensive supply chain from farms to our country infrastructure network through to our processing and port operations. All of these activities pose a risk and present opportunity in sustainability and ESG. That is why sustainability is embedded -- [ clearly ] leading the way through businesses such as Auscol, one of Australia's leaders in the collection and recycling of used cooking oils and fats. And in FutureFeed, our partnership with CSIRO and others developing Asparagopsis as a feed ingredient to reduce methane emissions. In financial year '21, GrainCorp renewed its focus and refreshed its approach to ESG and sustainability. We engaged with our stakeholders to understand their key areas of interest and concern and to better respond to their expectations. We started to report on these key areas of interest in our 2021 sustainability report, and we have established a rolling 3-year plan to deliver on a wide range of ESG goals and commitments. GrainCorp has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. And in the short term, we'll endeavor to bring forward this target and set short-term and long-term targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction. Another material interest -- topic of interest for GrainCorp and its stakeholders is the responsible sourcing of ingredients and other inputs. In financial year '22, we are strengthening our responsible sourcing practices, including conducting a review of key input policies and further developing our supplier code of conduct. Last year, we launched GrainCorp's new and improved community foundation, encompassing a funding program, silo art and volunteering opportunities in regional areas. This program is designed to support the communities in which our staff live and work and to further our commitment to partner with growers and their families. We're accepting applications for funding as we speak. You will continue to see us deliver on these commitments and many more across the ESG space more broadly in the months to come. I look forward to sharing our ongoing progress with you. I'd like to finish with our financial guidance and outlook for financial year 2022. Last week, we provided earnings guidance for FY '22. We expect to report underlying EBITDA of between $480 million and $540 million and net profit after tax of between $235 million and $280 million. The strong harvest, coupled with supply shortages and drought conditions in the Northern Hemisphere is driving excellent global demand for Australian grain and oilseeds and strong supply chain margins for grain exports. We also expect a good summer crop and receivables, which are benefiting from the optimal weather conditions. We expect to see total receivables of between 16 million and 17 million tonnes. That's against the 16.5 million tonnes we saw last year. We expect to see exports of between 8.5 million and 9.5 million tonnes, up from the 7.9 million tonnes reported last year. And year-to-date, our exports are at 3.3 million tonnes. We are making great progress. Our ports have been operating at capacity for the last year to send Australian grain out to the world. And with forecast carryout volumes between 5.5 million and 6.5 million tonnes, we're well above the 4.3 million tonnes carried into this year. That means we expect exports to continue well into financial year '23. The Processing business has also continued to perform well, with Oilseeds benefiting from strong gross crush margins and high utilization. As we look ahead to the upcoming winter crop, subsoil moisture is looking positive, thanks to the recent ECA weather patterns. While it's still very early in the year, the signs are positive for the initial planting period, and I certainly wish growers the very best of conditions in the coming months. Our current performance, strong balance sheet and the very positive financial outlook leaves us in a strong position to deliver on our commitment to both returning capital to shareholders and prudently investing in the business. In conclusion, I would like to thank the whole team within GrainCorp for their commitment and resilience in a challenging yet highly successful year. On behalf of all of us at GrainCorp, thank you to our growers who partner with us. As I said earlier, grain farmers have shown incredible resilience in responding to weather and other challenges. To all of our customers and shareholders, thank you for your ongoing support. Thanks, Peter. Back to you.

Thanks, Robert. We will now move to the formal items of the business. The notice of meeting, explanatory notes and other AGM documents were sent to shareholders and lodged with the ASX and posted to our company's website. I will take the notice of meeting as read. As set out in the notice of meeting and explanatory notes, there are 4 items of business today. Item 1 is for consideration with no vote required. All other items are ordinary resolutions which require a shareholder vote. Item 1 on the notice of meeting concerns the consideration of the financial statements and the reports of the directors and auditors for the financial year ended 30 September 2021. The reports are contained in the annual report which was posted to the GrainCorp website on 11th of November last year, and a hard copy was sent to those shareholders who specifically requested it. Shareholders have also had the opportunity to view the statements and reports on the company's website. The purpose of this item is to provide an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions and make comments about the company's performance, operations and management. Shareholders were invited to submit questions in advance of today's meeting to our auditors on the conduct of the audit, the preparation and content of the auditor's report, the accounting policies adopted by GrainCorp relating to the preparation of the financial statements and the independence of the auditor in conducting the audit. No questions were received. I now invite comments or questions on item 1. Shareholders who have not already done so, should enter the questions in the online platform. Please bear in mind that we have a separate item of business on the remuneration report. Luke, are there any questions by telephone.

No questions by telephone, Chairman.

Okay. I shall now turn to questions received online. Luke, are there any questions?

There was one put in ahead of the meeting, and the question is from Edmond Karu. And the question he's asked is around the level of GrainCorp's investment across New South Wales country network for FY '21 after the last year's bumper crop or in anticipation of the crop and also our investment plan as we look ahead to the next crop.

Thanks very much for that question. Being operational, I might hand that one to Robert, if that's okay, Robert?

Thank you, and thank you for the question. Last year, ahead of the harvest, GrainCorp built an extra 1 million tonnes of storage mostly across New South Wales and Northern Victoria. That was in response to the second bumper harvest and the expectations of a strong delivery. In addition, we opened up some what we call flex sites, so an additional number of sites, a total of 1.5 million tonnes of storage. We're delighted with the amount of volume that we've seeing coming into the network. And right now, we're planning ahead for the upcoming harvest at the end of this year, looking at moving grain, looking at what additional investment we need to make so that we cannot just meet grower expectations, but exceed them going into the harvest.

Thanks, Robert. Luke, any further questions?

No further questions.

There is no requirement for a vote on this Item 1, so I now move to the items of business, which require a formal resolution. Item 2 on the notice of meeting requires a formal resolution and concerns the adoption of the remuneration report. The resolution is displayed on the screen. This report is set out on Pages 38 to 53 of the 2021 annual report and provides disclosures relating to director and executive remuneration. As stated in the notice of meeting, the vote on the remuneration report is advisory only and does not bind the directors or the company. The Board will, as usual, take note of the views of shareholders in relation to our remuneration policies. Last year, shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of the remuneration report. The Board remains committed to ensuring that our approach to executive remuneration aligns with our business strategy and with the interests of our shareholders, is fair and is competitive to enable us to attract the talent that we need to manage our business effectively and to meet our strategic objectives. I now invite comments or questions on the remuneration report. Shareholders who have not already done so should enter their questions on the online platform. I now invite comments or questions on this resolution. Luke, are there any questions by telephone.

No, there's no questions by telephone or online, Chairman.

Okay. Thank you. I'm advised there are no questions on this item. The direct and proxy votes received on Item 2 are shown on the presentation slide on your screen. I would like to remind the shareholders who have not yet cast their votes on the resolution to do so now. Voting on this and all other items remain open. [Voting]

I now move to Item 3 on the notice of meeting, which relates to the election of Nicki Anderson and Clive Stiff, who were appointed to fill a casual vacancy as well as my own reelection. The reelection and election of each director will be voted. At this time, I will hand the meeting to Kathy Grigg, Chair of GrainCorp's Audit and Risk Committee, to conduct the formal business concerning my reelection.

Thank you, Peter. The resolution for Item 3A is displayed on the screen. In accordance with the 3-year rotation cycle under the ASX Listing Rules and GrainCorp's constitution, Peter Richards is scheduled to retire at this Annual General Meeting and, being eligible, offers himself for reelection. Peter joined the Board in November 2015 and was appointed Chairman in March 2020. Peter brings to the Board significant experience in a range of areas, including safety, culture and systems, capital allocation, supply chain management and strategy. In his capacity as Chairman, Peter provides strong leadership to the Board and GrainCorp more generally. Further details of Peter's qualifications and experience are set out in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting in the 2021 annual report. The Board has undertaken an evaluation of Peter's performance and fully supports his reelection. The Board has also concluded that Peter is independent and has sufficient capacity to undertake the duties as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman. I now invite Peter to say a few words.

Thanks, Kathy, and good morning again to shareholders. It is with humility and pride that I again present myself for reelection to the Board of your company. My credentials were detailed in the annual report. So I want to focus on my contribution to the GrainCorp Board to date. As Kathy said, I joined the Board in 2015 towards the tail end of a significant capital investment program directed at modernizing our infrastructure assets and building capacity in foods, oils and multi. I was actively involved in the deliberations on the significant corporate restructure in 2017, '18, the transformational portfolio review in 2018-'19 and the resulting sale of Liquid Terminals and the demerger of UMG early in 2020. During the latter process, I was also actively involved in the selection process for our new Managing Director. Post demerger, as the newly installed Chair, the Board I have led has worked with Robert and his revitalized management team to establish a new vision of leading sustainable and innovative agriculture through another century of growth. Strategies to achieve this vision include continuing to strengthen our core infrastructure assets for the benefit of our growers, supplemented by growth platforms targeted at animal nutrition, alternative proteins and digital and Agtech. With your approval today, we have also refreshed and boosted the Board as we embark on the next chapter of your company's history. With my experience and contribution to GrainCorp over the past 6 years, coupled with my executive experience with companies such as British Petroleum, Wesfarmers and Dyno Nobel, I believe as Chair I can provide the continuity, passion and commitment required in these exciting times. I look forward to continuing to serve on your Board with your support. Thank you.

Thank you, Peter. I now invite comments or questions on this resolution. Luke, do we have any questions?

There's no questions either by phone or online.

Right. Okay. I'm advised that there are no questions on this item. The direct votes received and proxy votes received in relation to Item 3a are shown on the presentation slide on your screen. If you have not yet cast your vote on the resolution, please do so now. Thank you. I will now hand back the meeting to Peter Richards. [Voting]

Thanks, Kathy. And I certainly appreciate the continued support of the shareholders of GrainCorp. We will now move to the balance of Item 3, which relates to the election of Nicki Anderson and Clive Stiff. In accordance with the casual vacancy rule under the ASX Listing Rules and GrainCorp's constitution, Nicki and Clive, who were each appointed as directors by the Board on the first of October last year are required to retire at this AGM and, being eligible, to each offers themselves for election. Nicki and Clive were appointed following a comprehensive review of Board skills and as I've mentioned before, an extensive search process. We are delighted to have Nicki and Clive join the Board and value the strong contribution, skills and experience they have already brought and will bring to our Board. Item 3B concerns the election of Nicki and the resolution is displayed on the screen. Details of Nicki's qualifications and experience are set out in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting and in the 2021 annual report. As I've said before, Nicki brings to the board extensive experience in strategy, sales, marketing, customer experience and innovation. I would now like to invite Nicki to address the meeting.

Thank you, Peter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am really excited to have the opportunity to join an iconic Australian agribusiness and processing company that was founded in Australia over 100 years ago. As Peter mentioned, I bring expertise in customer experience, marketing, strategy and innovation from my executive career across branded, commodity and agricultural businesses. I have a Bachelor of Business, an executive MBA and I'm a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. As a Nonexecutive and Chair of Remuneration and Nomination across agricultural, food and retail businesses, I believe my expertise, strong governance and passion for ESG can complement the Board and assist in steering GrainCorp into the future, growing the business in a sustainable way. Thanks, Peter.

Thanks, Nicki. I now invite comments or questions on this resolution. Luke, are there any questions?

No Chairman, no questions either online or by phone.

The direct votes received and proxy votes received in relation to Item 3B are shown on the presentation slide on your screen. I'd like to remind shareholders who have not yet cast their votes, please do so now. [Voting]

I'll now move to Item 3C concerning the election of Clive Stiff. The resolution is displayed on the screen. Details of Clive's qualifications and experience is set out in explanatory notes to the notice of meeting and in the 2021 annual report. Clive brings to the board extensive experience in digital and supply chain transformation as well strategy. I would now like to invite Clive to address the meeting.

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I, too, am honored and excited to be joining such an iconic and tremendous company as GrainCorp. And I really look forward to contributing to the Board in helping grow the business and create value for the company's many, many stakeholders. As you would have seen in the AGM notice, I've worked in large listed consumer goods companies for the last 35 years. I was Chief Executive of Unilever in Australia and New Zealand for the past 8 years until March 2020. Prior to that, I was the Managing Director of Goodman Fielder Baking, a GrainCorp customer. And before that, I spent the first 22 years of my career with Procter & Gamble internationally, including a few years as CEO of Procter & Gamble in France. Aside from my executive career, I was formerly the Chair of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the Chair of T2 Tea and a Non-Executive Director of Foodbank, New South Wales and ACT. I have a business degree, and I'm a fellow and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In addition to being a GrainCorp Nonexecutive Director, I'm currently a Non-Exec Director of ASX-listed API. I'm also on the API Audit and Risk Committee. I'm the Chair of All G Foods, an alternative proteins early-stage start-up. Also, I'm an external adviser of Bain & Company and a member as advisory councils of Quantium, Genpact and the University of New South Wales Business School. So thank you for your trust and confidence, and back to you, Peter.

Thanks, Clive. I now invite comments or questions on this resolution. Luke, are there any questions?

No questions, Chairman.

Thank you. The direct votes received and proxy votes received in relation to Item 3C are shown on the presentation slide on your screen. I'd like to remind shareholders who have not yet cast their votes on this resolution to please do so now. [Voting]

I will now move to the final item of business. Item 4 of the notice of meeting, which relates to the grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway. The explanatory notes to notice of meeting provide a summary of the performance hurdles, vesting mechanisms and other conditions applicable to the FY '22 long-term incentive performance rights. Your Board believes that the offer of performance rights under the long-term incentive plan is an important part of Robert's overall remuneration package as it designated to provide a long-term incentive to pursue the continued growth and success of GrainCorp, which, of course, in turn directly aligns with shareholders' interests. I now invite comments or questions on this resolution. Luke, are there any questions?

No, no questions, Chairman.

Thank you. Again, the direct votes received and proxy votes received in relation to this Item 4 are shown on the presentation slide on your screen. I'd like to remind shareholders who have not yet cast their vote, please do so now. [Voting]

Ladies and gentlemen, this now completes the formal items of business. Voting will end 5 minutes after the close of this meeting. If you have not already submitted your votes, please do so now. Following the meeting, Link Market Services will count the votes, and these results will be available on the ASX platform later today. As you can see from the direct and proxy votes received, all resolutions will pass by a majority. I'd like to thank you for attending today's virtual AGM. And in addition, I would like to again thank our shareholders and customers, the executive leadership team and the staff of GrainCorp, the company's advisers and auditors and Link Market Services. I now declare the meeting closed.