Orica Limited (ORI.AX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to the Orica Annual General Meeting 2025. On behalf of the Board, thank you for joining us, and thank you for your support and ongoing engagement to shareholders. Your commitment is central to our continued success. My name is Malcolm Broomhead, and I am your Chairman. As today's meeting is held in a hybrid format, which means half remotely, half here, I'd also like to extend a warm welcome to those shareholders who have chosen to join us online or phone today. We do have a quorum present, so I declare the meeting open. And with your permission, I propose to take the Notice of Meeting as read. I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of -- and custodians of the land on which this meeting is being held, as well as those who've come to Australia in more recent times, Australian ore. I also acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which Orica operates throughout the world. For your safety, I'd like to draw your attention to the emergency procedure -- and should an emergency arise, which hopefully won't. And it requires evacuation from the floor, a whooping evacuation sound will be sounded. I never heard one, but I presume well. And if that happens, then the evacuation will be directed by the RACV City Club Fire Wardens. So please follow their instructions. They'll direct you through the doors, which you came in, and you have to go down via the stairs in the lift lobby -- to the lift lobby, where you entered the floor or to the lift lobby to the rear of the stage. And note that the lifts may not be used. If you do have a mobile phone, please make sure it's turned off to silent for the duration of the meeting. I'd now like to highlight that the meeting is being recorded and will be made available on the Orica website. And I'd like to introduce my fellow Directors and your Company Secretary. Seated on my immediate right is Sanjeev Gandhi, your Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer; who will be presenting to you later today during this meeting. And next to Sanjeev is Vik Bansal, who I'm pleased to welcome as our new Nonexecutive Director Elect, who will be standing for election today, and he's also our chair elect. Next to Vik is Karen Moses, and Gordon Naylor, and both of those will be seeking reelection as your directors today. On my far left is John Beevers, and next to John is Vanessa Guthrie, next to her, Mark Gard. On my immediate left is Krista Stewart, our Group General Counsel and Company Secretary. Members of the executive committee are sitting here in the front row, and they will be available at the end of the meeting to take any of your questions that you'd like to ask them. Our auditor, KPMG, is also in attendance, and they are represented by Mr. Gordon Sangster and Marica Aranda. Before I begin my address, I'd just like to confirm that as indicated in the Notice of Meeting, each resolution will be put to shareholders at today's meeting and will be declared on a poll. I'd allow everyone attending the meeting ample time to cast their votes. I now open the polls in respect of all resolutions that shareholders will vote on today. And if you are attending the meeting online, please submit your vote at any time during the meeting by clicking a voting card, 'Get a Voting Card' button, and written questions can also be submitted at any time. So to help with the efficient running of the meeting, I encourage you to get on and do this as soon as it's convenient for you. Please click the Ask a Question button to follow the instruction if you have questions. And if you wish to submit a question or comment, please ensure that they're relevant to the matters before the shareholders today and to shareholders as a whole. So thank you for this opportunity to address you as your Chairman. I'd now like to cover some of the topics that are important to Orica and to you, our valued shareholders. Starting with safety, which is our most important priority in Orica. It's with extreme sadness that we report that late in November, 1 of our employees, Mr. Lee Pratt, was involved in a vehicle-related accident at a customer site in Canada and unfortunately, was killed. No other injuries were sustained during that event. Look, a thorough investigation is underway, and we're cooperating obviously with the regulatory authorities. We already given assistance to the family of Lee and we'll do all we can to help them through this very difficult time as well as the whole team who worked with him for many years and have been affected by this. All the learnings will be shared around the group. The vehicles has many of you will know, a particularly challenging issue for us because of all the miles we drive in remote areas. But on behalf of the Orica Board, I'd like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those affected by this tragedy. Our people are the foundation of our business. Without people, nothing happens in this company. So we remain committed to keeping them safe, and supporting their physical and psychosocial well-being wherever we can. Moving now to performance. Orica in 2025 achieved its highest earnings before interest and tax in over 13 years, at $992 million, and that represents a 23% increase in the result from prior year. So it's a remarkable result, and the whole team can be proud of what they've done, Sanjeev and the Executive Committee and everyone within Orica. It reflects the dedication and the expertise and the consistent performance of our people across every region. And it is our continued focus on delivering value to you, our shareholders. Orica has evolved into a world-leading provider of solutions across mining and infrastructure. And through the disciplined execution of our strategic priorities and a strong focus on commercial excellence and innovation. We continue to meet rising global demand for our advanced technologies in which we are well and true the industry leader. And across our 3 business segments of blasting Solutions, which is the traditional business, digital solutions, which here is going very, very well and specialty mining chemicals. This year, we also introduced a refreshed capital management program and framework to clarify how we deploy capital across the business in order to maximize the total shareholders' returns over time. Our balance sheet remains resilient and strong, and we continued our measured approach to investment funding growth priorities and returning cash to shareholders either through dividends or buybacks of some sort. The ordinary dividend of $0.32 per ordinary share unfranked, delivers a total dividend payout of 50% on full year's earnings. And of course, remember there was a share buyback as well, which hopefully all shareholders benefit from in terms of earnings per share growth and share price appreciation. In addition to our strong financial performance, we've recorded another year of significant sustainability target progress. And as we enter the next phase of our decarbonization strategy, our gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of 51% below 2019 levels. And we're firmly on track to achieve a 45% reduction by 2030. And advance towards our long-term ambition of being net 0 by 2050. Sustainability is a strategic imperative for us in the sort of business that we're in and for the environment generally. And it's an opportunity also for us to innovate with our customers and our partners. The Board continues to oversee climate-related risks and opportunities, ensuring that the capital is allocated to the right initiatives to improve efficiency and strengthen our competitiveness. And Sanjeev will talk more about business and sustainability performance shortly. Moving now to Board renewal and succession planning and which is critical, obviously, to developing and supporting the business and enables us to discharge our strategy and our responsibilities and support management in terms of delivering long-term sustainable shareholder value. I stepped down from my role as Chairman at the conclusion of this meeting, and we welcome Vik the Orica to the Orica Board and as an independent Nonexecutive Director and our Chair elect, are subject to your vote today. And he will be appointed Chair at the end of this meeting. With over 30 years of experience leading complex global industrial organizations. Vik has a strong track record in driving growth, innovation and operational excellence and performance improvements, and his strategic expertise in engineering, global supply chain, sustainability and technology bring valued insights to the Orica Board and to our growth strategy and manufacturing operations. I'm confident that fixed experience will complement the Board's skills and capabilities and contribute significantly to shaping Orica's next chapter of growth and innovation. And you'll hear a little bit more from Vik shortly. Before I close, I'd just like to take a moment to share some broader more personal reflections with you. Australia is a truly fortunate country. We've been blessed with abundant natural resources, a highly educated population and a long-standing history piece. Australia has the potential to be the next leading democracy in the world stage if we have a collective will to do so. Yes. Sort of from time to time, it seems as though we want to undermine our own success. And I'm wondering whether we feel some kind of undeserving feeling about all of our great achievements as a nation. Look, a recent example is the senseless attack in Bondi the weekend. And that just demonstrates the erosion of our multicultural harmony and the outbreak sort of occurred recently of racism, antisimetism and violence. And our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of those who are innocently killed in this violent attack, it's just so unusual for our country. And I just urge our government to demonstrate leadership and put an end such behavior. If this is not contained, we run the risk of other communities suffering racial hatred, and in fact, we already see that. And that is something which really affects the very fabric of our country. The world is vastly different to what it was a few years ago. Some of our decisions and Sanjeev makes quite a bit about this is rather plexing none more so than our energy policy, where the world's largest energy reserves, which we have and our huge exports. With all of those benefits, we still pay the -- some of the highest energy costs in the world. And that just damages our manufacturing and paces enormous strain on the cost of living. So for example, gas prices here are at least 5x what we pay in the United States, that's 5x. So where are you going to put your dollars. Fortunately, your company Orica, is well positioned because we have global diversification. We operate in over 100 countries, and we're able to offset some of these impediments. The other thing is that the -- well, I'm having a wins the responsibilities of management and board, which have only grown more complex over time. Much of our focus is now so consumed in navigating bureaucratic processes that address important social and governance issues, by the way, but sometimes nostalgic for the times when businesses roll with the creation of wealth, and it was the role of governments to take that wealth and distribute it through the community as they saw fit -- on defense, infrastructure, health and welfare. But our standard of living, of course, depends on that wealth generation, and we can disregard that at our own risk Finally, looking ahead, we're entering a post truth world. And I think in due course, that's going to be a big challenge for rational companies like us almost in the same levels cyber security is now. So dealing with reality as we see it compared with what's perceived is important. And this enables dynamic -- this dynamic rather allows bad actors who can be organized for the intent to cause us harm to sway public opinion. And public -- we're a company, our business depends on support from the public. So that will be something of a challenge, I think, going forward. This is my last day in corporate life, and I began my journey with Orica as CEO in 2001, and return in 2015 becoming Chairman in 2016. One of the hallmarks of Orica is the culture and depth of our talent and throughout the world, wherever you go, and the sense of pride and ownership among our people is -- enables us to outperform the market. Our financial resilience and our ability to navigate macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges reflect the strength and the caliber of our people. It's been a privilege to work alongside Sanjeev and all of our executive team. And on behalf of the Board, I thank you, our shareholders, our customers and above all, our extraordinary people for the way in which you have an unwavering commitment to safety, performance and innovation. On a personal note, thank you our shareholders, our owners for the great privilege of guiding this your wonderful company. It's in good hands, and I wish you and all the employees of Orica are successful and prosperous future. I now invite our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sanjeev Gandhi, to address the meeting. Sanjeev?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all our shareholders for joining us today. Let me also start by expressing my condolences for the very sad and tragic events that happened in Sydney on the weekend. Safety in Orica because we are in a dangerous business is very close to our heart. And we've had this unfortunate tragedy where we have lost made on the workbench. And my thoughts and sympathies go out to the Laven and friends and family and colleagues of our mat that we've lost. No other individuals were injured as a result of the incident. A full investigation is underway, and we are fully committed to learn from this strategic event so that it doesn't ever occur again. It's unfortunate accident. We're doing all we can to support our North American team and the wider Orica community during this very difficult time. Safety, as I said, is our highest priority and the well-being of our people comes before everything else. Our people are, as Malcolm said, central to Orica's success. We have a global team of more than 14,000 which represents over 95 nationalities and comprises engineers, scientists, technologists, business specialists, and those in the frontline operation and offices. We work across time zones and geographies, but we all remain connected by the Orica Charter and aligned in our purpose, vision strategy and values. This year, we continue to implement our people strategy, focusing on building capability, driving efficiency, supporting career growth, and strengthening our safe, inclusive workplace culture. We continue to empower our teams, helping our people thrive and continue delivering leading performance on a global scale. Let's move now quickly to our performance. In 2025, we delivered our highest earnings in 13 years, reflecting disciplined execution of our strategy and strong demand for our advanced technologies, premium products across blasting solutions, digital solutions and specialty mining chemicals. We continue to develop and invest in innovative technologies and solutions for our customers to help them with their most critical challenges from ore body intelligence and blast optimization, to downstream processing and emission reduction at the mine site. These advancements and the successful integration of the 2 major acquisitions we did last year, Terra Insights and Sino reinforce Orica's position as a global leader in each of our business segments and has strengthened our end-to-end offering as we transform and optimize operations to reduce emissions, minimize waste and accelerate the global transition to a low-carbon future. We have expanded our commodities and customer portfolios as we continue to increase our global footprint and geographical reach, diversify our business and revenue streams and capture new opportunities amongst new and existing customers and industries. We continue to optimize our global manufacturing and supply network to ensure reliable customer support. This is the most comprehensive manufacturing and supply network in the world in our industry. Major planned maintenance and safety upgrades were completed safely and successfully at our Vinamarka site in the United States and the Kurgan Island site here in Australia, reinforcing asset integrity, and security of supply for our customers. As a result, this year, we achieved earnings of $992 million, a 23% increase on the prior year. Net profit after tax reached $162 million, which included significant items of $379 million, relating primarily to impairment and restructuring costs in Latin America and litigation costs incurred by -- incurred for intellectual property and commercial disputes. Earnings per share before significant items of EUR 1.118 is up $0.254 on the prior year. Our blasting Solutions business delivered earnings of $869 million, up 15%, reflecting our global leadership and underpinned by commercial discipline, advanced technologies and our robust global supply chain driving sustainable growth. Earnings in our Digital Solutions business had a significant uplift this year, contributing $92 million of earnings, supported by improved exploration activity, higher customer adoption rates and recurring revenue. The very robust gold market fundamentals and service excellence supported record sodium cyanide sales in our specialty Mining Chemicals business, contributing $101 million of earnings. Our Specialty Mining Chemicals business now represents the largest mining dedicated producer of sodium slide in the world. In 2025, we refreshed our capital management framework to provide greater clarity around how we allocate capital. For the first time in 10 years, Orica successfully launched and substantially completed a $400 million on-market share buyback program. And this program has been increased by up to an additional $100 million, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to delivering value for you, our shareholders. We delivered strong net operating cash flow of $949 million, reflecting our continued focus on cash generation and trade working capital management. We also adopted a new key balance sheet target this financial year with leverage, excluding lease liabilities, at 1.39x at the lower end of our target range of 1.25 to 2x. The return on net operating assets of 13.8% reflects consistent asset performance disciplined year-on-year capital management and improved earnings, underscoring our commitment to continuous improvement. Our disciplined approach to capital management and prudent balance sheet are structured to Wittan external volatility. We continue to deliver on our strategy in a very dynamic operating environment. We're shifting market conditions and evolving societal expectations create new opportunities for innovation, adaptation and global growth, strengthening Orica's position and supporting long-term value creation for our customers and our shareholders. Moving now to sustainability. As we begin the next phase of our decarbonization strategy, our gross operational Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are 51% below our 2019 levels. This is very material. We remain on track to achieve our net emissions target of 45% reduction by 2030, and continue to advance towards the long-term ambition of net 0 emissions by 2050 --'s we are exploring emerging technologies such as renewable hydrogen and other low carbon feedstocks, carbon capture and utilization through our partnership with MCI Carbon and renewable energy procurement to drive decarbonization and future business opportunities. Renewable electricity procurement in Australia and Canada is supporting our global -- our goal of achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2040 with a 60% target by 2030. Renewable hydrogen is a potentially significant enabler of industrial decarbonization and the transition to a low-carbon economy and we continue to evaluate a commercial scale renewable hydrogen supply chain, the Hunter Valley hydrogen hub in the industrial and port zone of Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia. Moving now to the outlook for 2026 and beyond. Building on the strong performance of 2025, we have started the 2026 financial year with strong momentum. Safety continues to be our #1 priority, underpinning every aspect of our operations and decision-making. Demand for blasting technology, specialty mining chemicals and digital solutions remain very strong, and our disciplined approach to execution and capital allocation positions us to navigate inflationary pressures, energy costs and geopolitical uncertainty. Looking forward, Orica is well positioned to continue to deliver profitable growth across all 3 business segments globally and create enduring value for our customers and our shareholders. Now on a personal note, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Malcolm for his exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment as Chairman. It is because of you Malcolm that I came to Australia 5 years back and he convinced me to come and take over this amazing company. And I can tell you, we've been having a real blast. Malcolm's guidance and strategic insight have been instrumental in shaping Orica's journey,; particularly as we achieved significant milestones in sustainability, innovation and growth. Under Malcolm Stewardship, Orica has achieved key decarbonization targets built strong partnerships and maintained a constant focus on safety and value creation for all stakeholders. Malcolm's dedication leaves a lasting legacy, and we wish him all the very best for the future. I'd also like to thank Lillian for allowing us Malcolm's time and letting him continue to work and support myself and the team in Orica. Thank you, Lilian. Thank you for being here. I would now very warmly welcome Vik as our incoming chair. Vik, as you know, brings extensive experience and a very visionary approach and together with the Board, -- we will continue to successfully deliver Orica's growth strategy, navigate an evolving business landscape and deliver enduring innovation and value for all of our stakeholders. On behalf of our Board and the Executive Committee, we thank the entire Orica team for their ongoing commitment to excellence, their dedication to delivering on our purpose and on our strategy. We thank all of you, dear shareholders, our customers and our industry partners for your ongoing trust. And we look forward to continuing our collaborative partnership with you and remain in a very strong position to continue our momentum and deliver on our strategy for growth and for profitable returns. I now invite the chair to begin the formal items of business.

Thank you, Sanjeev, and thanks for your very kind words. Let's not kid ourselves. You and your team do all the work. We just take the glory. So -- but it's been wonderful working with you and with all of Executive Committee. Before commencing the formal part of the meeting, I want to cover some important procedural and technical matters. This is a shareholders' meeting, and therefore, only shareholders and their proxies, attorneys and authorized corporate representatives may participate in the voting and so on in this meeting. And if you wish to submit a question or comment, please ensure they're relevant to the matters before the meeting and for shareholders as a whole. If a shareholder has a detailed question about the operations of the company or a question which appears to be more relevant to the shareholders' own circumstances, please feel free to ask the management who will be available here afterwards following the meeting. In terms of how questions will be managed today, I'll introduce each item of business and then invite questions on all items of business together after all the items been introduced. I'll invite questions from the floor, followed by written questions, which will be related to me by Delphine Cassidy, Orica's Chief Communications Officer. And for those in the room here today, there are 2 fixed microphones on either side of the auditorium. -- when I've invited questions later in the meeting, please make your way to those microphones and give your name to the microphone attendant. If you're attending the meeting online, written questions may be submitted at any time, and I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Please click the Ask a Question button and follow the instructions. Questions submitted online may be moderated or summarized if there are many questions on the same topic, but we will make sure that we answer all of the questions during the Q&A. Any question or comments submitted that we can serve a defamatory or contains offensive language will not be read out as we responded to. If your question is on behalf of a particular group or organization, we just asked make that known and include that in your question. For shareholders joining us online please follow the online meeting guide, which is available based on the Orica website and includes all of the information you'll need to participate in today's meeting. If you have any trouble using the online platform, please refer to the guide or call a telephone number, which should be shown on the screen for systems. Thank you for hearing procedures in advance. And finally, in the event that we experience any logic or technical difficulties during the meeting, we might need to take a short break. We never had to do that yet, but this is always the first time. And if any online attendees encounter technical difficulties, the webcast will be available on our website after the meeting. As indicated in the notice of meeting, each resolution will be decided on a poll, and a number of our shareholders not able to join our meeting have already taken the time. I send us a votes in advance of the meeting and to ensure that all shareholders who have lodged who have voted directly or lodged proxy votes in advance of the meeting have their views known, the number of direct and proxy votes received will be shown on the screen as I present each item of business. So you can see how institutions and others that aren't here have voted already. In relation to open proxies received for the Chairman, they've all been voted in favor of all of the resolutions. And I appoint Chris Healey of MUFG corporate markets, Australia Limited. The company's share register, who have examined and prepared summaries of the direct and proxy votes received to act as returning officer for the poll. Please also note that if you're a proxy holder or an attorney or nominee and your appointor has directed how you should vote and you clearly must follow their instructions. If you're attending in person, you should have registered your attendance as you came in today. And if any shareholder or proxy holders not registered and would like to do so, you can do that at the door now. So I'll now move to the formal business of the meeting. The first item is to receive and consider the financial report, directors' report and auditor's reports for the year ended September 2025. And as noted earlier, I'll defer the discussion on that until we've got through all of the resolutions. The second of which is the reelection of directors under Resolution 2A, in the notice of meeting, which seeks also the election of the panel as Director. Vic was appointed an independent and nonexecutive Director and Chair Elect in August this year and subject to election by shareholders at today's meeting. He'll be appointed as chair replacing me at the conclusion of this meeting. In accordance with the company constitution Vik and being eligible offers himself for election. I now invite Vic to say a few words in support of his election.

Thank you, Malcolm. Sanjeev, fellow directors and valued shareholders. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today as I stand for election to the Orica Board. It is both an honor and a responsibility to seek your support to serve this iconic Australian company, a company with a proud history and a very compelling future. Since joining Orica in August, I've been genuinely impressed by the company's unwavering commitment to safety, innovation and sustainable growth. Orica's role in enabling responsible mining and resources extraction is critical, not only to our customers and communities, but the broader global transition to a more sustainable future. My professional part spanning 3 decades across Asia, Australia and the U.S., has taken me through diverse leadership roles across industrials, manufacturing and global logistics. I also currently serve as a Nonexecutive Director of Brambles Limited and Washington Soul Parison, and I'm a Chair of LGI Limited. These experiences have shaped my belief that enduring value is built on operational discipline, strategic foresight and a culture of accountability. I appreciate that some shareholders have asked questions regarding my existing workload. I fully understand the significant responsibility is required to be a successful chair at Orica and have assured the Board and shareholders of my capacity to meet all duties and provide the leadership and commitment expected by our shareholders. My planned retirement from CEO at Bottle in early 2026 is already in public domain. I'm committed to lighten some other aspects of our portfolio in the new year to ensure my ongoing commitments to Orica. If elected, I will bring an industrial operators mindset, a global outlook and a deep commitment to culture, good governance and sustainability. Orica's trends are clear, a global footprint, deep technical expertise and a strong reputation for reliability and partnership. Its recent financial results confirm the solid platform on which the organization stands today. But what also excites me is what lies ahead of Orica -- ahead for Orica. In spite of its impressive footprint and recent financial performance, Orica is not short of growth and improvement opportunities. While I remain highly sensitive on alert to Orica's 150 years of strong and which legacy also ambitious for Orica. Orica must remain a global leader by adapting innovating and continue to deliver for all its stakeholders, its shareholders, customers, employees and communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Vik. The Board with abstaining, supports his election and results of direct proxy votes received in respect of Resolution 2a are now displayed on the screen. Resolution 2b in the Notice of Meeting, the reelection of Karen Moses as a director. And Karen was appointed an independent nonexecutive director in July 2016, and is a member of the People and Remuneration Committee, the Noms Committee and the Board and Board Audit and Risk Committee, And in accordance with the constitution, Karen retires and being eligible offers herself for reelection. So I would like to hear some words now, and I invite Karen to say some words on behalf of the reelection.

Thank you, Malcolm, and good morning, everybody. I'm very pleased to be with you today, and thank you so much for joining us. I also give my warm thanks to Malcolm for his contribution to Orica and to the business community and wish him all the best for the future. It's been a real honor to serve with you on the Orica Board outcome -- thank you. And I'd also like to recognize and thank Sanjeev and the executive team and all of the staff of Orica for their commitment and their insight. I've served as a Director at Smart for 9 years, including most recently and audit and people and RAM, which are a real focus for me. As a director, it's important to do what we can to support creating an environment where everybody goes home safely, where everyone has the opportunity to be their best and where we learn and grow and the space is created for the best decisions to be made. The continuing progress that Orica has made in reducing our carbon footprint is a real credit to the people at Orica, deliver a meaningful change in establishing the path to meet our sustainability commitments, and aspirations and working actively with our suppliers and our customers. I currently serve as a director across the Industrial Energy Education and art sectors, and have served unlisted boards, government boards and not-for-profit boards for over 20 years. I've got a breadth of experience as a senior executive with over 30 years' operational experience in the energy sector. expanding kind of all of the operational aspects, major development projects and finance corporate functions as a COO and CFO. I believe that my operational management experience and my board experience allow me to contribute to across a wide range of important issues and complement the skills and deep experience of the other directors, and look forward to supporting Vikas the new chair in the transition. So I'm asking and hoping today for your support to be reelected as a director. Thank you.

Thank you, Karen. The Board with Karen abstaining, supports her reelection. And the votes received by direct and proxy votes in respect of resolution to be shown also on the screen. Resolution 2c in the notice of meeting concerns the reelection of Gordon Naylor as a Director. Gordon was appointed a Nonexecutive Director of your company in April 2022, and he's Chair of the Board and Audit Committee and the Nominations Committee, and is on the Nominations Committee as well as the Sustainability Committee. In accordance with the constitutional company, Gordon retires and being eligible, offers himself for reelection. I now invite Gordon to speak in support of his election.

Thank you, Malcolm, and good morning, everyone. As you've heard, I wish to formally offer myself for reelection as a director to the Orica Board. In the last 3 years, I've continued to be impressed by the depth of the company. The technical substance, which goes well beyond what I expected and with a genuine commitment to company values. I've been especially pleased with progress in bringing that value to shareholders through a refreshed capital management framework. The strategic planning system of the company is now stronger and progress towards sustainability goals, positive and real. Noting Malcolm's retirement from the board, I would also like to offer him my personal thanks for his leadership. I've learned a great deal from Malcolm and respect him enormously. I'm also very much looking forward to working with Vik as the company moves to its next growth phase. Most of my working life was with starting in Australia and then working in numerous international assignments as CSL grew rapidly to a global leader in biological pharmaceuticals. I've had numerous functional responsibilities ranging from engineering, supply chain, IT, M&A and finance for the business leadership. I'm now returning to CSL as a director as well as Chair elective Seqirus see ourselves influenza vaccine business. I've resigned from 2 other Boards to allow me to focus on these and Orica. As a business leader, I've executed several transformations of international businesses into global leadership. I'm very familiar with the challenges of running an innovative global Australian-based listed company to produce profitable growth whilst managing the risks appropriately. I'm also an active angel investor and help run my families Philosophic trust. I believe I can continue to make a difference to Orica and offer myself for reelection. Thank you.

Thank you, Gordon. The Board with Gordon abstaining, supports his reelection and results of direct and proxy votes received in respect of Resolution 2c are now displayed on the screen. Resolution 3 in the notice of meeting is to adopt the remuneration report for the year ended 30th of September 2025. And -- and as you will be aware, this vote is advisory only and does not bind the company or the directors to -- who remain responsible for the policy of the group. However, the Board does take into account feedback from shareholders, including discussion and vote on this resolution when considering future remuneration strategy. The Board sets the remuneration strategy with a view to ensuring our market framework can attract retain and motivate talent that we need and the outcomes for executives which are aligned with shareholder returns. There's 3 elements to the remuneration at Orica. There is a fixed remuneration. There's a bonus for the achievement of short-term objectives and there's a long-term incentive plan. Full details of the Orica's executive remuneration framework and a summary of the company's performance -- for the 2025 financial year can be found in the remuneration report and by casting your vote in favor of the remuneration report. You'll be indicating your support for the remuneration strategy that the Board has adopted for its most senior executives, including the CEO. I wish to highlight that none of your directors nor any of the senior executives who are named in the remuneration report may vote on their own shares in relation to this resolution. And results of the direct and proxy votes received in respect of Resolution 3 are now displayed on the screen. We now come to the proposed grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO under the long-term incentive plan as the long-term element of Sanjiv's remuneration for the 2026 financial year. The number of actual rights to be granted will be calculated as set out in the explanatory notes of the -- notice of meeting. And under the Australian Stock Exchange Listing Rule 10.14, the shareholder approval is required for a director to be issued securities under an employee incentive scheme. And any votes cast in favor of this resolution by the CEO or his associates, will be disregarded in accordance with the ASX listing rules. And results of the direct and proxy votes received in respect of Resolution #4 are now displayed on the screens. Resolution 5 in the notice of meeting relates to the reinstatement of the proportional takeover provisions as required under Rule 86 of the company's constitution and details of the effect of this rule and its advantages and disadvantages are also set out in the notice of meeting. If renew this rule will be operating for another 3 years from the date of this meeting, this is a regular event for us to bring this resolution forward. Results of direct and proxy votes received in respect of Resolution 5 are now displayed on the screen. As mentioned earlier, I'll now take questions on all items of business, and we'll start by taking questions from each microphone in turn. If you wish to ask a question or second question rather or further question, please take your place at the end of the queue so that everyone can have a go. And everyone will have an equal opportunity to be heard. I ask that shareholders respect for those attending the meeting and keep your questions to a reasonable length. Are there any questions from the floor?

Chairman, our first question is from Peter Ed from the Australian Shareholders Association.

I note the recent fatality that you've had and that you have, in fact, previously identified transport incidents as a key area for the safety train. My question really was about you report serious injury case rate which is a somewhat different safety measure that is used commonly across the ASX companies, such as total recordable injury frequency rate -- do you benchmark against similar businesses? And when you publish the benchmarks results? And also, would you consider reporting TRIFR?

Peter, thanks for that. It's -- we use a serious injury case rate because we think it's the best indicator of things that can really seriously hurt or in kill people. So it's a very important indicator for us and how we run the business. I do understand what you're saying in relation to being able to compare our safety performance with other companies and the move away from trip and so on is something that we'll probably address and put those numbers out so that you can see so that everyone can compare us across the group. So thanks for that.

Thank you just another one. And I was going to acknowledge your leadership when I first started, but used. So please accept our acknowledgment of your leadership for Orica over the last 10 years. You've had a very successful year quoting the highest EBIT for 13 years. But your statutory reporting is rather spoiled by the significant items, particularly from Latin America. I just wondered there's discussion of goodwill, fair enough, property, plant and equipment at $94 million. But I don't believe you have a plant in this region. So could you clarify these assets how these asset valuations arose? And what becomes the property and equipment that is now being written off Also, what's the prospects for recovery in the Latin American market?

Look, significant items are always difficult. We'd love to have but with no significant items, but we're required to under accounting standards and KPMG, particularly vigilant in making sure stuff doesn't get stuck below the line that shouldn't be there. And we would love to be able to eliminate them. Latin America has been a challenging jurisdiction for us for a while. We need to fix it going forward. We understand that, and the company has -- is looking at various options to do so because it's a great market, 1 that Orica should do well in given it's primarily hardrock underground. In terms of how the actual treatment of plant and equipment, which has been written off. I'll just ask Sanjeev to add to the comments.

Yes, I'm happy to take that, Peter. We did an acquisition in Peru call Exa in 2019. So we do have goodwill and the asset value of that in the books. And during 2025, in Peru, we lost a major contract to a domestic competitor who has been extremely aggressive with their pricing models, and we decided to walk away from that business because for us, it did not justify continuing to serve the customer based on the price and margin profile of that business. As we did that, obviously, that impacted the headroom we had in terms of the asset value of that acquisition. So we had to do a noncash -- predominantly a noncash write-down. The asset still operates. It's a strategic asset for us. at the Lurin site in Peru. And it's now become -- when we acquired that business in 2019, it was catering to the domestic market in Peru. Today, it's become a global hub. So we are able to obviously manufacture very, very cost competitive and high-tech products out of Peru, and they are being exported all over the world, not just in Latin America but also in the -- in North America and rest elsewhere. So the asset is still functioning at very high loads and is very valuable to us. It was just the accounting treatment because of the loss of the contract. And obviously, our auditor, KPMG, has been taken on the journey, and they are aligned with the treatment.

Okay. I have a couple of director questions. Would you help me to go through those now.

You might finish off.

Mr. Bansal was appointed to the Board in August, and has been elected to become Chair on your retirement. He's well-qualified candidate for a directorship with Orica, and we have no issue with his appointment and we'll vote for his election. However, given that the time of his appointment, he was a CEO of a major Australian company in Boral, although his retirement from that position in 2026 have been announced. What was the process involved in his appointment? And what commitments did he make regarding the workload prior to his appointment as Chair elect, -- given that he continues in his role as the CEO of Karl, are you confident that he has the capacity to fulfill the roles of Chair in Orica in immediate future?

Yes. We certainly went into listen to some detail before appointing him, he is stepping down very shortly at Boral's been already announced publicly I also rang the Chair of Boral to confirm all that and to make sure that, that transition occurred seamlessly -- and as Vic said, he will be addressing a couple of his other directorships, so that these things don't all occur at once, but he will certainly be very quickly within the -- there's a 5-point rule. I think that proxy advisers use for recommending directors and Vic will Easley make that when he gets into full swing here at Orica. So that's -- that's how the process worked, Clearly, when he was first appointed, he was over that 5-point limit, and that caused a number of questions from people like yourself and others. So we have addressed that.

Yes, thank you. I was going to ask whether Mr. Ben want to make any further comment, but I do acknowledge you may comment in your own presentation. I guess my only follow-up for that is that SGH is going to appoint you as a director when you retire from your CEO role. So what does the medium term look like for your workload and for your directorships?

Yes. So thank you for asking the question. And we've had that discussion before. As Malcolm said, I'm very clear on the 5-point rule, and I think we'll get there. So a couple of things. One, as you would appreciate, these transitions are not binary. They are a glide path in and glide path out. So you have to work through that, as you would appreciate. And also, as you're doing that, you also want to make sure the commitments on all parts are honored. So the -- all my transitions are public. So I finished on SGH early -- at Boral, early 2026. Post that, I'll joined the SG Board, not the bottle board, and I'll adjust the portfolio next week -- next year. So I think we should be fine. By the time this next AGM will be in a pretty good shape.

We hope so last -- my final question was to Ms. Moses, who's seeking reelection after 9 years. Paragon your corporate governance statement states that directors generally not served more than 10 years. Noting the significance of as Moses as board committee commitments, what are our plans for the following do you want to comment on that?

Yes. So we're obviously very conscious of that commitment, and I'm very conscious of the benefit of having a transition when you've got lots of people changing not to have too much are happening at once. So I'm here to serve the board for as long as the board wants me to serve.

Thanks, Peter. Sorry, you've been riding for a fair while.

Chairman, the next question is from Crystal Charles. Mr. Tom, that's all right.

I have 2 questions I'd like to ask on behalf of Market Forces. My question relates to the decarbonization of operations at the Huracan Island ammonia production facility and its recent memorandum of understanding with the gas company, Santos. Orica recently announced it has reduced SP1 Millions of CO2 equivalent emissions from its nitric acid plant at Kurgan Island. It also has plans to invest in the HansolValley origin Hub to create Green origin to displace gas in its production of muni at Kerrigan Orica said, the first phase of this project will reduce gas consumption by 7.5%. Your Vice President also recently remarked that fossil fuel majors have no interest in investing in the transition and that relying on these companies to get us to net 0 will mainly when happen. Now despite all these steps in the right direction, I am confused as to why Oracle signed a memorandum understanding with Santos for the highly controversial Narrabri gas project, which will see central supply in Orica with gas for up to 10 years roaming new gas field. This is completely at odds with both Oracle's rhetoric and positive actions to reduce its gas consumption and transition to renewable space alternatives. I am wondering how Orica justified this MOU in light of its decarbonization efforts. Sanjeev?

Thank you. Thank you for that question. Just as a bit of context and background. Orica is 1 of the largest consumers of natural gas in this country. In the Hunter Valley alone, we consume more than 15 better deals of gas, and then we've got other manufacturing sites. There's 1 big difference between Orica and the rest of the gas consuming industry. We do not use gas to make energy, more than 95% of the gas that we consume is used to make products and services that go into very critical industries in Australia, including the mining industry, civil interstate industry, we do cater to the pharmaceutical industry from those products. We cater to the beverage industry. So there is a big massive ecosystem of consuming industries around the Hunter Valley where we produce and consume natural gas. Now that's why we have called hard to abate because it's not easy to replace what we call raw material or feedstock which is natural gas overnight. And that's why the word transition is extremely important. The transition will take time. And that's why our ambitions to decarbonize go up to 2050 because at the moment, we do not have the possibility of replacing natural gas with an alternate feedstock to give us the opportunity to investigate and invest into new technologies. We have decided to build the hydrogen hub, which will be 7% of our gas demands, but we still need the balance 93% to come from the gas industry in Australia. So we are a baseload customer for the gas industry. We work with all gas companies. And when Santos approached us and asked us to sign this nonbinding MOU due to express our interest for future supply of gas, we were happy to do that. Once again, it's nonbinding. It's not yet fully committed. It depends on whether the project gets realized, but we will always appreciate getting gas supply from Australian gas producers so that we can consume and convert that gas into very valuable and critical products for sovereign manufacturing. You do not want the products we make to be imported into the country and have no local domestic manufacturing because that would be a very, very challenging situation. And that's why I've always said that should not be deindustrializing to decarbonize because that hurts manufacturing jobs and it hurt supply security of the resource industry, which is so critical to the Australian economy.

Thank you for that. Just a follow-up question on the -- I understand that Orica has committed $433 million to be handed Valley Halogen Hat project for Renal. And I'm just wondering what specific metric or time line would trigger Oracle to walk away from the Santos deal? Like how sufficient with this high regen hub would need to be, but you got to consider it's sufficient.

So the plan to build the first hydrolyze is 50-megawatt art. This is 7%, 7.5% roughly of our gas needs. This, by the way, once commercialized, would be 1 of the largest green hydrogen facilities, not just in Australia but in the world. So it sounds small, but this is a brave step very innovative step. We are doing this together with the state and the federal government support because Orica would not do it alone. Obviously, it's new technology. There are some risks involved here. But we are an operator. We have been producing hydrogen for several years, decades in the Hunter Valley. So this helps us to start on the journey of decarbonizing hard-to-abate and a very expensive to a bit industry. When will we reach 0 consumption of natural gas not in my lifetime because you need to be competitive because you've got imports. You've got other competitors not doing what we are doing, and we need to stay competitive so that we are able to continue to earn a profit and satisfy our shareholders. So it will be a long journey. And our target, obviously, is 2050 net 0 and it will be a long, long way until we reduce our dependence on gas.

Yes. Got it. Now that -- it's my understanding that Narrabri will take 5 to 7 years to develop as Santos has stated. And I'm wondering why Oracle would need to commit today to be MAU rather than doing it in a couple of years' time when Haroon performance is clearer.

Again, it's a nonbinding commitment. Santos has been a partner for us as has every other gas company and when they requested us to support onshore gas in-country gas for domestic manufacturing, we were happy to do that.

Now my second question relates to the potential reputational damage to Orica from its partnership with Santos. Santong has made a catastrophic decision moving a decade ago to double the size of its export LNG plan at Reston despite not having sufficient gas reserves. That decision has same reclass in LNG and sensors become a net drain on the domestic market. with the ABC recently reporting about since 2017, Santos has pulled about 3 years of gas up from the domestic market to meet its export contract obligations. This has contributed to higher and more volatile prices for domestic users, including Oracle, but are now under pressure from rising gas costs. Is Orica concerned that its MOU with Santos is simply rewarding the company for poor decision-making, which has significantly contributed to scarcities.

I'm not in a position to comment on Santos and their strategy and policy. My view on gas supply is the genuine gas consumers like Orica need support from the domestic gas industry. You know that a lot of our gas is exported overseas. And as a result, we are suffering from higher prices here and not enough supply. So my interest is to ensure that the manufacturing of Orica stays sustainable. We will continue to decarbonize as we have done in the last 5 years, and we'd like to see adequate supply and reasonable pricing of gas in this country.

Can you confirm whether the MRU includes explicit net 0 alignment clauses or climate triggered exit provisions?

No. It's just a very, very holistic nonbinding MOU. It does not go into any of those details at all.

Thank you. Another question, microphone 2.

Chairman, the next question is from Emily.

Okay. First, I want to thank Mr. Brunet for being leader. And welcome Mr. Gandhi -- sorry. If I put my glasses on, I can't read if I look milieu, then I can't read my notes. So I've got a problem. Okay. Now another person I want to think that I know never gets spent or sell them as the secretary and being most important year for a Jane Austin commemoration. I want to say that it is universally acknowledged that we want to do all the hard work.

No question about that.

Okay. So I had a simple question, although a gentleman who spoke before me probably covered it, but I didn't understand most of it. Okay. My question was Mr. Gandhi. You mentioned that Orica technology is in demand. Can I ask which countries demand it? And can you elaborate a little bit more on what the technology innovation actually is because as some company that makes explosives apart from safety, and I don't understand what else is involved.

Thank you. Thank you. That's a question close to my heart. I talk the next 5 hours about our wonderful technology and innovation. We've been on the journey of using technology and digitizing what we call our workflows. So we operate every day on nearly 500 mine sites globally. We are the largest in the world and we operate in more than 100 countries globally. And the mining process can be a very manual process, and this means that people are in the line of fire. And so we have seen opportunities with technology to derisk the mining process to ensure that people are not directly in the line of fire. And over the last 5 to 6 years, we've got this wonderful track record of innovation and launching products and services that customers all over the world are using today. Some examples of these great innovations in the blasting space, which you are familiar with, is blasting without wires. So if you watch old movies and you see Hollywood movies with people tying is down and then pressing the plunger, that is literally how blasting happened several decades back. Today, we've got blasting without wires. So you drop a detonator and you walk away and then you blast it remotely. There are no people, there are no wires. So the safety, the productivity of these kind of technologies is just amazing. Customers love it. These are premium products. We've invested a lot of capital and R&D resources in building these technologies. We are world first in bringing a wireless detonator into the market. Today, we are selling the product all over the world every major and minor today, consumer today would love to get a hand on these very, very innovative products. So that's in the blasting space. In the digital technology space, we are using data. And what we're doing is mining data. So we are mining resources for our customers, but we generate a lot of data, more than 150 years of experience. All of that data has been put into the cloud. And then we've got technology and sensors and tools to monetize the data and come with better outcomes for our customers. This could be productivity, this could be cost. This could be safety. And the focus here is on very attractive industries like the gold industry. And you have seen where the gold price is. It's a very attractive industry. Copper is mission-critical for the energy transition. You need copper for electricity transmission. We are also supporting the iron ore industry and then critical minerals and rare reads. So all of these digital technology suites that we have, we are the first ones to integrate digital technology into the blasting space. And we are creating what we call workflows without going into too much technical detail. And these workflows are basically adapted to our customers' need. So we can customize a solution for you and give you the outcome as a customer, and solve a problem that you have, the problem might be safety, license to operate, cost, productivity, efficiency. And these products are just flying off-the-shelf. Customers love this, and you see that translate into the results that we are delivering for our shareholders. So thank you for that question.

Chairman, the next question is from Rex McKenzie.

Mr. Chairman, I have 2 short questions. The first 1 is a bit related to the last question that was answered. The gold price is very high at the moment outrageously high. Some people would say, what would happen if it half or if it went down to 1/4 of that, I am actually coming from Vendian, which used to produce the largest amount of gold in the world. And it strikes me that the factories that produce in would suffer greatly if the price fell. And so would blasting solutions. And anyway, that's the question.

Look, Orica is well positioned in the mining sector because we depend on volume rather than price. Now you make a very good point. If if the gold price went to, let's say, 1/4 of where it is, the high-cost mines would probably shuttle go on care and maintenance. So there would be an impact of some sort, but it's fairly muted -- where we make our money in the gold sector is actually in the technology part. The -- we do make money, obviously, in the blasting particularly in underground mines, both blasting. And so it would have an impact. But if you look at total volumes in Orica's business, the gold sector is important, but it's not crucial to our business. Do you want to add anything to that?

Yes. Gold has a very -- first of all, thank you for the question, Mike. Coal has a very interesting dynamic, which is different to other commodities. The ore that is available today on earth for gold is quite rare. That's why the gold price is so high as a data point, if you break a ton of rock -- and if you get 2 grams of gold out of it from a tonne of rock, that's a good mine, that's a good yield. And that's the reason why there's not enough ore and there's not enough or in nature, which has been discovered and not yet exploited,; and the demand is still good because gold is countercyclical. It's something that most central banks like to keep in inventory to protect against external forces. So we see gold demand continuing to increase. There's not enough supply. So when gold customers come in approach, Orica for help, they're asking for better productivity and more output, which means they need more blasting services from Orica, and they mean more sodium cyanide. So it's different to every other commodity we operate in because availability of gold is reducing prices going up, they need more of our services, which is a sweet spot for Orica. And that is why we have been very, very proud operators of the -- in the gold industry from the Gold Fields in Bendigo 150 years back. till today, where we are the #1 service provider to the gold industry in the world.

Yes. Very reassuring. The other question, what's the difference between the statutory profit and the stated profit is very large. Could you just enlarge on what are the main contributors to that the difference between statutory profit. We're just -- you got...

Yes. Thank you. So the reported earnings, which we define as EBIT was obviously a number of $992 million, which was a 13-year high. the NPAT after special items was a lower number. And that's where we had basically the impairments that I talked about earlier. This was predominantly in Latin America. -- and that was the reason why the other impact into earnings was the legal fees that we have also called out. This was for ongoing litigation to protect our IP in Australia and globally and also for commercial litigation that we've had in the United States. So those are the 2 reasons why you see that delta between reported earnings and then the statutory numbers.

SP1 And of course, the EBIT is earnings before interest and tax. So when you take interest and tax off to get to the net profit after tax, that's a reduction. And then underneath that is the significant items of Sanjeev. Thank you. Are there any other questions from the floor?

Chairman, the next question is from Kiran Bala.

Welcome board for all of their efforts within the year. And Malcolm, I wish you all the best in your future time. Sanjay, the results have been remarkable considering the impediments that the group has had to incur. We've had a very high gas price. Input costs are high. We are competing in an environment that's not level. We've got certain restrictions that are put on to Orica that overseas competitors are not subject to -- and yet with all of those, the results have been remarkable to say the least. What steps would we be taking within the next few years to increase the productivity and to be able to compete better with the other companies.

Mark, you want me to take Pathak you for the question, and you've been very kind. We appreciate the feedback. Look, it's been a constant battle, as you very rightly pointed out. I mean, the productivity discussion in Australia is front and center with the labor government and everybody understands that Australia as a place to do business is losing cost competitiveness exactly for all the points that you mentioned, high energy costs, high cost of doing business, IR challenges and everything else that we have going. What organizations like Orica do is, first of all, we hedge our bets. So we try and diversify our revenues and earnings to different commodities like gold, copper, iron ore, not just focused on 1 commodity, but also different geographical reasons so that if there's downside in some part of the world in terms of a slowdown or a new regulation that hurts our business, we see upside somewhere else so that we are able to become more resilient and that's the key for our strategy. We'd like to see resilient and consistent earnings growth. We do not like to see the volatility and the fluctuations. And we've managed to do that over the last 5 years and delivered consistent shareholder value. But it's a constant battle. There's a lot of discussions we have -- I have personally with the government. The good news is they are listening. They are happy to take feedback and now we are waiting to take -- waiting to see action. So gas reforms are due. My expectation is before we close for the year, or early next year, we will see an update from the Ministry on gas policy, so that it's a more equitable area. The other one, which is basically in our control is managing our own costs. how can we become more effective? How can we become more efficient? How can we do things smartly, -- can we use technology to become more productive, to become more efficient because you can't keep complaining to the outside shareholders. It's something that you have to do in terms of self-help or it has been very good at this. And the last factor is that we've got a great team. And they put their heads down. And every day, they're operating on nearly 500 mine sites globally. -- and they are focused on delivery for our customers, for our neighbors, for our partners and for our shareholders. So thank you for the feedback.

Just 1 more question. If you had a wish list of what the government what you'd like the government to do to improve the operations for the company, apart from gas prices, what would those 3 be?

Well, I'll go to model -- you can have a different. Look, as far as gas prices are concerned, the most -- the difference between the United States and Australia is fundamentally who owns the gas, who owns what is below ground level. In the United States, the farmer or the individual land owner owns everything to the center of the earth. Here, the government does. So that's the first difference. Therefore, in the United States, fracking, for example, is welcomed because landholders can sell the rights or get a royalty by allowing a company to go on to their land and produce and produce gas through fracking. And then they retire to Florida and never see a cow again. But -- so that's the first big difference. And that's not going to change in Australia. The other big impediment that we have is that all of our energy really, well, all of our resources have for a long time been sold to the market. The market is normally China, Japan and so on. So it's offshore. So they're sold into the export market, which is a much higher price due to competitive reasons than domestic production would be. Again, in the United States, you have to meet all of the domestic demand before anyone can get an export license. So that's a fundamental. The government is addressing that. governments onto it, and they're talking about reservation of gas for domestic use. So you can't -- well, you could, but be unwise to break existing contracts, but any new developments will have a proportion -- a small proportion probably of that development will be allocated to domestic supply. If that occurs, that will solve a big amount of the problem. That's to -- you can go for...

Just to -- I mean look, to give credit to the state and federal governments. -- wherever we've engaged, we have invested, we have created jobs. We are critical to the domestic economy here. We play a very significant role in big industries as a big consumer of gas and a service provider to the mining industry. And as you know, these are the 2 most critical industries in Australia. People continue to support this economy, job creation, technology innovation. And we believe in working collaboratively with our neighborhoods, with our customers, with our partners, with our suppliers and the governments. So it's a good conversation to have. And it's obviously our right to state where we have the pain points. But I do have to say that the government is listening. They are very open to receiving feedback and now we are waiting for positive action in the due year. So I am optimistic that we have gone through a very difficult time post COVID with the economic slowdown and all the other challenges. We have recovered very strongly. We are a very resilient organization today. That's visible in our earnings, and I'm optimistic about the future. and working collaboratively with our governments here.

Chairman, the next question is from Marcela Brasil.

How do you do? I am also from Market Forces. I have a question around climate. And I appreciate all the work that Origis doing where you appreciate all the work Origis doing to achieve at 0. In order to meet climate goals for NetCo, we need no more new gas fields -- and if we curved exports, we may not need new gas fields. Santos is continuing to expand its gas extraction and contributing to rapidly rising emissions. I wanted to ask also about the government. What do you hope will be the result of the government's gas review? Would you support attacks on LNG exports -- so we can't reserve existing gas being extracted to supply our manufacturing, which you say is critical to our economy. Thank you.

I understand your position on gas and hydrocarbons generally, really. And there is no doubt that if we're going to be a net 0, you can't have both. However, to get there, you, at the moment, the only emissions-free technology in Australia, at least, because we don't do nuclear is wind and solar. And given situations where the sun is not shining and wind is not blowing. You do need some kind of back up, be it batteries, which aren't yet at a scale to of an industrial scale at least to store that energy. And at the moment, the only sensible interim technology or sources gas, much better than coal, but not perfect. So we support gas for that reason. It's -- we just couldn't operate if there was no gas. But I'm sure in the long term, the goal of the government, at least, is to eliminate it.

May I ask a follow-up question? I agree with you that we need gas for the transition. However, developing new gas fields is something we don't need if we stop our exports, all we curve our exports. And I agree that manufacturing deserves to have decent gas prices and -- so I guess what I'm saying is it's the export industry that's taking out LNG that is causing this problem in the first place. And I understand that you have an MOU with the company that is the cause of all of these problems. So I guess I'm wondering if you have a position in supporting the curbing of exports of Australian gas so that we can have decent gas prices for us and our manufacturing.

So we operate in Australia in 3 states in New South Wales, in Queensland and in Western Australia. And if you compare the 3 states, Western Australia has domestic gas reservation for domestic consumption. So that's the model that we support and encourage the government to think of for Queensland as well as for New South Wales. Now having said that, I also understand the constraints of the gas industry because they are committed to long-term contracts with their customers. And these are sovereign contracts with important trading partners like Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia. So our ask is Orica is not that you break those contracts and you put our trading partners into trouble. Our ask is to find sensible ways of ensuring that there's enough reservation and supply for genuine consumers of gas like ours. We do not consume gas to make electricity. As I said earlier, we use it to make very critical products for the Australian economy, and that should not be put at risk. That's our view.

And it's a complex question in a way because the gas -- nearly all of our gas is consumed by offshore producers of gas, be it Japan, China. They're not cutting back, if anything, they're increasing because they're reducing their reliance on coal. So do we deny them the gas that they want to buy from us. Well, I guess we could, but we do have contracts, your questions about new gas fields. And presumably, they'd get the gas from somewhere else. So the Middle East would be classic spot. So we'd just be transferring currently the gas production to the Middle East or somewhere like -- so that's the philosophical question that really is for governments to grapple with. Thank you. Do we have any more questions? On it, too. 1 seems to have gone dry. Okay. Delphine, do we have written questions?

Mr. Chairman, yes, we do. I'll start with the questions from Mr. Stephen Mayne -- the first 1 is in regard to directors' fees. -- gas Malcolm Broomhead was paid $546,000 in his final full year's Chair of Orica. How much have we agreed to pay Sydney-based big Bansal to Chair Orica? And what are the arrangements in terms of whether Orica will be funding an office at the Melbourne headquarters or executives support for him to perform the chair role.

Thank you, Stephen. Good to hear from you. Vic will be on the same remuneration as I have been on. And he will take over my office in the Orica building and next to Sanjeev.

The next question is from Mr. Mayne again. Under our constitution, Board nominations must be lodged between 45 and 90 business days before the AGM. With the Rush pre-Christmas AGM, we closed Board nominations a month before revealing the full year results. Given you farmed Aristocrat also have 30 -- 30 September balance states and hold their AGMs in late January or February. Why don't you do the same? Is this something that Vik may look at going forward?

Well, he might do. But we have had February AGMs before. And what happens then is at February and people are voting on things that ended in September last year, they can't even remember what happened, and they're now much more focused on what you're going to earn and what's happening in the current year. So we found not only that, internally, management have to stay back off and over the Christmas break on the January break when most of Australia goes to the beach to prepare for an AGM. So there is that aspect. But the big 1 is just too long. So therefore, to try to get it done and it's rushed, it's not ideal, but that's just the calendar we deal with. So we've chosen to have the meetings now before Christmas -- while it's still fresh in shareholders' minds.

The next question is from Stephen again. We're a long way from AGM best practice. There's no archive available of last year's AGM webcast on our website. We failed to disclose the proxies early to the ASX along with the formal addresses. And we're not following the agenda instead of dealing with debate on all 7 items of business as 1 job loss. You don't ignore the agenda at Board meeting, so please don't do it at the AGM. Will Vik Bansal under tech to fix these issues at next year's AGM?

Well, Vik, when it gets into the chair, we obviously have a look at that. Look, the -- we do follow the ASX rules and guidelines. So that's the first thing I would say. The second thing is that in terms of -- we have done both methods. We've dealt with each question as they come up and ask Q&A. It's just much more efficient and people still get all of their questions in. I don't think anyone's missed out on the question if we do it the way that we have. So that's how we've settled on this method. AGMs are long enough. And so the way to make them more efficient, while still being completely informative to shareholders. has been the way that we have chosen to go.

The next question is from Mr. Kevin Daly. Have there been any developments in the Korian Ireland hydrogen project?

Yes. Very, very positive developments. We continue to work on the pre-feasibility and the feasibility for the project. We have a project team in place. We are looking at engineering, we're looking at sourcing options. My expectation is that we -- if everything works well, -- and we're also, by the way, engaging with the third-party external partners to come in and join us in the project. So my expectation is if we get all the ducks lined up sometime in the first calendar quarter of 2026, we will take this to the Board to get their approval and sign-off. And once that happens, and the project will hopefully move into execution phase. So so far, challenging, a lot of issues to tackle, but I feel optimistic about the project.

Thank you. The last question is from Mr. Kevin Daly again. did the new U.S. tariff regime have any effect on the company's operations?

Not really. It certainly caused a lot of work in the United States early on. But we have -- we get most of our product that comes into the United States from both Mexico and Canada, but we're exempt from under the tariff agreements, from getting those tariffs. So we're very fortunate in that regard.

One more. This is from Mr. Kevin Daly. As your world map doesn't show activities in Guinea, does that mean you're not supplying explosives to the Simandou iron ore mine?

At the moment, we are not because Guinea requires local content and local partners. So we are, at the moment, not in a position to cater to the needs of Guinea. It's something that we will consider in the new year. But for the moment, we do not have operations on the ground in Guinea. The most important market in Africa is gold and to a certain extent, copper, but we'd love to get some iron ore as well.

Mr. Chairman, there is just 1 more question from Stephen Mayne, which we've dealt with already and that's on Vik workload.

Okay. Well, just repeating that we have -- we have discussed this at length with IC and he has given us undertaking that. He will reduce his workload in accordance with the guidelines that you would expect and the proxies advisers expect. So I'm very confident that he will be able to perform his duties as you would wish. Any more Delphine?

There are no more questions. Thank you.

Shareholders, as there are no more questions -- all that remains is to complete the poll by submitting your votes. And if you haven't already done so, once you've completed your voting card, please place it in the ballot boxes at the exit or hand it to a member of the Orica staff or the returning officer before leaving the room. Online voting will remain open for a further 5 minutes. And following the close of voting the results of the poll will be announced to the Australian Stock Exchange as soon as they're finalized. But it's clear that from the direct and proxy votes received today that all the motions will be carried. That concludes today's meeting, and I now formally close the meeting. Thank you for your attendance. And on behalf of the Board and the Executive Committee, I extend our thanks to you, our shareholders, for your support. A light lunch will be served outside in the foyer. And before we leave, I just understand that our new Chair would like to close with a few words. So Vic?

Thank you, Malcolm. I think it'll be remiss on me not to say what I'm about to say. So before we leave, I want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the outstanding leadership of Malcolm over his decade-long tenure tearing Orica. Malcolm, your dedicated stewardship and strategic guidance has strengthened Orica's position as a global leader in the sector. Under your guidance, Orica navigated industry challenges, leadership changes and expanded its international footprint. Throughout this journey, Orica has continued to deliver for its stakeholders. This is evident in people and other operations around the globe. I've heard about the trees you have planted all over the world. I'm looking forward to seeing them. Your unwavering commitment to safety, sustainability and innovation has set the standard for the industry and establish the foundation for Orica's ongoing success. On a personal note, I'm deeply, deeply grateful for the smooth transition and the mentorship and the launches you have provided during our anticipated handover. Your guidance has been invaluable in helping me understand the unique attributes to Orica. Thank you, Malcolm. Please be assured that we will continue to build on the strong foundation we have dedicated, I promise you that. Thank you for your dedicated service, to all our valued shareholders, I'm truly honored by the privilege to serve as a Chair and look forward to working together as we shape Orica's next chapter of growth and success. Before we finish, can I ask everybody to give a standing ovation to Malcolm Broomhead.

Thank you. Thanks, everyone. It's been a privilege and a pleasure. So I know that you'll do a great job and take it to a new level. Thank you.