REA Group Limited (REA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. I'm Hamish McLennan, Chairman of REA Group Limited. On behalf of the REA Group Board, I'm delighted to welcome you to our 2023 Annual General Meeting. Thank you for joining us today. Before we commence, I'd like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognize the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past, present and emerging. There is a quorum present, and I declare the meeting open. And the notice of the meeting is taken as read. I would now like to cover the meeting procedures that we'll be using today. Voting will be conducted by poll. For those shareholders and proxy holders who are participating with us at the physical AGM venue in Richmond and wish to vote, please make sure that you have a paper voting card. For those shareholders and proxy holders who are joining us online and wish to vote, if you haven't done so, you can vote online as shown on the slide now being displayed and as explained in further detail in the online meeting guide that accompanied the notice of meeting. You can do so at any time during the meeting as the poll is now open for voting. Voting will close shortly at the end of the meeting. If you wish to ask a question or make a comment, please raise your hand, and our REA team member will pass you a microphone following a brief introduction. To help with the smooth running of the meeting, we will invite shareholders and proxy holders who are participating online to submit your questions and comments now. Further details on how to ask questions or make a comment online or via the phone line will be contained in the online meeting guide. You also have the opportunity to ask your question via the online -- via the phone line that is available during the meeting. If you encounter any technical issues with the platform at any time during the meeting, please contact the help line on the number shown on the screen. In the unlikely event that a technical issue prevents the meeting from being -- proceeding as planned, REA will make announcements via the ASX and our website. As set out in the notice of meeting, only shareholders and proxy holders are entitled to vote on the resolutions, ask questions or make comments. I will allow a reasonable opportunity to address questions and comments as each item of business is considered. Please ensure your question or comment is relevant to an item of business at this meeting, the management of the company or the auditor's report. Questions relating to customer, consumer or personal shareholder matters won't be put to the meeting. Please observe the 2-question limit per item of business and keep questions short and focused to ensure many shareholders -- as many shareholders as possible have the opportunity to ask questions. When taking questions and comments, I will first invite shareholders and proxy holders participating at the physical AGM to speak. We will then address any questions received through the online platform and phone. Where there are similar questions, we will aim to acknowledge those that have asked the question, but we will provide a single response in order to streamline today's proceedings. Questions or comments which do not relate to REA will not be acknowledged or addressed during the AGM. Joining me in the room today are my fellow directors, Richard Freudenstein; Michael Miller, Nick Dowling, Jennifer Lambert and Tracey Fellows and our CEO, Owen Wilson. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is joining the meeting virtually as she is required to attend a public hearing in Canberra. Also in attendance is our CFO, Janelle Hopkins, and Company Secretary Tamara Kayser. Alison Parker, representing the company's auditors, Ernst & Young, is also here today to answer questions on the auditor's report and the conduct of the audit. Turning to our agenda for today's meeting. Firstly, I will provide a brief overview of REA's FY '23 highlights. Owen will then share an update on our FY '23 operational performance and the first quarter results for FY '24. In accordance with the notice of meeting, we will then move into the formalities of the meeting. REA Group delivered a resilient performance in 2023 financial year amid challenging market conditions. The group maintained a strong focus on strategic priorities as it extended the core business, integrated strategic investments and pursued opportunities to support future growth. Results from our core operations for the full year included revenue growth of 1% to $1.183 billion, a decrease in EBITDA excluding associates of 3% to $651 million and a 9% decrease in net profit to $372 million. This performance was delivered in an environment with a much lower listing volume in comparison to very strong listings environment in FY '22. REA's strong cash balance and cash flow has enabled us to continue to invest in our business, pay down debt and deliver healthy shareholder returns. The Board declared total dividends of $1.58 per share in FY '23. This represents a 3% decrease in the company's dividend payout ratio, demonstrating the strength of our balance sheet and the confidence we have in our business. The group's current share price is up 29% year-on-year. The chart on this next slide demonstrates the significant growth in the group's revenue and earnings over the past 18 years. Over time, REA has evolved from the digital start-up listings business to the property-centric leading global digital business we are today. REA's strong performance has enabled the delivery of consistent and significant returns to shareholders. The group share prices increased from $1.44 back in 2005 to trading at more than $150 today. REA Group has a strong global footprint and is well positioned for growth in Australia and in our international markets. Our brands have exposure to some of the world's fastest growing and largest property markets. During the year, our focused delivery of our strategic priorities continued to enhance our growth platform. In our Australian business, our brands support our customers and our consumers throughout the full property life cycle. Home financing is a pivotal part of the property journey. In the third quarter, we were pleased to complete the integration of our Financial Services business unified under the Mortgage Choice brand. This business is a strong and growing network of loyal brokers. And while the mortgage market remains tough, our investment in brand and product innovation positions the business well for future growth. Supporting the value we deliver to customers, in early July, we moved to 100% ownership of CampaignAgent. This follows our initial acquisition of 27% of the business in 2021. CampaignAgent is a leading fintech company specializing in property vendor funding solutions. This acquisition strengthens our commitment to helping agents and prospective vendors seamlessly do business. Globally, the group increased its shareholding in REA India from 73.3% to 78%. There is significant momentum behind REA India, and we're excited about the opportunities ahead. In closing, I would like to thank my fellow Board members for their dedication to REA's continued success and our valued shareholders for your ongoing support. The business faced tough market conditions in FY '23, and the Board, executive leadership team and our people rose to the challenge driven by clear purpose and strategy. As we continue into FY '24, REA is strongly positioned with an exciting growth platform and significant opportunities here in Australia and globally. I will now invite Owen to talk through our operational performance and provide an update on our Q1 results for FY '24. Owen?

Thank you, Hamish, and good morning, everyone. REA Group's resilient performance in FY '23 demonstrated the strength of our business model and the depth of our value proposition. As Australians adapted to the most significant cycle of rate increases in decades, we continued to deliver exceptional consumer experiences and superior customer value. I'm incredibly proud of our team's performance in FY '23. Despite the softer market conditions, we made great progress on our strategic priorities with a focus on innovation and investment that will drive continued growth for our business. REA's strategy remains consistent and clear. Our purpose is to change the way the world experiences property. We do this by delivering Australia's largest and most engaged consumer audience, providing our customers with superior value and leveraging our unique data and insights to extend our core business as we build next-generation marketplaces. We've continued to invest in our product pipeline and pursue opportunities that will support future growth in Australia and globally. On the right side of this slide, you can see our strategic priorities. I'll share FY '23 highlights from each of these priorities throughout the remainder of this presentation. realestate.com.au is the #1 addressing property across the country. Our audience leadership position provides REA with the most comprehensive view of the Australian property market and helps underpin our powerful data-led solutions, products and experiences. In FY '23, an average of 12.1 million Australians visited realestate.com.au every month with over half of these people using our platform exclusively. The loyalty of our audience and the value in our personalized experiences has seen our daily audience grow at a rate of 3.6x faster than our nearest competitor over the last 3 years. All FY '23 audience metrics on this slide were measured under the Nielsen methodology. For FY '24, the Australian digital industry is moving to a new methodology under Ipsos iris. While our audience leadership continues, audience numbers across the 2 different methodologies cannot be compared. Turning to highlights for our consumers and customers. Our consumer strategy is centered on converting our unrivaled audience into realestate.com.au members. We know members are 3x more likely to perform a high-value action that results in valuable leads for our customers. We accelerated this strategy during the year, increasing our active membership base by 18% year-on-year. Engaging owners is fundamental to driving quality seller leads. The ability to track the estimated value of a property on realestate.com.au is key to the owner experience and is powered by PropTrack's Automated Valuation Model. Supported by an extensive marketing campaign in February, we launched our enhanced valuations experience, realEstimate. This experience has helped us surpass the milestone of 1 in 4 Australian properties being tracked by their owner on our platform. Our customers continued to prioritize REA's premium products and services, and the strong uptake of Premier+ underpinned residential revenue in FY '23. New Premiere+ value inclusions such as listing optimization helped drive this healthy uptake. Following challenging conditions, we are pleased to see buyer inquiries return to year-on-year growth in late FY '23. We delivered an average of 2 million buyer inquiries to our customers throughout the year. Building our next-generation marketplaces is key to our strategy. We've progressed our goal of creating Australia's #1 property data, valuations and insights provider. PropTrack's AVM achieved world benchmark standards in terms of valuation accuracy during the year. Leveraging our deep understanding of the property market, PropTrack is also developing a suite of propensity models to help agents, lenders and brokers improve how they engage and retain customers. These models represent significant opportunities to deliver high-value leads for customers across our businesses. As Hamish mentioned, we were pleased to complete the integration of our Financial Services business during the year. The Mortgage Choice network expanded to 1,066 brokers by year-end. In June, in partnership with Athena Home Loans, we're delighted to launch a suite of home loan products designed to help Australians pay off their mortgages faster. As a digital business, innovation is at the heart of REA. In FY '23, we progressed our goal of building Australia's most comprehensive property research site. property.com.au added more than 35 new features and achieved strong organic engagement growth with a 72% increase in time on site. In June this year, we launched our new Property Coach service, which is designed to build consumer confidence and drive more qualified leads to our customers and mortgage brokers. And in a major milestone, property.com.au recently became Australia's #3 residential property site by audience. REA's global footprint provides us with exposure to some of the world's largest and fastest-growing property markets. REA India delivered an impressive result in FY '23 with exceptional revenue growth of 46%, primarily driven by the core Housing.com business. Housing.com continued its audience leadership with 1.3x more visits to the platform compared to the nearest competitor. And in June, Housing.com achieved a record 21.2 million visits. India's economy continues to grow rapidly, and the property market is strong. We continue to expand our marketplace, including new offerings in the Housing Edge platform such as Pay on Credit and Rent Protect insurance. In Southeast Asia, REA has a 17.3% interest in the region's leading prop tech company, Property Guru Group. The business holds a leadership position in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand and has an excellent platform for continued future growth. In North America, REA holds a 20% interest in Move Inc., which operates realtor.com. Performance was impacted by challenging market conditions. However, the opportunity in the U.S. is large. To demonstrate the size of the market, realtor.com had an average of 74 million unique users during Q4. Move also welcomed new CEO, Damian Eales, in June. Damian worked closely with REA during his time at News Corp Australia and is already having a positive impact on the business. An important focus within our strategic agenda is our commitment to a sustainable future and business practices. We achieved numerous key milestones across our environmental, social and governance goals throughout the year. We announced our target of net 0 emissions by 2050 across Scopes 1, 2 and 3. And we're pleased to receive certification of our carbon-neutral status through Climate Active for the third consecutive year. We're delighted to submit our first Reconciliation Action Plan in June and look forward to continuing our RAP journey. Our focus on making REA a great and inclusive place to work was recognized with REA Group placing fifth on the Great Place to Work Australia's Best Workplaces list. And REA India ranked third on the India list. And just last week, we were also recognized as one of Australia's Best Workplaces for Women. Data privacy and cybersecurity remains a top priority. And in FY '23, we established an Enterprise Privacy Program, along with a Generative AI Forum, which is designed to unlock the potential of this technology at REA in a safe and responsible way. We were pleased to maintain our MSCI AA rating and to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for Australia and Asia for the first time. Moving to our results for the first quarter of FY '24. Group financial highlights from core operations for the 3 months ended 30 September 2023 include revenue of $341 million, an increase of 12%, and EBITDA excluding associates was $198 million, an increase of 13%. Our strong performance demonstrates the value of our premium products and the strengthening Australian property market. REA India continued its rapid growth with 25% growth in revenue and 16% growth in audience. Group core operating costs increased 10%, driven by higher employee, technology and marketing costs. Touching briefly on current trading. The Australian residential property market is healthy. Sydney and Melbourne experienced stronger-than-typical conditions during winter, and this has continued into spring. Strong demand underpinned by near-record employment and high levels of immigration has given sellers confidence to bring their properties to market. And this demand has continued into October, where we've seen a record 200 million views of properties in the buy section on realestate.com.au. The stabilization of interest rates for several months, which ended with the recent rate rise, played a key role in building market confidence. The latest increase and any further rate increases from current levels could have a negative impact on sentiment. National residential listings in October were up 16% year-on-year, reflecting the weak prior period listing volumes. To put this in perspective, October listings were 1% above the 6-year average for October. I'd like to acknowledge and thank the group's executive leadership team for their support and outstanding efforts in FY '23. Our strong leadership team is integral to our leading workplace culture, and they successfully motivate their teams to continually deliver for our customers and consumers. I'd like to sincerely thank our former Chief Technology Officer, Chris Venter, for his contribution to REA. Chris had a severe accident in August 2022 and has left REA to focus on his rehabilitation. Our thoughts and best wishes are with him during his recovery. Last month, we're pleased to welcome Steve Maidment as the group's new Chief Technology Officer. Steve is an accomplished leader who brings more than 25 years' experience in technology and digital roles. I'd also like to thank our former Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Mary Lemonis, who left the business in October. My thanks also to our Board of Directors for your ongoing counsel and support. Finally, I'd like to extend my sincere appreciation to REA's people for their outstanding contribution I'm continually impressed with their commitment, drive and values-led approach. After a strong first quarter, we remain focused on delivering further value to our customers and consumers. We have an excellent platform for growth for the remainder of FY '24 and beyond. I'll now hand back to Hamish to continue with the formalities. Thank you.

Thank you, Owen. I will now proceed with the formal business of the meeting. The notice of meeting sets out the matters for consideration by shareholders today, and the items of business are now being shown on the screen. During the meeting, when we get to each item, we will display the proxy votes and the direct votes received in advance of the meeting in respect of that item. As indicated in the notice of meeting, where I, as Chairman of the meeting, have been nominated as a shareholder proxy, I intend to vote undirected proxies in favor of the resolution to the extent permitted and will vote directed proxies in accordance with the instructions given by the shareholder. There are also voting restrictions for some resolutions, as outlined in the notice of meeting, which apply to those that have an interest in the resolutions and certain of their related parties or associates. I remind you that the online polls are now open for voting. Online voting will close 5 minutes after the conclusion of the AGM. Daniel Reid of Link Market Services will act as a returning officer. Ordinary business. Item 1, consideration of reports. I'll now table the 2023 annual financial report and the reports of the directors and auditors for the year ended 30th of June 2023 for the meeting to consider. There is no formal resolution to put to the shareholders on this item, but there will be an opportunity to ask questions on the matters contained within the reports as well as the business and the operations of REA. Turning now to questions. Are there any shareholder questions or comments in the room on this item of business? I will now turn to any online questions received during the course of today's meeting.

Thank you, Chairman. We have received a question from Stephen Mayne to the effect of our CFO, Janelle Hopkins, was previously CFO at Australia Post, where you could argue that the spending culture got a little out of hand. Is Janelle going to be tough enough on board and senior management expense control at REA? And how much did the Board's recent trip to Paris for the Rugby World Cup cost shareholders?

Firstly, I'd say that Janelle is tough on cost and cost control. She was voted #1 CFO in the country and is a fantastic executive. Just I'd like to say about the recent board trip. The Board was over in Europe and met with many first class and [ well ] betting companies that are actually helping the development of the future strategies of REA, and it was very much an educational trip for the Board. The Rugby World Cup attendance happened at the end of that trip, and that's not uncommon for many top 50 ASX listed companies to go on those trips. It was entertainment at the very end of the trip, and it came at minimal cost.

There are no further questions online.

Thank you. As there are no further questions, I'll move to Item 2, which is the remuneration report. The first resolution today concerns the adoption of the remuneration report, which is set out in the company's 2023 annual report. I remind you that the vote on this item is advisory only, and we will consider and take into account the vote and feedback from shareholders on the remuneration report. The Board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I note that the proxy and the direct votes received prior to the meeting in respect of this item of business is set out on the screen. Are there any shareholder questions or comments in the room on this item of business? I will now turn to any online questions received during the course of today's meeting. Erin?

Chairman, there have been no questions received online.

Okay. I'll now turn to any telephone questions. Operator, we received any questions?

Chairman, I confirm there are no questions on the phone.

Okay. As there are no further questions, we will now proceed to the vote on resolution 2. Would you please now vote using the voting card on the online portal or your paper voting card? [Voting]

Thank you. I will now move to item 3. Item 3 relates to the reelection of Nick Dowling. Item 3 relates to the reelection of Nick Dowling. Mr. Dowling was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company in May 2018. He retires by rotation and being eligible is today standing for reelection as a director. Mr. Dowling's details are set out in the notice of meeting. The Board, other than Mr. Dowling, unanimously support his reelection and recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. We will now hear from Nick through a short address. Nick?

Thank you, Hamish. Good morning, everyone. I offer myself for reelection to the Board for a third term. During my first 2 terms, I feel that I've made a solid and important contribution to the company. As the CEO of one of the largest real estate groups in Australia, I bring significant industry experience, knowledge and relationships. And this provides a constant and clear channel as to how the REA customer group are feeling and connecting with the company, plus insights into the competitive dynamic and how the industry and the marketing of property is evolving. Prior to my current role, I spent 15 years in the banking industry. Accordingly, during my time with REA, I have contributed to our financial services strategy, which is a growing and important part of our business. Equally, during my time with REA, along with my Board colleagues, I have contributed to the broader strategy and direction such as our data strategy and our international businesses. For the past 2.5 years, I have also chaired the Human Resources Committee, a role that I've enjoyed and is assisting REA across many important aspects of the business. Finally, during my time on the Board, I feel I have consistently demonstrated the ability to act independently. So with that said, I offer myself for reelection to the Board of REA. Thank you.

Thank you, Nick. I move that Nick Dowling be reelected as a Director of the company. I note that the proxy and direct votes received prior to the meeting in respect of this item of business is set out on the screen. Are there any shareholder questions or comments in the room on this item of business? There are none. I will now turn to any online questions received during the course of today's meeting. Erin?

Chairman, we've received one question on this item of business from Stephen Mayne to the effect of Nick Dowling is not an independent director because he is CEO of Jellis Craig, a major real estate agency. After 3 years on the Board, could Nick explain how he manages the conflict of interest of being a representative director for real estate agents at the same time as REA keeps using its market position to push through more price increases on the industry so much so that we now have a market cap of $20.8 billion, which is even more than our controlling shareholder News Corp?

I'd just say Nick is a fantastic addition to the Board. He's exercised his fiduciary duties brilliantly since he's been on the Board. He is independent. And what I would also say is that his insights into what's happening in the property industry from an agent perspective and any trends that he sees have been invaluable to our success. So he is independent. We respect him for that, and he's done a very good job on behalf of all shareholders. Erin, are there any other questions?

There are no further questions online.

Okay. Are there any telephone questions that have come in?

Chairman, I confirm there are no questions on the phone.

Thank you. Would you please now vote using your voting card on the online portal or your paper voting card? [Voting]

I will now move to item 4. Item 4 is the grant of performance rights to the Chief Executive Officer. We will now move to the resolution concerning the grant of performance rights to the CEO, Owen Wilson, under the 2026 REA Group long-term incentive plan. Details of the proposed grant are set out in the notice of meeting. If the performance rights vest and Mr. Wilson becomes entitled to be allocated shares under the LTIP, all such shares will be purchased on market by the company and transferred to Mr. Wilson. Accordingly, the grant of performance rights and allocation of shares on vesting of those performance rights to Mr. Wilson does not require shareholder approval under the ASX Listing Rule 10.14. The Board is nevertheless voluntarily seeking shareholder approval in recognition of the importance of shareholder engagement on key remuneration issues. The number of performance rights that will vest as of the 30th of June 2026 will be determined by reference to revenue, earnings per share and relative total shareholder return performance conditions. In respect of each performance condition, none of the performance rights attached to that condition will vest unless a threshold of performance level is achieved. The Board, other than Owen Wilson, considers the CEO's remuneration package to be appropriate in all the circumstances and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I note that the proxy and direct votes received prior to the meeting in respect of this item of business is set out on the screen. Are there any shareholder questions or comments in the room with this item of business? There are none. Could we please turn, Erin, to any online questions?

Chairman, we have received one question on this item of business from Stephen Mayne to the effect of could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on any incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company?

Owen?

I'll take that question as Chair of the Human Resources Committee on behalf of Owen. As you've indicated, Stephen, the information is contained in the annual report. For those interested, it's summarized very clearly in a table on Page 58, and that talks about year-by-year balance, total rights vested and total rights lapsed. So in terms of buying or selling shares, it's all online as well. The relevant direct interest disclosures are all online. It would be very complicated and lengthy if I was to explain every number and every line in this meeting. So I will refer you back to that report. And I'd also add, as you may be aware, we are now providing further disclosure as of last year around performance relative to target in terms of those, LTI grant, which is also in the rem report.

Thank you, Nick. Any telephone questions?

Chairman, no questions on the phone.

Thank you. As there are no further questions, we'll proceed to the vote on resolution 4. Would you please now vote using the voting card on the online portal or your paper voting card? [Voting]

Thank you. Item 5, increase in nonexecutive directors' fee pool. This is the final resolution concerning the increase in the nonexecutive directors' fee pool. The current fee pool cap was approved by shareholders at the 2021 Annual General Meeting, at which time there were only 5 paid nonexecutive directors. This has since increased to 6 with Ms. Tracey Fellows now receiving director fees following her retirement as an executive of News Corporation, the company's major shareholder. The Board is therefore seeking approval from shareholders to increase the fee pool to ensure the company can continue to remunerate competitively, attract and retain high-caliber directors, provide flexibility in succession planning in advance of specific needs arising and then allow room for the appointment of an additional director should it be determined one is required. The Board seeks approval for all purposes, including ASX Listing Rule 10.17 and Rule 7.3A of the company's constitution, to increase the fee pool by $800,000 from $1.9 million to $2.7 million per annum. I note that the proxy and directed votes received prior to the meeting in respect of this item of business are set out on the screen. Are there any shareholder questions or comments in the room on this item of the business? There are none. Erin, are there any online questions?

Chairman, we have received one question on this item of business from Steve Van Emmerik. Steve Van Emmerik from the Australian Shareholders' Association. You're proposing to increase the fee pool for nonexecutive directors by over 40%. What approximately pay increase has the average REA Group employee had over a comparable period?

I'll answer part of that question and then hand to Nick. But look, what I would say from a director point of view, and even this year, the directors were entitled to review their remuneration, which they decided to pass on for another year. I think the directors have been very fair in terms of the remuneration pool over a long period of time. It's been a while since we've revisited the cap. I think in my explanation, it was quite clear in terms of why we needed it. And again, it's all about creating enough headroom for the directors should circumstances change and do that for quite some time. Nick, is there anything you'd like to add?

Yes, sure. I think that gives a good high-level overview. I would add that this is an increase request or proposal in terms of what the fee pool cap is, not an increase in actual pay to directors. That's not changing this year. The current cap is $1.9 million. We're nearly at that cap. Since that increase a number of years ago, we've moved from 5 paid directors to 6 paid directors with Tracey Fellows moving from an executive of News Corp to a Non-Executive Director of REA. We didn't have much headroom in it to start with. So we're bumping it up, the amount that we're proposing, to allow a number of years to not have to come back with this question too frequently. I'd also add finally that if you look at the ASX 10 to 50 peer group that we're part of, the current cap sits at about the 15th percentile. The $2.7 million request sits at about the 35th percentile. So we don't think it's too -- it's not at all unreasonable compared to our peer group.

And I'd also say that we don't -- we don't disclose individual pay increases from within the company ranks as well. Erin, is there another question?

There are no further questions on this item of business.

Thank you. Are there any telephone questions?

Chairman, there are no questions on the phone.

As there are no further questions, we'll proceed to the vote on resolution 5. Would you please now vote using the voting card on the online portal or your paper voting card? [Voting]

That concludes the discussion on the items of business. I will now address 3 written questions REA received prior to the AGM. I'll ask Erin to read up the questions.

Chairman, we received a question from [ Kueen Proprietary Limited ] prior to the AGM in 2 parts. Part 1, at the recent referendum, which is clearly defeated, Australians said that they wanted to be one country with no division. Does this mean that the Acknowledgment of Country on Page 3 of the annual report will be removed from next year's report? In part 2, during the recent referendum, can you please advise how much REA donated to the no side and how much to the yes side? If these amounts are not equal and are greater than 0, can you please advise why REA decided to get involved to the detriment of shareholders in a constitutional event where the only stakeholders are Australian citizens?

Owen?

I'll take that. We're going to continue to demonstrate respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We are going to observe cultural protocols such as Acknowledgment of Country and Welcome to Country protocols. These are contained in our Reconciliation Action Plan that we've committed to. In terms of the referendum, REA did not take a public position either way and did not contribute to either side.

Thank you. Erin, any more questions?

Thank you, Chairman. In advance of the AGM, we received a question from [ Benjamin Bligh ], and a similar question was also asked by Stephen Mayne online during today's meeting. Does Kelly Bayer Rosmarin have sufficient time to devote to her Board duties with REA Group given she is also the CEO of Optus and will no doubt be spending a significant amount of time cleaning up the mess of the significant Optus outage recently? Do you think it is appropriate for nonexecutive directors to also hold significant and time-consuming executive roles?

Thank you. I'll take that. Kelly makes a very valuable contribution to the Board and its committees. Her workload doesn't compromise the energy or time she devotes to REA. Her financial services background and experience in businesses that are consumer and customer friendly and tech driven is beneficial to REA, and we welcome and appreciate her involvement on the board. Erin, are there any more questions?

Chairman, we've received 4 additional online questions relating to general business. The first from Stephen Mayne. As the News Corp nominee as Chair of REA Group, could Hamish McLennan please comment on what today's handover of the Executive Chair role at News Corp from Rupert Murdoch to Lachlan Murdoch means for REA and News Corp's 61% state in the company, which is today worth $12.7 billion? Wouldn't it make sense for the stake to be distributed to News Corp shareholders given that REA is now worth more than the whole of News Corp?

Look, this is an REA Annual General Meeting. It's not a News Corp one. So I can't comment on any of News Corp's intentions. What I would say though is Lachlan Murdoch made the initial investment in REA, and it's been one the best investments ever from that company. And what I do know is that Lachlan has a great commitment and love of REA. So he's certainly passionate about what we do, but I can't comment and won't comment on any matters pertaining to News Corp and their intentions. Next question?

Next question is from Stephen Mayne. Thank you for offering shareholders a hybrid AGM this year. Will you commit to keep doing this in future years to maximize shareholder participation in terms of voting and debating items such as this proposed fee cap increase for the nonexecutive directors? Also, thank you for disclosing the proxies to the ASX along with the formal addresses. And will you make an archive of today's webcast available for shareholders who weren't able to watch proceedings live? Congratulations for the strong voting support on all items today.

Thank you, Stephen. So a copy of this presentation today -- sorry, a copy of this webcast will be left online for all shareholders to see, just for the record. We just assess our AGM requirements year-on-year. So obviously, we were committed this year to a hybrid AGM, and we will continue to assess whether we will continue with it on a yearly basis. Thank you. Erin, next question?

The next question is from Steve Van Emmerik from the Australian Shareholders' Association. We represent retail shareholders and hold 76 proxies for this meeting. Two questions re cybersecurity. Firstly, how long do you hold customer data? And secondly, how do you work with your business partners and suppliers to ensure data security? And how confident are you in their cybersecurity?

Owen, can you take that first, and then, Jennifer?

So in terms of holding customer and consumer data, we take our privacy obligations very seriously and hold that data in accordance with the regulations typically for as long as the data is relevant for the customer or consumer need.

Jennifer, anything you want to add?

Thanks for the question. As Owen has said, this is one of the top priorities for REA as a company. And accordingly, the Board take this very seriously as well. And this -- the cybersecurity features on the agenda of the [ call it ] the Audit and Risk Compliance Committee regularly. The questions that you're asking are really focused around how we identify what is important information that we need to keep and also how we protect that. And as Owen has said, that we look at -- we identified that information, and we keep it only for as long as is possible. And we've done a full review of that this year to make sure that we reduce the quantity of data that we collect and actually shorten the retention times where that's possible. In terms of protecting that information, we have a program of work internally, where we -- we are focused on the key security controls and the health and hygiene of all of our systems. And our approach to protecting that data does extend to third parties as well. So we look at our suppliers, and we also work with our customers to make sure that we've done the appropriate due diligence and the appropriate controls over protecting that data as we are all linked up, as you know.

Thank you. Erin, any further questions?

We have one final question online from Steven Mayne to the effect of could Hamish McLennan please address his workload challenges considering the attention that Rugby Australia needs, the workload intensity from his push for ARN Media, which he chairs, to take over Southern Cross Media and his decision to join the Board of U.S.-based poker machine manufacturer, Light & Wonder, during the year? Combine that with Magellan, where he is now Deputy Chair, how does he possibly juggle all these commitments?

So Stephen, this question comes up every year in some form. What I would say is that when I was a full-time executive, I worked a lot harder than I do now. I'm passionate about all of my boards, but this is an REA Annual General Meeting. So what I would say as far as REA is concerned, a company that I love and I'm very proud of. I've met all of my obligations, including attending 100% of all board meetings and committee meetings, and we have numerous conversations out of cycles and meetings. And I've never compromised anything that I've done as far as REA is concerned. So thank you for the question. Hopefully, we've put that to bed for another year. Are there any telephone questions?

Chairman, I confirm there are no questions on the phone.

Okay. Thank you. So in summary, so for those joining online, please ensure that you've clicked the submit button on each resolution. For those attending in person, representatives from the share registry will now come and collect your yellow voting card. The results of the meeting will be announced to the ASX and will be available on our website as soon as possible after the conclusion of the meeting. A copy of the webcast will also be made available on REA's website. Thank you to our shareholders for attending and participating in today's meeting. I declare the Annual General Meeting closed. For those in the room here today, there will be some light refreshments available just outside this room. Members of the Board and executive team will be there to join you. Many thanks, everyone.