Reece Limited (REH.AX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the Reece Board and senior team, I would like to welcome you to the Reece Limited 2022 Annual General Meeting. Thank you for taking the time to attend our meeting, and thank you for your interest in Reece. My name is Tim Poole, and I am the acting Chair of the Reece Limited Board. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the various lands from which you are joining us. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. I'd also like to pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples joining us here today. Today's meeting is being held online by the Computershare platform and all attendees can view a live streaming of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes via the Computershare platform. I'm advised a quorum of members is present, and I declare the 2022 Reece Annual General Meeting open. The minutes of the previous AGM of the company held on the 28th of October 2021 were signed on the 16th of December 2021 as a true and correct record of proceedings. The Notice of Meeting was shared with all shareholders on the 21st of September 2022, and I'll take this as read. I'll now introduce the members of the Reece Board. Joining the meeting in the room next door to us today are our directors, Alan Wilson; Bruce Wilson; Megan Quinn, and Andrew Wilson. In the studio with me are Peter Wilson, our Group CEO; Chantelle Duffy, our Company Secretary; and our Group CFO, Andrew Cowlishaw. I'd also like to welcome our audit partners from KPMG, Bernie Szentirmay and Julie Carey, who are present and available to answer questions on the conduct of the audit of the company's financial report for the year ended June 30, 2022, all the content and preparation of their audit report. We're going to begin the meeting with some short presentations. Then go through the formal proceedings, which includes 5 resolutions. Before we get to the presentation, I would like to briefly explain the procedure for voting and asking questions. The resolutions before the meeting today will be decided by a poll. If you are eligible to vote, once voting opens, press the vote icon and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive the vote confirmation notification on your screen. And you can vote any time during the proceedings until voting is declared closed. You can also change your vote at any time throughout the proceedings until the voting is closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. I'll give you a clear prompt later in the meeting to warn of the close in voting. In relation to questions, online attendees can submit questions at any time. To ask a question [Operator Instructions] Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that if we receive multiple questions on 1 topic, we may amalgamate them together. During the meeting, questions can be asked using the chat facility in the platform or you can ask a question verbally. To ask a verbal question, please follow the instructions on the platform where a telephone number will be provided. We've also received questions prior to the AGM and these, together with questions raised during the meeting will be addressed towards the end prior to considering the resolutions. If you have any difficulties voting or submitting questions, please consult the Computershare user guide, which can be accessed within the platform or refer to the Notice of Meeting or on the Reece Group Investor website. Now moving on to my Chair address. Reece is continuing to execute its long-term growth strategy and delivered a strong result in the 2022 financial year. Sales revenue was up 22% to $7.6 billion, driven by demand and price inflation across all markets. Normalized EBITDA was up 16% to $838 million and net profit after tax increased by 37% to $392 million. The Board declared a final dividend of $0.15 per share fully franked, taking the total dividends in the 2022 financial year to $0.225 per share fully franked. The Reece team had successfully navigated the issues arising from the pandemic, supply chain constraints, inflation, staff shortages and natural disasters. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. for their resilience, commitment and contribution in what was again another extraordinary year. I'd also like to recognize and thank our group CEO, Peter Wilson and his senior team for continuing to execute Reece's long-term strategy and maintain their focus on our customers, notwithstanding the challenging external environment. A few weeks ago, Reece reached a major milestone when Alan Wilson announced he would transition from Executive Chairman to an Executive Director role. During my time on the Board, I have witnessed firsthand the way in which Alan embodies Reece's entrepreneurial spirit. From his humble beginnings, running a hardware business on the trade counter, to opening his own hardware store, Austral at 20 years old. Alan Wilson has been a supporter of Aussie traders for over 60 years. After joining Reece in 1969, Alan was asked to serve as General Manager in 1970. As the business began to experience rapid growth, he went on to become Managing Director from 1974 until 2008, was appointed to the Board in 1996 and has been Executive Chairman since 2001. In his move to Executive Director, we have ensured a smooth transition and continuity on the Board and within the business. We're excited about the ongoing contribution Alan will be able to make, both as a Board member and by continuing to share his expertise across the Reece network in an advisory role. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank Alan for leading and chairing the Board for the last 21 years and for his enormous contribution. We are progressing well in our process to find and appoint a new Independent Chair and remain committed to further expanding the Board with an additional Independent Nonexecutive Director who will chair our Audit and Risk Committee. We are focused on completing these processes the Reece way with a long-term lens and a clear view of the skills and profile we need for our next stage of growth. Cultural fit, skill set, experience and diversity will be important considerations in this process. This will result in the number of directors on the Board expanding from 6 to 8; 4 Independent Nonexecutive Directors and 4 Wilson family directors. This year, we have also listened to the role our customers want us to play in sustainability, and Peter will share more about our first Reece's Sustainability Report shortly. We know that the next few years will be challenging as the macroeconomic environment continues to be volatile and unpredictable. Our focus will be on servicing our customers, delivering our 2030 strategy and our vision to be the trade's most valuable partner. I'll now hand over to our Group CEO, Peter Wilson; and our Group CFO, Andrew Cowlishaw, who will take you through the highlights in relation to the 2022 financial year, and also provide an update on trading during the first quarter of the 2023 financial year.

Thank you, and a very warm welcome to everybody. Today, I will take you through an overview of our FY '22 results and our strategic priorities, a review of our operational highlights for the year and an update on the first quarter of FY '23 and the macroeconomic outlook. Please note for consistency, all figures are in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated. FY '22 was another year of external change and challenge. We continue to navigate issues from constrained supply chains, to disruptive weather events, ongoing COVID impacts, high demand and high inflation. Our approach was to focus on the fundamentals of looking after our team and delivering our customer promise. We did this while continuing to invest to improve our business for the future. Our customers and our network were busier than ever, and I'm very proud of how our team withstood these constraints, and I want to thank them all for their hard work. This environment translated into a strong result for Reece. Sales were up 22% from the prior year to $7.7 billion, and we saw strong demand across all regions and a significant inflation tailwind driving growth. ANZ sales were up 12% and U.S. sales were up 33% in Australian dollars or 28% on a U.S. dollar basis. Normalized EBITDA for the period was up 16% to $838 million. Net profit after tax was up 37% to $392 million, boosted by a significant tax credit in the U.S. The Board declared a final dividend of $0.15 per share bringing the total dividend to $0.225 per share. In short, this was a strong result driven by the market conditions and supported by our resilient business model and strong execution. Turning now to our focus. We are a purpose and values led organization, and our blueprint guides what we do across all areas of our business. Our 2030 vision is to be the trade's most valuable partner. We are bringing this vision to life through our 3 strategic priorities: The first is being brilliant at the fundamentals of trade distribution. We cannot achieve our vision unless we are the best at the basics; the second is investing for growth, like we've always done, continuing to invest in our business for the long term; and finally, staying ahead of our customers' needs through our innovation approach. All of this comes together through the delivery of our customized service promise. Now before we look at our progress under our strategic priorities in FY '22, we'd like to take a moment to talk about our sustainability approach. For over 100 years, our success has been driven by our focus on the long term, and by building a business that is one step ahead of our customers' needs. We've intentionally taken the same approach to define our sustainability strategy, which is published in our first report today. Our approach has 3 areas of focus: Building a sustainable business; empowering the trade; and creating resilient communities. As the world around us changes, our customers are increasingly looking to us to guide the way. We know we have a lot to learn, and we are committed to engaging with our stakeholders to collectively strengthen our approach and to publish our progress annually. We are also making a commitment to reduce our environmental footprint and to achieve net zero by 2040. Through our culture of continuous improvement, we'll increase efficiency, expand our use of renewable electricity and explore new technologies to decarbonize. I'd now like to play a short video summarizing our approach in more detail. [Presentation]

Turning to our achievements in FY '22. In ANZ, we continue to progress a wide range of brilliant fundamentals activity while investing and driving innovation forward. As our network and customers remain at capacity, focusing on the basics of trade distribution was critical. We look for ways to give our branches and customers time back in the day and continue to invest in the network to uphold standards. On the innovation front, we also made good progress. We moved to our new support center called, The Works, in April and delivered a range of other initiatives. Before we look at these in more detail, I do want to flag that I'll be stepping back as the ANZ CEO in addition to my group CEO role, as Marius Vermeulen has resigned due to personal circumstances. We've started an external search to find his replacement, and we will take our time to find the right candidate. Turning to look at some of the activity in our ANZ business this year in a little more detail. In the high demand, high disruption environment that we've already outlined, our network density in ANZ remained a competitive advantage. It enabled us to take a flexible approach to directing resources effectively, allowing us to deliver our customer proposition despite the high level of absenteeism and supply chain disruptions. We continue to invest in the network opening 3 new stores during the period, taking the total to 645 and we delivered 33 refurbishments over the course of the year. On the innovation front, we continue to focus our efforts on the trade of the future. As I mentioned, this year, we moved into our new support center in Cremorne, Melbourne. The building is a strategic investment to help us attract and retain talent, facilitate new ways of working, inspire collaboration and deliver innovation for our customers. An example of the type of innovation we want to keep driving was the launch of our new 3D Bathroom Planner, the planner called Imagin3D, helps customers bring their vision to life with quality bathroom renders, and we'll see a bit more about this in a short video later. And we kept innovating in the digital space to support our customers' needs. Across maX, our customer-facing digital platform, we continue to improve the customer experience. And new services like FieldPulse have been rolled out to save customers time and help them grow their business. Across the board, we are challenging ourselves to stay one step ahead of our customer needs. Now turning to our U.S. business. Before we look at FY '22 specifically, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on where we are 4 years on from the acquisition of MORSCO. In 2018, we outlined what we saw a significant opportunity to secure a foothold in a large and growing market through a business model that we knew and understood. Four years on, the rationale for the acquisition is still intact. We believe this is proving to be a highly strategic platform in an attractive and growing region. So despite all the external challenges that we've had to navigate, the business is on track and the opportunity remains. And with the significant work the team has done since acquisition, we've reached another milestone of moving to a single Reece brand in the U.S. This symbolic move is an acknowledgment that we are approaching the moment when our customer promise can be delivered in the U.S. market. This began with the Reece corporate brand launched during the year and is now progressing to rebranding the network over the next few years, starting in California in January. Looking now at the activity under our strategic priorities, we continue to deliver a wide range of Brilliant Fundamental initiatives. We have a program of operational upgrades network expansion, building out training and development programs and we've launched U.S. online offer through our maX platform this year. We are starting to see the benefit of this work, and we will continue investing to build a sustainable long-term business. Turning to look at our network in particular. We do have a multipronged strategy to upgrade and improve our existing network and to roll out new stores and refreshed formats across our business units. We see an opportunity to deliver a differentiated proposition in the more resilient R&R market as we are exposed to in ANZ. We rolled out 9 new branches this year, refurbished 11 and we completed a small bolt-on acquisition. We have a clear pipeline for organic growth in FY '23, and we anticipate the rate of new stores will land around 10 to 15 a year. I'll now hand over to Andrew to go through our financial results in FY '22 in more detail.

Thank you, Peter. The ANZ region delivered a solid result but remained impacted by COVID-related lockdowns and construction restrictions during the first half year. Sales revenue for FY '22 was up 11.5% to $3.5 billion. From a quality of earnings perspective, it is important to note that we experienced product inflation across our range of 9% during the period. Normalized EBITDA was up 4.8% to $526 million and EBIT increased 4.2% to $398 million. Normalized EBITDA margin decreased 90 basis points for the year, and this is inclusive of BAC income, a government incentive scheme and the costs of our December 2021 debt refinance. These 2 items are nonrecurring and are therefore excluded in the calculation of adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA margin experienced a 150 basis point compression. This was primarily a function of higher employee numbers and wage inflation, together with a deliberate strategy to invest in supply chain, innovation and marketing. We remain cautious on the outlook for the ANZ region, and as such, we're prudent in assessing inventory valuation and accounts receivable. The U.S. region produced a very strong performance for FY '22 with record results being achieved across the majority of our markets. Sales revenue of $4.1 billion was up 33%, on a constant currency U.S. dollar basis the region was up 28%. It is important to note that product inflation was significant and the average inflation for our U.S. business was estimated to be circa 20% for the year. Although diminished, COVID-19 continued to impact our U.S. operations through supply chain disruptions, staff shortages and illness. Operating expenses in the U.S. have increased, driven by additional head count, wage inflation and inflation across other components of our cost of doing business. Normalized EBITDA was up 42.5% to $312 million, and EBIT was up 63% to $181 million. Notwithstanding the higher operating expense in the U.S. region was able to increase its normalized EBITDA margin by 50 basis points. In line with the approach taken in the ANZ region, the U.S. region were also prudent in assessing inventory valuation and accounts receivable. I'll now hand it back to Peter.

Thank you, Andrew. And moving now to the Q1 update. Sales for Q1 have been strong, reflecting ongoing inflation and demand. We've continued to see growth in both regions with ANZ sales revenue up [ 14% ], U.S. sales revenue up 33% on a constant currency basis and our group sales revenue up [ 29% ]. Inflation remained persistent at 12% in ANZ and approximately 25% in the U.S. compared to the same quarter last year. Looking ahead, we anticipate gradual moderation in inflation. Tight labor markets and wage inflation were main factors, while inventory continues to be elevated on prepandemic levels. This reflects our commitment to being in stock for our customers but it is likely to begin to slowly normalize. Volumes have begun to contract since September in both regions. We see softening demand continuing in the second half. We are focused on cost control while maintaining our long-term focus and our commitment to invest through the cycle to build a stronger business. Taking a step back, we think our business is well placed to navigate the complexity of the external setting. Firstly, we are a trusted brand with a clear customer proposition. Secondly, we have a track record of delivering sustainable level of profitability through the economic cycle. We are a more diversified business than ever before, and we are operating in what we think are the 2 most attractive geographic regions in the current environment. And finally, we have a strong balance sheet to fund our long-term focus and investing to build a stronger business. In summary, we delivered another strong result in FY '22, driven by the positive external setting and execution by the team. We believe we are well placed to manage the external environment in FY '23, always maintaining our long-term focus and investing to deliver our 2030 vision. Thank you. We'll now play a short TV commercial illustrating our Imagin3D Bathroom Planner as featured on the block this year and hand back to Tim. [Presentation]

Thanks, Peter and Andrew. Great job. As I mentioned at the start of the meeting, voting on the resolutions is currently open, and you can vote at any time until voting is declared closed. And a reminder that only shareholders, proxy holders or authorized shareholder representatives may vote. Any directed proxies given to you by the shareholder will automatically be cast as directed when the poll is closed. Any undirected proxy votes given to the Chair will be voted in favor of the relevant resolutions. We will now consider the formal business of the meeting. The first item of business is to receive and consider the financial statements for the company and its controlled entities together with the Director's report and Independent Auditor's report thereon for the year ended 30th of June, 2022. These statements and reports are now tabled. I note there will not be a resolution in relation to this item of business as it is not required by the Corporations Act. I also note there will be an opportunity to ask questions on the statements and reports later in the meeting. Okay. So let's move on to resolution #1, which is in relation to the company's remuneration report. Under the Corporations Act, ASX listed companies are required to include as part of their directors' report a remuneration report. The directors have prepared a remuneration report for the year ended 30th of June 2022, and it is included in the annual report on pages 40 to 53. The Corporations Act also requires companies to put to shareholders a nonbinding Resolution to enable shareholders to voice their opinion on matters included in the remuneration report. Now displayed on the screens are the details of the proxies received in relation to the adoption of the company's 2022 remuneration report. I have directed all open usable votes in favor of this resolution. And as this item will be determined by poll, you can now vote online in relation to resolution #1. [Voting]

In relation to resolution #2, I'll hand over to Peter Wilson for this resolution.

The second resolution is the reelection of Tim Poole as Director of the company. Tim retires by rotation in accordance with the company's constitution and being eligible, offers himself for reelection. Tim joined the Board in 2016. Details of Tim's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the Notice of Meeting. I'll now hand back to Tim to say a few words.

Thanks, Peter. I joined the Reece Board in 2016 as a Non-Executive Director and have thoroughly enjoyed working with our team as Reece has expanded into the U.S., delivered strong organic growth and worked very hard to deliver for our customers. Reece is a passionate, values-driven and customer-focused organization. It is a unique company that applies a long-term lens to drive strategy as it relentlessly pursues its 2030 Vision. I'm excited about the future, and we'd be delighted to continue supporting the leadership teams in Australia and the U.S. I believe my experience as an Executive and Investor with Hastings Funds Management and as a Non-Executive Director on several private and public companies in a range of industries, including infrastructure, transport, mining, financial services and property continues to be of some value. I can confirm I have capacity to fulfill my role on the Board, including my current roles as acting Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Thank you, Tim. Displayed on the screen are the details of the proxies received in relation to the reelection of Tim Poole. All open usable votes will be directed in favor of this resolution. Please vote online now in relation to resolution #2. [Voting]

Back to you, Tim.

Thanks, Peter. Moving on to the third resolution, which is the reelection of Bruce Wilson as a Director of the company. Bruce retires by rotation in accordance with the company's constitution and being eligible offers himself for reelection. Bruce joined the Reece Board in 2016. Details of Bruce's background, qualifications and experience are also set out in the Notice of Meeting. I'll now hand over to Bruce to say a few words.

Thank you, Tim. Good afternoon to the shareholders of Reece, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the meeting today. I have enjoyed the past 3 years being a constructive member of the Board within a company that has been associated with my family for nearly 90 years. Since I joined the Board in 2016, I've seen the business continue to grow and expand, providing customized service to its customers and opportunities for its employees. I've been particularly proud with how the business has coped with the challenges of COVID-19. It is an exciting time for Reece as it looks to execute its 2030 vision, and I feel privileged to play a role in helping to realize that ambition. For those unfamiliar, since 2002, I've been running Wilson Sheet Metals. Wilson Sheet Metals is the company, my grandfather and former Reece Chair, Leslie Thomas Wilson, started with the help of his father back in 1929. By 1935, started supplying the plumbing and hardware merchant, Harold Joseph Reece, our family's first introduction to Reece. Through this role, I am familiar with the industry and have firsthand daily understanding and experience of how Reece operates on the front line and what Reece's expectations are regarding quality and service. Reece's service proposition is an integral part of what has made it successful in Australia and what will undoubtedly help it achieve its objectives in New Zealand and the United States. I believe it's solid, constructive debate, diversity of thought, coupled with a range of skills and experience results in good governance and leadership. This exists on the Board, and I'm proud to be a member. I can confirm that I have the time and capacity to fulfill my role on the Board, and with your approval, I would be honored to continue to support the senior leadership team and the strategy of Reece on behalf of shareholders. Thank you.

Thank you, Bruce. Once again, displayed on the screen are the details of the proxies received in relation to the reelection of Bruce Wilson. Again, all open usable votes will be directed in favor of this resolution. Please vote online now in relation to resolution #3. [Voting]

So let's move on to resolution #4. The fourth resolution relates to the grant of 205,598 performance rights to Peter Wilson. The Board is committed to rewarding and retaining Peter, as he continues to deliver outstanding company results. The Board believes that part of the rewards for Peter's service to the company should be performance-based, at risk and involve equity interest in the company. Peter has served as Group Chief Executive Officer since the 1st of January 2008. And during this time, he's continuing to transform and grow Reece both organically and via acquisition. The Remuneration Committee has undertaken a review of Peter's remuneration package to ensure it remains fit for purpose, aligned to Australian market practice and reflects the desire to incentivize Peter to deliver long-term sustainable growth for the company. As explained in the Notice of Meeting on pages 10 to 13, these performance rights will be granted in accordance with the company -- in accordance with the terms and conditions of the company's 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan. It is proposed that Peter be granted 205,598 Performance Rights. This is calculated by dividing $3,196,000 being 150% of Peter's fixed remuneration by $15.54, which is the 15-day volume weighted average price of the shares from the 23rd of August 2022 until the 13th of September 2022. The Board with Peter abstaining considers the grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO, appropriate in all the circumstances and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the grant. Again, displayed on the screen are the details of the proxies received in relation to the grant performance rights to Peter Wilson. All open usable votes will be directed in favor of this resolution. And could I ask if you can now please vote online in relation to resolution #4? [Voting]

Resolution number 5. So the fifth and final resolution seeks approval from shareholders to increase the maximum aggregate amount, out of which nonexecutive directors may be paid. The current pool is $1 million, and we are proposing to increase the pool to a maximum size of $2.5 million. These additional funds will be primarily used to recruit a Nonexecutive -- a new Nonexecutive Independent Chair and increase the number of Independent Nonexecutive Directors on the Reece Board. As I mentioned in my address, the total number of directors on the Board will expand from 6 to 8 in total with 4 Independent Nonexecutive Directors and four Wilson family directors. The directors have benchmark the size of the proposed fee pool against other ASX-listed companies of similar size and complexity and consider the increase in the total aggregate fees to be reasonable. Displayed on the screens are the details of the proxies received in relation to the approval for an increase in the maximum aggregate amount of fees payable to the Nonexecutive Directors of the company. And once again, all open usable votes will be directed in favor of this resolution. Can I now ask you to please vote online in relation to resolution #5. [Voting]

We will now open the meeting to all members to ask questions to the directors who will make any comments on the management of the company.

So moving on to our first question. And our first question comes online from [ Mr. Paul Camilleri ]. And he asked, over the next year, how will a likely recession in America and downturn in ANZ and America affect Reece? Peter, I might get you to start with that question.

Thanks, Tim. Look, clearly, we do see the future being much more challenging and no doubt we're of the view that we're past the peak of the cycle. But what we've always done through the last 100 years, we're playing the long game and we -- our strategy really is pretty consistent whatever cycle it is, it's to invest through the cycle. So what I would say is that we know that interest rates are rising, house prices are falling. So that is going to have an impact. To counter that, though, you've got labor shortages, trade shortages, material shortages. So there's a pent-up demand that we think will somewhat smooth the activity out for the next 12 months or so. The only caveat to all that is just how far interest rates rise. And if they do keep rising, it's obviously going to have an impact. But ultimately, for us, we're comfortable through whatever cycle is throwing up. And in terms of our exposure to the different segments, what I normally try to share is that if you look at where it's very similar in both countries, both Australia and America. If you look at where plumbing work is done, so in Australia roughly 50% of plumbing work done is in the repair, replace and renovation market. So that's half of the market, 30% is in the residential construction and about 20% in nonresidential. So in the U.S., it's about 55% in the R&R space because there's an older stock there. So in Australia, we're more heavily weighted towards the R&R. And in the U.S., we're more exposed to the residential and nonresidential part, and we want to pivot to the R&R over the long term. So we're comfortable with our strategy and we know we've got the levers to pull, whichever way it goes.

Thanks, Peter. The next question comes from John [ Marsden ] and he asks, what percentage of the products resells are sourced from China? And are we expanding sourcing from other suppliers? Peter may begin, that's one you can add.

Yes, thanks. In terms of -- there are some things we just don't disclose for competitive market reasons, but it's fair to say that we have a strong supply chain out of China. And I think that's for Australia. In the U.S., less so, more of the U.S. is domestic supply chain. And I think Reece like, pretty much everyone else in Australia is very aligned on the Chinese supply chains. Over the course of the next decade, we are going to be looking to diversify more and more around other parts of Asia. We do have a big supply chain coming through Europe and lots of other countries. In fact, there's over 30 countries. So China is a big part, and clearly, that's the same for all of Australia.

Thanks, Peter. The next question comes from Thomas [ Chromelin ]. And the question is, at the full year result, you highlighted you have been fortunate to pass through the inflation pressures to your customers. Do you feel confident you can still do this without impacting volumes. Peter?

Well, I think because the inflation has just been so high right through every industry, I think most market leading companies have been able to pass through the inflation component. So I'm confident -- and we've even been able to do that in the U.S. So I'm confident we can do it. I mean, how far -- I mean, ultimately, it will -- if inflation keeps going and if interest rates keep rising, it's going to have an impact on demand, but that's yet to be seen. And all I can say is that in both regions, the industry is at capacity with lots of backlogs. So -- and in fact, even in Australia with all the rain events, that's probably delayed the backlog even further.

Thanks, Peter. The next question comes from [ Myles Cody ]. And the question is, how do you see the federal budget helping Reece grow over the next 3 to 5 years?

I think any time that there's a housing component in the budget is good for our industry and it's good for Reece. So if Australia is going to produce another 1 million homes, then ultimately the companies like us that are linked to that again to be beneficiary. So for us, that announcement was very positive.

Thanks, Peter. We've got another question from [ Myles Cody ]. And the question is, do you believe you can expand the EBITDA margins in the U.S. business to be approximately 15% levels achieved in Australia? Do you need to reach a certain scale in the U.S.?

It's a very good question. I think we've been really consistent with that answer. The U.S. is structurally different to Australia. That's the nature -- the competitive nature of the manufacturers. We've never -- we don't see the U.S. as a margin play. We've seen it as a growth play, a long-term growth play over the next 20 years. So we've not -- we're not banking on lifting margins. As we build capabilities and build the platform and build scale, I mean, we are hopeful that we will start to improve over the long term. But certainly, in the short to medium term, this is all about building a really sustainable business for the long term.

Thanks, Peter. We might just check in with the operator to see whether there are any verbal questions coming in online.

Mr. Chair, there is an audio question. [Operator Instructions].

My name is [ John Whittington ] and I'm a volunteer of the Australian Shareholders' Association. Today, our whole proxy for 40 ASA members and nonmembers for over 430,000 Reece shares. Mr. Acting Chair, we would like to thank you and the whole Reece team for producing such a solid performance. In particular, we would like to record our thanks and appreciation to Mr. Alan Wilson for his considerable achievements as Chair of the company over many years. It will be a tough act to follow. Given that comment, I do have 2 questions. The first one is, given we're talking about Mr. Wilson is a tough act to follow, would you please outline the recruitment process for the new chair? Give us an indication of how long you are likely to remain in your acting role and indicate if you are a consideration for the ongoing role if you reduce your workload elsewhere?

Yes. Thanks, John, and we're delighted that you've been able to join the meeting today. And we're also particularly excited that the technology is working. So very happy on all fronts there. Look, and very well said in relation to Alan, as I said in my address a few moments ago, Alan's contribution to this company is very hard to put into words. His contribution has been enormous. And so on his behalf, thank you for those kind words and wishes. In relation to the process, I did make a few comments in my address around the process that we're undertaking to identify the next chair of our company. And maybe if I can -- in answering your question more specifically, I can give you a little bit of an insight as to how we're running the process. So typically, in a process like this, there's 2 approaches you can take. The first would be what I describe as a time-led approach where you say, we're going to take 6 months. We're going to look at the market. We're going to look at all the available candidates. And at the end of that 6-month process, we're going to appoint the very best candidate at the end of that period of time. That's one approach you can take. The second approach you could take is what I call a candidate-led process, which is you keep the process going and open until you find the right candidate. And for Reece, as I think we articulated in our addresses earlier and as I think we've articulated externally since Alan's announcement, we will be very much running the second process. It will be a candidate-led process. So I can't give you any more definition in terms of actual time frames because we will take as long as required, to find the absolute right candidate and the absolute right fit for Reece. So that's our approach. And just as soon as we have identified that candidate, we'll move forward with that candidate and make the necessary announcements to the market. Back to you, John.

One bit of my question, you didn't answer. Are you a consideration to the ongoing role?

Yes, sorry, I neglected to answer that. So I'm not a candidate for the ongoing role. I think as you identified in your question earlier, I do have a number of other roles. I Chair another very large public company. So from a -- in terms of my own position, that's not something that I'm not going to be part of the consideration. And frankly, I think, as we look at the external market, we genuinely think that there are some very high-quality, very experienced candidates with probably a stronger skill set and stronger experience base that we'll be better placed to take Reece forward into the -- in the future. So in direct answer to your question, I won't be a candidate for the role.

I've got one more question at this point, if I may. Whilst you've been upgrading your ESG reporting and compliment you for that, I find a little meaningful discussion on the risks of the climate change to Reece, what are the climate change risks to Reece? And in the medium term, will Reece move to the use of objective in the standardized reporting metric such TCFD or GRI?

Yes. Thanks, John. So you probably haven't caught up with our announcement a little earlier today because John, I think, you just hit the ASX platform but we have today, as Peter alluded to in his address, put up on the ASX platform today, our first sustainability report. So it's a real milestone for us and our team to have produced that report. It has been a long time in the making and we are very proud of our first report. As we've said in the report, it is the start of the journey for us, and we look forward to upgrading and continuing to improve that reporting going forward. In relation to your specific questions, we have based our first report on the GRI framework. And so that provides a very solid foundation for us this initial report. During the 2023 financial year, so the current financial year that we're in at the moment, we do have a project going on looking at the -- trying to scope out what compliance with the TCFD framework would look like. And I'd imagine that at some point in the future, whether it's 2023 or '24 or at some stage in the future, we will probably move to that framework. It's probably of all the -- of all the structures out there, it's probably the most -- it's probably the standard that most companies use. And so that's probably where we'll get to in the future. And then in relation to climate risk, which is the other part of your question, clearly, weather is a big issue for us, both here and in the U.S. Our business has been impacted in this part of the world and also the U.S. by some of the extreme weather events that have occurred over the last few years. So that's probably the biggest risk for us. But I might just check in, Peter, whether there's anything you wanted to add to that?

No, I think, Tim, you've articulated that really well. So I think the most important part is it's the start of a journey. So I mean everything we do is linked back to our purpose. So we are trying to improve the world that we live in for our customers and our people, and sustainability is a big part of improving the world. So it's the start of a big journey.

Thanks, Peter. John, did you have any other questions or comments that you want to make today?

If I could, I just don't want to monopolize the question line.

No, that's fine. No, feel free to continue.

Okay. My next question is Mr. Acting Chair, many retail shareholders become incensed if considerable incentives are paid to management in years that shareholders have lost money such as this year, and acknowledging you might have good performance results, but TSR was negative. Paying considerable incentives when shareholders lose money is not shareholder alignment. Would you consider having greater consciousness of this in your LTI plan in the future, perhaps by having an absolute TSR gateway before any significant incentives can be paid?

Yes. Thanks, John. Look, it's an interesting question, and it's one that our remuneration committee has wrestled with quite a lot. But as you know, since we introduced the LTI program, we have an EPS measure over a 4-year period. And in relation to this grant that we're -- is currently before the meeting in relation to the LTI for this grant, we've introduced a second measure, which is around -- which includes ROCE, so return on capital employed. Both of those are measured over a 4-year period. And our Remuneration Committee and Board are of the view that, if we get the 5% to 10% EPS numbers over a 4-year period, and we get the 14% to 16% return on capital employed numbers over a 4-year period, in the long run and many shareholders would save 4-plus years is the long run. If we hit those sort of numbers as a team, you would expect the share price performance to mirror that. And so on the basis of that, we're not convinced yet, you do need a negative TSR or a TSR gateway to open up the LTI program. But it is something we've had to look at. And then the final point I want to remind you of is that, ultimately, the Board does retain discretion under each of these plans. And if there was an anomaly or something that was very unusual that we needed to correct, we do retain that right. But we think, by and large, that 14% to 16% ROCE over 4 years and 5% to 10% EPS should mean that the shareholder outcome through the share price should be aligned to the management reward. John, anything else from you today?

Just 2 requests. One, especially with the prospective recruitment of new Independent Directors. Can we request that you have a more meaningful skills metrics in your future reports? And the second request that we've got is, would you be able to disclose the audit company tenure and days of last competitive tender in the annual report each year?

Yes. Thanks, John. In relation to the Board skills metrics, yes, we'll certainly take that feedback onboard. We've had a couple of -- we've had a little bit of feedback around that historically. So we will take that onboard. And I mean, we do outline the skills of each of the directors in the descriptions of each of us in the annual report. But it's a good point and it's probably one area where we probably still don't line up with some of the other companies in the ASX 100. So that is something we'll take onboard. And in relation to -- just remind me what the second part of that question was? Yes, sorry, in relation to the auditor, yes. Look, that's something again that we could easily put into the annual report. And just for your edification today, so I think it was the 2018 Annual General Meeting when we put a resolution to change to KPMG. So KPMG now been in place for 4 years and they've done an excellent job. The catalyst for that was our move to the U.S. We needed a global audit firm to embark on that journey with us. We appointed KPMG in 2018. So 4 years in, so still a relatively new relationship with Bernie, Julie, Nick, in Australia, Matt Jens and his team in the U.S. are doing a terrific job for us. So -- but I think that's something that's easy for us to include in our annual reporting going forward. Thanks, John. Anything else for you?

Thanks, Mr. Chairman, because it only takes centers to provide that information. I just got one last question. Last year, we asked about future AGMs and the response was the company would follow best practice. Whilst production values of your meeting today are second to none, best practice is now hybrid AGMs, which gives all the benefits of technology without some of the considerable downside of not having a face-to-face element of the meeting. Not only a hybrid meetings best practice, but they're also the most common practice amongst Reece's peers. So why today are we having a non-best practice virtual-only meeting?

Yes. Thanks, John. I mean, obviously, there's a whole range of factors that we take into account in assessing whether the format for our AGM. We're glad to hear that there were some positive parts of -- with what you said in terms of the production and so on. And we are -- in our new studio today, which is part of, The Works, which is an investment that we've made. And so we feel this is an appropriate and low-cost solution for us, but still gets the relevant information out in front of shareholders. But Chantelle, I might hand over to you to -- you can add some comments about how we're thinking about this going forward.

Thanks, Tim. And thanks, John, for your question. We really think that at this point, best practice is still developing. Certainly, we have observed current practice, and we'll take all of that feedback on board for next year. We're very open to taking the feedback back and considering what that looks like for us next year. But as Tim said, for our shareholders, we just felt that this year, a virtual AGM provided the widest access for these shareholders.

Thanks, Chantelle, and John, thanks very much for dialing in to our meeting today. It's great to have you as part of the meeting. And thanks to all the other shareholders that have contributed questions online. We don't have any other questions that have come through. So I'm now going to move all of the resolutions. We will take a few moments now to allow you to finish your voting. And while you complete your voting, we'll play another short video on the Reece Foundation, which we're delighted to say was launched this year. [Presentation]

I hope you enjoyed that video. We're immensely proud of the work that the Reece Foundation is doing, and we hope to be able to do a range of those type of projects in the future. I'd like to advise that voting on all resolutions is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has watched our meeting today or participated during the course of the meeting. I would also like to thank the Reece team involved in the preparation and the execution of this AGM. The results of the voting will be reported to the ASX in accordance with the Corporations Act and the ASX listing rules and will also be posted on our website as they become available. As there is no further business for today, I declare the meeting closed. And once again, thank you for your attendance.