Servcorp Limited (SRV) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Audio Gap] Servcorp. So on behalf of the Board, it's my pleasure to welcome members and other interested parties to the 24th Annual General Meeting of Servcorp Limited. I'm pleased to welcome members [indiscernible] and answer your questions. All attendees can watch live webcast of the meeting. To start the meeting, we'd now like to show you our new global circle video, which has been translated into 12 languages developed with Richard Tognetti, Artistic Director and Lead Violin of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and is currently part of the TV advertisement being played in Japan. I presume you to see that here. [Presentation]

I'd like to remind all those present that this is a public meeting. Members will be given an ample opportunity to ask questions or make comments is in the online platform, and I ask that any questions be confined to matters of relevance for the meeting of this nature. As it is now past 4:30 p.m. and the Company Secretary has confirmed that a quorum is present, I formally declare the meeting open. All members present in person have been registered. In addition to those participating in person online a high proportion of the holders of the issued capital are represented by proxies have been inspected and all those validly lodged have been accepted. Proxies have been received, representing 81,711,288 shares. This is 83% of the company's issued capital. I propose that now to my right Servcorp's CEO and Managing Director, Alfred Moufarrige. Also in attendance is Servcorp's Company Secretary, Greg Pearce, submitted to my left; and our CFO, David Hunt, that's him here right on the end beside. Our auditors Kim Lawry and Ashley Trang from KPMG. I don't think there's been any apologies that have been received. Shortly, I'll present my report on Servcorp's operations for the 2023 financial year and provide an outlook for our business for the 2024 financial year. I'll then hand over to our Managing Director and CEO, Alfred Moufarrige, who will give us his more detailed operational presentation. Following Alf's presentation, I'll then address the items of business as they appear on the notice of meeting. For the majority of our members attending this meeting online, please let me show you, there will be ample opportunity for you to ask questions. You are free to send in your questions via the Lumi platform at any time prior to the conclusion of each item of business. There are 2 ways to submit a question or comment through a text message or audio to submit, a text message, the message -- the question function will become available and the messaging tab will appear at the top of the screen. To send in a question, click in the ask a question box, type your question and press the send arrow. Your question will be sent immediately for review. Please include the item of business to which your question or comment relates. To verbally ask question or make a comment, please ensure your webcast is muted before joining the call. You will then need to dial the number shown on the main information page into your meeting ID followed by the hash. You'll be asked for a participation pin, however, simply press hash to join the call. [Operator Instructions] We will endeavor to address questions you submit during the meeting or however these may be moderated or amalgamated if there are multiple questions on the same topic. To allow everyone attending the meeting online, an opportunity to vote, I'm opening the polls now in respect of items 2, 3, 4 and 5 for members to vote on today. So you can start voting now. So members and proxy holders participating can vote online via the Lumi platform by selecting the voting tab at the top of the screen. To vote, simply select the direction in which you would like to cast your vote. The selected option will change color. There is no submit or send button. Your selection is automatically recorded, and you can change your mind or cancel your vote any time before the poll is closed. Proxy holders with directed votes will have those votes automatically voted as directed. All open votes held by a member or proxy holder will be voted in accordance with the option you select by Lumi. Members attending in person will be requested to submit their vote at the conclusion of the items of business. You would have received a poll card at the registration desk. Persons entitled to vote on this poll are all shareholders, corporate representatives, attorneys of members and proxy holders who hold voting cards. Detailed on the reverse of your voting card are the resolutions being put to poll, relevant instructions are also printed on the reverse of your admission card. Please ensure that you print your name where indicated and sign the voting card. Any unsigned voting cards will be invalid. If you require any assistance, please raise your hand and a representative from Boardroom will assist you. In the spirit of good corporate governance, the screen now discloses details of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on items 2, 3, 4 and 5. These will be disclosed in the minutes and notified to the ASX following the meeting. It is my duty as Chairman to ensure that members as a whole, have had reasonable opportunity to ask questions about or comment on the management of the company, the remuneration report and other items or business before the meeting today. As previously mentioned, questions may be submitted any time prior to the conclusion of that item of business. I'll now turn to my Chairman's address which has been released to the ASX this afternoon. So ladies and gentlemen, as I shared in the annual report, the 2023 financial year has seen many economies in the world suffering the effects of the rising cost of living, declining consumer confidence, tightening monetary policy and a disrupted supply chain. Servcorp has proven over the more than 40 years of its existence to be an innovative business, and this is reflected in our results for the 2023 financial year. Revenue for the year was $295.5 million, up 7% on last year, as statutory net profit was impacted by non-cash impairments during the year. Statutory net profit before tax for the year was $17 million, a decrease of 51% on 2022. Net profit after tax was $11.1 million. And our mature business result before non-cash impairments and tax was $42.3 million, up 36% on 2022 and achieving our 2023 financial year guidance. During the 2023 financial year, the business generated underlying free cash of $61.7 million, an increase of 17% on 2022. Cash and investment balances at the 30th of June '23 were $116.4 million, an increase of 7% on 2022. The company has no external debt, having strong cash balances position Servcorp very well to capitalize on our renewed growth strategy. In October, the company paid a final dividend of $0.12 per share, 20% franked. This final dividend brings total dividends for the 2023 financial year to $0.22 per share resulting in a payout to members of approximately $21.3 million, an increase of 10% on 2022. Directors expect to maintain future dividend payments consistent with our long-term history and commitment to members. Dividend amounts to be paid in the 2024 financial year are expected to be at least $0.25 per share with $0.12 in the first half and $0.13 in the second half while always ensuring we retain strong net cash balances, we will continue to reward members with a healthy dividend flow when prudently possible. Payment of all future dividends is subject to currencies remaining constant, global financial markets remaining stable and no unforeseen circumstances. Due to our strong balance sheet, cash reserves and global presence, we're able to expand our footprint in select markets in 2023. We have already committed to growth in the 2024 financial year and continue to look for further opportunities for growth in mature markets with proven management performance. Although the economic outlook globally remains cumulative assets and tax will be between $50 million and $55 million. In line with this guidance and performance, we expect to produce more than $70 million in underlying free cash. These forecasts are subject to currencies remaining constant. Global financial markets remaining stable and the continued impacts of global economic uncertainties on our operations. Ladies and gentlemen, flexible workspace solutions are now part of many companies business plans as the world transitions between working from home and returning to the office. Servcorp has provided this capability for 4 decades, and we continue to tailor our offering to serve these ever-evolving trends. We have absolute confidence that Servcorp has the leading products in the industry, a unique value proposition that truly differentiates and an unmatched technology platform. Our team is highly motivated to provide everything our clients need to help make their businesses succeed. So in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Board, I want to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of our CEO, Alfred Moufarrige, our leadership group and all the Servcorp team members for the dedication and commitment during the past year, which has continued to be very challenging and unpredictable. We look to the future with optimism, and we thank you, our members, for your continuing support. I now propose to hand over to Alf who will make his operational presentation. Following his presentation, we will conduct the formal part of the meeting. Over to you, Alf.

I guess everybody's had a look at the results. Here we go. Looks good. Keep going. So if I listen to Mark, I know that nobody can now see me, but that's okay. Our underlying earnings per share is up 39%. We're projecting that we produce a profit of -- sorry, free cash of $70 million, which is an all-time record for Servcorp. Our -- and when you look at our projections now, we've gone to $50 million to $55 million, which once again is an all-time record. Okay, you go to the next one. Trading update, 22%. We'll go back -- got to go back on, summary. Keep going. Everybody should be able to read that. Financial performance. Well, it's pretty good because if you have a look at your revenue, it's up over [ $310 million], which -- and we've got less floors than we had at the start of the pandemic, and that's higher but it's our underlying net profit before interest and tax, which is pretty interesting because we expect that to get to between 50 and 55. So we've come from under 30 to over 50 in a pretty short space of time, and we've got a bit of momentum here. And if you have a look at the return on -- the capital that we have employed, the funds that we've got employed, it's 55%. Is that right, 55%, which is reasonably high, okay. Client base, stock capacity, business efficiency. I don't know how [ Alaina ] works that out, but there we go. Membership keeps growing. Revenue per square meter is up 16%, and service conversion, well, that is -- that's owing to our team. They're doing a great job, and I'll talk about that in a sec. Keep going. Well, those are -- we're opening more in the Middle East. We're opening more in Japan, and I'll talk about that in a minute. Okay, that. Keep going. Outlook we've talked about. It's $50 million to $55 million and over $70 million in free cash. Keep going. Dividends, it can be $0.12, and $0.13, $0.25. Keep going. But that's actually in a line. So this -- I know nobody ever reads my little article in the annual report. But what I said is that if we hit the upper end of guidance for next year, it will be an all-time record profit for Servcorp with an all-time record profit and $100 million in cash and continuing to produce more than $1 million a week in free cash, our position is comfortable. Having paid 47 consecutive dividends, Servcorp looks okay. Tamper this with a mass of hybrids paid competition, much of it without geographic spread or any systems, but just designed by building owners in order to attempt to maximize rental revenue to be capped up in one location, and we have a volatile situation that could impede our growth. Our technology, our geographic spread and training regime and new data system and co-working and subscription income put us in an almost unassailable position. Well, there is a lot of competition. And I might say that I've never seen as much competition in the marketplace, but [indiscernible] actually invested in the product and everybody talks about hybrid spce. Well building owners are only building, taking over the hybrid guys that go broke or building their own product, they've normally only got one to 20 locations. They have no idea about churn. They don't put any technology behind it. And so when a small business guy walks into a shared space operation, he actually wants to know what's in it for him. And a disaster for small business is if the perception is, they're small, because nobody will deal with them. And you're going to run [indiscernible] a mobile phone, if he does work for KPMG, and he's a partner and you know that, or he's the Prime Minister or he's a minister or that's fine. But when a little guy, and I try to get a PR agency formally the other day, so I ring and they go to a call center or they don't answer or a guy answered his mobile phone with a baby screaming in the background. And how can you deal with a small business. So small business is ever going to become big and every big business starts as a small business. They have to have the perception that they have the strength. They've got to have a decent address. They've got to have a team to delegate to. So -- but I looked at a co-working space the other day from probably the biggest operator in the world, about 102 offices and 3 incoming aligns, we run 40. I would guess, if I looked at what they spent on it, they would have spent a maximum $1 million. We are spending between $4 million and $6 million a location. Our teams are trained and we spend a fortune training. We spent $600,000 a month developing software every single month, and we've been doing that for over 20 years. We train our teams and our general managers visit our locations at least once a year. And they are working in pretty fierce environment. In the case of Japan, we had Mitsubishi when we first started saying they would never deal with us because they will never be shared accommodation in Japan. And they've just opened, I believe, they're 700 -- there are 1,500 competitors in Japan. [ NAMUR ] has got over 100 [ Mitsui ]. And then you go and look at all the normal guys, spaces, just go executive center. Nobody has put the infrastructure in, nobody puts the money in and a small business. And when you think about infrastructure, if you're in a city like Sydney, or Tokyo or London or New York, businesses don't often realize that one of the reasons that they're successful is the infrastructure that's being provided by government or large free enterprises makes their business life easy. They've got speed to the Internet. They've got a road to drive on. Their team members can catch a train to work, so that it's fast, and that infrastructure helps every single business. Well, the little guy that walks in, if they walk into a normal co-working space, WeWork, you got a card, do what you love. Well, it's not being in this bloody office, I can tell you that. But -- and it looks good and it feels good and there's beer and there's a pingpong table and pool table, but how does that help you make money? And business can be fun if you really enjoy it, but to have the spare time and to be able to love it, you've got to have the underlying infrastructure. And still, nobody puts it in. So 3 telephone lines against 40 and in 40 hour. They run the average in this industry on a shared space operation is 3 people per 100 offices. We run 6 per 50. So the running cost for Servcorp are a lot, but I'll come back to it. I listen to all these guys talk and I understand their businesses, whether it's the hub or whether it's industrious in the U.S. And I listen to their sales, they do not let the truth get in the way of a good story. So it always sounds as if they're exactly like Servcorp. If you use Regis with 3,000 centers, they don't have any more IT guys than we do. They just don't. That's just a fact of life. And I look at the hub, I look at Regis, I look at industrial, sort of a just Co. I look at the amount of money they've raised and then I look at WeWork, who, of course, blew 12 million to 13 million , 20 billion, [ AUD 20,000 million, ] and we've never raised more than 150, and we still got 100 of it in the bank. Interesting. So I look at -- my management team now is better than it's ever been. I mean they're under more pressure than they've ever been. That's all with David, [indiscernible] and every one of their managers that is facing the public. They are under pressure. But when we first started, we had a vision as to what we wanted to do. We didn't know we're going to get this big. The vision was we wanted to share the costs of running an office so that you could compete with the big guys. And so that you could buy money because the perception was that you had a great address, you had a receptionist, you had some stock. That has never changed trying to make small business large and small business happen to be out. And so as I spoke to my managers yesterday, I said the way Servcorp started is I used to pay $27 a week for a [ Red Haul ] office in North Sydney. And I needed perception so that I can talk to the bankers and the accountants of this world. So I went from paying $27 a week to $6,000 a week in the MLC center, which was a bit of a culture shock. And Servcorp been involved to help small businesses. And so to pay the rent, I hope to get 16 subtenants and we were standing around one day, and they wanted a beer. So I walked down over to a shop, bought a refrigerator, bought it back on a trolley, stuck the beer in it and that started the first kitchen. Now everybody else in this industry, and I mean everybody has copied us as we've developed, but they've never spent real money. They've copied the fundamental basic good look things like a boardroom, but they still put timber tables in. And everybody says, well, why do you spend all the money on a granite table? Well, because when you throw a few computers on it, you get a few clients in it, all of a sudden, it looks grotty. So we've always spent the money. And as I said, fatal to small businesses, no mobile, no IT. Here, if you dial a star one on any of these phones, you get IT help, and we've got 100 in-house IT guys. So the only people who see and who have realized there's such a massive difference in Servcorp and they don't pay much extra, I might say, our clients, and we're counting the co-working clients, we've got 50,000 of them. So in addition to all of that, and -- we've looked at the Middle East, and we've started to talk to advisers, analysts and we're reorganizing it, and Alain is going there tonight and she's been working on the reorganization. And so long she doesn't die before she gets across the line. We'll reorganize the Middle East, will trade for a year and if that is successful, we will list it in Saudi Arabia. The multiples there that we're looking at are between -- they say 18, I say 13, because if we have to do a list, we would like to leave something in for shareholders. We will hold the majority of it if we do it. We've currently got -- can somebody put Saudi up on the -- just the Saudi landing page. We've currently got about 20 operations in Saudi. And if we do list, we'll list 40. So there's a video. Let's play that and that's still not in Arabic guys. Arabic. Change to Arabic. That's in Arabic. Okay. We'll do the -- no, not that one, the other one. Keep going, you'll get the -- there it is, look, as we said, this is. Switch it up. [Presentation]

Very interesting thing there. I don't know whether we can -- can you just scroll a little. So the lady in the first one is the only one we were ever allowed to show Saudi women 5 years ago. Keep going. And now they have the freedom to the bank. They have the freedom to travel. They're allowed to drive. This prints -- keep going, has -- these are just some of the locations there. And you'll see just as it goes down, the dress changes. Saudi is currently, one of the few places in the Middle East, it's well not one of the few places, one of the many places in the Middle East, that is booming. And we still seem to be running pretty well across the Middle East. And I guess if it doesn't burn in the next year, it will boom be one or the other. And I'll just finish on Japan. In Japan, we've got 30 locations and 1,500 competitors. Every time I go there, I got to look at some of the competitors. I don't know how they have -- why are their operations for success. Because I was looking at our new centers that we're putting into Saudi and yesterday. And I looked at the price of the IT and connecting it all to -- and we spent $100 million putting 200,000 all our extensions in the cloud and that goes back a lot of years. And it was going to cost us $400,000 to put our IT fundamental basic equipment that our small clients leverage off. Without any exaggeration, I looked at spaces and if they spent $50,000 on all of their equipment to take care of their clients, I wouldn't be very surprised. And you can't backfill. I don't know how many people, how many agents I've had across the globe, [indiscernible] asked me whether I would like to take over some of the rework leases. And we can't refit them. I mean it's like an old house. You better bulldoze it, if not allowed, we won't start from scratch, because you can't put a Servcorp into a rework. but Japan is a bit of a miracle, it's got 15,000 clients. It's got 1,500 competitors. It's just about to open its 30th center and it's run by an all lady team that defies gravity and its profit still hold. And because Servcorp's made money there, lots of people have opened in Tokyo and now it's a bit like a revolving door, but as fast as they open, well, maybe they're happening a little faster than they're closing, but there are lots of them closing or shrinking. I mean, that's increment $70 million and $50 million profit. Now this is a teeny tiny company. And when you take the net value of Servcorp, which happens to be, if you take the cash off $180 million. So 2.5x free cash. I'm not trying to talk the share price up. I'm not a buyer. I'm not a seller. I'm just a very happy old man. Anybody got any questions? No questions.

There'll be questions and we'll have those in a minute.

[indiscernible]

Now we've got a bit of work to do before you get to that. Thanks very much, Alf. Thank you. And once again, can I just thank Alf and all of our worldwide team for their dedication and commitment during this past year to produce the results that they have. Now that we've had the annual world tour with Alf around the Servcorp network, we'll turn to the formal business of the meeting. And before we move on to the first time of business, I'd like to clarify that only Servcorp members are permitted to ask questions today. We will endeavor to answer all relevant questions from members during today's meeting. However, as Chairman, I reserve the right to rule out of order any question or questions I consider to be outside the scope of the meeting. Please note that matters not pertaining to the meeting will not be covered today. So item one is the annual financial report, directors' report and auditor's report. So the first item of business is to receive and consider those reports in respect to the financial year ended 30th of June 2023. These were incorporated in the annual report mailed to members on the 12th of October 2023 and also made available on the ASX and Servcorp websites. No formal resolution is required on this matter. Members may have raised questions about or make comments on the financial statements and reports and the management of Servcorp. This is the only item on today's agenda where you have the formal opportunity to ask such questions. And if necessary, our auditors from KPMG are also here and happy to answer questions on the work they've done for the company. So the floor is open for questions. Any questions from the floor? There's no questions from the floor. Well, you've got...

We have 2 questions and one statement from [ Jeffrey Poon ]. First question, how has WeWork's recent bankruptcy affected or could affect Servcorp's business. It has been reported WeWork was experienced declining demand for workspace as Servcorp experience this.

I don't think it will affect us. Any effect that we've noticed is only a ripple effect, and it's positive, not negative. Security of tenure, I think, matters to small business the same way it does to large business. And I keep hearing all the horrible things that we worked in, and they did a lot wrong, but they did make everybody aware of what co-working is. And so my personal view is that history will say that they educated the public is to how to use co-working and that's probably positive for us.

Second question from Mr. [ Pernigan ]. Given the depressed share price and little franking balance, would the Board consider a buyback instead of a dividend is a more efficient way to distribute cash?

No.

And the third is a comment from Mr. [ Pern ] saying before Alf complains that no impacts him on the back for a good result, let me say well done, not a bad result for Alf.

No.

So last opportunity, any other questions from the floor? Okay. We shall continue on with the meeting. The remaining items on the agenda require resolution for the meeting and voting on each item will be determined by means of poll. As noted earlier, you may submit your votes at any time. In case you need to leave the meeting, but I encourage all of you to stay for discussion of each item. Also we'll give you a final opportunity to cast your votes. And if you've not already done so before I close the poll. Ordering the company's share registrar, will be the returning officer for the purpose of poll. The persons who are entitled to vote are all members, representatives and attorneys of members and proxy holders, except those precluded by operation of law or listing rule as set out in the notice of meeting. I advise that subject to the voting exclusions set out in the notice of meeting, on a poll, every member who is participating themselves or by proxy or attorney or representative will have one vote for each shareholder by him or her. I am holding open proxies in my capacity as Chair, and it is my intention to vote all available proxies in favor of Items 2, 3, 4 and 5. So the first item we need to vote on is the second item of business is to vote upon the adoption of the remuneration report of the company for the financial year ended 30th of June 2023. The remuneration report was included at Pages 41 to 53 of the annual report. It is important to point out to members that the vote on the proposed item is advisory only and will not bind the directors or the company. However, as we have in prior years, the Board will take the outcome of the vote and comments made by members into consideration when reviewing the remuneration practices and policies of the company. The screen now discloses details of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on Item 2. Remember, you should be aware the total proxy votes lodged for this item represent 30.6% of the total shares on issue in the company due to the restrictions on voting by key management personnel. We note that owners of 53.2% of the shares on issue are not committed to vote. So I now put the motion that the remuneration report be adopted. And if you have not already done so, please now complete your voting via the Lumi platform. And I'll just -- while you're voting, ask if any members wish to comment or ask questions about the rem report. You have the online questions, Greg? Okay. So if there's no questions, the poll will remain open until after Item 5 and then final votes received will be disclosed at that time. Okay. Item 3 on the agenda is the reelection of Director as this item of business includes my standing for reelection as a director. It is proper that I relinquish the Chair at this time under the rules of the company's constitution, the directors have elected Tony McGrath to Chair this part of the meeting in my place, and I welcome Tony to the Chair in his Chair.

Thank you, Mark, and good afternoon to everybody. Let me now turn to the election of Directors rule 6.1F of our constitution requires that 1/3 of all directors must retire annually by rotation and, if eligible, may offer themselves for reelection by members. This year, Mark Vaile is standing for reelection as a director of the company. Mark was appointed as a Director of the company in June of 2011 and is Chair in November 2019. He retires in accordance with the company's constitution and offers himself for reelection. Mark is considered independent Director in accordance with the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations. The notice of meeting provides an overview of Mark's professional experience and contribution to the Board. I now invite Mark to address the meeting regarding his reelection.

Thanks, Tony. I'll make this brief, ladies and gentlemen. As was indicated I've been on the Board since 2011, so it's 12 years as a nonexecutive director in the last 4 of which I've served as Chairman since the retirement of Bruce, who was there for 20-odd years. Yes, as Bruce was our previous Chairman for many, many years. But my association and actual work for the company predates that I think about in 2008 or '09 upon the completion of my political career, I did quite a deal of work for the company with one of the exec offices at [indiscernible] helping to roll out the platform that is now the backbone of the Middle East operation, particularly in UAE, Kuwait, Turkey, Doha in Qatar and a little bit in Saudi. And of course, Alf mentioned the significant importance of that part of our business along with Japan and Australia and New Zealand to the well-being of the organization, and that -- in that period has continued to grow and to actually flourish. And it's great to see that happening now. And of course, the main work of the business as Alf indicated, it's not just continuing to expand our market presence in Japan, but particularly in Saudi Arabia, where we're basically out ahead of the curve in the competition as far as what's happening in that part of the world with the rapid economic development and expansion, the opening up of that market. And we see great opportunities in the future there. And the Board fully support Alf's ambition in terms of developing the business even further in that region. And so it's a business that, as you listen to Alf is being started by an entrepreneur and still run by an entrepreneur even as he's very young age, very energetically. And there's not too many publicly listed companies where the CEO has such a historical grasp of the business and the market that we operate in. And if you think about that period of time that I've been involved on the Board, not long after joining the company to work for the company in the Middle East and other markets. We went through the GFC and off the GFC seized an opportunity in the United States to build a platform that works to an extent, it's working much, much better now. We went through the GFC, survived that. I saw a lot of the composition on their way. Then in 2021 into better '22, of course, with COVID, which was an enormous challenge to the operation of our business, but it's created a new environment for the unique products that we have and Alf and his team have seized upon that opportunity. And the result there in terms of what you can see. We're seeing competitors falling by the wayside, and this business is continuing to grow. And so where we're positioned today, the team are very, very enthusiastic about where it's going to lead in the next couple of years. And so with those few short words, I'm happy to support my renomination, reelection as a director on the Board of Servcorp.

Thank you, Mark, for that short presentation. The directors with Mark abstaining, unanimously support his reelection. The screen now discloses details of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting. I now put the motion that Mark Vaile will be reelected as a director. If you have not already done so, please now complete your voting via the Lumi platform. Do any members wish to comment upon or ask questions about this item? We got no questions. Any questions from the floor? Thank you. I'll take that as no questions. The poll will remain open until after Item 5. I'll now hand back to Mark, who will continue to share the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you, Tony. Item 4 is approval of the Servcorp employee incentive plan. The fourth item of business is the approval of the Servcorp employee incentive plan. The SEIP was first established in August of 2022. The notice of meeting provides an overview of the history and purpose of the plan, and Appendix 1 to the notice provides a summary of the key terms and conditions. The directors with Alfred Moufarrige abstaining unanimously support this item. The screen now discloses details of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on Item 4. So I now put the motion, the Servcorp employee incentive plan be approved. If you have not already done so, please now complete your voting via the Lumi platform. Proxy votes are on the screen. Do any members wish to comment upon or ask questions about this item? None on the line, none from the floor. The poll will remain open until after Item 5. Item 5 is the issue of options to Alfred George Moufarrige as he's efficiently known in the company, AGM, the fifth item business is the approval of options to be issued as a long-term incentive for our CEO, Alfred Moufarrige. Details of the issue have been provided in the notice of meeting and explanatory memorandum. The directors with Alfred Moufarrige abstaining unanimously support this item. The screen now discloses details of the proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on Item 5. I now put the motion that the issue of options to Alfred Moufarrige be approved. If you have not already done so, please now complete your voting via the Lumi platform. Do any members wish to comment upon or ask questions about the item? No questions online, no questions from the floor.That will -- is now at the conclusion of Item 5. We're now just to yes, so there is no other business of which due notice has been given for this meeting.

He asked if we would elaborate on why a buyback would not be considered?

Well, I'm sure Alf will have something to say. But in terms of the cash management of the business, I mean, we have 40-odd years, delivered a dividend with different levels of franking in that dividend by way of cash returns to shareholders.

It's not 40 years.

40 dividends. Pardon, yes. And the option of share buyback is always over a company up to a level of 10% of the register in any given year without shareholders having to vote on it. So that option is always available but this company has always run a very conservative balance sheet, keeping powder dry for opportunities to present themselves. And I think that Alf's outlined today some of the things that we're keen to do in a very important market in the Middle East. And ever since I've been involved with Servcorp, it's always had a cash positive situation on the balance sheet and never carried any debt and that's just part of the structure of the company. But the opportunity always remains there. But it depends on the priorities in terms of strategic growth in the business. Alf, you'll have something to say on this?

Well said by politician, it sounds really nice, warm. It's pretty simple. We're isolating opportunities where we can actually grow organically. And as people open and shut in this business on a regular basis, there could be an opportunity that may come up. And so I look at it and go -- there'd be no way I would have a buyback because I think that if the directors have been given funds, they should invest them for the shareholders. And we're paying a dividend, which has got to have a yield on today's price of better than 8%. We're not franking as much as I would like. So I look at our overall performance and say, well, it's okay. I'm not going to change.

Okay. So we're down at the closing stages of the meeting. So as there are no further items of business. I'll shortly be closing voting. I'll ask all members who have not already concluded the voting to do so now. I'll just pause for 60 seconds to allow members to finalize their votes. [Voting]

I think we're pretty well done. So I now declare the close of the poll for those attending in person, when you have finished filling your voting card, boardroom will collect them. All votes will now be collected online and in person. The whole results are being collated and will be available approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. The final results for all items will be notified to the ASX following the meeting and disclosed in the minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of the meeting. I declare the company's 24th Annual General Meeting closed. Thank you for your attendance.