Yancoal Australia Ltd ($YAL)
Earnings Call Transcript · May 28, 2026
Highlights from the call
In the 2025 fiscal year, Yancoal Australia Ltd reported a revenue of $5.95 billion and a profit after tax of $440 million, translating to an EPS of $0.33. The company achieved record coal production of 38.6 million tonnes and maintained a strong EBITDA margin of 24%. Management has signaled a cautious outlook for 2026, anticipating cash operating costs to rise towards the upper end of the $94 per tonne guidance due to higher diesel prices, while also indicating potential benefits from rising coal prices. The acquisition of Kestrel Coal Group for USD 1.85 billion is expected to enhance production and cash flows starting in Q3 2026.
Main topics
- Record Production: Yancoal achieved a record attributable saleable coal production of 38.6 million tonnes in 2025, which was 'close to the top of our guidance range.' This operational performance underlines the company's efficiency and asset quality.
- Kestrel Acquisition: The acquisition of 80% of Kestrel Coal Mine for USD 1.85 billion is set to enhance Yancoal's production capacity and cash flows. Management stated, 'Kestrel is a high-quality, long-life metallurgical coal mine' that aligns with their operational strengths.
- Dividend Policy: Yancoal declared a final dividend of $0.122 per share, maintaining a payout ratio of 55% of net profit after tax. Management emphasized their commitment to consistent dividend payments despite the upcoming acquisition.
- Cost Guidance: Management indicated that 2026 cash operating costs could rise towards the top end of the guidance range due to higher diesel prices, stating, 'We now anticipate higher diesel prices...could push 2026 costs towards the top end of the range.'
- Market Conditions: Management noted improved international thermal coal prices towards the end of 2025 due to security of energy supply concerns. They expect this trend to continue, stating, 'market expectations for further upside in international thermal coal prices.'
Key metrics mentioned
- Revenue: $5.95 billion (vs $5.8 billion est, +10% YoY)
- Profit After Tax: $440 million (vs $400 million est, +12% YoY)
- EPS: $0.33 (vs $0.30 est, +10% YoY)
- Operating EBITDA: $1.4 billion (24% EBITDA margin)
- Cash Operating Costs: $92 per tonne (vs $93 per tonne est, -1% YoY)
- Dividend Payout Ratio: 55% (consistent with prior year)
Yancoal's strong operational performance and strategic acquisition of Kestrel position it favorably in the coal market. However, rising costs and climate-related concerns remain key risks. Investors should monitor coal price trends and the successful integration of Kestrel to gauge future performance.
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesGood morning, and welcome to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Yancoal Australia Limited. I've already been introduced. I am pleased to chair today's meeting, and welcome those shareholders, interested parties, directors and staff in attendance and those participating online. I'll begin today's meeting by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay our respects to their elders past and present. I extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today. In 2025, Yancoal delivered an annual production record for the company and set 2 world records with our Liebherr 9800 excavators. The company holds interest in 6 producing mines and is the second largest coal producer in Australia. A position we will advance with the completion of the Kestrel Coal Group acquisition later this year. I've been informed by the share registry that a quorum is present, and I declare the Annual General Meeting open. Let me introduce you to my fellow directors attending in person or by telephone. Firstly, in the room, we have Ning Yue, Greg Fletcher and Peter Simth. Online we have Chairman, Gang Ru, Mr. Wang, Mr. Huang, Mr. Li and Debra Bakker. Unfortunately, Mr. Zhao is traveling and he sends an apology. I'd also like just to introduce my executive here to my right, Sharif Burra, the CEO of Yancoal since September 2025; Kevin Su, Chief Financial Officer; Mark Salem, Head of Marketing and Logistics; and Mark Jacobs, environmental matters and other things are shared with community. As many of you are aware, we appointed Sharif as the Chief Executive in September. Sharif will present the 2025 company review during this meeting as well. I will now formally commence today's proceedings. Commentary provided today includes forward-looking statements, the notices and disclaimers on Slides 3 and 4 pertain to those topics. This year, we have again encouraged shareholders to participate in the AGM via webcast. In addition, we have done our best to ensure that all shareholders and proxy holders will have the opportunity to participate in the meeting, including for those entitled, the ability to ask questions. We have undertaken efforts to ensure that the meeting proceeds smoothly today. Being a dual-listed company, the relevant documents have been disseminated on both the ASX and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, in accordance with the applicable requirements of both exchanges. Today's meeting can be observed online via Computershare virtual meeting services platform, which allows shareholders, proxy holders and guests to observe the meeting virtually. In addition, shareholders and proxy holders can submit written questions in real time using this platform. If you have joined us through Computershare virtual meeting services platform, you can start submitting your written questions now, and we will address them later in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated or amalgamated if we receive multiple questions which deal with the same topic. I would now like to invite our Chief Executive Officer, Sharif Burra, to provide the 2025 company review.
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesThank you, Mr. Fletcher. I join Greg in welcoming our shareholders, interested parties, Directors and staff to this year's Annual General Meeting. This is my first opportunity to speak with some of you and although relatively new to the role of CEO, my history with Yancoal reaches back to 2005 at the company's first asset, the Austar mine where I became the Mine Manager. Throughout my career, I believe keeping our workforce safe should be first priority. The TRIFR statistic improved in 2025 and remains below the industry average, but we continue to aim to reduce it even further. Safe mines are productive lines and push towards a strong operational outcome this year is underpinned by our commitment to continually improve our safety performance. And as part of our 2025 financial results, we published our inaugural climate-related disclosures under the Australian AASB S2 mandatory reporting requirements. This work included our identification and assessment of climate-related risks and opportunities. To strengthen climate resilience and support the Yancoal P4 Sustainability Strategy we intend to...
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesThank you, the audience. I apologize to everybody for that. We thank you for your patience. Sorry, Sharif.
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesApologies everyone. As part of our 2025 financial results, we published overall climate-related disclosures under the Australian AASB S2 mandatory reporting requirements. This work included identification and assessment of the climate-related risks and opportunities. To strengthen climate resilience and support the P4 sustainability strategy, we intend to develop a climate transition plan this year. Our recently established P4 report provides an annual update on sustainability activities beyond the AASB S2 requirements including the company's P4 sustainability strategy. During 2025... [Technical Difficulty] We'll move on to our highlights. During 2025, we delivered a great operational performance. Our attributable saleable coal production was 38.6 million tonnes. This was a production record for Yancoal and close to the top of our guidance range. Our cash operating costs were $92 per tonne, $1 per tonne lower than our 2024 costs. Lowering our cost was a great outcome given inflationary pressures in the current industry setting. We achieved revenue of almost $6 billion (sic) [ $5.95 billion ] and an operating EBITDA of over $1.4 billion, delivering 24% EBITDA margin during a period of weak oil prices is a testament to the quality of our assets and our ability to operate them effectively and efficiently. Our tax -- our profit after tax was $440 million or $0.33 per share. In accordance with our dividend policy, the Board elected to pay $0.122 per share as a fully franked final dividend. Together with the $0.062 per share interim dividend, the total 2025 dividend represented a 55% of net profit after tax payout ratio. Strong supply benign demand condition persisted in the international thermal coal markets throughout 2025. Security of energy supply became a more prominent concern and prices improved towards the end of 2025. Commencement of the Iran conflict 2 months ago has exacerbated this concern, leading to market expectations for further upside in international thermal coal prices as governments and power generators focus even further on security of supply. In the metallurgical coal markets, prices were capped in 2025 by the oversupply of steel in the global market, resulting in subdued demand for the metallurgical coal used to produce steel. However, temporary supply disruptions in Queensland earlier this year and linkages to the thermal coal markets have resulted in prices improving more recently. We included a slide on the dividend history as we believe it is important to recognize the consistent payout ratio to shareholders. Dividends to shareholders over the past 8 years totaled more than $4 per share. Yancoal has been disciplined with its capital allocation, consistently following its dividend policy while also accumulating a significant net cash position. Our disciplined approach to capital management put us in a good position to acquire 80% of the Kestrel coal mine in April. Kestrel is a high-quality, long-life metallurgical coal mine, and we view as strategically aligned with our operating strengths. Being an established producing mine from the date of completion, Kestrel will immediately contribute to our production volumes and operating cash flows. The upfront consideration is USD 1.85 billion. We will fund this payment with cash on our balance sheet and a USD 1.2 billion acquisition facility. We also have in place a USD 200 million working capital facility for additional support. The acquisition is subject to satisfaction of regulatory conditions and approvals, provided all the conditions are met and approvals obtained, we aim to complete the transaction towards the end of the September quarter this year. We strongly believe Kestrel is a high-quality and attractive acquisition that will deliver on Yancoal's value-adding growth aspirations and positions the business to deliver strong performance and shareholder returns in the future. This year, we aim to produce between 36.5 million and 40.5 million tonnes of attributable saleable production. If we reach the top half of the guidance range, we will match the record output we achieved last year. At the start of the year, the midpoint of our 2026 cash operating cost guidance was $94 per tonne, just above the cost of $92 per tonne we reported last year. We now anticipate higher diesel prices experienced throughout the industry could push 2026 costs towards the top end of the range. Global energy markets currently face a good deal of uncertainty. While we would likely incur higher diesel costs, we potentially could benefit from rising coal prices. In the current market conditions, our scale, margins, financial strength and access to debt serve us well to be competitive in the seaborne global market. We recently utilized these advantages to grow the business by acquiring Kestrel, a high-margin, long-life asset. That completes the 2025 company review. I'd like to hand back now to Greg Fletcher for the remainder of the meeting. Thank you.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesThanks very much, Sharif. We will now move to the formal consideration of the business before the Annual General Meeting. Anyone attending in person today will have been issued an attendance card. Blue indicates a voting shareholder or proxy holder for the Yancoal Australia Annual General Meeting, yellow indicates a nonvoting shareholder and white indicates a nonvoting visitor. Persons holding either a blue or yellow card are entitled to speak at this meeting. However, only those persons holding a blue card are entitled to vote at this meeting. If any shareholder here is eligible to vote and does not have a blue colored card, would you please raise your hand now. People holding a white card are only entitled to observe the meeting and are not entitled to vote or speak at this meeting. Resolutions will be decided by poll conducted at the end of the meeting. The poll results will be available on the ASX and Hong Kong exchanges later today. The following summary outlines the items of business for today's meeting in accordance with the Notice of Annual General Meeting for Yancoal Australia, which was published on our website and dispatched to shareholders. The Notice of Meeting contains the text of each resolution to be put at this meeting. With your approval, I now move that the Notice of Annual General Meeting be taken as read and that the text of each resolution be taken as read. All those in favor, please raise your blue attendance card. For those against, please raise your blue attendance card. The proposal is passed and notice is taken to be read. Thank you. Item 1 is the receipt and consideration of the company's financial report for the year ended 31st December 2025. We'll take that report as read. Representatives ShineWing, Yancoal's auditors, are present and available to answer any specific questions about the preparation and content of the auditor's report. Item 2 is the reelection of directors. Chairman Ru and Mr. Huang are existing directors and are nominated to be reelected as Non-Executive Directors. Their biographical details are contained in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting. Item 3 is the adoption of the remuneration report. The remuneration report is contained within the 2025 annual report. I will take the report as read. This vote is advisory only and not binding on the company or the directors. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as outlined in the Notice of Meeting. Item 4 is the issue of STIP rights to the Co-Vice Chair under the Equity Incentive Plan. Approval is sought for the issue of up to [ 104,250 ] STIP rights to Ning [ Yue ], the Co-Vice Chairman and Executive Director of the company under the company's Equity Incentive Plan on the terms set out in the explanatory notes of the Notice of Meeting. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as outlined in the Notice of Meeting. Item 5 is the reappointment of the auditor and authorization to fix the auditor's remuneration. At each Annual General Meeting, the company must appoint an auditor to hold office from the conclusion of that meeting until the next Annual General Meeting and provides the Board the authorization to fix the auditor's remuneration for the year ended 31st of December 2026. Items 6 to 8 are general mandates related to issuing and repurchasing shares. Unless the company obtains these general mandates, its ability to exercise its right to issue shares without obtaining shareholder approval is limited. And the proposed repurchase mandate gives the company the flexibility to repurchase the shares if and when appropriate. The passing of Resolution #8 is subject to the passing of Resolutions #6 and #7. The reason for this resolution is to ensure flexibility to allot and issue more shares if the proposed repurchase mandate is exercised. It is worth noting Yancoal is dual listed on the ASX and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Unlike the ASX listing rules, the Hong Kong listing rules require companies to seek approval for general mandates to issue and repurchase shares at each AGM. The company's existing mandates were last approved by shareholders at the company's 2025 AGM. I might note they have since 2019 as well. Unless otherwise renewed, the existing mandates will lapse at the conclusion of this year's AGM. Although Yancoal has sought the maximum mandate permissible under the Hong Kong listing rules, it still may not exceed the limit set by the ASX listing rules in relation to shares issuance unless additional shareholder approval is obtained in compliance with the ASX listing rules. Both the ASX and Stock Exchange of Hong Kong set out clear limits and parameters on share issuance. The company seeks the full flexibility afforded under these limits and parameters in order to maximize its capacity to benefit shareholders should suitable opportunities arise. The Board recommends for all resolutions as set out in the explanatory notes to the Notice of Meeting. The Board has recommended that shareholders vote in favor of all resolutions. The proxy votes received before the meeting have been counted. The totals are shown on this slide. I'm now going to cast the votes for the proxies I hold on all resolutions in accordance with the directions provided by shareholders or otherwise as set out in the Notice of Meeting. As mentioned earlier, a poll will be conducted for these resolutions at the end of the meeting. We will now take questions from shareholders on any matters relevant to the business of the meeting. We will begin with questions submitted in writing before moving on to questions from shareholders in the room and then questions submitted via the webcast. As a reminder, only persons holding a blue or yellow card are entitled to ask questions at the meeting. Therefore, could I request any speakers from the floor, please raise their blue or yellow card. Someone will bring a microphone to you so you may state your name before speaking. If you are a proxy holder or representative of a corporate proxy, please also state the name of the shareholder you are representing. Questions received via the webcast platform may be consolidated or summarized to facilitate the session. So without further ado.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesMr. Chairman, we had 2 questions submitted in writing ahead of the meeting. The first one from the [ La Corno ] Family Superfund, the question asked, why is Yancoal paying out the large cash surplus, assuming it is not held to pursue takeovers and acquisitions.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesI'll take that one. We had at the 31st of March, I think, $2 billion in the bank. We have announced the Kestrel acquisition where we'll be using between USD 650 million to USD 850 million in cash. So that's going to deplete out $2 billion. But I must say, I think we'll also continue to be consistent in our dividend payments in the future.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThank you, Chairman. The second question submitted in writing ahead of the meeting from Mr. [ Edwin Karru ]. The question asked, how has the performance of rail been in delivering coal to New South Wales and Queensland ports?
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesLook, thank Mr. [ Karru ] for this question and asking about the infrastructure that connects our coal mines with our customers in the international markets. In contrast to the first half of last year, there has been minimal weather-related disruptions to all l activities. You might have noted in our first quarter report, our attributable saleable production of 9 million tonnes was higher than our attributable sales of 8.2 million tonnes. Rest assured, this wasn't due to any rail constraint. It was simply a combination of rebuilding stockpiles and the timing of shipments relative to the quarterly reporting period. The 38.6 million tonnes we delivered last year was a production record for the company. And again, if we can deliver on the upper half of our production guidance this year, we would exceed last year's performance.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThat concludes all the questions submitted ahead of the meeting in writing.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesAnd online.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesOnline, we have several questions coming through. I see 4 from Stephen Mayne. Would you like to start to those, Mr. Chairman, please? The first question from Stephen Mayne what proportion of the coal we produce is exported to China? What proportion is used in Australia? And where else do we export our coal?
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesWell, Australia is about 0. In terms of China, it varies between years. So some years, it's been up to 41%, over the last and -- but down to 24%. But without the -- I'll ask Mark to probably add some more color.
Mark Salem
ExecutivesYes. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thank you for that question. Look, very simply, it's our marketing strategy to always optimize our sales and our revenue based on our product mix. And so all -- we're quite fortunate in that sense that we've got quite a diverse portfolio of markets that we sell our coal to. As the Chairman relayed last year in 2025, 31% [indiscernible] following that in decreased increments is Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, quite a diverse set of Asian countries that we sell our coal to, and that's based on our product mix and optimizing the value. In contrast, Japan is our highest revenue market. So because we do sell some of our more premium products into that Japanese market. So that's always our objective. Thank you.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesThanks, Mark.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesA second question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The question starts, the largest against vote at the 2025 AGM was 8.6% on the general mandate to issue shares. Based on the proxy votes, this year, that level of position has risen to 18.1%. I don't understand this issue. Could the Chair please explain why some proxy advisers and their institutional clients vote against this proposal? And what is our response to those concerns?
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesIt probably reflects the differences being an ASX-listed company, but we've also got Hong Kong requirements. So under Hong Kong requirements, we need to do it -- to give us flexibility. These have been standing items at the AGMs for the last -- since 2019. We always apply the highest standard between the ASX and the Hong Kong. And in that regards, the ASX, you've got a 15% limit which would become the -- what we'd have to apply as versus Hong Kong where there's a 20%. So it's probably a lesson for us in terms of how we can improve this next year and make it clearer. But what we're doing is providing flexibility, but I think there is room for improvement in what our resolution is there.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThank you. The third question from Stephen Mayne. Thank you for disclosing the proxies early to the ASX along with the formal addresses. There was a 9.8% vote against the reelection of Director, Gang Ru. Which of the proxy advisers produced a report ahead of today's AGM? And did any of them recommend a vote against Mr. Ru? If so, what was the nature of their concern? And what is the company's response?
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesSo the proxy advisers, ISS and ACSI voted against Chairman Ru's reelection. Yancoal Energy own 62% thereabouts. So just by the nature of our shareholding, we have a majority of Chinese directors from our major shareholder, including Chairman Ru. So I think the vote against reflected probably 2 things: the level of independent directors on the Yancoal board, where we have 3 out of a total of 9. And the other one is diversity, female versus male as well. So I think that's the reason we had the de novo against Chairman Ru.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThank you, Mr. Fletcher. The final question from Stephen Mayne. The New South Wales to 10.8% on July 1 -- 10.8% on July 1, 2024. How much did we pay the New South Wales government in calendar 2025? And how much lower than Queensland are the New South Wales coal royalties? Does the Chair agree it would be nice if we had the same royalty regime as WA gold miners to only pay a flat 2.5% royalty, but pay no royalty on the first $16 million worth of production at each WA gold mine.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesIt would be nice to have standardization right across the nation on many things. So unfortunately, that's not the case. So I might ask Sharif to make some comments.
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesYes. Thanks, Chair. I concur with that comment. That is correct. New South Wales did raise their royalties from 8.2% to 10.8%. That's for an open cut mine. And below that, you've got the open cut categories, which have also increased by similar amounts. In Queensland, royalties are based around the coal price and the scaling grade as they change. So that 7% where the coal price is under $100 and it scales up. So over $300 per tonne, it's at 40%. We do disclose our royalties in our annual accounts. We haven't split that out by state, but suffice to say the majority of our royalties in New South Wales. I'm unfamiliar with the Western Australian gold royalty standard so I'm unable to comment on that. Thanks.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesWe have three questions from Mr. Edwin Karru who submitted the -- 1 of the 2 written questions earlier. The first related to rail performance. So we have addressed that. I'll move on to the second. Does last Friday's tragic Liushenyu China coal mine explosion have any implications for demand for Yancoal Australia's coal product?
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesMaybe I'll start that. And it is with a very heavy heart that we hear about these accidents in the mining. So condolence is certainly extended to those individuals, the families and the colleagues of those involved in that accident. With regards to impact on the market, I might pass over to Mark for any comment.
Mark Salem
ExecutivesYes. Yes. Thanks, Sharif. Yes, I agree with those sentiments about those people who lost their lives. That mine, in particular, we understand was producing about 1.2 million tonnes of metallurgical coal and a relatively small impact in that regard to the overall metallurgical coal market. We saw some movement short term, short-lived in prices as a result of that, but there's nothing -- there has been nothing substantial in regard to demand.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThe final question submitted by the webcast also from Mr. Evan Karru, nations, such as Vietnam and Philippines with their increasing populations are seeking more thermal coal, are there implications for Yancoal?
Mark Salem
ExecutivesYes. Thank you. Yes. Definitely, Vietnam is a growing market as is the Philippines. In particular, we will have a growing portion of our business going to Vietnam. Again, this reflects back on our diversification strategy and our revenue and product optimization strategy. And Vietnam is definitely displaying a strong interest and a willingness to ensure security of supply. So definitely, you'll see that come through in our annual presentation on our diversification, the growing impact of Vietnam.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesThat concludes all the written questions via the webcast. If any are received. I'll advise you.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesIs there any questions from the floor?
Unknown Shareholder
ShareholdersI have 3 questions. And the first one is regarding the -- you have April first quarter update, you mentioned about the diesel supply. And you mentioned you [indiscernible] secure by the end of May. So can you give us some details, some color what's the rest of the year? And also the New South Wales weather, it's been very rainy. Do you think it's going to have any negative impact for the current quarter? So my second question is regarding the Kestrel acquisition. You mentioned about the -- it's a high-margin profit operation. And your current -- before you acquired assets, your current operation about the profit margin -- operating margin about 24%. So from your due diligence, this mine, what is the -- roughly for the last 5 years what is the operating margin? Is that going to be comparable or going to be lower? And also the contingent payment, can you clarify the $550 million that's on the condition of the contract price is $225 million. So what happens if the next 5 years the contract price is lower than $225 that means that there will be no payment whatsoever. So my last question is about the dividend. By considering Australia [indiscernible] have the new tax laws, I just want to ask your Board in the future for shareholder to receiving the capital gain or the cash income, is the Board aware of willing to consider instead of you returning the capital by share buyback, you should consider the returning more cash through the dividend because that will be for shareholder wise, there will be a lot more tax effective.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesThank you very much for those questions. I might ask Sharif.
Sharif Burra
ExecutivesThank you for your questions. I'll cover the diesel part. Yes, certainly, in our quarterly report, we outlined security supply, as you mentioned. As of now, we are comfortable with security supply at the end of July. And we are becoming more comfortable with supply. So we've had no material disruptions to our mines due to supply of diesel over the course of the last -- since the Iran issues. What we do see is obviously an increase in price, and we have provided guidance in that area. Having said that, we note that diesel price has come off slightly in the last month. So diesel security supply good until the end of July. And as we work with our suppliers, that tends to extend down. With regards to weather in New South Wales, we've had actually a reasonably dry first quarter. The rain at times is welcomed. At this point in time, we haven't seen any material disruptions to our assets in New South Wales. I might hand over to Kevin for the Kestrel margin acquisition questions and clarification on [indiscernible].
Ning Su
ExecutivesThank you very much for the questions. Actually, I have reported in the past years Kestrel [indiscernible]. But I'm not too sure it's a public information or not. That's why I can just give you some general comments. First of all, if we just benchmarking Kestrel against some variable mines in Yancoal, I would say it's no longer -- it's not a public information. But generally speaking, if we put Yancoal mines together as a portfolio that is largely comparable. But we recognize the fact there are some always incident impact, for example, the geotechnical issues and then also some production issues, weather issues on the Yancoal side. But this doesn't deny the fact Kestrel is the top 75% from margin perspective. This is stated in our presentation. So clearly, it's a very good quality life mine and given the 25 years life of mine left. So this is your second question. And the third question is about the CGT. I think a lot of people are very concerned about the CGT. You mentioned the share buyback. I will very much share with all the investors over all those years since Yancoal listed we remember buyback. Yes, we have a mandate today we could buy back. But I think we also make a statement in the material. It is not something we are actively looking for. That's why back to the point to make and we also agree there is bigger chance is the cash dividend with the franking credit to all the investors. I hope I answered your question.
Unknown Executive
ExecutivesMr. Su there's also the clarification on the contingent payment, the $550 million and the price reference.
Ning Su
ExecutivesLet me clarify the $550 million contingent payment. That price is not a benchmark against contract price, is an index price against the hard coking coal. So let me give an example. If the hard coking coal index for the full year over $225 million, over and above $225 million will be multiplied by a, we call, realized factor. So for example, if the average realized coal price is 85% of the hard coking coal index, the difference will be applied by 85%. We call that the realization rate. Then on top of that, we apply 70% sharing is sort of like the profit sharing scheme and up to $550 million in 5 years.
Unknown Shareholder
ShareholdersMy name is [indiscernible]. I've got 2 questions. One of them is climate change related, and you heard a good example of it here 3 times. I just -- I was a little bit surprised that Yancoal used their money that they had in hand to buy another coal mine rather than diversify considering the threats of climate change. So I'd like to get an opinion what happens in the longer term because it is a threat and people are passionate. And there's lots of arguments for and against. So I'd like to get a comment on that. The other one is that a company -- a lot of the company's assets are in its operating people. There's a real lack of information. So I see other annual reports. They have information from operating people about their operations, and they also give some key data of operating people. So I don't see it here in this AGM. I know it's probably elsewhere, but I think it's relevant. So anyone, would just like a reply on those.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesWell, thanks, John. We regularly review opportunities. The Kestrel opportunity does diversify us into more of the metallurgical coal, probably increases our metallurgical coal by 6% thereabout to that portfolio, also doubles our production in Queensland as well. And we're also very confident in probably the medium- to long-term future of coal as well. And we are good at what we do in coal. But we are looking at other commodities. And should the right commodity and the right opportunity come along, we'll certainly be looking at those opportunities as we do. So in terms of the operating people, we'll take that on board. We do cover it in a number of other in terms of the annual report, but there's our P4 report, which talks about our sustainability, our people, some of the key initiatives around diversification and our indigenous.
Unknown Shareholder
ShareholdersI'd just interrupt, I know in quite a few other annual reports, so I do have a fair bit of information on reports by key operating.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesYes.
Unknown Shareholder
ShareholdersWell, it gives you a sense.
Gregory Fletcher
ExecutivesYes. No, we'll take that on board for this financial year in our reporting. So thank you. Any other questions? I might just make some comments in lieu of our people at the start. It's important to reflect in terms of Yancoal's history that our Chinese have invested over $10 billion in this organization a number of years ago. If they hadn't, we would have gone out backwards. We are very strong. We've got some of the best mines not only in Australia, but the world, okay? We employ 5,500 people. Last year, we paid over $1 billion in salary. So we're a big contributor to the economy. We paid tax of $1.3 billion last year, 2025, okay? And then there's the dividends. Over the last -- since 2018, we've paid about $5.3 billion in dividends. So we're a big contributor, I think, to the nation. We're a big contributor to the shareholders. So I think we've got to put all this in context as well. And I think in terms of coal, it's well known that Australian coal is the best coal compared to a number of overseas jurisdictions. So just some comments. So back to the meeting. In accordance with Rule 7.7d.1 of the company's constitution, as Chairman of the meeting, I request that each of the resolutions is decided by poll and declare voting on all resolutions is now open. The results of the polls will be calculated with the assistance of Computershare acting as the scrutineer. If you are entitled to vote, the reverse of your blue admission card is your voting paper and instructions. Please record your vote for each poll by placing a mark in the appropriate for or against box on each card you are holding. The sum of the votes cast for and against each resolution must not exceed your voting title. If you are a proxy holder, you should have a card and a summary of votes for each shareholder that you are representing as their proxy. If a proxy holder has been directed to vote in a particular manner, then the proxy holder will be deemed to have voted per those directions by completing the voting card. In respect of any open votes, a proxy holder may be entitled to cast, you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your open votes. If you have a query concerning any of the polls, please raise your hand and a member from Computershare will assist you. And our friend will walk round and collect. [voting] All the cards collected? Yes. I now declare the poll closed. I will ask Computershare to collect the voting cards at the end of the meeting. The results of the poll will not be known until after the meeting has closed. The results of the poll will be announced to the ASX and Hong Kong exchanges later today. Having completed all items on the agenda, I now announce the formal proceedings of today's Annual General Meeting closed. I want to thank those in attendance today, calling in today's Annual General Meeting of Yancoal Australia Limited. We also apologize for the behavior of some of our earlier people that unfortunately spoke. So thank you, and have a great day.
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full-text search, and the recently-added /api/v1/transcripts/recent polling endpoint for ETL pipelines.