Questions asked at the 2021 Bapcor AGM

October 25, 2021

Here are the online question asked by Stephen Mayne at the 2021 Bapcor AGM, plus there were some telephone questions about transparency such as publishing an AGM transcript, revealing the proxies early and also revealing the voting outcomes by shareholder, not just shares, to elevate the perspective of retail shareholders.

How much JobKeeper did we claim, how much did we pay back and why don't we pay back more given that our business is going so well with the shares now at $7.76, up 3% today and having more than tripled since 2014. With a market capitalisation of $2.55 billion why not become proudly free of government handouts like JobKeeper, which is becoming increasingly tainted with each new revelation.

Resolution 2. Can Danny Wallis please address the question of the obvious problem and conflict of interest in shareholders electing someone to the board who has a grievance with the company that has even involved litigation. Also, as a wealthy man, why hasn't Danny bought a bigger stake in the company. How big is his stake and when did he buy it?

Resolution 5: constitution change to allow for online AGMs: Dexus, Bendigo Bank and Brambles have all withdrawn ill-considered constitutional amendments that open the door for permanent online AGMs after the COVID pandemic has past. Why didn't Bapcor also withdraw this proposal, which of the proxy advisers recommended against and can you undertake to always have a physical element to your future AGMs, health regulations permitting.

General business

Great to see the founders Garry Johnston and Ron Burgione getting a mention in the corporate videos. Are either of them or the families still Bapcor shareholders or involved in any way today. Is the original Braybrook outlet still part of the empire? Have you thought about commissioning a corporate history on the company?

Have we ever held talks with the Brown Brothers or anyone else at ARB about potentially getting together. Also, how serious a competitor is Ultra-tune? Please comment on how effective these two competitors are and name the other major competitors in the Australian market.

We need to buy a car for our teenage daughters and are currently renting at cheap rates in Melbourne thanks to the pandemic, although this is about to end. Please comment on the semi-conductor shortage, soaring second hard car prices, what this means for our business and when Darryl believes second hand car prices will moderate?

Chair Margaret Haseltine election:

With the benefit of hindsight, does Margie agree that last year's $180m institutional placement at $4.40 was a mistake? We didn't need the money and whilst retail shareholders also contributed $56 million, we were heavily scaled back after applying for $122m worth of shares.

Second Margie question:

Given that Metcash is also in the auto business, is there any conflict of interest and how is that managed?

Remuneration report question

What caused last year's strike and what changes have been made? Will you disclose the proxies on the spill vote as well?

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Questions asked at the 2021 Bapcor AGM

October 25, 2021