6 questions asked at 2022 Ventia Services AGM
May 13, 2022
Here is the text or our 6 questions asked at the 2022 Ventia Services AGM held on May 5. See transcript for how they were handled.
1. Many thanks to the board for agreeing to the request to disclose the proxy position to the ASX along with the formal addresses ahead of the AGM. As a bonus, you've also voluntarily thrown in how many shareholders voted by proxy. Well down for the strong support for all resolutions and are you prepared to also publish a full transcript of today's AGM debate, along with an archive of the webcast?
2. Did any of the main proxy advisers - ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS and ASA - recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions? Which of the proxy advisers are covering us and are we aware of what they said? Does the chair or any of the directors have a view about the proposed changes to Australian proxy adviser regulations which would have forced proxy advisers to fact check their reports by supplying companies with a draft before it was sent to clients? The proposal was blocked by the Senate but Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to again if the government is re-elected and he holds his seat?
3. What is the Ventia Services policy position on making political donations and will we be making any related to the current Federal election? Will you consider following the lead of companies like BHP and Rio Tinto by strictly banning all forms of donations, including cash for access arrangements, and 6 figure subscription deals to attend party events, something which the likes of ASX and Woodside have done for many years with the Labor and Liberal parties?
4. Our company is part of the Spark consortium which won the $11 billion 25 year contract with the big spending Victorian Government's North East Link Authority to build Australia's longest road tunnel in Melbourne's north eastern suburbs from Banyule to Manningham travelling 6.5km under the Yarra. CIMIC has disclosed that it will receive $3.8 billion of this $11 billion. How much will we get and what is the nature or our involvement in the Spark consortium? Is it correct that the Victorian Government is taking on more risk on this enormous contract than in some of their earlier Private public partnership contracts?
5. We listed after the mandatory ASX disclosure period for JobKeeper. Did we claim it? How much did we get and if we got some, did we repay any of it back like other listed companies such as Cochlear, Super Retail, Iluka Resources and Harvey Norman?
6. It is always a bit embarrassing for a vendor when an IPO delivers a share price which soars way about what retail and institutional investors agreed to pay. Ventia floated at $1.70 last November and the stock closed at $2.78 last night. Whoops and thanks. Who were the biggest sellers of super cheap stock into the IPO, are they represented on the board and do they regret selling too cheaply? When do any shares held by Apollo and CIMIC come out of escrow and are they likely sellers at that point? Please do sell down at a big discount once again so that the company as a whole can expand the free float, our index weighting will improve and more institutions will be attracted onto the register.
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