6 questions asked at 2024 REA Group hybrid AGM
October 15, 2024
Below is the text of the 6 written questions submitted at the 2024 REA Group virtual AGM held at 9am on October 9, plus a summary of the answers and some video grabs via Twitter. The only material protest at the 45 minute meeting was 7.3% against chair Hamish McLennan.
Q1. Did any of the 5 main proxy advisers - ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS and ASA - recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including this rem report? If so, what reasons did they give and will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate so shareholders can ask questions about the reasons if there have been any protests? Best practice is now to disclose the proxies to the ASX along with the formal addresses to offer more timely disclosure to the market? Will you adopt this practice at next year's AGM?
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan rejected earlier disclosure request and blathered about following the rules. The co sec then claimed all proxy adviser reports are confidential, which is not true. Suspect they were covering up "against" recommendations on chair Hamish McLennan which became apparent later in the meeting based on the 7% protest vote against his re-election despite support from 61% shareholder News Corp. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. Could independent director Jennifer Lambert please comment on why she and the board have abandoned the physical component of the AGM and moved it to the unusually early start time of 9am, making it more difficult to engage with directors up for re-election, such as Jennifer? No other ASX50 company does this. Will you return to having a hybrid AGM next year and have any board meetings or dinners been scheduled around this week's virtual AGM?
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan defended this as a cost save and because only a few shareholders turned up last year. He also said 9am was fine as it was the start of the working day and made no commitment to early disclosure of the proxies in future. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. Having served on the REA Group board for 12 years, why isn't Hamish retiring rather than seeking another 3 year term? Who did he discuss this with at News Corp and why is he continuing to overboard, serving as chair of struggling ARN Media, which has over $1b in accumulated losses, deputy chair of Magellan, which has seen its shares crash from a peak of $60 to around $10 since 2019, plus recently joining the board of Light & Wonder, a controversial business which sells dangerous and addictive poker machines around the world.
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan said he was super proud of REA and focused to keep delivering, whilst Michael Miller said he had News Corp's support. Watch video of exchange via Twitter. Also, watch a nervous Michael Miller introduce Hamish, skipping over his current board record elsewhere.
Q4. Could Hamish and the CEO comment on why we haven't dealt with the ferocious debate about Australia's housing crisis. We're profiting big time from record immigration which Peter Dutton and the Federal opposition are railing against. As chair of our company, what is Hamish doing to navigate our company through this tricky debate. Are we vulnerable to any ACCC action, like Coles and Woolies, given our huge profits?
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan and CEO Owen Wilson both responded with the CEO saying stamp duty, lack of supply and 12 million spare bedrooms were the keys to fixing the housing crisis. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q5. Rightmove has been the number 1 UK real estate website for several years. Why did we wait so long to launch our bid and why didn't we engage confidentially with them first, as opposed to having news of our bid leak?
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan said he was "very disappointed" the bid leaked and the Rightmove share price had gone sideways for several years. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q6. There's been a lot of publicity recently about the power struggle between Rupert Murdoch and his adult children over the future control of the Murdoch Family Trust, which ultimately controls our company even though the family only owns around 12% of REA on a fully diluted basis. A lot of the media coverage about Rightmove talked about Rupert Murdoch's REA. Has Rupert Murdoch even visited our Richmond head quarters in person and why hasn't Lachlan Murdoch ever joined the REA board as one of News Corp's nominees?
Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan refused to weigh in on the Murdoch family fight and just said News Corp has been a very supportive shareholder and didn't address the lack of any Murdoch involvement with REA at board level or through visits. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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