6 questions asked at 2024 Bega Group hybrid AGM

November 4, 2024

Below is the text of the 6 written questions submitted at the 2 hour 2024 Bega Group hybrid AGM held on October 30, plus a summary of the exchanges below. The proxies weren't disclosed early and biggest protest was 14% against rem report.

Q1. Barry Irwin has been chair since 2000 and has done a great job building our enterprise. Is he intending to serve a full 3 years and, health permitting, does he currently anticipate nominating again at the 2027 AGM? Also, over his 24 years in the top job, what does he regard as the two best decisions Bega made over that journey and could he also share one regret with investors today.

Answer: The chair is showing no signs of retiring and said buying back Vegemite and breaking into Tatura were the two best calls. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these extra comments on his biggest regret being not persuading Murray Goulburn and Fonterra to reverse late season claw back which smashed trust with dairy farmers.

Q2. Could the CEO and chair comment as to whether they were surprised by the recent ACCC action against Coles and Woolworths over fake discounts. Were many of our products involved in this allegedly misleading and deceptive conduct and how have we responded to these revelations. The response from the duopoly has been to point out that some of the increases followed supplier requests for a price rise. How do we go about asking Coles and Woolies for a price rise? Is it different to other smaller retailers?

Answer: The chair Barry Irwin said he was surprised by the revelations. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. The Federal Government keeps introducing new laws in the industrial relations space. How are we navigating these changes and what is our overall level of engagement with the union movement. What proportion of our staff are unionised and how many registered enterprise agreements do we have?

Answer: Turns out they have 52 EBAs across 18 manufacturing plants covering 3,800 workers. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. It is unusual to have an active owner-manager farmer on a big corporate board like Bega. Could Rick Cross please share his insights on balancing the sometimes competing interests of farmer suppliers and shareholders. Also, what is the current level of farmer entitlement to board seats at Bega and when was this last changed? Did any of the proxy advisers recommend a vote against any of today's relations, including the 4 board appointment resolutions? If so, what issues did they raise?

Answer: The chair and Rick both gave a considered response but the key point was that Rick is now out of the farming game after 32 years. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q5. Thank you for disclosing the proxies to the ASX with the formal addresses. There was a 10.8% protest vote against the rem report. Corporate voting is not a secret ballot. Have you investigated who voted against and why. When disclosing the poll results today, could you please advise the ASX how many shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to a scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment and insight on the chronically low retail shareholder participation rate.

Answer: The chair had no idea what generated the protest vote and rejected extra voting disclosure. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q6. Australia is in the midst of an unprecedented deluge of takeovers with 27 major takeovers above $200m completed so far this calendar year. The ASX is losing long standing names such as CSR & Boral. Why are public markets not valuing ASX listed companies like ours more highly and what are we doing to avoid being gobbled up like so many other companies? As a farmer director, what is Harper's attitude towards any potential takeover of Bega. And does the chair agree the thinning out of the ASX is a problem for the nation?

Answer: The chair let Harper respond and he gave a straight bat on fiduciary duties. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Also, listen to these comments from Barry Irwin about not wanting to save King Island Dairy, plus the CEO joining in rejecting a suggestion to get into the coffee business.

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6 questions asked at 2024 Bega Group hybrid AGM

November 4, 2024

Below is the text of the 6 written questions submitted at the 2 hour 2024 Bega Group hybrid AGM held on October 30, plus a summary of the exchanges below. The proxies weren't disclosed early and biggest protest was 14% against rem report.