5 questions lodged at 2024 Lynas hybrid AGM
November 27, 2024
Below is the text of the 5 written questions submitted at the Lynas hybrid AGM held on November 27 2024.
Q1. Ernst & Young have been our external auditor for more than 20 years. Over that period, how many times have we run a full competitive tender for our audit work and when are we next planning to tender our external audit work? Also, how extensive is our internal audit program and which firms apart from Ernst & Young assist with delivering this program?
Answer: New chair John Humphrey was particularly unhelpful and long-winded. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. On page 113 of the annual report we've listed 8 substantial shareholders who own more than 5% of our company but they are not ranked according to size, Australian Super is included twice and you haven't included percentage figures. Please fix this in next year's annual report and could the CEO also comment on the level of engagement she has had with Gina Rinehart, one of our newest substantial shareholders. Are the press reports correct that she is trying to engineer a merger with New York listed MP Minerals, where she is also a substantial shareholder?
Answer: the new chair John Humphrey was unhelpful on every element, blocking Amanda Lacaze from commenting about Gina even though she'd done so previously in the media. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. Item 2. Director election: As the only director up for election today, could Philippe Etienne please comment on how the chair succession has proceeded from his point of view. Could new chair John Humphry also please comment on the biggest changes in board process, delegations, reporting lines or governance that he has implemented since taking over as chair after last year's AGM? Could the CEO also comment as to whether John Humphry is more or less hands on than his predecessor Kathleen Conlon as chair?
Q4. Our share price has fallen from $8.08 to $6.85 since it became clear that Donald Trump had won the US Presidential election. Could the CEO please comment on what a tariff-driven trade war with China would mean for our business and whether the Trump administration is likely to continue supporting our US project. Also, influential Republican Senator Lindsay Graham has been arguing for continuing US support for Ukraine because he doesn't want to see Russia get control of Ukraine's rich rare earths deposits. How big a potential player is Ukraine in the emerging global rare earths market?
Q5. The chair said we are looking to appoint 1 or 2 new directors in the period ahead. Is that likely to include WA-based directors as we don't appear to have any at the moment even though our registered office is in Perth. Why are we holding the physical component of today's AGM in Sydney, not Perth, particularly given we've just opened the Kalgoorlie facility? Also, if Gina Rinehart requested a board seat, what is the chair's attitude to this issue? How large would her shareholding need to become before you would seriously consider giving her a board seat?
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