6 questions lodged at 2025 E&P Financial hybrid AGM
February 14, 2025
Below is the text of the 6 written questions submitted at the delayed 42 minute E&P Financial hybrid AGM held on February 13, 2025, which started at 9am in their Collins St office. See notice of meeting. I was the only shareholder asking questions and they did well juggling zoom for the audio broadcast and verbal questions (there weren't any) and Lumi for the live online voting and written questions. All these written questions were read out clearly in full with no editing, so they ran a good fair meeting. There were no material protest votes.
Q1. Paul Ryan was charged by ASIC in August 2023 over some Dixon Advisory matters but then the court found in his favour in November last year, ordering ASIC to pay his costs. He remains CEO of E&P Wealth, according to our website. What was the case about and what did the board think about the facts alleged by ASIC? Were we confident all along that the case would fail?
Answer: Executive chair David Evans said the judge made positive comments about Paul's character in the decision and they're pleased to move on. The CEO Ben Keeble wasn't keen to dwell on the past and said they're focused on the future. Listen to audio of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. There were against votes of between 23.45% and 25.58% on all 5 resolutions which were up for the vote at the November 1, EGM. Corporate voting is not a secret ballot in Australia so you know who voted against each of those resolution. Please summarise the extent to which those hostile shareholders sold out via the buyback and whether many of them remain on the register to this day. Are they still hostile to the board or have we taken steps to improve relations?
Answer: Chair David Evans explained that there was opposition to the delisting plan and CEO Ben summarised the register with just David Evans and Mercury now above 5%. By the sounds of things Australian Wealth Advisers voted against the delisting and are now off the register, having previously held 5-8%. Listen to audio of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. We claimed that being listed was costing us $2.5 million a year. How much of that was the actual ASX listing fee and have we realised the full $2.5 million in savings thus far?
Answer: This question was never read out but answered comprehensively when dealing with another question. The director fees are already down by $700,000, they expect strong savings on insurance costs and are also commencing a discussion with Deloitte to reduce audit fees. Listen to audio of CEO's response via Twitter.
Q4. The 2023-24 annual report said that we had almost 1,400 shareholders as of August 1 last year. What is that number down to now after the buyback and who currently owns more than 5% of the company? Have there been many shares trades since the stock delisted from the ASX late last year?
Answer: They are down to about 900 and don't believe there have been any trades since the stock was delisted on December 27 last year. The only remaining substantial shareholders are David Evans and Mercury Asset Management after Australian Wealth Advisers sold their 5-8% stake via the $24 million buyback. Listen to audio of exchange via Twitter.
Q5. We had declared $85.5m in accumulated losses as of June 30, 2024 but were still claiming to have net assets of $111 million. Could the external audit signing partner from Deloitte, David Haynes, comment as to whether this figure is realistic and when it will next be tested by his team? Are we still looking to do half yearly audits? Also, how long has Deloitte audited our accounts and what is the plan in terms of future tenders of the external audit work? Does it cost less to get audited now that we're an unlisted public company?
Answer: The auditor stood by the June 30 balance sheet although the December 31 half year audit is not yet complete so there could be more write-downs shortly. They've commenced a discussion with Deloitte to reduce audit fees going forward. Listen to audio of exchange via Twitter.
Q6. Does the proposed new constitution put any barriers in the way of external board candidates or allow for fully virtual AGMs?
Answer: No. Listen to audio of exchange via Twitter.
Q7. Board room lunches talking golf - didn't get to it in the end.
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