7 questions lodged at 2025 Scentre Group hybrid AGM
April 10, 2025
Below is the text of the 7 written questions submitted at the 2 hour and 12 minute Scentre Group hybrid AGM held on April 9, 2025 in Sydney and via the Computershare platform. See notice of meeting and voting results. Market cap was $17.4b on AGM day. It was great to have David and Charlie Kingston asking some probing questions from the floor of the Wesley Centre in Sydney.
Q1. During the GFC, a lot of international lenders withdrew from Australia to focus on problems at home. If the Trump trade war and associated market chaos extends to global deleveraging by banks and lenders, how exposed are we in terms of the $16.7 billion in total debt that David Kingston mentioned earlier? Which banking names are our biggest lenders, how long-dated are the facilities, what wriggle room do our lenders have to call in their debts early and, in broad terms, what is the split between local and foreign banks?
Answer: The CFO said the major Australian banks were their biggest backers. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. Why weren't the proxy votes disclosed early to the ASX along with the formal addresses to allow for a more fully informed debate on any protest votes? Did any of the proxy advisers recommend against Ilana's re-election or any of the other items business on the agenda today?
Answer: Mike Ihlein was chairing the item and he said there were no protests, which was correct. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. Do we have much riding on this Federal election in terms of policy offerings from the major parties? For instance, is the Coalition push to slow international student and migration numbers a negative for us? Also, what is our policy and approach when it comes to using shareholder funds to make political donations or attend political events?
Answer: The chair Ilana Atlas ignored the immigration question but pleasingly confirmed they don't make political donations. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q4. We've seen a big backlash against so-called DEI (Diversity, equity and inclusion) programs from the Trump administration. Could Catherine and the chair comment on whether this has had any early spillover impact to our approach to ESG. For instance, is our commitment to NAIDOC week a long term commitment, or subject to an upcoming review?
Answer: Nothing has changed and pleased to hear they are long-term committed to NAIDOC week. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q5. Which head hunter supported the recruitment process for Craig Mitchell, was it competitive to the extent that the full board interviewed at least one other candidate and did Craig know any of the existing directors before engaging with the recruitment process?
Answer: The chair declined to name the head hunter and said she didn't remember if the full board interviewed another candidate, which was odd. Craig said he knew the chair and Catherine Brenner a little bit before the process began. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q6. When disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, including this CEO incentive grant, please advise the ASX how many shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to with a scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions and insight into the chronically low retail shareholder participation rate. Did even 2% of our nearly 70,000 shareholder vote today? The likes of Qantas, ASX, Suncorp, Tabcorp and even the world's biggest share registry provider Computershare have all voluntarily provided this data during the current AGM season. You've got the data, so why not let the sun shine in?
Answer: The chair said they weren't in a position to do this today, which was disappointing as also asked for it last year. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q7. Thank you to Mike for his 10 years of service on the board. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors. In his likely final contribution as a director at a Scentre Group AGM, could Mike please comment on what he regards as the best 3 decisions Scentre made during his time on the board and does he have any regrets?
Answer: The chair circled back to this at the end of the AGM and Mike Ihlein cited the 2014 creation of Scentre Group, plus COVID management, including not doing a panicked equity raise. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments citing the excellent CEO transition process.
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