Good morning, and welcome to the JB Hi-Fi 2023 Annual General Meeting. My name is Stephen Goddard. I'm Chairman of the JB Hi-Fi Group, and I'm your chair for today's meeting. We have a quorum, and I'm pleased to declare the meeting open. This year sees our second hybrid AGM, and I'm delighted to be able to extend a warm welcome to our shareholders, proxies, and guests who are attending either in person or through our online meeting platform. Our meeting is being held on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I wish to acknowledge them as the traditional custodians. I would also like to pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I would like to introduce my fellow directors, Beth Laughton, Christy Boyce, Mark Powell, Geoff Roberts, Melanie Wilson, Richard Uechtritz, and our executive directors, Terry Smart and Nick Wells. Our Company Secretary, Doug Smith, is also in attendance, as is Travis Simpkin of our auditors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Travis has audited our business for five years, and as such, is rotating off after this year. Travis, I'd like to thank you for your efforts over the course of that period and your contribution to the company. So thank you. Obviously, as some attendees are attending online, there may be a risk of technical difficulties. If that happens, it will be at my discretion whether we continue the meeting or postpone or adjourn the meeting. The agenda for today's meeting is as follows: procedural issues, summary of items of business and voting opens, chairman's address, Group CEO's address, further information on each item of business, including hearing from the director standing for election or re-election, and disclosure of proxy votes already received on each item. Questions, voting closes, and then close the meeting. The notice of meeting dated 15th September 2023 has been made available to all shareholders, and I'll take it as read. I'll start by briefly setting out how the meeting will work. All shareholders and proxies attending the meeting, whether in person or online, have the ability to ask questions and submit votes. Noting that questions may be submitted at different times by online participants and participants in person, we will answer questions on all items of the business later in the meeting. For those attending the meeting online who wish to submit a written question, you may do so at any time during the meeting via the Q&A icon on your screen. Type your question in the text and press the Send button. I'll then address your question at the relevant time. If you're attending in person or attending online, but wish to ask a question verbally, please wait until that time to ask your question. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business, and Computershare will act as the independent returning officer. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. For those attending the meeting online and who are eligible to vote, when the poll opens, a voting icon will be available on your screen. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit Submit, as the vote is automatically recorded. Please ensure you cast a vote for all resolutions. You'll receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. To change or cancel your vote, click the link, "Click here to change your vote," at any time until the poll is closed. Votes may be changed up to that time, and then I'll declare the meeting is closed. For shareholders, proxies, and corporate representatives attending in person, you vote by either scanning the QR code that you received upon admission and following the instructions, or by completing the yellow voting code that was provided to you upon admission. White codes are for visitors only who cannot ask questions or vote today. Shareholders with a green card are not entitled to vote on the items of business. You can vote at any time after voting opens, and I'll warn you before I close voting at the end of the meeting. Results of voting will be released to the ASX after the meeting. If you have any difficulties voting or submitting questions, please consult the online meeting guide, which can be accessed within the online platform or on the JB Hi-Fi Investors website if you're attending online, or raise your hand if you're attending in person. The items for the business for the meeting are set out in the notice of meeting and are as follows: One, to receive and consider the financial and other reports for the financial year ended 30 June 2023. Two, to vote on the election and re-election of directors. Three, to adopt the remuneration report. And four, to approve the allocation of restricted shares to each of the executive directors. I'll provide more detail on each of these items later in the meeting. I now declare voting open on all items of business. The voting tab will soon appear. Please submit your votes at any time, and as I said, I'll give you a warning before I close voting. We now move to my chairman's address. The financial year ended 30 June 2023 was another strong year for JB Hi-Fi Limited and its subsidiaries, with the group reporting record sales and earnings per share. In a challenging retail environment, we've remained top of mind for shoppers and grew our market share by continuing to drive our value offering, leveraging the strength of our multi-channel offer, and maintaining our high levels of customer service. We are thankful to our over 14,500 team members across Australia and New Zealand, whose continued focus on delivering value and in maintaining our high levels of customer service will ensure the long-term success of our business. Our motivated, passionate, knowledgeable, and highly trained staff continue to be our most important asset. We believe the group is an employer of choice with an inclusive, busy, enjoyable, and most importantly, work-safe working environment. It helps us to continue to attract and retain high-caliber people. In August 2023, we announced the appointment of Christy Boyce as a non-executive director with effect from 16th September 2023. Christy has over 25 years advisory experience in Australia and the United States, with extensive involvement in retail, including pricing, online strategy, loyalty programs, and sales and marketing. We're delighted to welcome Christy to the board. She brings great strategic expertise and significant experience in working with retail companies, which will add value to our board, and we look forward very much to working together. Turning to the group's operating model, the group comprises two leading retail brands: JB Hi-Fi, with a focus on technology and consumer electronics, and The Good Guys, with a focus on home appliances and consumer electronics. The value proposition for each brand centers around ranging the best brands at low prices, supported by exceptional customer service across our store network, our online and phone channels, through our commercial business. The dual-branded retail approach is underpinned by four key competitive advantages, being scale, a low-cost operating model, multi-channel capability, and people and culture. An integral part of the group's ongoing strategy is to encourage innovation and diversification of our product range, merchandising formats, advertising, supply chain, property locations, and our online offer in a controlled and responsible manner to ensure we remain current and relevant to our customers. We have a culture of embracing change, which is seen as a natural part of our business, and this approach provides opportunities to increase revenue, margin, and productivity. The group's FY23 sustainability report, which can be found on the group's investor website, outlines our commitment to having a positive impact on our people, our community, and our environment. As set out in the report, we are committed to supporting our people and ensuring a safe, inclusive and respectful workforce, workplace, whilst also looking for ways to provide them with flexibility and opportunities to grow and develop. Making a positive impact in the communities in which our team members live and work, and working with our supply partners to protect and further human rights, and minimizing the impact that our operations may have on the natural environment, and proactively reducing our waste, energy consumption, and emissions. In closing, the board remains focused on building long-term shareholder value. Since JB Hi-Fi listed in October 2003, the JB Hi-Fi share price compound annual growth rate is 17.6% to 25 October 2023, compared to 3.7% on the ASX 200 Index over the same period. The earnings per share compound annual growth rate is 20.8%, and the dividend per share, fully franked compound annual growth rate is 21.9%. More recently, in the four years since 2019, the JB Hi-Fi share price compound annual growth rate is 4.3%, to 25 October 2023, compared to 0.4% on the ASX 200 Index over the same period. The earnings per share compound annual growth rate is 21.9%, and the dividend per share, fully franked compound annual growth rate is 21.7%. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow directors, the executive team, and our store, warehouse, and support teams for their unwavering commitment to the ongoing prosperity of your company and its shareholders. I now invite Terry to address the meeting on the group's operations. Thank you, Stephen, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Retailing is a dynamic and exciting industry, and JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys are market leaders in their respective sectors. The core of our proposition has always been, and will always remain, our unwavering focus on our customers who continue to turn to us for their technology and home appliance needs, and our over 14,500 dedicated, knowledgeable team members across Australia and New Zealand continue to respond and adapt in an amazing manner to make sure we meet these needs. As Stephen has highlighted, we are committed to having a positive impact on our people, our community, and our environment. In our FY 23 sustainability report, we outlined the progress made in our key areas of focus, including continued improvement in gender diversity across the group, with an increase in the number of women in leadership positions. Ongoing focus on safety, including mental health and well-being training programs. Workplace giving donations totaling AUD 3.9 million in FY 23, and AUD 35.7 million since inception. Ongoing focus on privacy, cybersecurity, and payment card industry data security standards. A 9.6% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, supported by the installation of solar panel generation in nine stores in FY 23, bringing the total number of stores to 24, as the group works towards net zero direct carbon emissions by 2030. And finally, a 12% decrease in plastic bag usage, with plastic bags to be phased out nationally and replaced with 100% recycled paper bags. We are pleased with the progress we are making on our sustainability plan and commitments, and importantly, are receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from our team members. Turning to our FY 2023 results. In FY 2023 was another strong year for the group, with record sales and earnings per share. Group sales were AUD 9.63 billion, up 4.3% on the prior year, and when compared to pre-COVID, FY 2019, up 35.7%. EBIT, while down 3.2% on last year to AUD 769 million, remains strong compared to pre-COVID FY 2019, up 106.3%. Earnings per share was up 0.1%, to AUD 4.799 per share, and up 120.7% on pre-COVID FY 2019. Total dividends for FY 2023 were AUD 3.12 per share, representing 65% of the impact. While down AUD 0.04 per share or 1.3% on the prior year, when compared to pre-COVID, FY 2019, total dividends was up AUD 1.70 per share or 119.7%. The group's balance sheet continues to be strong, with low financial and operating leverage and closing net cash of AUD 127.5 million at 30 June 2023. The group will continue to regularly review all aspects of its capital structure, with a focus on maximizing returns to shareholders, while maintaining balance sheet strength and flexibility. As we move into FY 2024, the group has five key focus areas. Firstly, retail execution. In a tougher retail environment, a strong retail execution is vital. We will focus on growing our market share by attracting new customers to the brands, and stay focused on delivering and proving value to our customers by creating best-in-market offers and promotions. At the same time, we will leverage the efficiency of our operating model, with our flexible business model and low-cost culture key to responding to changes in the environment. Secondly, multi-channel. We will continue to expand our reach and attract more shoppers to the brands by providing easy and convenient access, whether via in-store or online. We will continue to evolve our categories and store layouts to further drive in-store experience and engagement. We will continue to improve our customer experience online and leverage our significant web traffic to provide additional sales opportunities. We will deepen our connection with our customers through our JB Hi-Fi Perks and The Good Guys Gold Service Extra membership programs, and continue to find new ways to engage and deal with our customers. Thirdly, New Zealand. We know we are underrepresented in New Zealand and believe there is a good opportunity to grow and expand the JB Hi-Fi business there. Seven existing store relays were completed in FY 2023. To date, in FY 2024, our Queen Street and Hamilton stores have been relocated. We have opened two duty-free airport stores in Auckland and Christchurch International Airports, and expect to open two new standard format JB Hi-Fi stores before Christmas. We continue to actively identify potential new opportunities to expand our reach, targeting 3-5 new stores per year over the next three years. Our work on re-platforming the JB Hi-Fi New Zealand website is progressing well, and our new website is expected to launch before the important Black Friday trading period. Fourthly, commercial. We continue to develop our commercial business for future growth, targeting the small to medium-sized business sectors. We have a national proposition in a fragmented market and have refined our branding and go-to-market strategies. Our value proposition leverages the group's retail proposition of big brands, big range, and low prices, as well as the group's store network, supply chain, and marketing capabilities. And is augmented by access to extended business ranges, value-added services, expert teams to support business, and education providers. Fifthly, supply chain. We will continue to invest in a fit-for-purpose supply chain network that supports in-store and online fulfillment and delivers better customer offers and experiences. Examples of recent initiatives include improved delivery options launched for The Good Guys customers, focusing on increased certainty, transparency, and choice. And the JB Hi-Fi Australia on-demand delivery service, in partnership with Uber, has successfully achieved an average delivery times of under 60 minutes. Turning to our recent trading. The group has today provided sales update for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023. Total sales growth for JB Hi-Fi Australia was negative 0.1%, with comparable sales growth of negative 1.4%. As compared with pre-COVID FY 2019, total sales growth was 40.5%. Total sales growth for JB Hi-Fi New Zealand was 1%, with comparable sales growth of -1%. As compared to pre-COVID FY 2019, total sales growth was 22.2%, and total sales growth for The Good Guys was -12.2%, with comparable sales growth of the same. As compared to pre-COVID FY 2019, total sales growth was 21.1%. Q1 FY 2024 sales are in line with the group's expectations, cycling elevated period from last year. While total sales continue to be well above pre-COVID Q1 FY 2019, the group continues to see variability in category performance. In closing, with the heightened uncertainty in the retail environment, our brands remain well positioned to leverage their low price market position as shoppers look to maximize value for their purchases. As we have continued to demonstrate, we'll adapt and respond to changing retail conditions to ensure we remain the number one destination for shoppers and grow our market share. I look forward to another exciting and successful year in FY 2024. Thank you. Thanks, Terry. Turning back to the items of business. Item one relates to the receipt and consideration of the financial and other reports for the financial year ended 30 June 2023. The company's annual report, which includes the financial report, directors' report, and auditors' report, as well as the company's corporate governance statement, has been made available to shareholders. No formal resolution will be put to the meeting on this item, and I'll take the reports as read. Shareholders and proxies may ask questions in relation to the reports later in the meeting. Item two on the agenda relates to the re-election of me, Melanie Wilson, as directors, and the election of Christy Boyce as a director. As I'm one of the directors standing, I'll hand over to my chair, the chair to my colleague, Beth Laughton, at this point. Thank you, Stephen. Item two A relates to the re-election of Stephen Goddard. Stephen was appointed to the board in August 2016 and became chairman on July 1, 2020. Stephen is also the chair of the company's Remuneration and Nominations Committee, and was a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee until June 30, 2020. Stephen has more than 30 years retail experience, having held senior executive positions with some of Australia's best-known retailers. These include as finance director and operations director for David Jones, founding managing director of Officeworks, and various senior management roles with Myer. Stephen is currently a non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committees of Accent Group and Nick Scali Limited, and was previously a non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee of GWA Group Limited. The board considers that Stephen is an independent director. I'll now ask Stephen to say a few words. Thanks, Beth. Look, I've worked in a many different areas in a number of retail businesses over that 30 years, I think, which has given me a, a good sense of the competitive environment, in which we operate and what a retail business needs to do well to be successful. I was on the board of David Jones for nearly 10 years as finance director, and along with my other public company board experience, I feel this equips me well in my role as chair of the company. I have great respect for the business and its achievements over a long period of time, and the high quality of the management team led by Terry and Nick and a number of others throughout the group. So I look forward to supporting the company as it grows and prospers. Thank you, Stephen. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on this resolution are as follows on the screen. I'll now hand the chair back to Stephen. Thanks, Beth. Item two B relates to the re-election of Melanie Wilson. Melanie was appointed to the board in June 2020, and is a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee. Melanie gained extensive experience in senior management roles across global retail brands, including Woolworths, as the head of Online, Big W, and Manager Strategy Group. Limited Brands, including Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, New York & Company, and La Senza. Her retail experience includes online, e-commerce, store operations, merchandise systems, marketing, brand development, and logistics fulfillment. Melanie has also held roles with Bain & Company and Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and Sydney, and completed an MBA at the Harvard Business School. Melanie is currently a non-executive director and chair of Baby Bunting Group Limited, and a member of its Remuneration and Nominations and Audit and Risk Committees. She's also a non-executive director of Property Guru Group Singapore, and Melanie was previously a non-executive director of Shaver Shop Group and EML Payments Limited, and a non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of iSelect Limited. The board considers Melanie to be an independent director. I'll hand over to Melanie to say a few words. Thank you, Chair. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's been an incredible honor and privilege to serve on the board of JB Hi-Fi and to represent shareholders over the past three years. I believe that my contributions to the board are grounded on my extensive experience within the retail sector. As a former executive and now a non-executive director of numerous specialty retail and consumer businesses, I've gained invaluable insights. My unwavering focus and passion lies in e-commerce and multi-channel retailing, with the focus of enhancing the customer experience. In addition to my role on the board, I serve as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. One of our core responsibilities is our dedication to sustainability. I'm delighted with the progress that JB Hi-Fi has made in this arena over the past three years, and the positive impact it's creating on our people, our community, and our environment. Having been a full-time director for nearly eight years, I can confidently affirm my capacity to fill my commitments and duties required for this role. It fills me with immense pride to represent the shareholders of JB Hi-Fi and to continue collaborating with the board and management to deliver a best-in-class customer experience, care for our team members, and generating growth for you, o ur valued shareholders. With your ongoing support, I look forward to the opportunity to be elected for another term. Thank you. Thanks, Mel. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on this resolution are as follows. Chairman, I want to make just a quick comment. I cannot log in to the thing. I don't know if anybody else has a problem. Okay. Because I logged in unsuccessfully. Okay, we'll get some assistance. Anyway, please carry on for the weekend. Somebody does. I can only do the by, do the paperwork. Yes, okay. Yeah, it's not just me. Okay, item two C relates to the election of Christy Boyce. Christy was appointed to the board with effect from 16 September 2023, and also joined the company's Audit and Risk Management Committee at that time. Christy has over 25 years advisory experience in Australia and the United States, with extensive involvement in retail, including pricing, online strategy, loyalty programs, and sales and marketing. Christy was a director of, and Senior Partner of Port Jackson Partners, and prior to this, she was a partner at McKinsey & Co, working in the firm's Sydney, New York, and Chicago offices, and was co-leader of its Retail and Consumer Goods practice. Christy is currently a non-executive director of CSR Limited, BAI Communications Australia, EMM Consulting, and the SCEGGS Darlinghurst Trust. Her previous experience includes acting as a non-executive director of ASX-listed companies Greencross Limited, Monash IVF Group Limited, and OneView Healthcare Plc. Prior to her appointment, the company conducted appropriate checks into Christy's background and experience, and those checks revealed no information of concern. The board considers Christy to be an independent director, and I'll hand over to Christy to say a few words. Thank you, Stephen. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to join you today and put myself forward for election to the board of JB Hi-Fi. JB Hi-Fi has a strong customer focus and a history of delivering great value and a distinctive customer experience, which it continues to evolve and enhance. Retail has been a major focus throughout my 25 years as a strategy advisor. I've worked extensively in retail across a range of topics, including pricing, channel strategy, loyalty, and sales and marketing. This background, plus my experience serving on the boards of a range of ASX-listed companies, positions me well to contribute to the JB Hi-Fi board. I feel privileged to have joined the board of JB Hi-Fi and value the opportunity to work with the management team to continue to build and shape the organization. Thank you. Thanks, Christy. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on this resolution are as follows. Item three relates to the adoption of the Remuneration report, which is contained within the company's annual report. Further information, including information regarding voting on this resolution and the two strikes rule, is set out in the notice of AGM. Please note that a vote on this resolution is advisory only and doesn't bind the directors or the company. Again, I'll take the report as read. Shareholders and proxies may ask questions in relation to the reports later in the meeting and can vote at any time before I declare voting closed. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on this resolution are as follows. Items four A and four B relate to the allocation of restricted shares to the executive directors, Terry Smart and Nick Wells. Further information, including the terms of the allocation and the associated KPIs, is set out in the explanatory notes included in the notice of AGM, and I'll take that information as read. Shareholders and proxies may ask questions in relation to these items later in the meeting and can vote at any time before I declare voting closed. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on item 4A are as follows. The proxy votes received in advance of the meeting on item 4B are as follows. Okay, we'll now take questions from shareholders. Questions submitted online in writing will be read out by Doug Smith, our company secretary. To ask a question verbally online, please follow the instructions shown below in the broadcast window of the online platform. Our company secretary will say your name and then direct you to ask the question. If you have questions from the floor, please raise your hand and wait for the microphone to arrive before stating your name or organization and asking your question. Questions will be answered by the relevant director or executive or by Travis Simpkin from our auditors. While time constraints may prevent us from answering all questions, we'll do our best to address all the questions that you have during the meeting. And after questions, I'll close voting. So, questions from the floor. First, Steve. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name's Steve van Hemert. I represent the Australian Shareholders' Association. We represent retail shareholders. We hold proxies for 119 people with about AUD 70 million. I've got four questions. I guess I'll just go one at a time. First question: We noticed in the annual report that the cost of business is rising, and it seems like the cost pressures will continue. Can you explain how you balance the short-term needs to keep the costs under control with the longer-term desire to grow the business? I think our desire is to have prosperity over the longer term, so we take initiatives and decisions now with an eye to this year's earnings, but also success over the longer term. But I'll just turn to Terry maybe to give a little bit of color on some of the things you're seeing day-to-day and dealing with. Terry? Yeah, yeah, you're right. Costs are, you know, definitely rising in the business, and that's all about, you know, looking for productivity gains that we need to achieve within the business. Just being more productive in stores to keep our costs in check. I think one thing that this business is good at is cost and cost management is just in its DNA. I mean, you know, that is one thing that we do well. You know, we just eliminate waste out of the business. You know, at the end of the day, the costs are gonna be the costs. We've just got to grow the sales and really grow the rest of the business to offset that. But we work hard every day just to keep costs as low as possible. Thanks, Steve. Yep, thank you. Last year, I asked about cyber security for customer data. I think there'd been a lot of hacks, you know, before that date, a lot of customer data had gone missing. Thankfully, nothing from JB. You seemed confident you're doing everything possible. Subsequently, there was a hack into Latitude Financial, which was a financial service provider to JB customers, and, through that, you know, JB customers' data was stolen. Can you tell us how you engage with third parties, such as Latitude Financial, who can hold JB customers' data? Yeah. Look, it's a complex area, and we feel we're making really good progress in that. I mean, for a start, JB does not really hold personal information that's sensitive, a very small amount. So, you know, we have names and addresses. That's important to our customers, and of course, therefore, we take all the steps that we need to. Look, we follow the Essential Eight as our compliance model, which comes from the Australian Signals Directorate. So our team have been well-resourced, and in fact, we've increased the investment to build a stronger and more capable cyber prevention environment within our business. So as you say, we've not had hacks. We would hope that that continues to be the case. As you say, Latitude's a separate company. It does provide services to JB Hi-Fi, but we're in contact with all our service providers to ensure that, firstly, they're taking the steps they need to, to protect themselves. But secondly, if they have any data from our customers as a result of their relationship with us, they follow the rules in terms of managing that data, deleting it when it's out of date, and making sure that, therefore, that data is protected as well as possible. Thank you. Next, just in terms of remuneration for key management, you know, such claims that JB are more, I guess, based on one year's results rather than many companies have a long-term, you know, factor as well. We saw there was about a 20% vote against there. Can you explain why you don't have an LTI, and, and what led to that 20% against vote? Sure. Sure. So look, in 2019, we introduced our VRP, Variable Remuneration Plan, and we're of the view that our business focuses on the year ahead. We take a long-term view, as Terry talked to, in terms of how we think about our business. But we think about the next year. We incentivize our management team to deliver the results that they can control over the course of that period, and if they perform well, then they're rewarded in terms of both shares and cash. Now, in order to aid retention, those shares are delivered 25% in years two, three, and four. So whilst it incentivizes our team to deliver the results for the year that we're in, it also aids the retention and the incentives as shareholders to improve the business long term. So these guys own a considerable number of shares through their work and through their performance, and we think that aligns with shareholders. It's not the classic, where you need to be in three years' time, but to be honest, in the retail space, it's so dynamic, it's quite hard to set targets. I mean, you're talking about over the COVID period, if we'd set targets back in 2019 and 2020, it wouldn't have been challenging enough for these guys because of the performance of the business over that time. So we think it's fit for purpose. Look, it doesn't tick the box of an STI and an LTI, so that is complex for some people to come to deal with, perhaps even your organization, Steve. So whilst it's recognized as being a good plan for JB Hi-Fi, there's some organizations, some proxies, who say, "You know, we still don't tick the box of an STI and an LTI." And look, I guess if you look at how people have voted, our remuneration report's got 97% support from our shareholders, and all of the proxies said, "Yes, the way you're remunerating people is fine." When it comes to the allocation of shares, one proxy house has said, "It doesn't tick our box, so we're actually going to suggest that you vote against." Now, we've still got an 80% support from our shareholders in that respect. I think, your report also said that you don't support it, 'cause it doesn't tick that box. Clearly, you're entitled to that view. We've, I think, been very open and transparent about why we think it's a good plan. It supports the incentive for people to do a good job, but also retains a strong management team. So that's the context of those results, and, you know, we intend to continue with that program going forward. Yep, thank you. I understand the arguments on both sides, I guess. Last question. Noticed that Melanie Wilson had a 9.4 vote against, whereas the other directors were pretty well close to unanimous. Just wondering, you know, why that was, and was it related to when Ms. Wilson was the chairman of the Risk and Audit Committee at iSelect, when they were fined AUD 8.5 million dollars for misleading customers about, you know, electricity company comparisons? Look, one of the proxy houses formed a view that because Melanie, and others, I might add, were on the VML Payments board, which had some issues with that company, some challenges that they faced. They made a policy decision that any director involved in that, they would recommend that shareholders vote against. Now, that's one proxy house out of a number. Actually, the two, ISS and Glass Lewis, actually, out of the group of proxies. Now, look, we've got a really clear view on this. Melanie is a terrific director and has great retail experience and is highly valued within the boardroom and by the management team for her contribution to the company. So we're very clear that a vote against Mel would have been to the detriment of the company. We've put that view to our shareholders. We've discussed that with them. We've made that clear in our response to the proxy report, so they were kind enough to put our version, our position into their report, and 90% of shareholders agree with us. So, all I can say is, as a director, sometimes you go through circumstances that are challenging, and it makes you a better director. And Melanie's a very good director, and 90% of our shareholders agree, so that's where we are. Thank you. Any other questions from the floor at this point? Over, Nick, just over Teami nvest over here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Peter Richardson. Just a question, both to you and Terry, who've made some referrals back to FY 19 as a base. I'm just wondering why you're still doing that four or five years on. Look, thanks. Thanks, Peter. It's interesting, isn't it? FY 2019 was really the last year before COVID had an influence on our trading patterns and our business. If you go back to 2019, our profit was AUD 241 million. Last year, it was AUD 525 million. So the impact of COVID has been, you know, quite significant, significant across that period, with a whole lot of changing dynamics, including work from home, people needing technology, people spending more time in their home and therefore concentrating on appliances and small appliances and the like. So look, one of the challenges that we've had is, within a volatile trading environment, we've had to think about our business and how it's improved over time, and referring back to 2019 says, well, that's what it was like pre-COVID. We've probably had some inflated results over the course of that period, which, to the credit of the management team, we were able to take the opportunity that the market provided, and I think the results of the last few years have been outstanding. But we just link it back to say, well, in 2019 was what we think of as the last COVID-free trade period. Perhaps this is the first COVID-free trading period in FY 2024, and it'll be interesting to see where the business lands versus what it was like. So it's to try and get some context over the volatility over that period. Thank you, and I get that. One last question. In FY 2019, your gross margins were higher. So your JB Hi-Fi was around 8.5%, and your Good Guys, 7%. Oh, sorry, other way around. It was about 6% in FY 2019 for JB Hi-Fi and 3% and a bit for Good Guys. Nowadays, it's a lot higher, at 8.4% for JB and, and 7% for Good Guys. Is that sustainable? Australian shareholders spoke about cost increases, and Terry said, "Well, we're trying to adjust prices." Do you see those margins staying at those higher levels, or do you think they'll revert to FY 2019 levels? Well, I think we've got to see how this year plays out. I mean, there's no question that there are challenging economic times, and that's impacting on retail sales, both for us and for other companies. There's no question that we're facing cost increases, and Terry's talked about some of those. But we feel that the business has developed since 2019. We're a better business, particularly with The Good Guys business, which we'd only acquired in 2017. So there was significant improvement in that business over the first couple of years when Terry took over running that business, and I think that will continue into the future as well. Whether we can retain those margins in the next year, well, time will tell. But I think the business has evolved and improved. I mean, if we go back to 2019, I think we were getting questions about whether our online business was going to be substantial enough to be able to meet the demands of the company. And before you knew it, we were doing well over AUD 1 billion in sales in our online business. So I think the company is able to deliver what our customers want and get the results that we want. But it's, it's challenging trading. You've seen our trading business update that's been put out. I mean, JB, roughly flat, and Good Guys down 12% for the quarter on a, on a pretty high base last year. But we've just got to trade through it, and of course, the next couple of months, with the promotional period and then Christmas and Boxing Day is very important to us. Yeah. Well, just on the trading updates, do you normally release just sales data, or do you talk about margins at all in your trading updates normally, or? Typically at the quarterly results, so this is for Q1, and then for Q3, we just give sales data. We may make some comment, but it's pretty volatile period. Okay. We're just giving you the factual sales data as we always do on the quarter. In last year's annual report, you spoke a little about New Zealand, and basically, you'd done a strategic review. You saw great opportunities for a turnaround, store refreshes, new stores, customer focus. And I think you're saying in three years you see a great business. One year into that three years, the profit's gone backwards. I wonder whether it's worth, you know, persisting with New Zealand, 'cause those numbers aren't good, and that doesn't include a lot of costs, of course, I'm sure, so. Yeah, look, I think we said last year that we were committed to make it happen, and we want to invest, and we want to take the way forward. I'll ask Terry to just give you a little bit of color, 'cause I think it's quite interesting what, what's going on in New Zealand with our business. But we feel really confident. We've got a very strong management team led by Tim Edwards, who's a terrific operator, and we're making some real headway. So Terry, do you want to just give us some color on New Zealand? Yeah, putting aside how challenging the New Zealand market is at the moment, you know, if you're seeing results from other companies, it's very challenging. And actually, when you look at JB over there from a sales perspective, it's gaining some share. And, you know, what our plan was, and we were right up front, was we expected we'd continue to lose some money in that business, especially over the next, at that time, we were saying 1-2 years, as we rebuild it. So it's all about rebuilding sales. If you need sales. If you haven't got sales, you haven't got anything. So we have to rebuild the sales in that business, and that's what we're delivering, and it's, you know, that's. If we can do that, then that gives you that buying power, that gives you that scale that you need to be able to get your gross margins up. That's gonna be the future now is gonna be working on continuing to grow sales, but continuing how to work on the gross margin in that business. So we are actually happy with where the business is today. Obviously happy, because at JB Hi-Fi, Andy got a big tick for his New Zealand performance, which was contrary to the financial performance. But, yeah. Oh, look, yeah. From a shareholder's perspective, trying to align those two is a little, little hard sometimes. Yeah. Look, again, it's what he was asked to deliver, he's delivering in spades. So, you know, he, he's doing a great job over there, and this is a long-term play. And look, this is a very measured investment in New Zealand, so you know, it's very measured. You know, have absolute confidence that the longer term will be good. So, your three-year plan is on track? Yeah. I mean, our stores are a little bit slower to open, you know, and that's just property. That's just finding property. We know where we want to be. You know, we're a little bit behind in the store openings, but that's, that's nobody's fault. That's not a, you know, a, a business issue, that's just an access to, you know, the property that we need issue. 'Cause we've got to get the right property. We're not. You know, if it's not right, we're not gonna do it. So if that means going a bit slower, that's absolutely what we'll do, but the longer term is still, you know, as we said. Maybe just on stores. I had the impression that there was a bit of a strategic growth initiative around more stores and potentially different model stores, smaller stores, perhaps in regional kind of shopping centers and so on. Total stores haven't really changed. I think they went up by three during the year. Is that store growth a growth strategy for you, or am I reading too much into that? Look, yeah, we're experimenting with smaller format stores, so we're still doing that at the moment. You know, we will continue to see. You'll see sort of that 3-4 stores open. Yeah, that's what you're gonna be seeing over the coming years. We do think there is some opportunity in regional areas. We know that, but again, that's just gonna be limited by the number of regional areas that you can open up. And then the small format stores, which we still want to prove up first. Again, we've just got to prove that they're the absolute right thing to do for the business. Thank you. Thanks, Peter. Sorry, down here. Apologies. Richard Topham. I'm part of the Team invest group of investors, and by the way, my thing is now working, so thank you. Three questions, if I may. One is that Terry Smart said something about towards you, Steve, that report on what had happened, and then he said, "I look forward to another successful year." And then I thought, "Wait a minute, we've been rather flat for some time, and the sales are down a bit at the moment for the first quarter." What does Terry understand by successful? Well, maybe I should answer that. I mean, look, we recognize that conditions are challenging at the moment, as I said before. We want to maximize the opportunity the customers will give us over this year. We measure that in terms of what we expect from customers, how our competitors are, competitors are doing, and what we can deliver. So we're out to get the most we possibly can to deliver for our shareholders. Now, as I said before, through the period of some inflated results over the course of the COVID bubble, if you want to call it that, our profit was more than double what it was in 2019. Now, success, how do you measure that? I think in a year's time, we'll be sitting here responding to the question we had a little while ago about how do you compare back with 2019? Has the business genuinely improved over that period, or did you just take the extra volume? We think the business has genuinely improved, and that's really what we're talking about. That hopefully will be emerged during the course of this year. We'll come out stronger. Yes, that's right. The second one, if I may, could you give us a bit more color to what commercial means? Because we've always, at least I've always thought of JB Hi-Fi as a retail store. Sure. And now you're talking about commercial, and I think you said small business or something like that. So could you just give us a bit more understanding what you have in mind there? Yeah. So we have a commercial business and have for a long time, but we do see it as a great growth opportunity. So commercially selling into small businesses, in other words, they're not a retail customer. They may be a business with, you know, 15, 20, 100 people in there. So it's an opportunity to sell into them. That might be computer sales into there, it could be mobile phones, mobile phone plans into them. There's schools. So, as you know, just about every child now has a computer, and that's often done through and organized through the school. And all- And so that would be a small business? Well, that's, so there is what we call JB Business, which is all the small businesses, small to medium business. Then there's JB Education, which looks after schools, that may be universities, et cetera, and it's a way for parents to access, you know, technology through the school, through JB. The final one is more perhaps an open-ended one. The Turk is planning on new industrial relations law. Will that affect JB Hi-Fi very much? No, I don't think so. We pay our people according to the award, so we don't enterprise bargain other than one isolated site. So I think if you're paying according to the award, that, that really is the, there's limited impact on us. Not too many casuals? We've got a reasonable amount of casuals, but certainly not the majority of our business by any stretch, and it does increase over Christmas. But our casuals like the work, so the university students or people who are looking for some part-time work. So we don't have the same issues where casuals are employed for long periods of time and not able to become full-time. In fact, if casuals wish to become full-time, there's a process for that to take place, and that's been successful over a number of years. So, you know, not really an issue for us. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. John Joyce is my name. Just hang on a sec. Thank you very much. Just so the people online can hear. John Joyce is my name. I hold shares in JB and a super fund and two private names as well. I'm a very nervous person regarding online trading. I've won so many prizes from Bunnings. Amazon want me to give them money for things I've never ordered, and so on. I keep a low amount in my account that I use for buying things, because my numbers seem to be shared everywhere. So I like the idea of you growing bricks-and-mortar outlets. Like JB Hi-Fi, I've also bought the other guy, Good Guys, and so on. So that sort of thing appeals to me, but I'm very nervous with. I don't know how you can get rid of my nervousness, but anyway, it's, it's in the paper all the time. You see it everywhere, don't you? I've got things from overseas, and they want to me to pay duty or something when it comes in. I think, is that a scam? I want to proceed, this sort of thing. So you want to comment on that sort of thing? Sure. Terry, do you want to? Oh, look, you know, it's, you know, online is a very successful business for us. But yeah, look, unfortunately, it's the world we live in today. Right. We've just got to do everything we can to, you know, help mitigate any issues that you or any other customer may have. A lot of it, though, as you know, is nothing to do with Bunnings. No. Nothing to do with us. No. They're, they're online, they're taking logos, they're using it, and we try and shut them down every time, you know, w e're alerted to it. But how do you shut them down when you don't know where it's coming from? Yeah. Yeah. It's challenging. Okay. And yeah. I still like growth and bricks and mortar if you can do that somehow, right? Look, yeah. It'll give me more confidence. I think what it is, it's both. Okay. That's what you need. Right. You need, you need multi-channel. Yeah Is absolutely the way to go. Thank you, Terry. Yeah. Thank you. I think we had a question over here. Thank you, Jim, and my name is Leonard Levy. I have two very simple questions. Like most of us in this room, I wear two hats, one as a shareholder and one as a purchaser. So I need to ask the question, if we're going to make a profit, there's a difference between the selling price and the buy price. So here's the question: When you come into the store and you see an advertised price of an item for sale, to what extent is that price negotiable? Absolutely negotiable. You've just got to talk to the staff. It'll depend what product it is, of course. I mean, that's a bit of an open-ended thing, but, you know, That's one thing that we're famous for, and that is that ability to negotiate a price. Right. So a board decision then is to, in fact, have that price negotiable? Sorry? The board decision is, in fact, to have that price. Look, everything in our stores is negotiable. Thank you. All right, that's the answer to the question. The second question is somewhat easier. What's the coming or the emerging product from which the business is going to make a good profit? Yeah, very good question. What I will say is we clearly don't know... Well, we don't know what that is yet. And what I mean by that is, you're in this business of technology, and technology is constantly evolving. If you think of this business back in 2000 when I started in it, you know, half of the store was CDs and DVDs and physical games. Today, it's a very different mix of products in the stores because products have evolved over time, and that's what we'll continue to see into the future. So, you know, our categories are still very strong. You think of telco, phones, you know, continue to be strong, but, we've, you know, when we talk to suppliers, they are very busy in back rooms, developing new products, new categories that we don't know anything about. They're not gonna tell us, but one thing I can be really sure of is that JB is known as a destination for new. So if it comes out, we'll be there. We'll be selling it. We should take some questions from the online, Doug. Oh, sorry, sorry. Good morning. My name is Jeffrey G. Holder and previous supplier of CDs. Yeah, my experience just with those prices is it's been a bit checkered going to different stores. But I mainly wanted to ask whether you have, and perhaps you've eliminated this, any loyalty scheme, or you get some discount rewards, ongoing customer or some loyalty? 'Cause, I mean, I will go into a store, and it's great to have knowledge of the staff, but I will chase the price. So if I can get something from another supplier online, it's a bit cheaper, I will. But if there was a little bit of a loyalty or reward thing there, that would... I don't know whether it's cost-effective or just a general question. Thanks. Yeah, as far as having a loyalty card where you may get a particular discount off a product, that we don't do. And the reason we don't do that is because we are a discount retail negotiating discount retailer. So, you know, if we said to you, "You could have 5% off your purchase," chances are, by the sound of you, you're in there, and you're negotiating hard, you'd probably get 10% anyway, so it's a bit disingenuous. What we do do is we have a membership program. So, for example, in JB, they've launched JB Hi-Fi Perks. And what that gives you, if you were to join that, what that gives you access to is special specials that other customers may not get access to. It may get you access, early access into promotional periods like Black Friday pricing. It may from a supplier give all the Perks members, you know, an extra discount off a product. So we do have that. So they're more membership, giving you access to exclusive deals. We do have that on the Good Guys side as well, and that's part of our Gold Service Xtra program. Evan, my name is Evan Charalambous. I've got an operational question for Terry. I've noticed, in the last year or so, the product shift has gone towards these collectibles, and I even went into a store, and I bought a T-shirt at JB Hi-Fi, which I found quite astonishing. How much of your real estate is allocated to these? The product prices seem to be quite low. You're selling things for AUD 25 and AUD 30, and what contribution does that have to the overall margin, and has it been a success in shifting away from CDs, DVDs into these things which you can typically buy at EB Games? Yeah, you know, you talk about music and movies. You know, what we've got to do is find out, you know, as those categories decline, you know, we've got to morph those or look for opportunities where we can maintain the sales in, in that type of category. And collectibles is one that we've moved into, and it is, it's very successful. You know, it is, it's amazing how much we sell per week of the pop art, the vinyl, as they call it. It's significant, you know, and T-shirts as well are a big, a reasonable seller, but definitely all the collectibles are where it's, are very successful. And again, it appeals to that customer that we have coming in, that youth, and it's, it's really important to keep engaging with that, with that youth as well, coming into the stores. On the back of that, Just could you wait for the mic? Yeah. Follow on to that, you've got a very strong customer base and a very strong demographic. I'm just a little bit. What's your comment on selling, say, a JB Hi-Fi mobile phone plan or a JB Hi-Fi insurance product or something that other retailers are doing, including the supermarkets, and Kogan's done very successfully, using and leveraging that customer base that you have in that database? Yeah, well, we think there's a huge, I mean, we've got significant website traffic and in-store traffic, and that's where we have this enormous opportunity to be able to expand categories, services. That's, that's the benefit of the business, absolutely, is that traffic that we've got coming into the stores. You know, we're seeing good growth in things like mobile phone plans continuing to grow. We're continuing to see good growth, and we've got best-in-market offers in a lot of those categories as well, or those offers. Thanks. Questions from online, Dave? Thanks, Stephen. First question from Stephen Mayne. Have the Chair or CEO had any discussions with Richard Murray since his departure as Premier Investments CEO was announced on August 21st? Are there any contractual constraints on Richard returning to JB Hi-Fi, perhaps as a consultant, and why not appoint him to the board, continuing the tradition started when former CEO Richard Uechtritz returned to the board as a non-executive director after a suitable cooling-off period? Thanks, Dave. Well, look, I think we've probably each just talked to Richard a couple of times. He's well, so just for your information, and which is good to hear. Look, we haven't had any further discussions than that. As for contractual matters, I think that's a matter for Richard and perhaps his recent employer rather than us. So, we wish him well in his future endeavors. Thanks, Stephen. Another question from Stephen Main to Terry: Could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on an incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company? Please don't say, "Look it up in the annual report and through ASX announcements." It's complicated, and the CEO could factually summarize the situation in 60 seconds. So Terry, you've got 60 seconds. Look, I was part of the management buy-in of JB Hi-Fi, along with Richard Uechtritz at the end there. And, you know, I invested a significant part of my personal wealth at the time, and with a young family, it was not an easy decision, but one I had a lot of confidence in doing. Since listing the business, I've received various options and shares under the, you know, the incentive scheme that we're referring to. Over the years, I have sold shares, you know, during that time. But during that time as well, I did buy on-market shares as well in the early days. So I was doing that from time to time. I guess the most recent one, and hopefully I'm not running out of time here, but the most recent one was when I returned to the business back in 2017. When I came back into the business, I purchased about 50,000 shares on market, you know, just as a sign of good faith that, you know, I, I believe in the business. So hopefully that gives some color. Thanks, Terry. Next question. A related question from Manny, from Team invest. Both Terry and Nick Wells sold collectively AUD 1.8 million worth of shares two months ago. Would you suggest we have now seen peak earnings post-lockdowns in the short to medium term, and can we expect to see a decline now due to normalization? Well, I think I've talked a little bit about 2019 and how the outlook for FY 2024 is. I mean, executives. Look, I won't ask Richard or Nick to comment on this, but executives do sell shares from time to time. There are tax obligations that come when LTI, when VRP rights vest as a hold rights. We have a minimum shareholding policy, so Terry has to hold more than 1.5 of his salary. Nick has to hold 1% at 1 times of his... Sorry, 1 times his salary, and there is also a shareholding policy for directors of more than 1 times base fees. So we all comply with that. There's quite some surplus with Terry and Nick, so I don't think I'm, I think that covers it. I'll just add one thing, Steve. I think what isn't referenced in the question is we've also granted shares, and so if you look, our shareholdings actually both increased in August. Okay, thank you. Stephen, got a question from Mrs. Devika Mahoti. Do you expect to cater for the electric vehicle accessories market? Again, this comes back to the gentleman's question before. You know, it, these are all the categories that I, I guess, are opening up. We don't know what they could look like yet, but we will, we will review it and see what the opportunity may be. Okay. Thank you. Dave? Another question from Stephen Main. Stephen, thank you for offering shareholders a hybrid AGM this year, and will you commit to keep doing this in future years to maximize shareholder participation? Retail rivals Harvey Norman and Premier Investments continue to ban online questions and voting, so well done for showing them up. Thanks also for commencing publication of a full transcript of the AGM last year, a good practice which you will hopefully continue. One additional tweak this year would be to disclose voting outcomes in the poll by shares and shareholders, similar to a scheme of arrangement. Tabcorp did this yesterday, and ASX itself adapted this practice last week for the first time. Are you up for this reform as well, so we can better gauge retailer shareholder sentiment and turnout? Thanks, Doug, and thanks, Stephen, for your question. Firstly, I think the hybrid meeting works well. It enables people to attend in online rather than in person. So I think it's our current intention that we'll, we'll keep doing that. We'll put a full recording up on the website should anyone wish to refer to it, so I think that covers that item. And sorry, the last item? Would we disclose voting outcomes by- Okay, do we share the numbers of shareholders? Look, it's, we will report according to the ASX listing rule and the Corporations Act, as we do with everything. So, that's not required under that act, and we'll simply do what we're legally required to do, and I think that's the best way forward for us. Thank you. No more questions online. Thanks, Stephen. Okay, any more questions, Peter? Sorry to come back to you, just something popped up. Artificial intelligence, is that something that you guys are working with or working on or trying to develop? And how do you see that impacting your business potentially? I think all of the above. Terry? Yeah, look, we're getting our head around what we could use it for internally in the business. Remember, a lot of programs, a lot of the systems we have, it's starting to be embedded into those as well. But look, we're getting our head around what it could mean. I think the good thing is, it's going to, hopefully, we haven't seen it as yet, but going to be good for sales as well, because what you're gonna find is, into the future, yeah, the PCs, your laptops you're gonna buy, are actually going to eventually, about 18 months away yet, but will have a chip embedded in them. So it's gonna be an upgrade to the existing processor, that will actually be able to handle AI on board, be able to do it on board the. rather than go off to the cloud. So that's gonna give us some sales opportunities as well, as people may want to upgrade. So hopefully that answers it. Any other questions? Steve. Yeah, just a last question, a positive one, really. At the last AGM, we asked about, you know, underrepresentation of women on the board and in management roles. You know, you've got another woman on the board, great. I think about half the people who work on the shop floor are women, obviously a lot of capable women there, and traditionally not a lot of those have progressed into management. We're seeing that starting to change. Can you talk about what's enabled that to happen and the impact of that for the business? Yeah, I think we're making real steps. I'll get Terry to just talk a little bit about the color of that, because we're. You know, for this group's knowledge, you know, we, last year, we had 21% of our senior team, 60-odd people, female, now 26%. Our area managers went from 17% to 28% female. So we're actually making some real strides, and you've, you've got to put the hard work, the hard yards in at the ground level. So Terry, do you want to just add some color about the things that, some of the- Yeah. Look, you know, we're doing a lot of work internally. One of the real key areas is identifying the talent internally. And then once you can identify it, is actually then helping to upskill, educate, you know, that talent. But once they're identified, I think that's the key, you know? And what we're finding with a lot of, say, the stores and store managers, is we're probably believing it more than they do. And it's encouraging the females to step forward and actually be involved in the management roles. And that's where we're seeing some, you know, really solid results. And yeah, I mean, it's been really good for the business. Thanks, Steve. Any other questions? Any further questions from online? Okay, that concludes the questions. If you haven't voted already, please cast your votes now. A reminder that for those attending the meeting online, you can vote by selecting the voting eco- icon. For those attending in person, you can vote by the scanning the QR code that you received upon admission or by completing the yellow voting card that was provided to you upon admission and holding it up for collection. Okay, we'll just take a few minutes now to allow you to finish voting. Please complete your voting now and raise your hand if your vote form has not been collected. All good? Okay, very good. Thank you, everyone. Voting is now closed. The voting results from the meeting will be released to the ASX later today. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank you for participating in today's AGM, and I now declare the meeting closed. I invite you to join the directors of the company for refreshments outside this room in the registration area near the lifts. So if you just make your way through there, and we'll join you and have a cup of coffee. Thanks, everyone, and best wishes for Christmas and for the promotional period, and we encourage you to keep spending at JB Hi-Fi on The Good Guys.