22 questions lodged at the Pointsbet AGM

October 7, 2021

Here are the 22 written questions that Stephen Mayne lodged at the 2021 Pointsbet AGM held on October 5, less than half of which were read out by chair Brett Paton.

1. When comparing the UK, Canadian and Australian gambling sectors, which country has the toughest regulations in terms of being able to donate money to politicians and influence regulators? What are the key differences and what are our policies on political donations?

Chair: we don't make any donations anywhere.

2. Sky News is a disgrace with its endless climate denialism, regular soft interviews with Pauline Hanson and its pandering to the dangerous anti-vax movement. Why are we advertising so regularly, even whilst this AGM is underway, on this appalling channel?
Chair: not asked.

3. If gambling reform advocates are successful in campaigning to have gambling advertising in Australia mirror the situation with alcohol, which can only be advertised during live sport on after 8.30pm, would this be a major problem for Pointsbet? Why do we advertise so heavily during children's viewing hours?

CEO played down scale of gambling advertising.

4. Well done on winning $166 million from the Australian gamblers who punted almost $2 billion with Pointsbet in 2020-21. How important was racing never being shut down in achieving this result and with the current advertising blitz, are we hoping to win more than $200 million from Australian gamblers in 2021-22? Have we cracked the top 5 yet for market share in Australian sports gambling as yet?

CEO said racing staying open was great for the gambling industry.

5. How much is too much exposure for Shaquille O'Neal in the Australian market? Why not recruit Ricky Ponting? Have you thought about signing up more Australian celebrities and striking partnerships with local sporting clubs? Why are the operating models between the US and Australia so different, with huge advertising in Australia and more celebrities and sporting club partnerships in the US?

CEO said we have a monopoly of Shaq in Australia whereas he represented 6-8 brands in the US. Also said basketball become the number one Australian sport for gambling in 2015.

6. Given the range of topics covered during today's Q&A session, can you undertake to provide both a full archive of the AGM webcast, along with a full transcript of proceedings, similar to what the likes of ASX, AGL, Westpac, Tabcorp, Woolworths and Transurban do?

They'll just stick with the webcast archive.

7. With $634 million of cash in the bank, what is the planned advertising and marketing spent in 2021-22 and can you rule out any more capital raisings after doing two well structured PAITREOs over the past 14 months, raising $753 million. Being so cashed up, are we also hoping to land more acquisitions?

Not asked.

8. There has been a lot of share dealings by insiders over the past 18 months. Could one or both of the Fahey brothers please summarise what they have done with their shareholdings during this period and whether they have any more intentions to sell down. Are there any constraints still in place in terms of insiders being able to sell stock?

The Faheys didn't speak all meeting and chair explained there are no constraints on further sales.

9. How much point of consumption tax have we paid to Australian states and territories over the past two years and what is the likely annual run-rate in the period ahead. Could the chair please comment on Tabcorp's disappointing self-interested campaign to have this new tax introduced and also clarify how much we are contributing to the Australian racing industry, something Tabcorp never stops trumpeting.

Not asked.

10. A question for the auditor and our chair: Given that Pointsbet now has a market capitalisation of $2.7 billion and is operating in 3 countries, can the RSM Bird Cameron auditor cite any other ASX listed companies of this size which they audit. Mr Paton and to the audit committee chair, when did we last tender the audit and isn't it time we grew up and hired a Big Four audit firm?

They are a global big 6 and top 5 in America so can easily handle Pointsbet. They also do Hansen Technology and Mineral Resources in Australia.

11. Why were our results released on the last day of August, along with almost 200 other companies which reported losses on this day? Was this delay caused by the auditor and can the chair promise we will never again feature with hundreds of "last day laggards" when reporting our results?

Not asked.

12. Is Blue Bet a serious threat in the Australian market. They already have a market capitalisation of $366 million. Have we had any discussions about taking them over and is it true that the barriers to entry are quite low, such that if we did take our this emerging competitor, some other Darwin-based start-up would take its place.

Not asked.

13. Is it fair that the sports gambling companies like Pointsbet, Bet365, Sportsbet and Ladbrokes can collectively spend more than $300m a year on free to air TV advertising in Australia, when it is illegal for poker machines venues and operators to advertise in most Australian states?

Not asked.

14. Was HG Vora the institutional investor which took up half of those founder shares discussed by the chair? What can you tell us about Mr Parag Vora, now that his New York based fund has recently moved to more than 5% of the company? Roughly what percentage of the company is now owned by institutional investors, excluding Penn which is an industry player?

Not asked.

15. Why refresh the placement capacity when you've done such a great job doing two PAITREOs over the past 15 months. Does this suggest you're looking to do another selective placement. Please don't as you already owe us retail shareholders an SPP after the recent placement.

Not asked.

16. How many shares were excluded from voting on this item because the shareholder concerned participated in the placement? Who ran the exclusion process for you during this vote?

All above aboard.

17. Normally it is someone other than the chair reading out the questions. Please explain the logistics of who is where today and who is vetting the questions as several of mine haven't been asked, or have been edited down.

Not asked.

18. That was quite a big protest vote against the CEO's LTI grant. Did the chair and the Fahey brothers vote in favour of this item? Which proxy adviser recommended against and why?

Not asked.

19. Why are Australian boards so afraid of listening to the opinions of shareholders by way of non-binding shareholder resolutions? These are standard practice in the US yet dozens of ASX listed companies have now recommended against these amendments. Given its big US presence, would Pointsbet consider blazing the trail on this issue by amending its constitution next year to allow for opinion-based shareholder resolutions? If not, why not be a best practice leader on shareholder engagement and empowerment?

Not asked.

20. That was quite a big protest vote on the CEO's LTI grant. Did the chair and the Fahey brothers vote in favour of that item and where was the line drawn in terms of insiders and executives not voting on the actual remuneration report. Which proxy adviser recommended against and why? Are we risking a first strike next year if these LTI grants continue?

Not asked.

21. Fine to make these constitutional changes allowing fully online AGMs but can you undertake to make a full archive of today's meeting available on your website, plus a full transcript.

Not asked.

22. Why was there a big protest against resolution 8. If the chair used his discretion to vote proxies against, it may fail to make the 75% super majority. Which proxy adviser recommended against and why?

Not asked.

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22 questions lodged at the Pointsbet AGM

October 7, 2021

Here are the 22 written questions that Stephen Mayne lodged at the 2021 Pointsbet AGM held on October 5, less than half of which were read out by chair Brett Paton.