7 questions asked at 2022 Domino's AGM
November 3, 2022
Here is the text of the 7 written questions asked at the 2022 Domino's hybrid AGM held on November 2, plus a brief summary of the answers provided.
1. Happy 80th birthday to chairman Jack Cowin on July 13. Is it his intention to serve a full 3 year term and does he have any children who he is planning to bring through to help manage the family empire, like we've seen with others families such as the Packers, Murdochs and Stokes.
Answer: 3 daughters are all full time mums and son works in money management but also serves on the board of Domino's Japan.
2. The Jack Cowin and Don Meij leadership partnership at Domino's has been fantastic over the past 5 years. Could Jack explain the legalities on why he's choosing to sign the CEO's new contract after the AGM and also express a view on who he believes is more likely to exit first, the chair or CEO.
Answer: needed to wait for STI and LTI approval from shareholders before signing and succession planning is being actively managed.
3. Did any of the 5 main proxy advisers - ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS & ASA - recommend a vote against today's resolutions? Which of the proxy advisers are covering us and has their been any material proxy protest votes? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on today's resolutions so shareholders can ask questions about the reasons if there have been protest votes? Also, why not disclose the proxies to the ASX with the formal addresses like others now do? You rejected a request to do this today
Answer: all proxy advice was supportive so no material protest votes and we'll think about the early release of proxies for next year.
4. In terms of the Australian operation, how many enterprise agreements does Domino's have across the business and are we worried about these proposed changes to federal industrial relations law? JB Hi Fi said at its AGM last week that it only pays award wages, has no enterprise agreements and virtually non-existent union membership amongst its workforce. What is our situation?
Answer: we have no enterprise agreements and operate under one national award which is nice and simply. There are no unions involved.
5. Don mentioned at last year's AGM that he has a modest margin loan over his stock, which is currently worth more than $100m. Does he really need additional LTI grants to keep him motivated and could he please provide an update on his margin loan situation. Is this fully disclosed to the board and is the chair comfortable with the situation?
Answer: everything is disclosed and in hand.
6. Is there an estimate of how many Domino's branded pizzas will be made in 2023 and where do we rank as a global player in the specific pizza market. Yum Brands is clearly larger than us with their Pizza Hut brand, but which other competitors are larger than us on a global scale in pizza production?
Answer: the Domino's brand is number one globally and well ahead of Pizza Hut.
7. Domino's has 17,000 shareholders but less than 1,000 will have voted today. When disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, including this proportional takeovers resolution, could you advise the ASX how many shareholders voted for & against each item, similar to with a scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions and was a disclosure initiative adopted by the likes of Metcash, Altium and Dexus last year and Webjet and Tabcorp so far this AGM season.
Answer: we'll think about that, but they didn't do it.
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