6 questions asked at 2023 Reece AGM
November 7, 2023
Here is the text of the 6 written questions asked at the 2023 Reece AGM held on October 26, along with a summary of the answers. See voting results showing a 20% rem protest vote and $572m in votes against Alan Wilson. This video of Alan's re-election speech is also worth a watch.
Q1. Could independent chair Tim Poole please comment as to whether he ever intends to serve on this board again in a role other than chair and when we are likely to see his departure from the role so that CEO Peter Wilson can take over as executive chair? The vague timeline today citing "coming years" is most unusual. Can Tim cite another company which has flagged the departure of its independent chair multiple years ahead of it happening.
Answer: The last sentence was censored by questions wrangler Chantelle. Tim Poole said it was deliberately vague because no timeline had been confirmed and they had not talked about whether he would resign once no longer chair. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. Will a full webcast of today's AGM be published on the Reece website into the future so that shareholders who missed the debate line can keep up with the debate. Any chances you could add a transcript to match best practice. JB Hi Fi is having their AGM right now and they started publishing a transcript last year.
Answer: only caught the last bit on video but it sounds like a no - they'll package up their favourite bits but it won't include sensitive questions about Wilson family control.
Q3. Could Alan Wilson please comment on why he believes his son should become executive chairman, a position he held for decades. After 14 months with Tim Poole in the job, why not just continued with that model? Also, what is the likely timeline for Alan moving to a non-executive role and does he intend to stand for the board again when his current term expires in 2026, assuming he is re-elected today.
Answer: watch Peter Wilson endorse moving to a US model and welcoming his dad staying in the business.
Q4. Shareholders are used to only hearing from Alan Wilson and Peter Wilson. Could the two other Wilsons on the board - Andrew and Bruce - please comment on why they believe we should only have the model of having an independent chair as a temporary measure. Also, when addressing the meeting, could Andrew and Bruce clarify how the family determines its voting position at AGMs. Is there a separate family meeting to determine the family vote?
Answer: Tim Poole basically said this was a private matter and declined to invite either Andrew or Bruce Wilson to comment.
Q5. Shares worth $572 million were voted against Alan Wilson's re-election in the proxies. Clearly there is some discontent from independent shareholders. Which of the proxy advisers and major institutional shareholders recommended and voted against Alan today and are we going to heed any message from this?
Answer: chair Tim Poole was a bit cheeky saying 5% wasn't much. That's because the Wilsons have 60%+. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q6. Very few ASX200 companies are doing fully virtual meetings in 2023, partly because this is not allowed by their constitution and partly because best practice is to allow shareholders to engage with boards face to face at physical AGMs, along with online using the hybrid format. Could Tim Poole and Peter Wilson please comment on whether Reece will embrace the hybrid format at their 2024 AGM. As a business which deals with customers face to face every day, surely it's not too hard to invite shareholders to a physical meeting once a year.
Answer: The chairman hand-balled this one to question-wrangler "Chantelle" who cited "costs" but said the company would keep track of best practice. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Copyright © 2023 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved
