4 questions lodged at 2025 Eroad hybrid AGM

Q1. New Zealand is becoming a governance backwater as it continues to resist mandating annual voting on remuneration reports, which is standard in many countries. Will board re-election candidate and chair Susan Paterson undertake to consult with major shareholders and lead a board discussion on the issue of whether you will voluntarily put up a remuneration report resolution for an advisory vote at next year's AGM? This is the law in Australia and we are dual listed on the ASX, so why don't we step up and respect shareholders by adopting Australian market practice?

Answer: the question wrangler Jason failed to faithfully read this out and then chair Susan Paterson just outlined a consulting program she runs with shareholders on CEO rem. She may as well have said: "No, we're not going to seek formal shareholder endorsement, just stick with some informal chats that we control and no-one can see". Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q2. Australia is currently in the midst of an unprecedented deluge of takeovers that has contributed to listed entities on the ASX dropping in 27 of the past 28 months for a net reduction of 216 or 9.4% to 2,078 on May 31 2025. There were a record 29 major takeovers above $200m completed in calendar 2024, including comparable Kiwi heritage tech companies Volpara Health Technologies and Task. Now that our major shareholder has sold out, does this make us more valuable to takeover, particularly given the excellent recent performance? Australian freight software giant Wisetech is currently on the acquisition trail. What is our history with Wisetech and are they considered a potential predator?

Answer: The question wrangler Jason failed to faithfully read this out, but at least chair Susan Paterson said they've had no dealings with Wisetech. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. The co-CEO model is unusual. Could the chair comment on why we don't allow both of our CEOs to be formal voting directors as it is unusual to have no executive directors. Also, have the joint CEOs spoken to other joint CEOs of public companies, such as at MA Financial Group in Australia, to understand how they manage their relationship and division of labour?

Answer: The question wrangler Jason merged this with someone else's question plus edited it down, but the chair Susan Paterson provided an interesting response explaining how it works. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. When is New Zealand going to get rid of this pointless annual requirement to set the audit fees. If we vote this down, what happens? Do the auditors have to work for free or do previous authorisations cover their pay? Also, when did we last tender the external audit and when will we next tender the external audit?

Answer: The question wrangler Jason ignored the opening sentence in italics and then chair Susan Paterson invited the audit committee chair to comment and then said then later said they look at auditor re-appointment every year but are presently comfortable continuing to work with KPMG. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

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