Downer EDI Limited/Announcement
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Chairman’s Address & CEO Report to Shareholders

AGM2 November 2022DOWIndustrials

Page 1 of 7








3 November 2022



ASX Market Announcements Office

ASX Limited

20 Bridge Street

Sydney NSW 2000



Dear Sir/Madam


RE: Downer EDI Limited 2022 Annual General Meeting


Please find attached a copy of the following documents related to the Annual General Meeting of

Downer EDI Limited to be held at 11:00am today:

• Chairman’s address to shareholders;

• Chief Executive Officer’s report; and

• Slide presentation for the meeting.


Yours sincerely,

Downer EDI Limited


Robert Regan

Company Secretary


Authorised for release by Downer’s Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Robert Regan.





Downer EDI Limited

ABN 97 003 872 848

Triniti Business Campus

39 Delhi Road

North Ryde NSW 2113

1800 DOWNER

www.Downergroup.com


Page 2 of 7


DOWNER GROUP ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022

CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT


Chairman’s Address, Mark Chellew


Ladies and gentlemen,


The 2022 financial year was extremely challenging for Downer.


The widespread impact of COVID-19 within the community, and the restrictions placed on

businesses and employees by government to stop the spread of infection, were not anticipated at

the time we set our targets and forecasts for 2022. Additionally, the prolonged and severe wet

weather patterns experienced throughout Australia’s eastern States have been debilitating and

unprecedented.


The impact of COVID-19 and severe wet weather materially impacted Downer’s financial

performance in 2022.


Notwithstanding the challenges presented throughout the year, our staff and management

responded outstandingly in difficult circumstances, delivering exceptional results for our customers

and maximising outcomes for shareholders.


For the 2022 financial year, the Board assessed the impact of COVID-19 and severe wet weather

on Executive performance KPIs and formed the view that, if not for these impacts, the Executive

was likely to achieve above target earnings performance in 2022. After extensive deliberation of

these issues and the Company’s financial and non-financial performance, the Board determined it

important and appropriate to exercise discretion and award a Short-Term Incentive outcome of

65% for the Executives, which is between threshold and target. The Board balanced the

challenging environment for shareholders and the strong competition for talent and retention

across Australia and New Zealand, which is unparalleled in recent years.


We accept that some shareholders do not agree with all of the Board’s remuneration decisions this

year. The Board has been working actively over many years to ensure that Executive pay is

appropriate. The unprecedented and unanticipated events of FY22 made assessing Executive

performance more difficult than usual. We have engaged with shareholders and proxy advisors

and acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion on this matter. We will continue to act in the

best interests of the Company to deliver the right outcomes.


Ladies and gentlemen, Downer remains leaders in the markets in which we operate, strengthening

our position over the past 12 months with $36.1 billion work-in-hand.


The past year has seen a pronounced acceleration in the push to decarbonise the economy – and

this will create a solid pipeline of opportunities for Downer. Following the 26th United Nations

Climate Change Conference of the Parties in late 2021, our customer base has either committed to

decarbonising their operations or increased the ambition of their existing commitments. As the

world shifts towards a net zero future, Downer is uniquely positioned with its skills, experience and

technical capabilities to support society with this transformative change. This will create significant

growth opportunities for the Company.


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Importantly, Downer’s focus on our Urban Services businesses resulted in a 26 per cent reduction

in our Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions in FY22.


Downer continues to improve our sustainability performance and reporting, which is reflected in

continued improvement in our external ratings. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you all

to read our 2022 Sustainability Report, which is available on the Downer Group website, and we

also have copies here today for those joining us in-person. The report provides a comprehensive

overview of our sustainability performance and initiatives.


Many of the activities that Downer’s people perform every day have potential risks, and ensuring

they remain safe is of paramount importance. Downer’s Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate for FY22

was 0.82 and the Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate was 2.35. While Downer has a history of

strong safety performance, we believe that any injury is unacceptable and we are determined to

continue learning and improving.


A key element of Downer’s Zero Harm strategy is a commitment to support the mental health of

our people and communities. Downer is an industry leader in this space, and our accredited Mental

Health First Aid program continues to arm our people with the knowledge to support their own

mental health, and also look out for their friends and families. We also renewed our successful

partnership with Beyond Blue this year, while in New Zealand we established a new partnership

with the Mental Health Foundation.


Ladies and gentlemen, in my inaugural Chairman’s address at last year’s Annual General Meeting,

I committed to continuing the process of Board renewal at Downer, and we have made progress in

this area over the past year.


During the year, Phil Garling retired from the Board, having made a valuable contribution to

Downer over more than a decade. Downer also appointed three new Non-executive Directors this

year. On 1 March 2022, Mark Binns and Mark Menhinnitt joined the Downer Board, while Adelle

Howse joined on 1 April. These appointments were made following careful consideration of the

skills and experience required on our Board to ensure Downer’s corporate governance remains

robust. I will speak more about all three new Directors later in the meeting, at Item 2 on the

agenda, when we cover their election to the Board.


Downer also took a number of important steps this year to further strengthen our governance

processes and tighten our project and contract delivery management systems. Significant work has

gone into The Downer Standard, our Integrated Management System which gives the organisation

a single governance framework focusing on consistent and repeatable outcomes for our

customers.


Pleasingly, Downer reaffirmed our commitment to community support this year by establishing a

range of new partnerships with not-for-profit organisations. In March, we launched Downer’s first

workplace giving program, to support four strategically-selected charities – the Australian Cancer

Research Foundation, Greening Australia, TLC for Kids, and The Salvation Army’s Family Violence

Stream. Downer will match our employees’ donations up to $250,000 and will also encourage our

people to undertake volunteering opportunities to provide additional support to our charity partners.

In addition to our long-running partnership with the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation,

Downer also established new charitable partnerships with two Indigenous organisations – The


Page 4 of 7


Stars Foundation and NRL Cowboys House – to support the education of young Indigenous

people.


Ladies and gentlemen, Downer has a portfolio of outstanding assets. We believe the value of these

businesses is not fully reflected in our current share price. We will explore strategies to realise this

value for our shareholders, and we will target making further comment during 2023.


FY22 was a challenging year for Downer – and unfortunately, the lingering effects of COVID-19, as

well as labour shortages and wet weather have continued into FY23. However, just as our staff and

management responded impressively throughout FY22, I have every confidence that they will

continue to overcome these challenges and deliver excellent outcomes for our customers and

shareholders.


I would like to thank Grant and his Executive team, and our people, for their efforts over the past

12 months. I would also like to thank our shareholders for your support this year. I will now hand

over to Grant, before I return to run through the resolutions that will be put through to the meeting.


Thank you.


Page 5 of 7


Chief Executive Officer’s Report, Grant Fenn


Thank you, Chairman.


The financial year 2022 was challenging for Downer. Early on, we were confronted with the Delta

and Omicron versions of COVID-19, leading to lockdowns across Australia and New Zealand,

disrupting workflows, labour availability and supply chains for extended periods. And we were

impacted by severe weather, particularly over the last eight months of the year.


I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our people, throughout the business,

for continuing to deliver outstanding service for our customers in the most difficult of times.


Revenue for our Urban Services was actually up 10.8% to $11.5 billion, but our underlying EBITA

was down 3% with the productivity and cost impact of COVID-19 and bad weather.


Our cashflow performance was good, with underlying cash conversion at 89% and the Board

declared a final dividend of $0.12 per share, taking the full year dividend payout to 24 cents.


Our sustainability reporting and performance continued to improve, as have our external ratings.

Importantly, we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions by 26%.


We continued to focus on and invest in our people. We launched our THRIVE program focused on

female leadership development, providing opportunity for females in our organisation to develop

new skills and build a network of colleagues across the Group, and the results so far have been

very encouraging.


And we’ve made great progress in embedding our quality system, The Downer Standard. Having

consistent and effective standards across the delivery aspects of our business is crucial to project

performance and higher margins.


Downer is highly levered to the energy transition currently underway. A net zero future will require

adjustments to almost all urban infrastructure. The amount of money to be spent on the transition

is huge and Downer is right in the middle of it, with capabilities across our portfolio that are in high

demand.


One of Downer’s major technical capabilities is in power. We’re the market leader in design and

construction of power transmission and distribution networks, and a market leader in renewable

generation. With our suite of technical skills, we’re in a prime position to grow our business in what

will be a massive transformation effort. And this is already happening. We’re at our customers’

sites. We know their assets. And we’re already working with many of them to produce their own

renewable power, and reduce their energy consumption and emissions.


On the operational side: our Road Services business was the most heavily impacted by severe

weather throughout FY22 and this has continued into the first quarter of FY2023. But on the

positive side, we will see strong demand for recovery work when the rain and floods stop. During

the year, we opened the new Sustainable Resource Recovery Centre at Rosehill, Sydney – a

fantastic facility with capacity to produce 550,000 tonnes of high recycle content asphalt each year.

It will lead the market in quality, emissions and efficiency.


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We lead the road maintenance industry in the use of recycled materials and we’re increasing our

investment in R&D to produce lower emissions products and low energy manufacturing processes.

The products we’re creating and the way we produce them will ultimately lead to large reductions

in State and Local Government emissions.


In our Rail and Transit Systems business, we submitted our bid for the next generation of

Queensland trains. If successful, this will materially increase our rail EBIT contribution through to

2031 and cement our position as the largest passenger rollingstock maintainer in Australia and

New Zealand for the next 30 years.


In May, our Utilities business entered the New Zealand transmission market for the first time with a

five-year service contract with Transpower. This will be the foundation contract for expansion of our

broad power capabilities in New Zealand. And we successfully completed the design and

installation of 46 megawatts of solar generation across 550 Queensland schools, contributing to

$26 million in annual power savings.


Our communications business had a strong year. In wireless networks, we added NBN to existing

customers Telstra and Optus to be the industry leader in network deployment nationally. We

secured the major three-year Field Service Agreement with Chorus in New Zealand. We became

the largest supplier to NBN for on-demand business grade and residential services in all mainland

States of Australia.


On the Facilities side, we successfully renegotiated the Royal Adelaide and Bendigo hospital

contracts, both for an additional five-year term with better rates and terms and conditions. We were

successful in four key contract extensions for Vic Schools, WA Housing, Land and Housing and

Whole of Government in New South Wales. Pleasingly, we’ve supported the Lismore and Casino

communities in flood remediation work.


In our Defence business we delivered more than 300 upgrade and refurbishment projects across

the Defence estate. We’ve been awarded the major airfield upgrade project at RAAF Williamtown

and we’ve secured the managing contractor role on the Riverina Development Program, managing

five major base redevelopments.


And finally, as industry leaders in power generation, we have established the Downer Future

Energy Team, focusing on new technologies and alternate fuels, providing thought leadership with

our customers in the energy transition. We’ve successfully delivered a large suite of

decarbonisation projects for Santos and we’ve signed a multi-year agreement with AGL for power

station shutdowns, maintenance and projects. We’ve modernised our Kalgoorlie workshop to

increase capacity and capability to meet the future demands of nickel, lithium and base metal

customers in WA.


As you can see, we’ve been busy.


Our work-in-hand is a substantial $36.1 billion. It’s diversified by market and service type. It’s 90%

government or government-related. And we are seeing an increase in more collaborative risk

sharing contract models, increasing Downer’s addressable market.


Page 7 of 7


Labour availability is currently a challenge for the Group as it is for the whole economy. Job

vacancies are up, particularly in our Facilities and Utilities businesses. As a result, our cost to

serve is currently elevated.


Employee attraction and retention is one of our highest priorities. We’re actively engaged in

international recruitment and we have a series of programs to enhance our success rate. We focus

on programs and initiatives that foster a positive work culture, enhancing our employee experience

and reinforcing Downer’s reputation as an employer of choice.


Now, just touching on trading in the first quarter of FY23.


In August, we said that we expected 10 – 20% growth in our underlying FY23 NPATA, assuming

no material COVID-19, weather, labour or other disruptions.


I guess it’s no shock to highlight the difficult weather conditions that have plagued the past four

months, particularly in the eastern States and New Zealand. It has been very difficult to get a good

run at the extensive amount of work to be delivered across the Group. Very few of our businesses

have been unaffected.


It’s too early to predict what the weather has in store for us for the remainder of the year and

consequently what the impact might be on the Full Year. We hope it improves but time will tell. The

irony is that these weather conditions drive significant increases in future demand for our services,

boding well for when we get some reasonable weather.


As it stands today, our forecasts continue to support our guidance and we will provide a further

update at our Half Year results in February 2023.


Finally, as Mark mentioned in the Chairman’s Address, Downer has a portfolio of outstanding

assets. We believe the value of these businesses is not fully reflected in our current share price.

We will explore strategies to realise this value for our shareholders, and we will target making

further comment during 2023.


I would again like to thank our people, right across the Group, for their massive contribution in

financial year 2022, and also to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support.


I now hand the meeting back to our Chairman.

Safety procedures
When notified of an emergency, which will be a

beeping alarm through the speakers in this

auditorium, please evacuate the building

immediately via the nearest exit

Do not use the lifts

Proceed to the designated external assembly

area, which is across the road next to the

multi-storey car park, as shown on the diagram

on the screen

Follow the lead of NorthsideConference

Centre employees

Do not re-enter the building until

authorised.

2

4
Mark Chellew

Chairman

5
Grant Fenn

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Trading update and Group outlook
6

Guidance issued in August 2022: “For FY23, Downer expects 10-20% underlying NPATA growth,

assuming no material COVID-19, weather, labour or other disruptions”.

Trading conditions in Q1 were more challenging than anticipated, primarily due to the continued wet

weather and flooding events down the Australian East Coast, as well as the continued elevated costs to

serve associated with the labourmarket.

Downer remains in the previously communicated guidance range, assuming no further material

COVID-19, weather, labour or other disruptions.

Market position, pipeline and demand for our services remains very strong.

Downer has a portfolio of outstanding assets. We believe the value of these businesses is not fully

reflected in our current share price. We will explore strategies to realise this value for our shareholders,

and we will target making further comment during 2023.

7
Mark Chellew

Chairman

8
Robert Regan

Company Secretary

Item 1: Financial Report,
Directors’ Report and IndependentAuditor’s Report

The Financial Report, Directors’ Report and the Independent Auditor’s Report are now open for

discussion.

There is no requirement for shareholders to approve these reports. Accordingly, item number one is for

discussion only and there will not be a vote on this item.

I remind you that only shareholders of the company or their duly appointed representatives or proxies are

permitted to ask questions.

If you do have a question, please raise your hand and we will bring a microphone to you.

9

Item 2a: Election of Mark Binns
10

Item 2a: Election of Mark Binns
“That Mark Binns who was appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company, effective

1 March 2022, in accordance with Rule 3.3 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, is elected as a

Non-executive Director of Downer.”

Proxies received in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen.

11

Vote d% % of all shares

For533,433,91699.4679.39

Against2,178,8450.400.32

Abstain115,689n/a0.02

Open – Useable749,7930.140.11

Item 2b: Election of Dr Adelle Howse
12

Item 2b: Election of Dr Adelle Howse
“That Dr Adelle Howsewho was appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company,

effective 1 April 2022, in accordance with Rule 3.3 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, is

elected as a Non-executive Director of Downer.”

Proxies received in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen.

13

Vote d% % of all shares

For535,244,93999.7979.66

Against370,4500.070.06

Abstain100,296n/a0.01

Open – Useable762,5580.140.11

Item 2c: Election of Mark Menhinnitt
14

Item 2c: Election of Mark Menhinnitt
“That Mark Menhinnittwho was appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company,

effective 1 March 2022, in accordance with Rule 3.3 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, is

elected as a Non-executive Director of Downer.”

Proxies received in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen.

15

Vote d% % of all shares

For533,238,22099.4279.36

Against2,373,5380.440.35

Abstain112,930n/a0.02

Open – Useable753,5550.140.11

Item 2d: Re-election of Teresa Handicott
16

Item 2d: Re-election of Teresa Handicott
“That Teresa Handicott, who was appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company on

21 September 2016 and in accordance with Rule 3.6 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, offers

herself for re-election, is re-elected as a Non-executive Director of Downer.”

Proxies received in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen.

17

Vote d% % of all shares

For522,637,63697.4477.78

Against12,908,4052.401.92

Abstain84,910n/a0.01

Open – Useable847,2920.160.13

Item 2e: Re-election of Peter Watson
18

Item 2e: Re-election of Peter Watson
“That Peter Watson, who was appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company on

22 May 2019 and in accordance with Rule 3.6 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, offers

himself for re-election, is re-elected as a Non-executive Director of Downer.”

Proxies received in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen.

19

Vote d% % of all shares

For530,589,91798.9378.97

Against5,030,1110.930.75

Abstain107,757n/a0.02

Open – Useable750,4580.140.11

Item 3: Adoption of Remuneration Report
“That the Remuneration Report for the year ended 30 June 2022 be adopted.”

Proxies received in relation to this item are displayed on the screen.

20

Vote d% % of all shares

For236,477,00544.1035.19

Against298,986,27155.7644.50

Abstain280,576n/a0.04

Open – Useable712,2910.140.11

Item 4: Approval of Managing Director’s LTI
“That approval is given to the grant of performance rights pursuant to the Company’s LTI Plan and the

acquisition of shares on vesting by issue or by transfer as the Managing Director’s long-term incentive for

2023 on the basis described in the Explanatory Memorandum to this Notice of Meeting.”

Proxies received in relation to this item are displayed on the screen.

21

Vote d% % of all shares

For532,738,65999.3279.28

Against2,882,8950.540.43

Abstain141,121n/a0.02

Open – Useable715,5680.140.11

Item 5: Renewal of proportional takeover approval provisions
“That the Company modify its constitution by renewing clause 37 which contains proportional takeover

approval provisions for the purposes of section 648D of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), with effect from the

close of the meeting.”

Proxies received in relation to this item are displayed on the screen.

22

Vote d% % of all shares

For530,285,03998.8778.92

Against5,291,3250.990.79

Abstain142,779n/a0.02

Open – Useable759,0900.140.11

Item 6: Increase of Non-executive Director fee limit
“That the maximum total amount of Directors’ fees that may be payable by the Company to the Non-

executive Directors be increased from $2,000,000 per year to $2,400,000 per year, with effect from the

financial year commenced 1 July 2022.”

Proxies received in relation to this item are displayed on the screen.

23

Vote d% % of all shares

For532,499,29299.2879.25

Against3,112,0760.580.46

Abstain142,163n/a0.02

Open – Useable724,7120.140.11

24
Mark Chellew

Chairman

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