NWF - NZ Windfarms

[blackcap]

will be abstaining as I do not know if they are earning it.
Last increased in 2007 and they will not be increasing again for many years.
They sound as if the have asked for the ability to increase the directors fees rather than a 100% increase.
Directors have more duties and responsibilities-including risk of legal action(NZO directors take note)

BTW just looked at current generation-currently still earning over$3000 per hour.I like the new direction.

Agreed, it has been a long time. Directors are liable and have more responsibilities these days. Maybe they are just increasing the pool to add room if another director were to come on board. However $400k is a lot for a company this size.
Other than that, like the direction that the board is taking this company and will be attending the AGM to ask some questions particularly regarding the dividend and the new agreement finalised yesterday (what it actually means)

[ratkin]

SF6 The new enemy

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49567197

[Independent Observer AUNZ]

If you take a look and read the explanatory statements it actually explains it. I may not agree with the scale and may vote against but an increase does make some sense.

Yes I saw the explanatory note; not enough information for my liking. Sure the exposure of directors has increased re: personal liability - but this should have always been the case regarding health & safety for example, in my view. There is no explanation for how and when the increase will be applied/adopted other than "flexibility" and also no explanation of what comparisons to which the Institute of Directors report was by reference (for example the NZX50 group is not a reasonable comparison to this organisation in my view). I know from experience it is possible to get the comparison data to tell the desired story. $60k and $100k for an organisation of this size seems fair, but there is no limitation preventing these from being upped by a further 50%+ soon after the meeting.

[Independent Observer AUNZ]

Something came up last minute for me today so I couldn't make it to the AGM. Very disappointed. Look forward to a summary de-brief from attendees on the forum.

[blackcap]

Something came up last minute for me today so I couldn't make it to the AGM. Very disappointed. Look forward to a summary de-brief from attendees on the forum.

Hi Independent Observer and others,

I just attended the AGM in Auckland. Can give a brief summary.
John Southworth the chairman spoke about what the company had achieved and future direction. Then Warren the CEO spoke of financial and operational metrics. Basically these were announced with the FY result. So go back to that if you want to see what they talked about.
John spoke of the updated revenue which was currently $3.6m for the quarter as opposed to $2m pcp.
Also said new agreement goes into effect on Monday with a major gentailer for all of production at an average of $90 for the next 5 quarters culminating at the end of 2020.
Dividend approach, no formal dividend policy. Payout of capital that is not required. Also going to conduct a buyback. A shareholder did mention he thought it would be better to do a buyback off market to help clean up the register. Comment noted.
Guidance able to be given due to the fixed price for generation. Ebitda of between 6.5 and 7.5 reaffirmed.
29.2GWh so far generated this year. Expecting 117 GWh for the year.
Introduced new board of Philip Brockie, Phil Lennon and Mark Evans. Phil and Mark are large shareholders.
New CEO spoke well. Said curtailment had been tried and tested and stopped as it was not working how they wanted it to. Ie not beneficial.
A few questions from the floor as to what the company is going to do in the future and about replacing turbines etc. No decisions have been made but the board is aware and working on all possibilities.
Tax effectiveness of dividends was questioned but at the end of the day getting cash to shareholders will be taxed one way or another. They are still paying down debt at about 900k per annum.
The board all wore NZ windfarm logo polo shirts and had brought about 80 along to give away to shareholders. They were all gone at the end of the meeting. 48 or so shareholders attended.
Questions were asked of the board as to their composition especially with regards resolution 5 that asked for a fee increase. In my opinion the board is not independent enough with 3 holding large share parcels. Which is good that their interests align with ours but some may be slightly lacking in governance experience.
John the chair explained that the board had been working hard and had attended 5 meetings in the last 2 months. This was better justification from one shareholder than citing compliance and other costs increasing for the increase in board fees.
A good meeting overall and the board were open to questions on a diverse variety of subjects. (someone asked how many birds had been killed by blades since inception. Although the answer was not know it was generally a few magpies and nothing else)
Maybe more later.

[mikeybycrikey]

Blackcap,
Thanks for that thorough summary of the meeting. Everything was clear and lots of good detail.

Just wondering what you mean when you talk about "curtailment".

[blackcap]

Blackcap,
Thanks for that thorough summary of the meeting. Everything was clear and lots of good detail.

Just wondering what you mean when you talk about "curtailment".

Under the previous regime they trialed a system where they would curtail output (ie stop the turbines spinning) when prices were lower than the marginal cost. So when prices were say $5 for a MWh of energy they would not turn the turbines. THey had some algorthm for this but they have abandoned this policy. Was in place to reduce cost of replacement of parts etc.

[Well Endowed]

Thanks Blackcap, much appreciated bud.

[blackcap]

Thanks Blackcap, much appreciated bud.

No worries. One thing I did forget to mention. In passing the CEO and Operations Manager who was there too and very articulate, indicated that they would like to do a web broadcast of the AGM in future. Lets hope they can get this over the line as it would help many who could not make Auckland.

[ratkin]

.
John the chair explained that the board had been working hard and had attended 5 meetings in the last 2 months. This was better justification from one shareholder than citing compliance and other costs increasing for the increase in board fees.
.

They lead a hard life, all work, work, work.