Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) AGM 2024 summary

Opening remarks and agenda

• Chair welcomed attendees, acknowledged Māori leaders, and outlined meeting logistics and emergency procedures.

• Board Chair Corrigan Sowman introduced board members, executive team, auditors, and legal counsel, and outlined the agenda including year in review, financial overview, future outlook, honoraria report, meeting resolutions, and general business.

• Agenda included cooperative direction, CEO and CFO presentations, Honoraria report, voting on resolutions, and Q&A.

Financial performance review

• Total revenue was $267.3m, down 3.3% from last year due to lower demand following a drop in Fonterra's forecast milk price.

• Net profit after tax was $7.7m, a 71.7% decrease from the previous year; underlying earnings fell 41.6% to $13.9m, impacted by lower farmer spending, semen quality issues, and tax policy changes.

• Special dividend of $18.5m paid from National Milk Records divestment; total dividends $26.8m.

• R&D investment increased to $21.2m, nearly 8% of revenue, focusing on digital platforms and genomics.

• No debt, with year-end total assets of $358.6m; outlook for 2024/25 underlying earnings is $16–22m.

Board and executive committee updates

• Acknowledged contributions of departing board and Shareholder Reference Group members.

• Focused on operational excellence, faster genetic improvement, and software reliability.

• Significant investments in critical infrastructure and R&D, with $21.2m invested in R&D, representing 7.9% of revenue.

• Honoraria Committee recommended increases in remuneration for board and SRG, reflecting market parity and workload.