Annual General Meeting Thursday 10 March 2005. Brendan Stewart Chairman.

Annual General Meeting

Thursday 10 March 2005

Brendan Stewart

Chairman

Order of meetings

• Annual General Meeting of AWB Limited

• Meeting of A class shareholders to amend Articles of the AWB Limited Constitution

• Meeting of A class shareholders (QLD/VIC/SA/NT/TAS) to elect a Director of AWB (International) Limited

Incoming AWB Limited Directors

Tony Howarth John Schmoll

Andrew Lindberg

Managing Director

AWB’s strategy has been demonstrated through its financial performance

• Substantial increase in net profit after tax - $96.9 million, up 120% on the previous year

• Earnings per share of 28.8 cents, up 81%

• Largest ever national wheat crop of 25.2 million tonnes (mt), up from 9.7 mt in 2002/03

• Second largest ever export program, with 19.9 mt received by the Pool

• Fully franked dividend of 25 cents per share paid during 2004

• Landmark integration targets exceeded, with cost synergies and finance growth of $13 million

Growing Horizons:AWB’s vision is to be Australia’s leading agribusiness

Three strategic areas of focus:1. Grains & Commodities

• Strategy in place to enhance the differentiated quality position of Australian wheat

• Continue in driving supply chain efficiencies

2. Rural Services• Continuous improvement of procurement and supply

processes• Expand Landmark’s presence – targeting new areas of

growth

3. Financial Services• Retain leading position in Harvest Finance Market• Target growth within broader agribusiness market

Solid results from Landmark business

• Delivered a 64% PBT uplift over the previous year

• Increased the Rural Finance book by 34%, to more than $1 billion – with a balance today of approximately $1.2 billion

• 85% of Landmark deposits converted to an AWB backed prospectus – deposits now stand at close to $600 million

• Strengthened insurance supplier arrangements with a 20% increase in Gross Written Premium

• Record real estate sales of more than $1 billion, up by 31%

• Record prices for beef and lamb resulted in the Livestock business seeing a 17% growth in profitability

• 13% increase in Merchandise and Fertiliser sales

Excellent results from the second largest ever Pool program

• Second largest export program ever – 19.1mt for year ended November 2004

• Sales of 2.5mt to China – first significant business to that market for 8 years

• Record sales to Indonesia of more than 3mt

• Continual trade with Iraq- more than 1.5mt in sales

• Reduction for the sixth consecutive year of grain supply chain costs

• Above benchmark performance in our foreign exchange management for the National Pool

Performance from other grain related business streams

Trading:

• Excellent result from Chartering division; almost 50% of Pool volumes sold with a freight component

• Geneva based International Trading business nearly doubled trading volumes to two million tonnes during 2003/04

• International Trading business has been extended with a new office in New Delhi

Performance from other grain related business streams cont…

Financial Services:• AWB retained over 70% market share in the highly

competitive Harvest Finance market• AWB Harvest Finance achieved the highest possible short

term credit ratings through the company’s new ring-fenced structure

Supply Chain:• AWB GrainFlow significantly increased receival volumes,

with 1.8mt during 2003/04• Increased supply of Australian wheat by 50% to Five Star

Flour Mills in Egypt over the past year

Supply Chain Developments

• Joint venture with GrainCorp aimed at reducing supply chain costs for export grain

• CBH – Western Australia

• Supply chain and infrastructure issues remain a challenge; immediate and ongoing investment by Government and industry required

Outlook2005/06:

• Assuming normal seasonal conditions, wheat production expected to average levels around 22-23mt

• Estimated Pool Returns for 2005/06 of $170-$180 per tonne for APW – price direction largely dependent on Northern Hemisphere crop

• Lamb prices set to remain positive with increased demand from export markets

• Beef prices tipped to tail off with increased export competition from North and South America

• Promising rural Real Estate market

• Strong medium term growth for Financial Services business

• Reduced commodity prices expected to impact Rural Services business

Going forward…

• Despite a difficult outlook, we are confident that Australian agriculture can be globally competitive

• We have “comparative advantage”• Freight advantage to Asian region

• Progress on trade reform will improve market access

• AWB and Landmark can continue to capitalise on opportunities with our business model

Hamish Gidley-Baird

Returning Officer

1st Meeting: Annual General Meeting of AWB Limited

Annual General Meeting of AWB Limited• Financial Report, Directors’ Reports & Auditor’s

Report

• Election of directors

• Special resolutions


Item 1.2(a):

Election of a director of AWB Limited - WA


Item 1.2(a):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – WA

Candidate:

Mr Christopher Moffet


Item 1.2(b):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – VIC/TAS


Item 1.2(b):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – VIC/TAS

Candidates:

Mr Christopher Hewitt

Mr Warrick McClelland


Item 1.2(c):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – NSW/ACT


Item 1.2(c):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – NSW/ACT

Candidates:

Mr John Simpson

Mr Geoffrey Brennan


Item 1.2(d):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – B class


Item 1.2(d):

Election of a director of AWB Limited – B class

Candidate:

Mr Peter Polson


Proxy position for director elections as at 5pm (Melbourne time) 8th March 2005:

Item Direction Total

Item 1.2(a) – Election of director of AWB Limited – WA

Mr Christopher Moffet FOR 4,757

AGAINST 103

OPEN CHAIRMAN 196

OPEN OTHER 30



Item 1.2(b) – Election of a director of AWB Limited – VIC/TAS

OPEN CHAIRMAN 181

OPEN OTHER 635

Item 1.2(c) – Election of a director of AWB Limited – NSW/ACT

OPEN CHAIRMAN 287

OPEN OTHER 26

Proxy position for director elections as at 5pm (Melbourne time) 8th March 2005:


Item 1.2(d) – Election of director of AWB Limited – B Class

Mr Peter Polson FOR 71,009,165

AGAINST 2,281,937

OPEN CHAIRMAN 9,490,180

OPEN OTHER 3,192,685

Voting Procedures


Proxyholder Ref: CHMProxyholder: CHAIRMAN OF THE MEETING

AWB LIMITED ABN: 99 081 890 459

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING10th March 2005

Item For Against Open

01 ELECT A B CLASS DIRECTOR – MR PETER POLSON

##### ##### #####

02 COMPOSITION OF AWB (INT’L) LTD – ADDITIONAL DIRECTORS

##### ##### #####

03 TENURE OF DIRECTORS OF AWB LIMITED

##### ##### #####

THIS FORM SUMMARISES THE VOTES GIVEN TO YOU AS PROXYHOLDER FOR THE ABOVE MEETING.PLEASE NOTE THAT IF THE DONOR OF A PROXY PERSONALLY ATTENDS A MEETING AND VOTES, YOUR VOTING ENTITLEMENT WILL BE APPROPRIATELY REDUCED.

1st Meeting


Special Resolutions:

1. Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board – Additional directors

2. Tenure of directors of AWB Limited


Item 1.3(a):

Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board Additional Directors


Item 1.3(b):

Tenure of Directors of AWB Limited


Proxy position for two special resolutions for A & B class shareholders - as at 5pm (Melbourne time) 8th March 2005:


1.3(a) – Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board – Additional Directors

FOR 62,008,630

AGAINST 11,986,764



1.3(b) – Tenure of Directors of AWB Limited

FOR 65,459,145

AGAINST 8,010,453




Annual General Meeting: A Class Shareholders Meeting:


Item 1.1:

Financial Report, Directors’ Report and Auditor’s Report

2nd Meeting: Meeting of A class shareholders

Meeting of A class shareholders to consider amendments to particular Articles of the AWB Limited Constitution

• Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board – Additional Directors


Item 2.1:

Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board – Additional Directors


Proxy position for a special resolution for A class shareholders - as at 5pm (Melbourne time) 8th March 2005:


2.1 - Composition of the AWB (International) Limited Board – Additional Directors

FOR 4,553

AGAINST 4,075

OPEN CHAIRMAN 1,405

OPEN OTHER 842

2nd Meeting

3rd Meeting: Meeting of A class shareholders (QLD/VIC/SA/NT/TAS region)

Meeting of A class shareholders (QLD/VIC/SA/NT/TAS region)

• Election of a director of AWB (International) Limited


Item 3:

Election of a director of AWB (International) Limited

Candidate:

Mr Clinton Starr


Proxy position for director election as at 5pm (Melbourne time) 8th March 2005


Item 3 – Election of a director of AWB (International) Limited - QLD/VIC/SA/NT/TAS)

Mr Clinton Starr FOR 2,580

AGAINST 174

OPEN CHAIRMAN 704

OPEN OTHER 672

3rd Meeting

Annual General Meeting Thursday 10 March 2005. Brendan Stewart Chairman.

Documents

Transcript of Annual General Meeting Thursday 10 March 2005. Brendan Stewart Chairman.