I attended the SingPost hybrid AGM yesterday as a shareholder. I’m glad they opted for hybrid unlike companies like SIA which are still going virtual – and SIA citing safe management measure when next week I’m hopping on one of their planes which will presumably be crowded. Maybe I ask for safe distancing when I’m on the plane. 

Back to SingPost, I thought the questions and points from other shareholders were good. I managed to ask some questions. The board and management were professional and respectful.

There are clearly challenges and questions relating to its domestic letters business; competition in other fronts, some from upstarts who can burn cash (for now); high management turnover; board composition and renewal; and the ongoing arbitration for Famous Holdings which SingPost first bought 62.5% of in 2013 and options for rest of it were exercisable from 2016.

I said I hoped the board is monitoring employee turnover to ensure that it is retaining critical talents and that there is not high turnover due to lack of employee engagement. The company in its answer to a question from SIAS about high management turnover has explained it as part of succession planning and “right-fitting” management to its strategies but I think there are legitimate concerns about ability to execute with the high turnover – and it remains to be seen if the new management in place will be able to execute in light of the many challenges.

On board tenure and renewal, I asked if the company is going to comply with its policy which states a maximum tenure of 6 years for directors, with a possible extension to 9 years. Clearly this policy is not intended to apply to executive directors and may not be applicable for NEDs who are nominees of major shareholders but should apply to all other NEDs. SingPost currently has 5 NEDs, including 3 IDs, who are serving their 6th year this year. Three of them were re-elected yesterday, including the Singtel nominee director. I said I fully understand that it may not be appropriate to replace a whole slate of directors at the same time. It is good to hear from the Chairman that there are plans for renewal so hopefully, we will not see all the NEDs continuing to serve to 9 years which will make the board tenure and renewal policy meaningless.

I asked if the board would be looking for directors with significant experience in e-commerce/logistics, and especially in this area in the Australian market where much of its future lies. The Chairman confirmed that this is part of the plan, and also adding competencies in the technology area.

I also asked questions about sustainability and how it’s linked to executive remuneration, since SingPost mentioned it is being done, and I called for more disclosure on this in future annual reports. The company provided some colour on this at the AGM. I suggested that hopefully, if it gets its sustainability focus right, it can attract back more institutional investors, many of whom left after the 2015/6 saga and cuts in dividends. Institutional investors now make up about 17%, just half of what it was in 2015.

I suggested they consider following what Azeus did at their AGM last week, for next year’s AGM. That is to have all questions asked and answered upfront before the voting on the resolutions,  rather than having questions before each resolution as is typically done at AGMs.  Questions can be cross-cutting type rather than related to one specific resolution and some companies may try to say a question is not relevant to a resolution. That’s what the then SingPost director chairing the AGM for the re-election of the chairman resolution in the 2015 AGM tried to do with me – even though my questions were about board competencies and long tenure of directors, including the then chairman who was up for re-election.

But even if questions are addressed upfront and a shareholder wants to ask before a particular resolution is voted on, the board should still allow it.

It was a positive experience at yesterday’s AGM. And hybrid AGMs are definitely the way to go.