Star Entertainment’s board of directors were savaged by shareholders over its diminished share price at its 2023 annual meeting but managed to avoid a second strike on its remuneration plan.
The four-hour meeting heard one shareholder exclaim “shame, shame, shame” for a second year in a row, as investors bemoaned the dwindling share price and the “embarrassment” of completing two capital raises in a matter of months. Star shares have fallen by 77 per cent over the past year to 57¢.
Star Entertainment chief executive Robbie Cooke.Credit: Louie Douvis
Despite this, shareholders overwhelmingly supported the group’s planned remuneration of directors and executives, with more than 83 per cent of proxy votes in favour in a major reversal from 2022’s strike. A second strike would have triggered a mandatory director spill, the business having only recently completed an overhaul of its board.
Chief executive Robbie Cooke, who took over the embattled casino business on the day it lost its flagship Sydney casino licence in 2022, said it was the most difficult job he’d ever had. Cooke blamed the group’s share price erosion on its former iteration, a time he described as being overrun by “unlawful behaviour and criminals”.
“There have been significant operation restrictions put on the business to remedy the acts of the past when the share price was $6,” he told shareholders.
Chairman David Foster defended the business’ refinancing, after it secured $800 million from a February capital raising before returning to the market six months later for another $750 million raise.
“When we did the February refinancing we made it very clear that the next stage was to refinance our bank debt,” he said.
The Star reported a full-year loss of $2.44 billion for the 2023 financial year, riven by a writedown in the value of its Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane casinos.
Its colossal loss followed two damning state inquiries, four shareholder class actions, looming multimillion-dollar fines and two revoked state casino licences, prompted by a 2021 investigation by this masthead which accused Star of extensive anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings.
It was the worst result since the casino group demerged from wagering giant Tabcorp and listed in 2011.
Cooke warned that repairing the share price would take time but stressed he had faith in the assets.
“This is not as a result of anything the management team has done in the last 12 months ... We are here to try and clean up what’s happened over the last five, seven to 10 years,” he said.
Almost 100 per cent of investors also supported the re-election of newly minted chairman David Foster and the appointment of directors Toni Thornton and Deborah Page.
Foster said there was a clear path to a sustainable future that necessitated constructive engagement with the NSW and Queensland governments and anti-money laundering agency AUSTRAC to transform its culture.
“We continue to deal with external matters, including AUSTRAC, the remaining class action in the Victorian Supreme Court and a dispute between the Queens Wharf Brisbane joint venture vehicle and the builder which has led to legal proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court,” he said.
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