Endeavour chair defends performance, rejects Wavish push ahead of AGM

The news: Pubs, pokies and liquor store giant Endeavour's chair Peter Hearl has pitched to shareholders ahead of group's AGM, urging them to vote against a new director nominated by billionaire pub baron Bruce Mathieson. Hearl touted current leadership performance and accused Mathieson — the company's biggest shareholder — of using selective and incomplete information in his campaign to elect former Myer chair Bill Wavish to the board.

The numbers: Hearl pointed to a 4% boost in Dan Murphy's and BWS store revenues compared to pre-COVID figures and a 5.1% increase in hotels earnings as part of the current leadership's report card. Endeavour also posted a full-year net profit of $529 million, up 6.9% on the previous year. EDV shares were up 1.6% to $5.325 at 2:40pm AEDT thanks to a boost in early trading, but investors appeared unmoved by Hearl's afternoon announcement.

The context: Mathieson, who owns 15% of Endeavour, says calls to introduce incoming pokies regulations early have cost millions in revenue and weighed on the group's share price, which has sunk almost 24% since this time last year.

What they said: "The Bruce Mathieson group campaign has used selective and incomplete information which has the potential to confuse shareholders as to the company's performance," Hearl wrote to shareholders.