Ingenia board cops first strike on pay in 'difficult year'

The news: Holiday parks and retirement villages owner Ingenia has suffered a first strike on pay a day after boss Simon Owen announced his departure.

The numbers: Roughly 35.1% of shareholder votes opposed the remuneration report, after an annual 17% increase in revenue was offset by rising inflation, interest and construction costs and labour shortages to result in a 4% decrease in underlying net profit to $84.7 million.

The context: Chair Jim Hazel was optimistic about the year ahead, saying the group was targeting EBIT growth of 10%-15% and earnings per share of up to 22.3 cents in FY24. The AGM came a day after CEO Simon Owen announced he would step down from the company. Owen has overseen Ingenia's progression from a minnow to an ASX company, Hazel said, and succession plans were well advanced.

What they said: "We have enhanced scale and exposure to residential and holidays revenue and the demand drivers which underpin Ingenia’s growth profile remain firmly in place, including an ageing demographic, poor housing affordability, under-supply of rental housing and demand for domestic travel," Hazel told shareholders at the AGM.