Santos board granted another year to resuscitate share price

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility​ (ACCR) is commenting on the results of Santos Ltd Annual General Meeting (AGM), at which:

• Chair Keith Spence was re-elected with a 6.56% vote against
• Non-executive director Vanessa Guthrie was re-elected with a 7.95% vote against
• The remuneration plan received a 9.38% vote against

ACCR filed a members’ statement against the re-election of Keith Spence because under his leadership, the board has failed to deliver a company strategy that maximises shareholder value.

Commenting on the results, Brynn O’Brien, Executive Director at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) said:

“While investor support for Keith Spence was resilient today, there is a limit to investor patience. If Santos does not resolve its strategic failings and share price performance over the coming 12 months, shareholders may not be so forgiving at the 2025 AGM.

“There are strategies available to the Santos board that warrant deep consideration. ACCR research has shown there is a more valuable option for Santos than pursuing its next crop of final investment decisions.

“Redirecting capex from the Papua LNG, Narrabri and Dorado projects to share buybacks creates an additional US$730 million in value and ceasing all new projects presents a potential US$1.7 billion further upside.

“This alternative strategy becomes even more compelling when the additional hurdles faced by Santos’ growth projects are considered. TotalEnergies has yet again delayed FID on Papua LNG, raising doubts if the project is economic. The recent Native Title Tribunal ruling has further pushed out Narrabri, a project that has already been dragging for over a decade. Dorado was put on the backburner in 2022 and hasn’t evidently progressed since then.”