Ann: FY25 Half Year Results & On-Market Share Buy Back, page-35

Against my better judgement ill bite -

"It amounts to these entities as being the best practises to minimise tax obligations. There is no real fairness when it comes to dispersing excess capital for the rest of the shareholders. The sugarcoating wording for getting it approved by the ATO is basically the following, “no shareholder is disadvantaged because they’ve the right to participate in this buyback” - Both share buy backs and dividends take place from post tax earnings. If its a dividend the company may attach the tax paid to it as a franking credit. Using a buy back doesnt deteriorate the franking credits and they are still available. Particularly in the context of NHC where they are doing both a buy back and a dividend. I haven't interrogated the numbers, but they have chosen their dividend such that it can be fully franked and not larger as they didnt want it to be partially franked. Others may be able to clarify, but either way it changes nothing for the board or company in the rate of tax it pays.

There is no guarantee that it will rise or remain higher than what the share was purchased for! Just a theoretical concept. - Well yes you are correct, there is no guarantee, the price is just the markets opinion. What is not up for debate is that each share is worth a higher % of the company after the buy back, so all else being equal each share will be worth a higher value.

Companies may buy back shares when they believe their stock is undervalued and are confident about their future prospects. Open to abuse… - Unsure what you mean here.. Ideally if a companies stock is undervalued you want a buyback for a few reasons, a) it may genuinely be the best use of capital in that you might be buying your own company with a ROE of 30% against investing capital in an expansion or other acquisition that only offers a ROE of 15% (numbers made up, and ROE may not be the sole metric here, but hopefully you get the point) and b) a higher stock price (company value) is beneficial as it hinders a predatory takeover, makes it easier to negotiate debt, favourable to raise capital if required at higher valuations or to buy a peer with scrip as opposed to debt etc. Like anything it can be open to abuse, thats why we have a board and management, you either trust their judgement or dont. There is no more abuse in the decision around buy backs than there is any other multitude of decisions a company makes. If you think the board or management is doing a dodgy the best course is to sell up and move on.

Increased Ownership: Remaining shareholders have a larger percentage of ownership in the company. Could be only short term….. - Bollocks. The buyback reduces the float so you have a higher percentage. Future activities that increase the float will undo this, but I'm not playing the 'ifs and maybes of future decisions game'

Potential Tax Implications: Share buybacks can have tax implications for shareholders, depending on the type of buyback and their individual circumstances. Check out the other tax implications with other return of capital that would benefit a great number of individual shareholder’s! -Well yes, this is the only part that is correct of your post. Typically find those that skew younger or otherwise already making a full wage or equivalent will prefer a buyback as it pushes more of their returns to capital gains rather than income. The opposite is true for older shareholders, or those on a lower income that may prefer the direct income (particularly if the divs are franked). There isnt a 'right' answer here, I personally prefer buybacks for my circumstances, but appreciate this will vary. The Australian tax code steers a lot towards dividends. In contrast the US market with their favourable rates for CGT tends to do a lot more buybacks rather than dividends.

Thats my $0.02 take anyway, regardless it might be best if you take some heed and be less 'mouthy' on statements that are just outright incorrect. There is likely a reason you aren't sitting on the board (thankfully)