Ann: ADDRESS: SUM: Annual Meeting - Chairman and

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					SUM
30/04/2014 13:00
ADDRESS

REL: 1300 HRS Summerset Group Holdings Limited

ADDRESS: SUM: Annual Meeting - Chairman and CEO Addresses

NZX AND ASX RELEASE

30 APRIL 2014

SUMMERSET ANNUAL MEETING - CHAIRMAN AND CEO ADDRESSES

Chairman's Address

The year 2013 was another positive year for the business, in which we have
continued to build a platform for future growth. We are on track to meet our
targets, and are in a position to continue to develop more villages around
the country taking our offering to new markets.

Summerset's underlying profit of $22.2 million for the year 2013 is a 46 %
increase on the previous year. Our net profit after tax for the year 2013 is
$34.2 million, up 131% on 2012. We sold 402 occupation rights, the first time
we have broken that milestone in our history, and exceeded $130 million gross
proceeds from these sales.

This result means we were able to declare a dividend of 3.25 cents per share.
This is up 30% from the dividend of 2.5 cents per share for the 2012
financial year.

These successes show the strength of our business model, but we are also
continually working to improve the way we deliver services and retirement
units.

In 2013, we added five sites to our land bank, which now stands at more than
2000 retirement units and nearly 600 care beds. This is enough to provide
seven years of growth at our targeted build rate of 300 retirement units per
annum, which we plan to achieve in 2015.

The first site we purchased last year is in Lower Hutt. This 3.1ha site
borders the Boulcott's Farm Heritage Golf Club and is a unique setting for a
retirement village. We have seen high enquiry on this site from locals and
golf enthusiasts alike and believe the village will be one of the premier
villages in Wellington. We are currently undertaking detailed design work on
this site and are working with Hutt City Council and the local community to
create a design and village that will satisfy all stakeholders.

We have also seen high levels of enquiry in New Plymouth, where we purchased
a 4ha site in August last year. We were granted resource consent to build a
$55 million village here and preparation of the site for construction is
underway. This is a new market for Summerset and we look forward to becoming
part of the Taranaki community.

Also in August last year, we acquired a site in Trentham adjacent to the
existing Summerset village there. This 4ha site effectively doubles the size
of the village, and construction of new dwellings is well underway. We
consulted with existing residents on the upgrade and extension of
recreational facilities at the village.

In December, we then announced the purchase of two sites in Christchurch.
This is also a new market for us and was an obvious gap in our portfolio. The
first site, in Casebrook, occupies 9.7ha in the north of the city, while the
second site, in Wigram, is a 5.4ha site in the south west. In building these
two villages we will commit over $200 million to the rebuild of Christchurch.

Last year was also a year of change in terms of key personnel. Quadrant
Private Equity sold down their 56% shareholding last year and as a result
both Quadrant directors, Chris Hadley and Marcus Darville, stepped down from
the Board. We are grateful to Quadrant for their time, which left Summerset
as a well-established and well capitalised business with solid growth
prospects.

Replacing them, Dr Marie Bismark joined the Board in September and Anne
Urlwin joined the Board in March. Each director brings to us areas of
expertise which are highly relevant to this business.

As you will well know, Norah Barlow, retired from her role of Managing
Director and CEO. Norah remains on the Board.

In her place Julian Cook has been appointed as CEO. Julian was previously our
CFO having joined the company in 2010. Julian is well placed to continue
Summerset's growth and expansion.

We have paid particular attention to building our leadership team for the
future challenges. We have in place a Board with the right mix of skills and
experience (and a majority of women which may be a first for a major listed
company in New Zealand). Importantly our executive leadership team has a
number of new and talented people, with average age of 46, with the
enthusiasm and vigour to meet the challenges.

The current year will continue the recent growth. Equally important is some
consolidation within the operations of the business. Our aim is to be the
first choice provider of retirement home living and aged care services. To
achieve this requires constant and diligent attention to every aspect of our
business, making improvements in our efficiency and in the quality of care we
offer.

The Summerset experience is our product, as much or more than the bricks and
mortar which are the most obvious part. That experience is created by
residents, staff, families and communities in which we are located, managed
and lead by our dedicated team. Anyone who thinks that this is an easy or
quick money business simply does not understand what goes on within the
villages.

To deliver this experience does depend on the willingness of investors to
continue to support us.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Summerset.

CEO's Address

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us at Summerset's now third Annual
Meeting since being listed. This is my first Annual Meeting as CEO. As you
will know I was appointed to the position in August of last year and stepped
into the role in early April. I am both humbled and excited to be chosen for
this position.

Summerset operates in the retirement village and aged care markets. We are
the third largest operator and second largest developer in one of New
Zealand's fastest growing industries and we are well positioned for the
future. We provide our services to older New Zealanders, predominantly over
the age of 75. Statistics New Zealand population forecasts show that the
number of New Zealanders aged over 75 will increase from 260,000 in 2011, to
540,000 in 2031 and then 820,000 in 2051. As a percentage of the population
those aged over 75 accounted for 6% of New Zealand's total population in
2011. This will increase to 10% by 2031 and 14% by 2051. The market we serve
is growing strongly and we are well placed to participate in that growth.

For us to continue to grow and develop as a company it is essential that we
focus on what we actually provide to our residents. I feel deeply about
making sure older New Zealanders are able to have a comfortable retirement in
communities built with their care and needs in mind. We as a company must
create villages that enhance the lives of our residents and keep our customer
foremost in our mind.

Our goal for Summerset is to be the first choice operator of retirement
village and aged care services in New Zealand. This is very much a customer
centred view and we are proud of that and our strategy remains based around
this goal.

Our staff are a critical part of our business. They interact with and care
for our residents every day. Over the last few years we have invested heavily
in the training of our caregivers. We now have an NZQA certified
qualification which we provide to all caregivers. All caregivers are put
through this programme and receive a Level Two NZQA National Certificate in
Health, Disability and Aged Support. We have extended this programme further
and provide qualifications now up to NZQA Level Four. This is a key plank in
ensuring we have well trained and motivated staff in all of our facilities.
We further reward caregivers as they progress along the qualification steps
through pay increases with our Stepping Up programme which was introduced
last year.

Celebration of the achievements of our staff is important and we hold an
annual Applause Awards where we offer awards to nominated staff from all
areas of the business. The stories which are brought forward in these awards
and the dedication of the staff involved is tremendous. The overall Summerset
winner was last year was Robyn Goldstone, one of the support staff from our
Trentham village.

Staff training and awards are an important part of ensuring we provide the
best possible care in our care facilities. Another aspect of this is how we
manage quality. We are investing heavily in systems, internal audit processes
and people to monitor and continuously improve on the quality of care we
offer.

A key issue in the industry currently is pay rates for caregivers. The work
which our caregivers do is incredibly important to our residents, their
families and to us. They are responsible for looking after people at a time
in their life when that care is so important. Funding available to the aged
care sector limits what we are able to pay.

In 2012, Judy McGregor prepared a report entitled Caring Counts. This report
found that work care givers do is important and should be paid appropriately.
Following this report the Caring Counts Coalition was formed with
representatives of workers, relevant government departments, employers and
other sector bodies. We are a part of the Caring Counts Coalition and through
this organisation, through the aged care association, NZACA, and through
direct contact with politicians we are working to secure the funding needed
to be able to lift these wage levels. This will be an ongoing issue.

This year we launched our 18th village, being our new Auckland village in
Hobsonville. This is a waterfront site based in West Auckland. This year we
will also open our New Plymouth village and the extension to our Trentham
village. We plan to this year build around 250 retirement units. This is an
increase from 209 units in 2013. Our publicly stated intention is to build
300 retirement units in 2015 and we are well on track to achieve that target.
We believe that this rate of growth is the business is more than sustainable
over the longer term given the population growth we are seeing.

Over the last year, as Rob has outlined, we added five sites to our portfolio
of land holdings. We now have a land bank totalling 2,116 retirement units
plus 595 care beds based on current plans. At our indicated build rate of 300
retirement units per annum, this will provide seven years of supply. Auckland
has been a key region for our growth and will continue to be for some time.
We have a completed village in Manukau and our Warkworth village is also
close to completion. We also have villages newly underway in Hobsonville and
Karaka and we are in the process of seeking resource consent on our Ellerslie
site. In all once these five villages are complete we will have spent around
$500 million in the Auckland region and created homes for some 1,300
residents.

I can also announce today that we have acquired additional land adjacent to
our Karaka site. This will increase the size of our Karaka site from 3.6ha to
6.8ha. There is a substantial amount of growth occurring in the Karaka area
which has been identified for future urban growth by the Auckland City
Council. We are seeing strong demand at our Karaka village and the site is
well located being adjacent to the future Karaka shopping area.

Development of main buildings and care facilities across sites has continued
strongly over the last year. We have opened main buildings and care
facilities in Nelson and Hamilton and will shortly open our main building and
care facility in Dunedin which will complete this village. We are also
working on main buildings on a number of other sites. On all of these sites
we have added care apartments in addition to the care facility. Care
apartments are certified by the District Health Board and residents can
receive rest-home care in their own apartment. These are an important
innovation in the sector and one which we believe will grow in importance.

Last year were named Best Retirement Village Operator in Australia and New
Zealand for the fourth year in a row. We have earned this award due to our
focus on the customer. The challenge ahead of us is to maintain that focus on
the customer and listen to their voice as we continue to grow. Last year
Norah called this company a teenager. We are becoming an adult but these is
yet much work to be done. We are growing rapidly and we expect this rate of
growth to continue to increase. We will be delivering retirement units across
a larger number of sites, larger care facilities and in larger buildings as
we being to develop some of the urban based sites which we have. Over time we
expect our build rates, sales rates and development margins to increase,
reflecting this growth.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff and
residents of Summerset for everything they do to make this company what it is
today. I have received a great welcome as I have travelled around our
villages meeting them. I would also like to thank our shareholders for their
support of the company and I look forward to working with you in the years
ahead.

ENDS

For investor relations enquiries:
Scott Scoullar
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
04 894 7317 or 029 894 7317

For media enquiries:
Kimberley Rothwell
Communications Advisor
[email protected]
04 894 6993 or 027 601 2001
End CA:00249915 For:SUM    Type:ADDRESS    Time:2014-04-30 13:00:05