MCEL is a community-owned company, funded by local shareholders. This is where you’ll find our annual reports and financial statements, AGM information and how the company is governed.
Each year we publish a full annual report covering our financial performance, community investment and governance. Our annual reports from 2008 onwards are below, along with our most recent half-yearly financial statements.
Once a year the board reports back to the people who own the company. Every shareholder is invited, and every shareholder has a vote, no matter how many shares they hold.
Before each meeting we send every shareholder a notice and a proxy form. They go to the address on our share register, so if you’ve moved, let us know at exec@mcel.au and we’ll update it.
If you’ve got a question about the next meeting, or you think you’ve missed a notice, get in touch.
Notices and proxy forms from earlier years are on the Community Bank Ringwood East site, under Company Noticeboard.
Maroondah Community Enterprises Limited (ABN 91 103 341 993) is a company limited by shares, owned by around 360 local shareholders. It operates the Ringwood East and Croydon Community Bank branches under a franchise agreement with Bendigo Bank, and profits earned by the branches fund community investment across Maroondah rather than going to outside investors.
Ownership is deliberately kept local. At a general meeting each shareholder has one vote regardless of how many shares they hold, so influence is shared evenly rather than concentrated. No person may control 10% or more of the shares, and the board must be satisfied that a shareholder has a genuine connection to the communities the company serves.
When the company is in a position to pay one, the board declares a dividend after the financial year closes on 30 June. Dividends have been paid fully franked, and each shareholder receives an amount in proportion to the capital paid up on the shares they hold.
Returns to shareholders are balanced against community investment by design. The franchise agreement with Bendigo Bank sets a limit on how much profit can be distributed to shareholders, which is what keeps the majority of what the branches earn working locally. The dividend paid for each year, and the reasoning behind it, is set out in that year’s annual report above.
MCEL shares are not listed on a stock exchange. Instead the company runs a Low Volume Market, a special market through Bendigo Bank that puts buyers and sellers in touch with each other. You can register your interest in buying or selling, view the register of interested parties, and see past trades on the Trading Shares (LVM) page.
Ordinary shares are generally freely transferable, subject to the company’s constitution and the Corporations Act. The board can decline to register a transfer, and will do so where it would breach the 10% ownership limit or the requirement that shareholders have a close connection to the local community.
For anything to do with your holding, start with us at exec@mcel.au. The company’s share register is maintained by AFS & Associates in Bendigo, who can also be reached on (03) 5443 0344 or at shareregistry@afsbendigo.com.au for transfers and holding statements.
Every account held with our branches helps fund the next grant, club and local initiative. That’s the return our shareholders are proudest of.
