1300SMILES Stadium Announcement

I am pleased to advise that the home of the North Queensland Cowboys will now be known as 1300SMILES Stadium.

The 1300SMILES Stadium is the largest venue in north Queensland and draws sports fans from an area stretching from Cairns to Mackay to Mt. Isa and beyond. More important, it enjoys great visibility among NRL fans up and down the east coast and across to New Zealand. I invite you to think about how many times the stadium is mentioned, by name, in the course of every NRL match.

Our arrangement is with Stadiums Queensland, not the NRL or the Cowboys. The other events held at 1300SMILES Stadium each year will make the 1300SMILES brand prominent in the minds of sport and entertainment fans of many kinds.

In 2012 almost 300,000 people attended events at the stadium (formerly called Dairy Farmers Stadium). In that year the stadium came into sharp focus to a cumulative TV audience of 7.6 million.

The 1300SMILES Stadium occupies a favoured position among such venues in Australia. A study carried out by Repucom International estimates that the reputation and media value of the stadium exceed those of comparable venues by 50%, mainly thanks to the interest in the Cowboys and their drawing power on both free-to-air and pay television.

That same study concluded that Rugby League fans are among the most enthusiastic of all, with at least five million regular followers in Australia.

There is, of course, a cost associated with naming rights such as these. We have procured these rights at a reasonable price, particularly when considered on a per practice basis, and we believe that the increased awareness of the 1300SMILES brand will bring benefits to all of our 24 established facilities. It's no secret that 1300SMILES aims to build a presence around Australia, and we believe this step will help ensure that 1300SMILES is known to a significant portion of the population.

We believe that the increased awareness of the 1300SMILES brand will boost our ongoing effort to bring dental care to a far wider market. Many people still don't realise that fully seventy percent of all Australians simply never see a dentist until they find themselves in pain. That pain is totally unnecessary, as are the significant problems which eventually create that pain.

We will use this initiative to continue to promote the 1300SMILES Dental Care Plan, which offers fixed price, interest free ongoing dental care. We believe that this approach removes a significant barrier and makes dental care practical and affordable for many in our community.

Shareholders may be aware that I, personally, am a Cowboys supporter. But I trust that all shareholders, regardless of which team you support and even if you don't like sport, will see the clear and practical benefits which will flow to 1300SMILES from the prominent market presence of the 1300SMILES Stadium.

With my best regards,

Dr Daryl Holmes
Managing Director
1300SMILES Ltd