Thank you for standing by, welcome to Austal Limited H1 Financial Year 2023 Results Conference Call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. Participants will need to press star and one to ask a question. Only one question per person plus a follow-up will be permitted. If time permits, participants are welcome to rejoin the question queue. I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Paddy Gregg, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Hi, good morning, everybody, welcome to the Financial Year 2023 Half One Results Call. I'm Paddy Gregg, the CEO at Austal, and I'm joined by our interim CFO, Geoff Buchanan. This year we'll be presenting the same format with me giving business overview and context while Geoff focuses on the financial details. As always, we plan to present for no more than 30 minutes to allow plenty of time for questions. It should be no surprise that the financial results we announced today, given the announcement we made a month ago in mid-January about the tax provisions we were taking due to uncertainty around some of the predicted losses on that program.
Unfortunately, the previously announced tax provisions masked a very respectful first half set of results with very good operational financial performance in a number of key areas, such as U.S support and Australian Defence. Finally, as always, I plan to update you on where I see the business growing significantly over the coming years. If we start by talking about the financial headlines, you know, re-revenue is reasonably consistent, up slightly, driven through FX. EBIT is obviously down and negative due to the tax owners contract provision, and remembering the FY 2022 half one included some accelerated contingency released on the LCS program when we compare it to the previous corresponding period. NPAT down and follows the EBIT loss.
Good news is the dividend remains consistent, and that's really based on the strong cash position we have, and that cash remains strong despite the significant investment we've made in the business ready for future growth. Operating cash is down really as a result of program milestone timing. As you're aware, we get a lot of cash in based on when milestones are achieved, and it depends where they fall in the half as to when that cash comes into the business. Nothing to be concerned about, just a function of where the programs lie. Net cash reduced really due to the investment we've made in the business, predominantly, the San Diego support facility and the dry dock that will be coming later on this year.
If we look at the key facts and an overall summary of the business, you know, revenue healthy and consistent with prior years, as I said previously. We sit at a near record order book if we consider all the OPC options, demonstrating massive success in the business at winning new work and really a long way away from where we were a couple of years ago when we were staring down the barrel of the end of the LCS program and a whole lot of uncertainty about what was coming next. Austal USA and Australia achieved delivery of 3 ships in the half, LCS 32 and 2 Evolved Cape-class vessels from the Australian business. Since the half finished, we've delivered EPF 13 and another Evolved Cape-class patrol boat.
Really that goes to what I said earlier about cash and whenever we deliver boats and milestones. I'm really pleased to see the service and support business continue to grow. For the last couple of years, we've talked about the suppression there due to COVID, and we're really starting to see that come back. I'm also pleased to say that the floating dock for San Diego is running on track and again, that will provide an opportunity for future growth in service. You know, we're now up to eight service centers worldwide with 56 vessels under construction contracts and 5,000 employees globally, and I'm pleased to say all COVID vaccinated. Whatever comes in the future, I think we're in the best place possible to deal with whatever comes.
At this point, I'll hand over to Geoff, who'll talk you through a little bit more detail on the financials, before I summarize the business outlook.
Thanks, Paddy, and good morning, everyone. If we turn to slide four and look at the group revenue, we had an AUD 453 million revenue increase over the same period last year, and this was driven largely by favorable foreign exchange, about AUD 47 million. Overall was in line with our expectations. The reduction in U.S shipbuilding revenue reflects the expected reduction in throughput arising from the maturity of the LCS program, with only three vessels remaining undelivered. From the fact that the newer contracts, primarily the AFDM, the floating dock, tapped an OPC at very early stages with minimal throughput. The U.S support business continued its steady growth, mainly from availabilities in Singapore and the MARS business.
Our San Diego support business also enjoyed growth, with the full benefits of the acquisition expected when the floating dock arrives, as Paddy's just said. In Australasia, shipbuilding revenues fell with the decline in commercial work and the MOLS 2 ferry nearing completion. Australasia support saw greater throughput, with increases in both availabilities and in emergent work, primarily from increased Guardian Cape-class vessel dockings. If we move to the group EBIT slide. The annual EBIT movement was obviously dominated by an $85 million fall in U.S shipbuilding EBIT. The main component being the owner's contract provision booked against the T-ATS program, totaling $59.6 million in total, of which $41.2 million was booked in the first half, as advised in our EBIT guidance update of the 17th of January.
Profit on the LCS program has also been inflated in FY 2022 H1 by the impact of the accelerated release of contingencies, with the remainder of the delta relating to slightly lower LCS profit. Whilst the T-ATS program is at very early stages, we provided our best forecast of the loss that could arise on the program based on known sensitivities at a program level, covering TAPS 11 to 14 and the option on TAPS 15, relating to cost increases arising from cost inflation as well as specification and bills of material changes. The relevant accounting standards require us to fully provide for any forecast losses, notwithstanding the early stage of the program.
Whilst a request for equitable adjustment to REA has been submitted seeking recovery of these amounts, the likelihood of success and the timing of any recoveries remain uncertain, and therefore, we've not assumed any recovery during the reporting period. However, if we are successful in our REA claim at some point in the future, then the extent of these losses will obviously be reduced. In the U.S. support business, the growth referred to earlier drove an approximate $4 million increase in EBIT. In Australasia Shipbuilding, our half-and-half comparison was distorted by virtue of the $6.7 million provision that we took in the first half of last year for the Philippines typhoon impairment. Ignoring this, EBIT was broadly flat year-on-year within Australasia Shipbuilding.
The Australasia support business performed well through increased availabilities and emergent work, delivering an additional AUD 4 million of EBIT in addition to the higher revenues. We move on to the segment breakdown on slide 6, although the U.S shipbuilding revenue declined by just AUD 6 million at a headline level, AUD 37 million of FX tailwinds helped offset some slightly declining profit through the reducing LCS program given its level of maturity. Eventually, growth in other programs will replace this decline. The impact of the T-ATS onerous provision drove negative EBIT, although it's worth noting that if these losses are added back, a respectable EBIT margin of 9.7% would have been achieved.
Both the U.S. and Australasia saw strong growth in revenue and some EBIT growth in their respective support businesses, with combined revenues of AUD 193.4 million in the first half and EBIT margins of 6.6% and 4.66% respectively. We're now enjoying the benefits of our investment in the support businesses, with growth in both availability and emergent work post-COVID positioning us on a favorable trajectory towards meeting our aspirational support EBIT target of AUD 500 million by 2027. Australasia shipbuilding revenue fell by AUD 21 million due to a reduction in commercial ferry construction, with vessels at an advanced stage of completion in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Australasia shipbuilding margin at 8.3% remains strong, though, although much of the delta reflects the EBIT impact of the impairment provision taken in the first half of FY 2022 for the impact of the Philippines typhoon. We move on to cash flow, slide seven, delays in milestone payments on EPF 13 in the U.S and multi-role in Australasia were the main drivers of the negative operating cash flow for 31 December, which will translate to an operating cash uplift in the second half, as Paddy mentioned earlier. U.S also made prepayments for the purchase of some long-lead materials to take advantage of the strong U.S dollar to EUR exchange rate. Investing cash flow included continued enhancing CapEx in the U.S on the San Diego expansion, particularly on the floating dry dock, which will be a key enabler of our future sustainment contracts.
Looking forward, we anticipate enhancing CapEx spend will increase in the second half, predominantly in San Diego. On the financing side, there was no additional debt, with the FY22 first half loan origination amount relating to the extension of the Syndicated Facility Agreement, which runs through to December 2024. The lease principal charges reduced. As in the first half of FY22, these had included lease charges on Capes 9 and 10, which was subsequently derecognized. The foreign exchange difference is a translation difference arising as a result of the stronger USD in FY22 H1. Pleasingly, the strong flows in growth and net cash positions positioned us to support an interim dividend payment of AUD 0.04 per share. Thank you for listening, and I'll hand you back to Paddy.
Thanks, Geoff. Just talking through some of the operational highlights in the business, I think there's a lot of those. And for those of you looking at the presentation, you know, it's really pleasing to see how well the business is performing. You know, in my mind, thinking about the USA and being able to commence the OPC contract is a great milestone. You know, we're really excited to be on that journey and ready for the future. We're seeing great delivery through the LCS and EPF program and very excited about the recent delivery of EPF 13 and its autonomous capability.
Indeed, autonomy, I think is a tremendous opportunity for us as a business going forward and some of the future opportunities we see, and are prosecuting in the small, medium, and large range, both in projects that we are building and design studies that we are part of. I think that's gonna be a really exciting future for us. Those design contracts, you know, really this is about us securing work to build both breadth and longevity into our pipeline and order book. You know, a business that has traditionally relied upon, repeat orders on programs we have won. It's really, really exciting to be looking strategically about how we can diversify, broaden, and put a whole lot more longevity into that pipeline.
Of course, you know, with the recent announcement also in January about medical ships and our confidence on where that program is going, that's probably the most exciting near-term opportunity that we've got. If we think about Australasia, you know, I think operational performance is excellent. With, you know, a total of 4 Capes and 15 Guardians delivered on those programs. Support business is performing well, and we've seen that revenue and profitability increase in the business, as Geoff has just talked about. It would be remiss not to mention the commercial market, still challenging, but recently we've seen a quite significant increase in opportunities, and I'm confident we will have some good news for you in the reasonably near term.
Of course, in Australia, a lot of focus on the Defence Strategic Review, which is due sometime in March and will highlight the way forward for defense and specifically, Western Australia. I think we're really well placed based on our delivery performance and our sovereign capability. Two things which seem to be very, very important based on what we're all reading in the press today. If we think about how we're gonna grow the business, expand shipbuilding and support, you know, we've spent the last few years growing the order book, bringing in a diversity of programs, many of which are now in contract. We're not just talking about this. We have started to contract these programs.
While it may be early days, getting in contract, demonstrating delivery, I think puts us in great shape for winning more and more in the future and just growing and diversifying the business. The design studies really help us to look much further into the future. You know, it's great getting on programs early, sharing design, understanding what the program's all about, and putting us in the best possible place whenever we come to tender for these vessels in the future. You know, previously, we've looked exclusively at kind of prime contracting major shipbuilding contracts. We're now also happy to partner with subcontractors. You know, you've seen that with aircraft carrier, elevator modules. You've seen that with the submarine modules, which is really in its infancy.
Providing we perform on that, I think a great opportunity to grow and grow that that part of the business. Well done to the U.S team for diversifying strategically onto a program that just has many, many years of backlog that hopefully we will be a big part of going forward. As you know, we've targeted to grow our support business to AUD 500 million by FY 27. You know, we got asked a lot of questions about how we're gonna do that whenever you looked at the declining figures through COVID, but I'm really pleased that both USA and Australia have almost doubled compared to the previous corresponding period. That's what gives us the confidence that that was a real target underpinned by detailed understanding of markets rather than some aspirational figure we drew out there.
You know, we are back on track definitely to achieve that. Really great to see San Diego having a successful grand opening a couple of weeks ago. More investment to come with the addition of the floating dock allows to significantly increase the revenue through that facility. Again, another area of real growth in the business that I'm very, very excited about. Maybe just to round off and think strategically about where we're going. There's no hiding from the fact that we must resolve the T-ATS position , and we're all working very hard to do that. There's a really strong operational performance in the business, demonstrated by the ship deliveries, the success in winning steel. You know, the order book sitting at nearly AUD 7 billion when you include all the OPC options.
Indeed, those OPC options could double if they order the second batch. Support revenue back in the upward trajectory, as we talked about. We now have the capability to deliver in steel and aluminum, in shipbuilding and support, in commercial and defense sectors globally. I think we are very well placed to get out there, get after more work and put some real growth into this business. AUKUS and the Australian Defence Review, I think will be very exciting for the company. Should give us a real clear route ahead and provide a whole lot of future opportunities for Austal, both in the US and Australia and maybe even in a joint combined way through tech transfer and a lot of the work that we're already doing.
We continue to invest and build the capability, and opportunities to grow. If we compare this business to where we were two years ago, a lot of these are now real and on contract. That's what gives me such excitement about where we can go in the future and just how big we can grow to. With that, I will thank you for listening so far, and we will open up the call to questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question comes from Russell Gill with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Just a question on the TAPS process since the big provision you took in January. You made commentary in your announcement that the OPC contract, which is obviously materially larger, is structured differently and therefore you're not as concerned about how you price that one. Can you just possibly give us some more color so we can get some comfort over the pricing of that OPC contract and obviously a different customer and a little color around how those contracts differ?
Yeah, sure. You know, contracted at slightly different times and in slightly different ways. TAPS was a contract that was direct awarded based on information we were given, and we relied on that information to put our pricing in.
We've since proven that some of that information was incorrect. Therefore we go through the request for equitable adjustment. OPC, we were intimately involved in the detail of the design and really understood the ship that we were tendering for. I think the other major difference, you know, the T-ATS vessel was bid for or priced just before the hyperinflation that we saw at the back end of COVID, and we were able to understand that with the OPC contract. Some of the clauses in the OPC contract are much more favorable in terms of their allowances for inflation going forward. There's quite a number of technical differences in terms of how the contracts were bid and the contractual mechanisms that we've signed up to.
I appreciate I'm only allowed one question, but just a follow-up within that OPC contract. Is all inflation ability? Can you pass on all inflation or what are the risks that you take, I guess, from a fixed price standpoint? Clearly, obviously, you're bidding when there's already an inflation trajectory, but what are the, I guess, fixed price risks you take on an OPC contract and what to pass through?
It's probably a very complex question to answer. I'm genuinely not trying to avoid it. The contract comes in multiple parts, some of which have inflation, some of which are fixed. Things like the design part of the contract is fixed, and we're comfortable with that because we understand it's our designers and we know the hours that they have to spend to do the design for production, design for manufacture. Then we get inflation on materials and things like that. We'd really need to go into a whole lot of detail as to why we have that confidence. On the parts of the contract where we think we need inflation to cover what's happening in the market, we've got it.
Thanks, guys. I'll jump back in the queue.
The next question comes from Sam Teeger with Citi. Please go ahead. Sam, I believe your line is muted.
Oh, sorry about that. Hi, Paddy. Hey, Geoff. How are you guys?
Hi, Sam. Good, thanks.
Just keen to talk about what role do you see Austal playing within AUKUS. I'm wondering, if they go with a U.K. design, wouldn't that be built at the BAE yard in Adelaide? Is it fair to say unless they go with a U.S. design, there may not be much for Austal?
Good question. That's a, that's a submarine-specific question, Sam. You know, what will Austal have to do with it? It'll be interesting to see what happens in advance of a submarine build. You know, I think the work that we're doing in the U.S. on the submarine modules, although nobody said it, in my mind, is really to try and accelerate the delivery of nuclear submarines in the U.S. and bringing in more partners like Austal to be able to build parts of submarines while we're not confident or capable to build whole submarines today. Building parts to try and accelerate the overall delivery will help AUKUS. I think if Australia does start building subs, they will be built in Adelaide.
A lot of submarines are gonna be based here in the West. So, you know, we will start to think about opportunities to get involved in maintenance and support. Often submarines travel with support ships, which may open up an opportunity. I think in general, for me, AUKUS is much bigger than just submarines. I know submarines take the limelight and that's probably the next biggest decision that will get announced. There's a whole lot more behind AUKUS with tech transfer, with missiles, with systems, with ships. You know, the bit I'm most excited about is the Defence Strategic Review publication in Australia, which should give us a real understanding of what opportunities are coming in the near term.
While yes, AUKUS is good, submarines is interesting, but I don't think submarines is the main event for us. It'll be the shipbuilding side, potentially any support.
All right. Just following on the topic before, the tax provision, you know, given current rates of inflation, what's the likelihood that there'll be further provisions on that program? two, what other fixed price contracts do you have in the business that, you know, we should be aware of?
Yeah. So second part of your question first. The fixed price contracts generally only come in the commercial world because they're much shorter, and we have a good idea of what they are, and we're back to back on all our contracts there. We'll place contracts with the supply chain in line with what we're tendering. Can you remind me the first part again, Sam?
Yeah. I guess just in terms of current rates of inflation, what's the likelihood that there's gonna be further provisions on the tax program?
Yeah. We had a long debate with the auditors over this and did a whole lot of sensitivity analysis on the TAPS contract. I guess the short answer is, Independently audited, we've come to the conclusion that that provision is sufficient for the TAPS project based on everything we can possibly think of today. We're optimistic that that is the final number and the total provision we need. It's also very early on in the contract.
You know, so we're less than 10% complete on the first vessel, and that's a provision for five vessels going forward. So, you know, it'll be really interesting to see how we perform. You know, we're starting to learn lessons between the first boat and second boat, and it'll be high five on the learning curve. We can go to see where we end up. Based on the information we have today, that's the best provision we can put forward for all five vessels.
Okay.
The next question comes from Mitchell Sonogan with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Paddy and Jeff. Thanks for taking the questions. I was just keen to get a little update on some of those upcoming opportunities there, the medical ships, T-AGOs, et cetera. Do you mind just giving us a quick refresh on expected value and I guess just when, with what you're seeing at the moment, when those programs would start as well, please? Thanks.
Sure. As I said, medical ships I think is the biggest and closest opportunity that we've got at the minute. We expect that to be up to 3 ships, and we think 3 ships because that's what we've seen approved through presidential budgets in the United States. We think that's in the order of $900 million. We're in sort of final design discussions and negotiations and being able to price that. You know, if I'm optimistic, I'd like to think by the end of March, we're signing that contract. A lot can happen in defense procurement, you know, we think we're well-placed because we were the design partner for it.
We don't believe anybody else is tendering for it, so we're working with the customer to try and get into contract on that. You mentioned T-AGOs. We also have submitted a tender for T-AGOs. We put in a tender back end of last year. They've asked for some revisions. We revised our price and specification and put that in, and we think tender contract award will be announced sometime around the end of June this year. Again, you know, that's likely to be a $3 billion US billion dollar contract. Again, another very substantial contract that we've got a real chance of winning.
Then there's a number of smaller things you've seen in some of our announcements that we've been out there winning. You know, Saildrone will be interesting in the U.S. Some of the medium unmanned surface vessels, the OUSVs. You know, continuing to grow that order book, growing the submarine module work. You know, I think there's an opportunity to do that, and we will keep the market informed as we go through that. If you think about Australia, I guess the landing craft, the Army landing craft, the LAND 8710 program is the one that we have a tender in for, and we think some sort of announcements on that will be made in line with the Defence Strategic Review.
You know, sometime in March, when Defence Strategic Review is published, you know, that will give us a real indication of certainly what's coming in Australia and may give us some indications around submarines and any other opportunities there are through AUKUS. I think for me, as I said earlier, very, very exciting time. We've kind of gone from LCS and EPF in the U.S. to about 10 programs we're on now. The opportunity for growth and diversity in the business is just nothing like we've ever been able to achieve in the past. The team over there are doing an excellent job in terms of their strategizing and allowing the business to be able to grow significantly in the future.
Australia, very well-placed, you know, consistent delivery at a time when you pick up a newspaper and there are not very many people delivering ships. We are very, very proud of what we're being able to achieve here. Consistent delivery on Guardians and the Evolved Cape . Hopefully, a whole lot of opportunities that will come from the Defence Strategic Review on the back of that performance.
Just a quick one, I guess, just rounding that out just on the commercial side of things. I know it's not a huge, hasn't been a huge profit generator overall, but gets a fair bit of interest. Where you did mention there might be news in the not too distant future. Just keen to understand how that part of the business is looking in terms of leads or interest, particularly from some of the big customers that you've worked with previously. Thanks, guys.
Yeah. Yeah. It's good. It's a good question. A lot of our bigger customers are Scandinavian-based, and they have the what is the green fuel dilemma. You know, we've talked about this before. Hydrogen's not ready. Diesel doesn't look like it's the fuel of the future. LNG has gone incredibly expensive and doesn't get you to zero. Batteries aren't quite there yet. There's a lot of work we're doing with those customers on longer term stuff. There's a number of other existing customers that have realized that those fuels will not be available on the routes they operate, so they are happy to go down diesel. We've had a significant uptick in opportunities. There's a few that we're in final negotiation with at the minute.
I'm reasonably confident that we won't have a problem in the Philippines and Vietnam. I would hope in the next couple of weeks we've got some good announcements for the market that Keep that bit of the business ticking over because I think there's a great opportunity in the future. For me, it's survived this transition from diesel to whatever the future is. Our yards are very efficient and very well placed, you know, in the longer term. I think that medium term we need to get through. As you pointed out, it's a very small part of our revenue and profit in the business. It just feels like when we've got the capability, if we can hold on to it, be ready for the future, it would be great.
We also see a huge opportunity for growth in the defense sector. If we have to take a difficult decision, I don't think it would be the end of the world for Austal. Thanks, Mitch.
Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. The next question comes from Stephen Germain with English Excellence Sydney. Please go ahead.
Oh, yes. Hello. I'm a new investor, only very small. I'm just curious about opportunities in Japan and if that's a market that's open to Austal, with the Japanese expanding their navy. The other thing is, what assurances industry is having from government about a government interfering in the economy and the way they've destroyed businesses in the last two to three years. Is Australian industry getting any reassurances about the failures that are being addressed from government, from the people who've made all these terrible decisions in the last two or three years? Thank you.
Okay. Let's start with Japan. You know, Japan is interesting for us. We delivered a ferry to Japan, probably right in the middle of COVID, which was disappointing for them because it was due to operate between Fukuoka and Busan. With the border to Korea closed, they couldn't operate. Actually, I traveled there two weeks ago with the Premier of Western Australia to meet with the company that bought it. Actually, we rode the ferry that has just gone back into operation from Japan to Korea. They were very, very pleased with the boat, and I was pleased with the boat, to be honest. It's not too often I get to ride one of our boats in service after we deliver it. It's a beautiful vessel that has won a lot of design awards.
In terms of the relationship between Austal and Japan, I think it's good, and I think that's demonstrated through the boat that we've already delivered. Yes, we have been having discussions with them about are there vessels that we build that could support the Navy. I mean, they're obviously quite sophisticated shipbuilders in their own right, but some of the specialist stuff we do, the large catamarans, the ability to move troops, equipment, or people if they needed to. Those are conversations we're having. Actually, I was at a celebration last night for the Emperor's birthday at the Japanese Consul General's house. We're doing everything we can to build and further the relationship with Japan.
It was really great to get the support of the Premier himself in terms of traveling with Austal and promoting the capabilities and really demonstrating that sort of nation-to-nation partnership and friendship that we've got. I think there will be opportunities and we're on top of it and doing everything we can to support them. Second part of your question in terms of government, industry, and support. You know, a change of government last year and, you know, it'll be no surprise to you that Austal supports both sides of politics equally. You know, we're defense, which we see as pretty bipartisan.
You know, a couple of weeks ago, I was in the office of the Defense Minister and the Defense Industry Minister, we get great engagement around workload, what's coming up, jobs, and they are very supportive of sovereign industry. I think really demonstrated there was a quote in Prime Minister's Question Time a couple of weeks ago from the Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, talking about Austal being a national asset and the design capability we have and how impressive it is.
I'm really encouraged by everything that's being said and which gives me confidence when the Defence Strategic Review is released in a few weeks, that that will yield great opportunities and an ability to work with the Commonwealth on sovereign jobs, sovereign capability, and just making sure that we're delivering the equipment that those that defend our nation need. With our track record of on time and high-quality delivery, I'm really confident that we're very well placed for the future as far as Defence and government relations go.
Oh, thank you. I think what you guys do is great. Thanks for your time. I just wanted to clarify that thing with the government. I'm not an expert in this stuff, but I'm worried about the way that they use. I know they've done it forever, industry as a political tool. I'm being political about the different parties. They're all the same. I'm just wondering if there's been any. Have you seen any reform or any consequences or revision of the mess that they've made?
The bureaucracy, not the politicians, those guys. Anyway, I won't go into all that. You guys, I know you know what I'm talking about. I guess nobody talks about this stuff except behind closed doors. Have you seen any evidence at all that there's been any kind of rethinking about the way that they handle information, the way that affects the economy in the government, particularly Australian industry?
Yeah. You know, I think they've got a difficult job to do. They've got budgets to balance like a lot of businessmen and women do.
Yeah, but they're not winning, they're not winning the information war with our enemies, and they're failing because they have no flexibility. I'm sorry to interrupt. That's not me saying that, but I don't know if you agree or if I don't know. They're not winning it, and they haven't been winning for a long time. They keep losing. That's what we saw in the pandemic. They don't seem to be on the cutting edge of the information stuff and getting good news out there. I think what you guys do is wonderful, and everyone should know about it. It's good they mention it in question time. I just feel like the bureaucracy and the government people in the industry, it's all politicized and they don't. Again, I know it's a difficult thing to talk about if what, you know. Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you seen any kind of reform at all from the government.
Yeah, I think so.
Review the systems of the way that they handle information?
Yeah. I think they're getting better at working with industry. I think they were pretty hands-off and, you know, towards the end of what the Libs were doing. You know, they put some Cape boats into production in an unsolicited way to retain the work 'cause they understood future capability. I think we need to look to this Defence Strategic Review when it's published because, you know, everything I understand, it will be pro-sovereign industry. Again, that's a quote that I talked about with Richard Marles earlier.
He went on to criticize the previous incumbents for going offshore for too much and, you know, he made quite a bold statement about a real reluctance to go offshore and support industry onshore. You know, I think everybody's saying the right things at the minute. I think let's get the Defence Strategic Review and then, you know, within the next quarter to six weeks, we will have a much better understanding of what their intentions are. I'd be really surprised if it's not pro-sovereign industry and supporting Australia.
Thanks for your time. Thank you. Great work.
There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Gregg for closing remarks.
Thank you. Thanks for listening, everybody, and thanks for dialing in to the conference today. As I said at the head of the meeting, you know, it's been a difficult few weeks with the T-ATS announcement . We've made that, we've worked through that. If we look at the underlying performance in the business, it's really very good.
With the outlook we see and the opportunities, we have never been in such good shape for growth. Everybody at Austal is 100% heads down, focused on prosecuting those opportunities and growing the business. While some of the news is disappointing, if you manage to look through that, I think we're well set for a very exciting future. Some very exciting things are likely to come from the Defence Strategic Review. Stick with us and, we've got an exciting journey ahead of us. Thanks very much for your time today.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.