Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the IPH results presentation for the year ended 30 June, 2024. My name is Andrew Blattman, and I'm the CEO and Managing Director of IPH. With me today is John Wadley, our Group CFO. Thank you all for joining us for today's presentation and for your continuing interest in IPH. Before commencing the formal presentation, I want to acknowledge and welcome our new Canadian team members who joined our expanding group at IPH through our acquisitions of Ridout & Maybee and ROBIC, completed in the financial year 2024. I also extend a very warm welcome to employees at Bereskin & Parr, who we anticipate will be joining us next month following today's announcement. In a short time, we have built the market-leading IP business in Canada, and we welcome the contribution of our newly acquired businesses to the group.
Importantly, let me also thank the broader IPH team for their contribution to our results during the year. Now, as you can imagine, we have a fair bit to get through this morning, so I'll get my skates on, and in addition to our FY 2024 results, which I'll just speak to, as I just foreshadowed, it gives me great pleasure to announce a further consolidation of our business with the proposed acquisition of IP services firm, Bereskin & Parr. This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to grow our presence in key secondary IP jurisdictions and supports our vision to be the leading IP services group in secondary IP markets. Moreover, we also have announced a capital raising to fund the cash consideration of this acquisition, and I'll talk about this together with John Wadley who will speak to this in the next few minutes.
We have launched separate presentations on the ASX this morning for our results and the acquisition of Bereskin & Parr, together with the capital raising. These presentations also include the relevant disclaimers and other key items you're familiar with. For this call and webcast, we have selected some of the key slides from these presentations, and we will speak to those today, so going to slide two, Contents. I'll provide an overview of the operational highlights for the year. John will discuss the financial results in more detail before handing it back to me to provide some commentary on our acquisitions in Canada. John will then provide some details for capital raising, and I'll conclude with a summary as to how we are building a stronger platform for growth. As always, happy to answer your questions at the end.
And slide three is the one you're familiar with about IPH. You can see from this slide that it is getting. Well, it really reflects the diversity and scale of IPH now. In FY 2024, we significantly expanded our presence in the key secondary IP market of Canada, with successful acquisitions of Ridout & Maybee and ROBIC. As a result, we are truly one of the world's largest IP services group in secondary IP markets. Without the addition of Bereskin & Parr, we now have seven brands and over 1,600 employees, with offices in 10 countries, servicing some 26 IP jurisdictions. And of course, it will be further strengthened following today's announcement of the Bereskin & Parr acquisition. So slide four, Year in Review, and turning to a summary of the year, I think we've delivered a strong result.
It's a 15% lift on underlying EBITDA, corresponding 14% lift on underlying net profit. That lift in earnings, combined with our strong cash flow, delivered enhanced returns for shareholders, with the final dividend up 9%. FY 2024 marks a strong return to growth for our Australian and New Zealand business, and we continue to close the gap relevant market patent filings. We consolidate our position in the key secondary market of Canada, and we have now returned to our target gearing range and have done so ahead of schedule. Let me talk to some of these points in more detail on the next slide. As I say, proud of the progress we made during FY 2024.
We had a strong turnaround in our Australian and New Zealand business, with growth at both the top and bottom line, and while we continued to narrow the gap between IPH patent filings and the Australian market. In Canada, we reported organic growth as well as delivering synergies in line with our targets. This helped to deliver a double-digit revenue growth and an 8% lift in earnings on a like-for-like basis. While our Asian business continues to be impacted by lower market filings, I'm pleased to report an improved financial performance of our business in the second half. While like-for-like earnings were down 6% at the full year, this compared to a 9% decline at the first half. In February, you will recall, we committed to returning to our target gearing range during calendar 2024.
Given our strong cash flow and continued high cash conversion, we were able to repay debt during the second half, and we've successfully returned to our target gearing range ahead of schedule. Importantly, we are setting up the business for the next stage of growth. This includes several initiatives, of course. Given the increased scale of our business following the Canadian acquisitions, we are implementing a regional operating model to better align management of the geographies where we operate and further enhance our corporate capability.
This includes the appointment of regional CEOs in our Asia Pacific and Canadian businesses to drive growth and local accountability. Meanwhile, we have commenced a roll out of the IPH Way, a project to standardize and improve processes across our network. We are also implementing our Global Client Program to enhance our service capability for clients filing in multiple regions where we operate.
So it's been a busy year across the group, but a successful one. Solid earnings growth, return to target gearing range, improved returns to shareholders, good progress in building a platform to be a future growth and as a larger and global IP services company. However, as many of you have heard me say in the past, and people probably get sick of me saying this, but I'm I still believe it, we're just still warming up. So I'll hand over to John, and he'll discuss the financial results.
Thank you, Andrew. Good morning, everyone. Financial results for FY 2024 included two acquisitions, Ridout & Maybee on 29 September 2023, and ROBIC on 15th December 2023.
Therefore, the underlying results for FY 2024 include partial contributions from these businesses during the year, which were not included in the prior year. Additionally, the FY 2024 results include a full year contribution of Smart & Biggar compared to nine months in FY 2023. The increase in underlying revenue and EBITDA reflect increased contributions from these acquisitions, but also organic growth in Canada and the strong turnaround in the ANZ business as this segment returned to growth. Turning to our statutory NPATA, this is the net profit excluding amortization of acquired intangibles, which is expected, is up 4% and up 14% on an underlying basis. As always, IPH's results should be reviewed with an understanding of the foreign exchange impacts.
Underlying earnings are partially supported by an average AUD to USD exchange rate over the year of 65.6 cents in FY 2024, compared to 67.3 cents in FY 2023. As we previously advised, a 1 cent weakening in the USD equates to a AUD 2.5 million reduction in service charge revenue. The FY 2024 P&L includes a net foreign exchange gain of AUD 1.3 million, compared to a net foreign exchange gain of AUD 3.3 million in the prior period. The underlying result also reflects increased corporate costs from the implementation of the new operating model, reflecting the increased geographic scale and scope of IPH following acquisitions, further investment in cybersecurity and business development, and increase in share-based payments.
The company's strong cash generation enabled a further increase in the final dividend, which was up 9% to AUD 0.19 per share and 30% franked. The dividend will be paid on 20 September. Moving to slide 8, and we've brought this slide back from previously in the appendix, because think it's an important slide. It puts into context the consistent growth of the IPH businesses over the last five years. Organic growth and acquisitions have delivered a significant increase in revenue, most recently boosted with the acquisitions in Canada. The synergies we derived from these acquisitions, together with our ongoing focus on margin, has resulted in a strong uplift in underlying EBITDA over the five-year period.
The slide demonstrates the significantly enhanced scale and diversity of our earnings base over the past five years, which has resulted in a strong return to shareholders through EPS and dividends. Looking at slide nine, our like-for-like earnings, which eliminates the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange. Looking first at Australia and New Zealand, this is a strong result and a continuation from the improvement we saw in the first half. Like-for-like revenue increased by 5%, assisted by increased pricing and improved filings. That revenue growth came to improved margin, which delivered a 7% increase in like-for-like EBITDA. The Canadian business also delivered a solid result. We had a steady growth in IP agency revenue and a recovery of the legal revenue in Smart & Biggar in the second half. Legal revenue is typically related to case flow, which can fluctuate.
Pleasingly, our integration of acquired businesses has proceeded well, with synergies being delivered on track. This has helped to deliver an 8% uplift in EBITDA, also with improved margin. Our Asian business has continued to be impacted by lower market filings. However, the business improved somewhat in the second half. Like-for-like earnings are down 6% for the full year, compared to a 9% decline in the first half. We focused on restoring growth in Asia, and we also remain confident about the fundamentals across the region, where we are well-placed to capitalize. Looking at the slide, cash flow stat. The group continues to generate strong cash flow, with cash flow from operations increasing by 44% to AUD 93 million, cash conversion ratio of 100%.
We foreshadowed in the first half, the impact of the cyber incident had resulted in an unusually high conversion ratio in the first half of 128%, and this is expected to normalize by the end of the financial year. Working capital movements contributed AUD 6.3 million to operating cash flow the prior year, including the normalization of Smart & Biggar working capital post their acquisition and the impact of the cyber event. Net interest paid of AUD 25.2 million reflects the increase in borrowings to partly fund the acquisitions of Ridout & Maybee and ROBIC, and also debt repayments of AUD 70.4 million. Slide 11. One of the hallmarks of the IPH business is our strong cash generation. We're a capital light business and continue to deliver strong cash flow and sustainable dividends to shareholders.
A strong cash generated during the year enabled us to repay AUD 70.4 million dollars of debt in the second half. Net debt at 30 June was AUD 370 million dollars, with a leverage ratio of 1.9 times, which, as Andrew mentioned earlier, returns the company's capital target gearing range below two times ahead of schedule. A free cash flow of AUD 121 million dollars in FY 2024 implies potential debt payback period, three years. Meanwhile, we maintain our ability to service dividends at a relatively high payout ratio of 80%-90% of cash NPAT, which is supported by our low CapEx requirements. Reinforcing the capital allocation framework on Slide 12. This slide summarizes the group's approach to capital allocation.
We maintain a disciplined capital allocation framework, which is based on the promise of our predictable cash flows and a commitment to maintain a strong balance sheet, flexibility to support growth. Our target gearing range has been revised to below two times. Together, these support our dividend policy to pay out 80%-90% of cash NPAT dividends. We continue to be disciplined in our approach to excess capital, with a clear strategic focus on maximizing shareholder returns through a variety of options. Now, I'll hand back to Andrew.
Thanks, John. Looking at the market update, the next two slides, from slide thirteen, fourteen onwards, I'll provide a brief update on the filing activity. Our FY 2024 results presentation, which has been launched on the ASX, includes further details on these filings and the charts, which we typically provide on that. Some of you study very carefully, so they're there to be reviewed. So looking to slide fourteen, as I mentioned earlier, we continue to narrow the gap for IPH group filings in Australia relevant to the market, and you can see this on this chart. Total patent filings for FY 2024 decreased by 0.8% compared to the prior year. IPH group filings decreased by 3% for the same period.
That relevant gap to the market of minus 2.3 percentage points is a significant improvement from our position of two years ago, at minus 6.3 percentage points, and also from last year, minus 4.5 percentage points. Indeed, the relevant gap was only about one point two percent at the end of March in 2024. However, we faced a much stronger competitive period in June 2024 versus last year, which included a catch-up from delays caused by the cyber incident, and this resulted in a gap of 2.3 percent at the end of June 2024. As always, our focus remains on margin, and despite our domestic filings being below market in recent years, our EBITDA margin for the ANZ segment continues to show steady to moderate growth.
We've shown a better margin here because under the accounting standards, the office rent savings we deliver from integrations are captured below the EBITDA line. Looking to slide 15 of US PCTs, it's an interesting picture. Over the long term, US PCT applications have been fairly steady, and you can see that on the left-hand side of the chart. It's important to remember that US PCT filings are a lead indicator, and once they are initially filed, there is a period of approximately or typically 18 months, sometimes it's 19 months, depending on the country, before we see corresponding national phase entry patent filings into the respective secondary markets where IPH operates.
We would expect that the lower market filings we have seen in our key two secondary markets over the past year or so are thought to be related to COVID impacts on R&D, affecting those US PCT filings.
The more positive news is that more recently, we have seen somewhat of a recovery in US PCT applications, which we'd expect to see reflected in increased national phase entries into secondary markets through the second half of calendar 2025. Slide 17, introduction of Bereskin & Parr. Let me turn to today's announcement, which we're pleased about, and that is announcing our fourth acquisition in Canada, which further consolidates our presence in this market. Bereskin & Parr is one of the largest and top-rated intellectual property law firms in Canada, with more than 120 high-quality IP professional staff working from offices in Toronto, Montreal, Mississauga, and Kitchener. In 2023, Bereskin & Parr filed in excess of 2,500 patents in Canada for its clients, which include large multinational corporations, universities, government agencies, startups, all the way through to individual inventors.
Over 40% of their clients have been with the firm for over 10 years. They are a well-known brand in the Canadian market and have received numerous awards over many years. Eighteen sets out a summary of the transaction. We are acquiring Bereskin & Parr for a consideration of CAD 82.5 million, which is approximately AUD 90.2 million. This is a compelling transaction for us and consistent with our growth strategy and vision to be the leading IP services group in secondary IP markets. Bereskin & Parr is a leading full-service IP firm acting across patents, trademarks, and IP litigation, very similar to many of our other businesses in the IPH group. We do expect various cross-synergy and cross-selling opportunities by leveraging the IPH network effect.
The transaction is expected to be low single digit underlying EPS accretive on a pro forma FY 2024 basis, including full run rate synergies. Today, we are also launching a capital raising, including a fully underwritten institutional placement of AUD 100 million, and a non-underwritten share purchase plan, targeting up to AUD 25 million. These proceeds will be used to fund the cash consideration of this acquisition and reduce debt. John will talk to this shortly. Slide 19 demonstrates our continued growth in Canada through acquisition. The short message here is that in two years, we have built the leading IP business in Canada with pro forma earnings of nearly AUD 80 million. We have successfully acquired integrated businesses and delivered synergies as anticipated, and Bereskin & Parr will follow that model.
Slide 20, the integration of Bereskin & Parr into Smart & Biggar, as we have successfully done with Ridout & Maybee, Bereskin & Parr will also be integrated into Smart & Biggar. We see potential opportunity for cross-sell benefits from leveraging the IPH network effect, particularly in relation to supporting Bereskin & Parr's local clients to file into other IPH jurisdictions. We expect cost synergies of CAD 3.7 million in the first full year of ownership by removing duplication and number of back office and administrative functions in the integration into Smart & Biggar. Slide 20 refers to our global business, and our acquisitions in Canada have only enhanced the resilience and diversity of our earnings. Canada is now our second largest operating segment, which is further enhanced with today's announcement of Bereskin & Parr joining the group.
With the increase in scale and geographic diversity of our business, we are implementing a new regional operating model to better align management of our different geographies and enhance our corporate capability. That includes the appointment of new regional CEOs in Asia Pacific, and in Canada, and new roles across corporate functions. We have launched a Global Client Program to enhance our service capability for clients filing in multiple regions where IPH operates. This includes tailored plans to better respond to clients' needs and harnessing our global IP network across different IP jurisdictions. We continue to make progress on the IPH Way, a program to standardize improved process, and we have now standardized processes for patent IP practices across all Spruson & Ferguson Australian offices, ensuring consistent operations.
The majority of benefits from this program have been realized in our FY 2024 results, and our focus now turns toward the global operating model to drive further efficiencies. And finally, we have recently appointed a new Chief Transformation Officer to lead our major change business initiatives to enhance efficiencies across the group and support our growth clients. All upfront investments are a modest AUD 5 million annualized and expected to provide a net positive return in variables that we've always been focused on, that is margin improvement and revenue in the short to medium term. I'll now hand back to John to discuss the capital raise.
Thanks, Andrew. I'll make some brief comments regarding the capital raising associated with the transaction. There is announced a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise AUD 100 million. We are also undertaking a non-underwritten share purchase plan, targeting to raise up to AUD 25 million. Proceeds will be used to fund the cash consideration on Bereskin & Parr, and to reduce debt. Following the transaction, IPH's pro forma group leverage ratio will be approximately 1.7 times. This is below the group's revised target range of leverage ratio of up to 2 times. When I temporarily exceed this range following acquisitions, however, we would seek to return to the target level in the near term, given the strong cash generation of the business on an ongoing basis. Looking at slide 24. This slide provides further details on the capital raise.
Placement will be offered at AUD 5.65 per share, representing a 7.1% discount to the last closed price of IPH shares, and a 7.2% discount to the five-day volume weighted average trade price. Shares offered under the share purchase plan will be issued at the offer price, less the final dividend. The share purchase plan is not underwritten. Finally, looking at the capital raising timetable, this slide simply provides the key dates for the placement and the share purchase plan. I'll also point out that the other relevant information, including key risks, are included in a separate presentation lodged on the ASX this morning. I'm going to hand back to Andrew.
Thanks, John. Let me conclude with a summary of our priorities for FY 2025. We continue to build towards our vision of being the leading IP services group in secondary IP markets. Our key priorities in FY 2025 to support that vision will include: delivering organic growth in our domestic market and continuing to close our filings gap in Australia. The continued successful integration of Canadian IP firms to deliver cost synergies and client referrals. That also includes the integration of Bereskin & Parr into Smart & Biggar. Restoring organic growth in Asia. Continued focus on operating cash flow to maintain balance sheet flexibility to sustain dividends. And underpinning these activities, we're implementing the new operating model to support leadership coordination as we standardize processes and systems across the group.
While still early days, we're leveraging AI tools to explore efficiency in patent drafting and other areas of IP, and we continue to standardize processes across our member firm network and implement our Global Client Program to enhance service and marketing to clients. As I mentioned earlier, we've seen a recovery in the US PCT filing in recent months, which we'd expect to see reflected in improved national phase entries in secondary markets in the second half of calendar 2025. Finally, as it has been since the beginning of the IPH journey, acquisitions remain part of IPH's growth strategy. In closing, I would again like to acknowledge the hard work and contribution of all our people across the IPH group. Many thanks to all of you for your continued interest and support. Over to our moderator, and as always, John and I are happy to take 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 and two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask a question. Our first question comes from Apoorv Sehgal from UBS. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Andrew and John. First question, just on the acquisition of Bereskin. Would you be able to share a few other details on Bereskin? Maybe, like EBITDA margin, anything you can share on, like, historical top-line growth? Is it similar to the overall Canadian market or perhaps any different? And maybe just any, like, key differences of Bereskin versus the other three brands that you own that are just worth highlighting, whether it be culturally, customer need. Just anything important that you think stands out?
Just, on the first element of the question, Apoorv, in our announcement that had the, revenue for the 12 months was about CAD 60 million, and their, adjusted EBITDA of around CAD 11 million dollars. So that's a lower margin than some of our existing businesses, both, around the world and in Canada, so it's certainly something we'll be looking to improve. And having identified, some synergies as part of that transaction, we'll be aiming to address some of those in the near term, mainly in the first full year of acquisition. I think it has been a steady business, reflecting the, Canada's position as a secondary market like ours. So I think it's showed relatively, steady growth. Of recent times, it has showed a little bit, more accelerated growth.
We're very much looking forward to it having part of the IPH stable.
Okay. And then maybe a couple questions on the result, more specifically. Just on Asia, so good to see a slight improvement there in like-for-like revenues, down 1% in the second half. First half was down 3%. How should we think about FY 2025 then? Historically, Asia's delivered about a high single-digit revenue growth through the cycle. You will be cycling some soft comps in FY 2025. Do you think we can get back to that normal cadence of growth? And any observations over July, August would be helpful, please.
So I think, in reference to the previous levels of growth, I think it was more than likely to carry on, at least at a more moderate level for certainly the first half of FY 2025. That's reflective of Andrew's referring to those US PCTs. Really, we're suffering from a market dynamic in Asia. Having said that, we did improve in the second half of the financial year just gone, so we'd hope that trend would continue. We've announced and we'll be appointing a new CEO in that particular market, so we'll be hoping that that will bring with it some impetus to our Asian business.
But overall, probably it's more in the, I'd say, the 3-4% growth in Asia position than our historical, maybe 6 or 7%, for the next financial year. But in the presentation, we also point to the fundamentals of the Asian region for IP do remain very strong. We think that if there are some short-term things, they will indeed be short-term affecting the market filings.
Okay, so that's 3-4% sales growth in FY 2025 for Asia.
Well, that's more your EBITDA growth.
Oh, EBITDA growth. Okay. So maybe a couple % at the sales level?
Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. And is that probably- [crosstalk]
Hey, [audio distortion], it's Andrew here. Asia is exposed to the incoming markets of, particularly the US, and I think the first half will probably run on a similar momentum to what we saw in the second half of 2024. And then hopefully we'll get some flow through what started to come through on the US PCTs being nationalized in the second half.
At the same time, as part of that growth in the second half against first half, we've had a couple of client wins in terms of taking market share, and if we continue on that journey, we've got a new MD CEO, as John mentioned, he'll come in with some momentum behind him, and we'll try and do what we do well, and that is win work. That's what we're gonna aim to do.
Gotcha. Okay, no, that's clear. And just one final question, if I may, please. Just on for John, just on slide thirty-four, finance cost guidance for FY 2025. If I've read that correctly, it's about AUD 26 million, including lease costs. I think previously guidance was for AUD 32 million of net finance costs. So have I read that correctly? And presumably that reduction in guidance is just down to you're raising capital, so you're paying down some debt, so hence the lower interest?
So the last part is certainly correct, so but it was more to do with the repayments that we made in the second half of the year. So we've made repayments of AUD 70.4 million worth of debt in the second half of FY 2024, so that will be reflected in that particular guidance that you're referring to there, Paul. That doesn't reflect any further paying down of debt with the proceeds of the capital raise.
Okay. Great. Thanks, guys.
We shouldn't underestimate the importance of that. It actually underpins the nature of the business. It's built to generate cash, not only pay down that debt, which is significant, but also give an EBITDA of a 9% growth behind it. I think it's a hell of an outcome, and it just underpins the nature of this business, has been for 120 years. It generates cash flow there's no tomorrow, and that won't stop anytime soon. I hope. That's not under my watch anyway.
Thank you. The next question comes from Sam Haddad from Petra Capital. Please go ahead.
Oh, hi, Andrew. Hi, John. Just firstly, operationally, just going back to Asia, it's a good financial outcome in the second half. Can you talk a bit more? Was that more also to do with cost management and what was done there to improve there in terms of margins? And was it also a sales mix benefit as well, given filings has been weak?
Yeah, I think it's an interesting one, Sam. I mean, this business is a pretty high margin business, at 46% or 45%, where it probably was a year or two ago, 48%. So there's not a lot of costs that come out of it. It's had some client wins, as I say, some better outcome in BD, and I'll. You know, I think that they're hungry. They're used to being front runners, Asia. They don't like to be in the negative. So I see a lot of activity in that business in BD and BD outcomes where I expect that will only continue.
And what I love about the Bereskin & Parr acquisition is, as with all Canadian businesses, it adds the opportunity for client movement from that client base into Asia and Australia, but particularly into Asia, where we've got so many more jurisdictions now. So, no, I think it's a good second half for Asia. We're still not there, but we'll get there. And the addition of Bereskin will only help that story.
Just staying with Asia for now, I'm just, how are you thinking about your China footprint, given, you know, geopolitical uncertainties around potential additional tariffs and from the U.S. and that? Are you comfortable maintaining those two office footprints? And how's that, how's China doing as a separate business? Is it still profitable?
Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's profitable. This business is profitable. I mean, it's. Look, our, our exposure into China, and particularly, western clients coming into the region, we haven't changed that, that footprint. We continue to see good opportunities there. Ahead of China has been a part of that BD push, because it really, it's a difficult jurisdiction to navigate, and, it's one that, we're able to leverage our own client base well, and I, I don't see that changing. Look, we don't have a huge exposure to Chinese domestic clients in China. We have some coming into Asia and Australia and Canada, but, not so much domestically.
So we leave that really to the domestic Chinese firms, but we certainly focus on the international incoming, and we'll continue to do that, 'cause they're the same clients we have in Australia and Asia, and Canada. Excuse me.
Okay. And just on the regional operational model that you disclosed this morning and the AUD 5 million investment tied to that, how should we think about that in terms of, you know, EBITDA contribution in 2025? Is that a detractor or... I know the idea is to raise margins and top line growth, but what's the immediate impact in terms of forecasting that for 2025? Thank you. Thank you.
I think we did say the five million was on an annualized basis. So I think probably the majority of those costs will be coming through in FY 2025. The benefits of those which we've laid out are probably towards the back end of the year or maybe the year after. So just pointing to a couple of things within that basket of costs. One is a Global Client Program or some investment in BD. We'd be very hopeful that that delivers some form of return in terms of top line growth. And you also referenced the investment in our transformation office, and so we'd really like to get some of the projects that we're doing in the back office of IPH and overseeing those to be accretive projects.
And so certainly they'll be having targeted returns. And so I'd say as that gets up and running during the course of this financial year, we'll start to see some results from that in FY 2026.
Okay. So the net impact for 2025 will be negative, though, initially. Is that a fair comment on the EBITDA?
Correct, yes.
And just on IPH Way specifically, you've said that it's gonna take longer than expected. Are you still comfortable with the 5-6 million as a target at some point? And when will that... what's the revised timeline?
I think we are, Sam. So across a variety of projects, so, the initial project, which was a subset of the IPH Way, has just been launched within our Spruson & Ferguson business over the last month. I think we have probably seen some benefits. Difficult to quantify in terms of how it's contributed to FY 2024, but I think there has been some benefits reflected in FY 2024, and we'll probably see some element of that continue into FY 2025. The other elements, I think, yes, will more likely be back end of FY 2025 and 2026 and beyond, as there's other elements of that particular banner of project.
You're still comfortable with the five to six million over the, by the end of the project?
Yes, I would say it's from now. We've, we've already achieved some element of that. I'd say a further two or three years, that'll be achieved.
Okay.
Yeah, and underpinning that, Sam, we've got, we've made the appointment of the CTO into the group, and, we're very confident, confident rather that she will really drive an outcome in this business. And she hit the ground running in the last couple of months. I'm looking forward to more activity.
And how much has been achieved so far? Sorry, just to finish off on that.
Yeah, I said, probably difficult to quantify in the FY 2024 year. It'd be, anywhere between AUD 0 and AUD 1 million in contribution.
Yeah. And just quick questions on the acquisition. Can you talk about what your initial assessments are of commercial dyssynergies? What's the domestic versus U.S. client base? You know, just think for in terms of the client exposure versus the current footprint.
Yeah, no, that's a fair question, Sam. I mean, it's a from a patent perspective, it's about 40% Canadian domestic clients, which is a little bit higher than what say, Smart & Biggar or Ridout & Maybee would reflect. So it's got a good domestic client base of startups and SMEs, particularly out of the Mississauga, Kitchener area and not only Montreal. So in our hands, they're good clients for us 'cause not only do we handle their domestic work, but when they file outwardly into Australia and Asia, we like to think we can capture that more easily by doing a good job. So that's an opportunity for us. Of course, we can never dictate where the client files.
We certainly give them an offering which we think will assist that. So, we like that client base very much.
And commercial dyssynergies?
I think we've flagged 3.7 Canadian on a-
Did you say synergies or dyssynergies, Sam?
Synergies. Anything, any overlaps or anything that you see as-
Oh, dyssynergies. Sorry. Well, I guess as we get bigger in market share, the potential for dyssynergy in terms of commercial conflict does increase, but there's nothing there that gives us great pause. What I like about the Bereskin & Parr business, particularly, as well as their litigation, only about 5% of their revenue. So we're able to leverage that, the patent and trademark client base across the litigation base of Smart & Biggar, where they're going into. So I think just give their litigators in Smart & Biggar a bigger opportunity.
In terms of dyssynergies, 'cause Bereskin & Parr only has 5% of their revenue in litigation, where there are, and there will be a couple of cases that they're on either side of, but you have to walk away from, it's not that big.
Okay, great. Thanks for that.
Thank you. The next question comes from Richard Amland from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, guys. Got a couple quick questions on the acquisition, then a larger one. Can you confirm what the Canadian market share goes to with this new acquisition? And is there any challenge likely or potential coming from a competition regulator?
Yeah, I think, we're probably getting close to around the 35% patent market share levels, which, you know, based on advice we've had to date, we're pretty comfortable on.
Okay. Can you confirm, please, how many shares remain to be issued to vendors under prior acquisitions, and if they're not already in the share count?
There's a small amount from ROBIC,
Yeah.
And then that's from cash or shares. We can come back to you on that.
Yeah, I can't. Because there's always,
Element of shares in that, but it is a relatively small amount and it's a very small amount, I think, in the scheme of things.
Okay.
But in short, not many.
Not many. Okay. And then my larger question: I imagine there's gonna be some conversations with shareholders around the funding of this. Yeah, I don't think it can be escaped that the issue price is a five-year low. The share price over the last couple of years has been declining, and each acquisition seems to be, yeah, at a lower issue price. What can you give us a flavor of the board's, you know, deliberations or discussion around, you know, how they think about that?
You know, is there a point at which, you know, you, the board reflects back and just says: "Look, you know, maybe we need to get the share price going in another direction before we continue on the acquisition strategy?
Yeah, I think we all would love the share price to be higher. Don't get us wrong, we're not and I include myself in that as a significant shareholder. I guess what we've seen is feedback from the market in terms of our leverage position. We're comfortable with our ability to de-leverage, but of course, on an acquisition, we go back in that higher leverage ratio. So we thought that a reset opportunity was good. This is a modest, fairly modest raise of AUD 100 million with an SPP on top. I think we need to break that cycle, and this is a quality acquisition. Acquisitions have been part of our strategy since day one. Over 10 years, we've done 14 or 15 of these.
It's been a combination of acquisition and organic growth. So no, our strategy hasn't changed. And we took a, as I say, a modest position on the raise, and we're comfortable with where we land.
Okay. Final question from myself is, as a significant shareholder, will you participate in the placement?
I certainly hope to, but once I get the... Any of my transactions are always subject to board approval, as you'd imagine, and,
Yep
I can't say why I wouldn't.
Okay, but it's your intention to seek board approval to participate?
Everything I do with my shares, of course, I do a board report.
Okay. No, that,
I think that, yeah.
It's always a positive signal when to see, you know, insiders-
Yeah. I can't speak for the other directors, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if they come in as well. But I can't speak for them. I mean, I know what I can speak for, and
Okay
Well, that's my intention.
That's fair enough. I appreciate it. Thank you. That's all from me.
Thank you. The next question comes from Elizabeth Miliatis from Jarden. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. Just first one's just on the Canadian business. Now that you've got sort of four pretty major acquisitions, are you sort of done in terms of the acquisition strategy there, and think you've maxed out your market share potential there? And then also on Canada, how should we think about that margin in the next few years as you continue to integrate all the businesses together, capture the synergies, cross-sell, et cetera?
Yeah, sure. Look, as I say, I think the 35% market share is getting near a position where we're probably comfortable, and the additional acquisitions in this space are unlikely. Now, what we do see in these situations, and we see that in Australia in the past, given the size of our footprint and the offering that we have, we see some practitioners wanna come and join, and we wouldn't be surprised if that happens. That's not an acquisition per se, but they just come, and particularly some of their local clients, they all come with them where there's a closer relationship. So that's where we stand on the total market. In terms of the margin, I mean, the Smart & Biggar business hasn't got a bad margin.
It's probably high twenties, so I mean, it's not, when I compare it to our Australian businesses, it's probably a little underdone, and that's part of the reason why we do these integrations. We think there's margin improvement attached to that, which we've experienced before, whether it's done when we did Watermark into Griffith Hack, Shelston into Spruson, and Baldwins into AJ Park. They've all reflected an improved margin in doing those integrations, so we're on that.
I think there is a margin opportunity in Canada, and there's probably the only reason why I would see it being slightly less in Australia is because they have a higher proportion of litigation revenue, and Smart & Biggar, it's probably in the 20%-25%, whereas in Australia it's probably less than 5% across the group. So that may ameliorate the margin opportunity to a certain extent, but we've got a bit more to do on margin in Canada.
Okay, beautiful, and then just a second question on the Australian market share, and how you're feeling about that in the next, you know, 6, 12, 18 months?
Yeah, as I say, I think it's improving for us. We were certainly heading in a stronger direction when you look over a two-year period, and two years ago, we were at minus 6.5% to market. We're now two and a bit. We did have a pretty high hill to climb in June, 'cause last June, of course, we had a backlog of filings from the cyber incident in March, April, May, but made June bigger, so we went from minus one or 1.2% to minus 2%. I'm happy with the direction of our BD.
There's a lot of BD activity in the Australian market, which has been quite successful, not only in the context of new filings, but in terms of transfers, which I've spoken about in the past. And I'm looking forward to the overall market starting to turn in 2025, calendar year 2025, when those US PCTs have been filed in the last six to 12 months start to come through. And that's a good sign for us.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question comes from Chris Gallo from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, Andrew and John. Can you hear me okay?
Absolutely.
Beautiful. Maybe just to follow up on the previous question on Australian market share, are you confident that during FY 2025, you can return to market level growth in Australia? Or do you think you'll still be tracking slightly behind through FY 2025?
Oh, look, I would love a crystal ball, but I think, you know, our momentum is good. The activity is strong. We've just put in a major client person in Canada, appointment of a new initiative there, which is to drive opportunity from major clients, not only from the Canadian businesses into Australia, but and vice versa. There's more BD activity than we've ever had. I think we're doing all the right things there, and it's starting to, you know. I look back two years, it was, let's say, six and a half. It's now around two. Now, you never know, you pick up a large client.
I mean, the funny thing about this game is, a couple of years, maybe three or four years ago, when we first acquired the Xenith Group, is the Shelston IP firm acted for Oppo, which was a large client, still public information, which was the number one patent filer in Australia by a country mile then. Now, two or three years later, Oppo doesn't file in Australia or very little, which makes a major impact on market share. Now, those vagaries of the client are outside your control. It's just due to your exposure. There is certainly a little bit of uncertainty on how that will land, but we're doing everything we can.
And even in this context, you've got to remember, looking at our financial results here, which is the ultimate proof, this business is in growth, and for the strong growth for the first time for a number of years. So I think Australia is in very good shape, actually. Couldn't be happier though.
Yep, sure, and then on the Canadian business, do you mind just providing an update outside of the acquisitions, just maybe on a pro forma basis, how your filings tracked in 2024 versus 2023? Any comments you can give on market share in Canada, outside of the acquisitions you've made?
Yeah, market share is a bit trickier in Canada because there's a big delay in getting the information from the Canadian Patent Office. It's not quite as transparent as Australia, a bit like Singapore to a certain extent. What I love about Canada was the first half, second half split was so strong, which a lot of that was not only the improvement in litigation, which is very strong in particularly in Smart & Biggar in the second half, but also the patent part of the practice. There was some backlogs in trademarks that are starting to come through in Canada's driving opportunity. ROBIC, the other business, that's standalone is certainly in very good shape in Canada, both from the filings and advice litigation work. So no, I...
The fact that we've got double-digit revenue growth in Canada with an 8% like-for-like EBITDA growth is pretty good to me.
Yep. Okay. And then a final question, just following up on one of the previous questions about the raising. As you said, given the cash flow was pretty strong during the year, now you've raised back to one point seven times pro forma, after the deal. Just curious with your comment before that, you know, you feel like you're getting close to done in Canada. Should we read that the next acquisition for you guys is likely to be a step out into a new secondary market, or how should we think about the M&A strategy from here?
Oh, it's always been. Yes, it's always been our strategy in that sense, but and I've flagged that before to, in these forums, that that certainly is part of it. I think we've got a lot of work to do in the consolidation of these businesses in the short to medium term. And that's what we'll be focusing on. And there's others that have identified, including myself, we need a stronger share price.
Okay. Thanks, Andrew.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand the conference back to Dr. Blattman for closing remarks.
Oh, thank you, moderator. It's very kind of you. Look, interesting day today, a lot of moving parts with the results, the acquisition, the raise. I mean, you know, in a perfect world, we'd love to separate all these things out a bit more, but you can't control how things land in life, particularly acquisitions, and when they land, they land. So that's where we are. But I'm really pleased with the business. I'm so pleased to see Australia, New Zealand in good shape, for a number of years of change, through the significant integrations we've done in those business in the last five years. That's heading in very good shape. Canada's in good shape.
You know, you can't get, you know, they can't ask for much more than 10% revenue growth in a steady secondary market business, or 8% in EBITDA, and Asia is starting to turn. So let's keep that show going. Bereskin & Parr . A high-quality business, excellent patent and trademark attorneys, IP lawyers, and I look forward to seeing the same similar outcomes we've seen elsewhere in Canada in the last two years. We will be visiting that business. So that's where we are. But look, thanks for your interest. There are a lot of people on the call today, which is great, no surprise, and we look forward to meeting some of you in the next few days.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.