I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Justin Nuich, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
Thanks very much, Sherry. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Mader Group's full- year results presentation for the 2026 financial year. Joining me today as well is our Chief Financial Officer, Paul Hegarty. As Mader moves into its third decade of operations, we are proud to reflect on a milestone year for the Group, marked by strong achievements across the business. This year, we successfully closed out the final year of our first five-year strategic plan as a listed company, delivering record annual revenues of AUD 1,001,100,000 , a 15% increase on FY 2025. This incredible achievement reflects the discipline and precision with which our teams operate across the globe. Through their commitment, they have continued to grow our customer base, strengthen our market position, and further establish Mader as a leader in technical services across industries.
Our people have played a critical role in achieving the results we are presenting today, and I am truly grateful for their contribution. We have quite the deck to get through. With that said, let's dive into it. For those that are unfamiliar with our journey, Mader was founded in 2005 by our Executive Chairman, Luke Mader. Identifying an underserviced niche in the industry, Luke started providing flexible maintenance solutions to customers with a ute, or truck for our North American listeners, some tools, and a vision. Today, that vision has led Mader to become a global business, delivering a wide range of technical services across multiple industries in 10 countries. Backed by a team of more than 4,500 skilled employees around the world, we proudly provide support for over 520 customers in more than 685 locations.
As you can see on this slide, we have successfully evolved into a truly global diversified company with our unique business model replicated across multiple industries and service lines. By launching fully organic startups in new markets, expanding geographically, and broadening our suite of trades, we have delivered around 30% compounding annual growth over the last 10 years. As I mentioned earlier, this achievement would not have been possible without our people, which leads nicely into our next slide, highlighting the specialized workforce that makes it all happen. From the start, a core part of Luke's vision for Mader was to build a workforce where people not only take pride in what they do, but also get the job done while working alongside their mates. This idea has grown from one mechanic into a global business comprising a highly skilled team of technicians, each with diverse and specialized skill sets.
This includes heavy mobile equipment technicians, auto and high voltage electricians, road transport and light vehicle mechanics, fixed plant trades, welding and fabrication, and so much more. While we strive to build meaningful careers for people at any stage in life, as you can see on the screen, around 60% of our workforce is under the age of 35. This is largely driven by our culture and the flexible and adventurous career pathways that our roles offer. Mader's unique offering typically attracts people who are looking for more than just a job, rather a career full of endless adventure and opportunities. From flexible rosters, site variety and diversity across industries, locations and equipment, we invest heavily in our people so we can deliver opportunities that are truly unrivaled within the industries we work.
The two core drivers to this are our bespoke culture-led programs, Global Pathways and Trade Gears, which I will speak more on later. However, one thing that has remained unchanged since day one is our commitment to the safety of our people. This financial year, Mader reported a total recordable injury frequency rate of 3.65 recordable injuries per million hours worked. Mader's strong safety track record was supported by ongoing education, innovation, and investment in our Geared for Safety programs. This continued the strengthening of Mader's engineered safety controls within its global service vehicle fleet, as well as hosting more safety-focused Mader Days across our global operations while continuing to recognize positive behaviors through field-based safety awards and engaging video campaigns that reinforced our commitment to sending everyone home safely. Moving on to the executive overview. I would like to provide a quick summary of our FY 2026 highlights.
In FY 2026, we delivered a record annual revenue of AUD 1,001,100,000 , an increase of 15% versus the prior corresponding period. NPAT closed out at AUD 65.4 million, up 15% on the PCP. Furthermore, our balance sheet was strengthened, delivering a net cash of AUD 35.7 million, up from AUD 8.3 million of net debt versus the PCP. The labor markets in which we operate continue to exhibit extremely competitive conditions. However, through our multidimensional recruitment pathways, strong brand, and attractive employment opportunities, we delivered strong net headcount growth of circa 600 during the financial year. Demand remains strong across all regions, with our core mechanical and other industries' vertical service offerings consistently meeting customer needs. The North American segment continued its steady growth profile, delivering $186.6 million in revenue, a 12% increase on the PCP, or more importantly, a 17% on a constant currency basis.
We successfully closed out our five-year strategic plan, exceeding market guidance year on year during this phase. Let us have a look into how our geographical segments performed. As you can see on the left, in Australia, revenue was up 16% versus the PCP, delivering AUD 797.7 million. Infrastructure maintenance and ancillary services delivered strong revenue growth of 45% and 37% respectively versus the PCP. In North America, revenue increased by 12% or [17]% on a constant currency basis, producing $186.6 million for the full year. We also achieved a record headcount of 660 employees within that region. In Canada, headcount growth was supported by our Global Pathways program, which deployed more than 240 technicians in FY 2026. Jumping over the rest of the world operations, we provided specialist services and technical support to customers in seven countries across Africa, Asia and Oceania.
We mobilized close to 50 technicians to fulfill those projects in these regions. I will now pass over to our CFO, Paul to run through the financials in more detail. Paul, over to you.
Thanks, Justin. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us on the call this morning. As Justin mentioned, we delivered record annual revenue of AUD 1001,100,000 , up 15% on the PCP. This result marks the end of the Group's first five-year plan as a listed company and is a significant achievement. When this plan was enacted in FY 2021, our annual revenue was circa AUD 300 million, delivering an NPAT of AUD 19.3 million. To be standing here today, having delivered the strategic plan outcomes and being part of a much larger, more diversified business, is a momentous occasion and something we at Mader are all extremely proud of. Importantly, this revenue growth has been delivered to plan and not at the cost of lower margins.
Over the last five reported financial years, the Group's NPAT margin has not deviated by more than 0.6% between the highest and lowest reported year. From a shareholder perspective, EPS increased to a record of AUD 0.322 per share, an increase of 14% versus the PCP. The Board has elected not to declare a dividend in respect of this financial year, given a number of organic and inorganic growth opportunities that are being considered at present. Let's move on to the financial position. As you can see, our asset base primarily comprises cash on hand, trade receivables, and property, plant, and equipment. Our trade receivables position is largely with tier one principals and large mining contractors, and generally, touch wood, we don't have any abnormal credit risk profiles on the debtor book. Our DSO improved by two days during FY 2026, closing the year at 67 days.
Our disciplined use of capital and asset base is reflected in our return on invested capital, which was 25% in FY 2026. Importantly, this isn't a one-off. These returns have been consistently delivered at this rate over many years. Likewise, when it comes to our return on assets, that closed FY 2026 at 18%, a slight improvement on the PCP. We are well supported by our Australian lenders, in particular NAB and Westpac. The flexibility that has been established, excuse me, within our finance facilities allowed us to respond quickly to opportunities when necessary.
Finally, we announced about 18 months ago a plan to transition the business towards net cash in the medium term. I am pleased to update you that this has now been achieved with a net cash position at 30 June of AUD 35.7 million, up from a net debt position of AUD 8.3 million at the PCP.
This will allow greater flexibility and freedom to make strategic decisions around future growth. Now on to the cash flow slide. Our net cash flows from operations was AUD 85 million for the year. Our intense focus on EBITDA conversion was maintained. Operating cash flows before interest and tax as compared to EBITDA were 99%. This reflects the quality of our client base and trade receivables ledger, as I mentioned earlier. Free cash flow generation continued to improve year-on-year. In FY 2026, the Group generated AUD 57.5 million of free cash flow. This is reflective of the shift in capital requirements as the Group expands its revenue base into new opportunities that are extremely capital light.
This is expected to continue into FY 2027, with our CapEx expected to be between AUD 30 million and AUD 35 million for the year, which is about the same level as it was in FY 2026. Given this, strong free cash flow generation is expected to continue into the new financial year. As I mentioned earlier, the Group is now in a net cash position, much to the disappointment of our lenders. This places Mader in an enviable position to tackle the next phase of growth. This funding flexibility will be critical to achieving the next five-year strategic plan, which Justin will talk about in a few slides' time. That's all from me. Back to you, Justin.
Thank you, Hegs. Good set of numbers, mate. Well done. Righty-ho. Five years ago, the board laid the foundation for our future by setting out some key areas of focus in our first strategic plan as a publicly listed business. Since then, this has been a blueprint to guide our growth. The strategic plan set growth targets and operational goals in four key areas while keeping culture at our core. Number one was geographical diversification. The second was service line diversification. Third, expansion of industry verticals. And fourth, and definitely not least, of course, to scale the existing business. Further, ambitious stretch targets for NPAT were set and successfully exceeded. Now, with our first five-year strategic plan complete, we look forward to the next five years and continued long-term growth beyond.
This five years we are embarking on is the next stepping stone on the way to a generational plan to build Mader Group into a large global industrial conglomerate. So let's take a deeper look at what the future looks like. Over the next five years, Mader will activate accelerated growth initiatives in new service verticals as part of our global expansion strategy. Our focus will be on front-end loading of high-growth areas, mergers and acquisitions, increased development pathways, capital investment into growth, and new market ventures. All building blocks to lead Mader towards the goal of becoming a globally diversified industrial conglomerate. As always, Mader's strong culture continues to be the foundation of its business model. So let's have a look at what's expected over the coming years. Over the next five years, the business expects to deliver the following things. Circa 15% EPS growth per annum.
Existing strong margins are to be maintained. Capital investment of AUD 30 million-AUD 50 million per annum, and expansion into new markets. These initiatives will be pursued while maintaining a measured leverage position and delivering market-leading returns on capital. Now that we've covered our growth trajectory, let's have a look at the core building blocks for delivering this next phase. To deliver the next phase, Mader is focused on the following five core building blocks. Continuing to increase our footprint into the opportunity-rich North American market. Continuing expansion across industries in Australia. Adding new verticals beyond our existing service lines through organic and inorganic means. Investing in workforce development pathways and maintaining our culture-led approach. Together, these building blocks position our business to sustainable growth while staying true to the values that define our success. Let's jump across to our workforce.
A key differentiator for Mader is its unique global workforce opportunities and culture-led approach. Our success is built on attracting and retaining a highly skilled team that delivers a premium service to our customers worldwide. We support our people through structured career development, including the Global Pathways initiative, which creates opportunities to work and grow across international markets, which I'll touch more on shortly. We also invest heavily in our leadership capability, strengthening our entire leadership team to drive strong, accountable operational performance. Complementing this is Three Gears, our employee engagement and retention program, which helps build culture from the ground up. Together, these initiatives create a motivated, capable workforce that underpins Mader's long-term growth. Let's jump across to investing in our people. This is a key pillar for Mader's long-term success.
Through mentoring, training, and structured development programs, we create clear career pathways that support progression from field-based roles into leadership and management positions and beyond. This approach has helped build a strong homegrown leadership pipeline from within the business, with 89% of Mader management and 82% of general managers and executives beginning their career as technicians. In addition, our general managers and executives have an average tenure of 11 years, reflecting the strength of our culture and employee retention. By investing in our people, we strengthen culturally aligned leadership capability, preserve operational expertise, and support sustainable growth across the entire organization. Let's look at how we're unlocking our opportunities globally. Our Global Pathways initiative connects our people with career opportunities across the world.
With employees already participating in overseas placements and two-way transfers between Australia and North America underway, the program supports talent mobility, workforce development, and access to global talent pools. FY 2026 alone saw more than 240 specialists deployed to North America and almost 50 across other countries in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Global Pathways has been a key enabler of both employee growth and Mader's international expansion. I think needless to say, with the assistance of Albo and Jim's latest budget, it has never been easier to convince people to embark on an offshore opportunity. Now let's look at our offshore demand over coming years. The demand for skilled tradespeople continues to outpace supply, creating a significant workforce challenge across Australia's mining and resources sector.
As you can see on the slide, more than 24,500 additional VET-qualified workers are needed by 2035 to meet Australia's mining and resources needs alone. With that said, access to skilled labor will be a key differentiator, and Mader's investment in recruitment, training, development, and retention positions our business to meet this demand and support ongoing growth. This challenge really puts Mader in the box seat to utilize its many angles it has to fulfill the gaps on top of our existing 4,500 people, creating a significant moat to get started. On the topic of talent, let's have a look at one more of Mader's key training and upskilling programs. As we've seen in the previous slide, demand for skilled technicians continues to grow.
Mader is proactively investing in its future workforce, and one of the ways we do this is via the Trade Upgrade program. This program helps bridge the skills gap by developing and upskilling tradespeople across key markets while creating long-term career opportunities for employees. Since inception in 2019, over 520 apprentices have graduated from the program across Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, and Canada. Let's take a look at our multidimensional recruitment model. As represented in this slide, Mader's workforce pipeline is supported by a multichannel recruitment strategy that has been designed to deliver skilled talent at scale. By combining employee referrals, international mobility programs, new talent pools, team-led hiring, and rapid mobilizational capabilities, we can efficiently attract and deploy employees where they're needed the most. This recruitment model and approach supports growth while maintaining the flexibility to respond to changing customer demand.
Let's jump across and take a look at the resilience of the Mader business model. This is probably one of my favorite slides. This slide highlights the resilience of our business model and its ability to deliver consistent growth across varying market conditions. Over the past decade, the business has achieved a revenue CAGR of approximately 30%, growing from AUD 43 million in FY 2014 to AUD 1 billion in FY 2026. Importantly, this growth has been achieved despite significant fluctuations in commodity prices across iron ore, coal, copper, and gold being our highest- exposure commodities. Mader's reactive service model allows the business to capture opportunities through commodity cycles, while our employment model provides flexibility for employees and helps protect margins. In addition, the continued diversification of service offerings reduces the reliance on any single commodity or sector. Let's take a look at the opportunity ahead of us in Australia.
In addition to our core business, Mader also sees strong growth opportunities across infrastructure, transport and logistics, and defense, with the defense sector allocated a budget of AUD 897 billion over the next decade. All of these sectors and opportunities share a common need for reliable maintenance services, skilled technicians, and mobile workforce solutions in an already depleted trade-based labor market. With a strong pipeline of infrastructure investment, a large national freight network, and substantial long-term defense spending, these sectors represent incredibly attractive opportunities to diversify revenue streams and expand Mader's addressable market within Australia. Moving on. The next slide illustrates the mining process from extraction at the pit through processing, rail and road transport, and ultimately to port operations for export. Today, approximately 93% of Mader's revenue is generated in the excavation and extraction phase of that value chain.
This highlights the significant growth opportunity within the resources industry itself. As maintenance expenditure continues across every stage of the process, Mader is well positioned to leverage its existing expertise, workforce, and customer relationships to expand further downstream. By increasing our presence across processing infrastructure, transport networks, and port operations, we can capture a greater share of mining maintenance spend and unlock additional revenue opportunities throughout the entire pit-to-port journey. Let's cross over to North America, the land of opportunity. North America remains a strong growth segment for Mader, with a CAGR of approximately 54% since entering the region. It demonstrates market acceptance and execution capability. Although our entry has been strong, we are still relatively early in our journey in the region with great prospects for expansion and growth.
The opportunity for Mader is to continue replicating our proven Australian model across the North American market, which is several times larger in scale, which we will have a look at now. Australia remains Mader's most mature market, generating approximately AUD 800 million in FY 2026 revenue, compared to approximately AUD 190 million in North America. That said, despite North America's smaller current revenue contribution, the region presents a significantly larger addressable market and a substantial growth runway. To start, North America has a population of more than 620 million people, compared to around 27 million in Australia, providing a much larger labor and customer base. The mining and resources sector is materially larger, with about 3,500 active mines and projects versus approximately 900 in Australia. As you can see, resource production is also significantly greater across run-of-mine, gas, and oil production.
With a relatively small share of a very large addressable market, North America remains a key long-term growth driver for our business. The focus is on expanding service lines, increasing market penetration, and leveraging Mader's workforce model to capture a greater share of this opportunity. Let's have a little look at the opportunity ahead. On this slide, we compare Mader's North American business today with where the Australian business is currently positioned, highlighting the significant growth runway that still exists. Australia is a mature and diversified operation, with HD mechanics making up around 46% of the workforce, supported by a broad mix of trades and multiple service verticals. In contrast, 97% of North America's workforce is currently made up of HD mechanics, reflecting the business's early stage of development in that region.
Labor shortages across North America, driven by an aging workforce and declining trade participation, creates strong demand for skilled technicians and specialized workforce solutions. Programs such as Mader's Global Pathways Initiative are helping the business access international talent and support workforce growth in this region. Let's step across and have a look at our approach to growth as a business. Mader's growth strategy has historically been built on organic expansion, underpinned by technical capability, strong customer relationships, and a culture-led approach. Now, in our third decade, this approach has enabled us to successfully enter new markets and expand into new industries while maintaining operational discipline. Our culture remains a common foundation across every growth initiative, providing a scalable platform for entering new sectors and geographies.
While organic growth remains the primary focus, we also remain open to small strategic acquisitions where they can accelerate growth and capability or provide access to attractive markets. The philosophy is simple: acquire small, then scale hard. Mader has a proven framework for growth, build capability, leverage culture, enter new markets, and scale efficiently over time. As mentioned in the previous slide, while organic growth remains our primary strategy, we are also evaluating targeted acquisitions. This focus is not on large transformational deals, but on acquiring businesses that complement Mader's existing capabilities and culture. Acquisitions can significantly accelerate revenue generation and market entry, allowing Mader to establish a presence much faster than building organically from the ground up. A key benefit is immediate access to established customer relationships, proven market credibility, and existing revenue streams.
These acquisitions will also overcome barriers to entry, such as in high- opportunity sectors like defense, where acquiring can provide access to specialized licenses, accreditations, and technical capabilities, as well as work panels that would otherwise take many years to develop organically. Let's have a look over at the FY 2027 outlook. If you cast your mind back to slide 10, where we touched on our strategic plan, this slide shows our progress against the NPAT target set. As you can see, for the entirety of our first five-year strategic plan, we have not only achieved but exceeded our NPAT targets. These results highlight the strength of our scalable operating model and execution capability. To summarize the approach for the next five years, our goal towards becoming a globally diversified industrial conglomerate is well underway. During this next phase, the business expects to deliver the following.
Circa 15% EPS growth per annum, continued strong margins, capital investment of AUD 30 million- AUD 50 million per annum, new market expansion, a measured leverage position, and market-leading return on capital. With existing solid foundations, Mader is strongly positioned to continue building a global business at scale that pushes boundaries and delivers long-term value for our shareholders, customers, and employees alike. I'd now like to cover our FY 2027 guidance. FY 2027 is a year of heavy strategic investment and front-end loading of high-growth opportunities.
We expect revenue of at least AUD 1.13 billion of NPAT and at least AUD 72.5 million. Sorry, AUD 1.13 billion of revenue and NPAT of at least AUD 72.5 million, all while expanding into new markets and backing high-growth opportunity. We will continue building an opportunity war chest to capitalize on future growth prospects. Our focus is simple: build scale, strengthen our portfolio, and deliver market-leading returns over the long term.
Now let's take a look at our investment case. With FY 2026 wrapped up, I'm filled with confidence as we enter this new financial year. For current and prospective investors, Mader presents a robust investment opportunity with many prospects ahead. Backed by a nimble, adaptable business model, we have grown to have a market cap of around AUD 1.27 billion today. The resilience and hard work of our team shines through in many areas, and with them behind us, we will continue to deliver a superior service for our customers and value to our shareholders. So that concludes today's presentation. Thank you for joining us, and we'd be pleased to take your questions at this time.
Thanks very much, Justin. All right. If you do wish to ask a question, please do so online and I'll moderate from here. The first question comes from Jonathon Higgins, Jono, from Unified Capital Partners. Good morning, Jono. Jono's first question here is great job on achieving the long-term targets, which is good. Going from AUD 300 million of revenue to AUD 1 billion organically with a small amount of capital is increasingly an achievement. Can we spend a bit more time on the 15% per annum target, Justin? We're quite large at the moment, and the law of large numbers means it gets harder and harder. Will this growth be a mix of organic and inorganic or mostly small bolt-ons, noting the balance sheet strength?
Yeah, no problem. Thanks, thanks, Jono. If you haven't heard enough of my voice yet, we'll keep going.
Keep going.
Yeah, look, 15% year- on- year, they are big targets, especially off the base that we're off. Look, I think hence the guidance for this year. I must really just double down on the investment in some of the new opportunities we're looking at. We've just taken on the other side of our workshops, so we've doubled the size of our workshop capability, so putting 8,000 m under roof. We've started up a defense business, so obviously the start-up of that and associated staffing of that. We've brought in executive and C-suite level people into key infrastructure and projects roles, as well as support teams to focus on supercharging those. We've incorporated an indigenous joint venture within the infrastructure and rail division, and then also working in the background on a couple of large opportunities as well. Needless to say, those require some significant investment.
We see the markets, we see the opportunities. North America remains a massive addressable market for us that, again, we'll throw horsepower at. It gives us nothing but confidence that that 15% over the medium and long term will be achieved, Jono.
Thanks, Justin. Question here on FX headwinds in the financial year. I'll take that, and you can have a rest. There were a little bit there. I guess the FX impact to the revenue line was about AUD 8.2 million to the negative. So we would've been closer to AUD 1,010,000,000 without those FX movements. The NPAT impact was close to AUD 800,000. So it would've been north of AUD 66.1 million NPAT without those FX headwinds. Perhaps spending a bit more time on those new verticals, Justin. Which of these are most likely, probably the infrastructure maintenance space you'd say generally in Australia? Anything further to add in that space?
No, look, we've done a fair bit of DD on defense. We know how big that industry is and the spend that's coming up and to sit there and be a passenger would be naive. So we've chosen to be a participant there. We're well on the way to tendering work in defense. Infrastructure maintenance, as you said, Hegs, look, we've brought in some executive and C-suite horsepower to really supercharge that effort there. That is huge. As well as rail and road transport. The North American market as well, needless to say, you saw on the slides how big that is. We're seeing tailwinds in both the U.S.A. and Canada. So again, we'll throw the kitchen sink at making sure that that has the support needed to scale as quickly as we need it to.
Thanks. Question from Joe House from Bell's. Good morning, Joe. In North America, what vertical market penetration is the easiest to deliver in the near term? Is it infrastructure maintenance?
Yeah, we reckon it is too, Joe. Look, I think some of the service lines as well, like our electrical trades, fabrication trades, and the like that we support within our core business as well, would be up there. Infrastructure definitely and certainly seeing some big projects come online that we could definitely play a support role in at this point in time.
Thanks, Justin. Another question from Jono from Unified. Any further information on rest of world, how we are feeling about that in the second half, and then I will talk about guidance assumptions.
Yeah, no problem. Thanks, Jono. Look, rest of the world, we are always busy doing a bunch of business development. Obviously, that went backwards a little last year and the reason for that was a large contract that we had with ArcelorMittal has come to an end, which was only a finite amount of time anyway. We have started some other stuff up in New Zealand. We are doing another job in Africa as well. So it will always be ebbs and flows with that rest of the world business, but we would love to keep doing that to create opportunities for people that want those opportunities and will continue to do so.
Thanks. Then just to round out your question then, Jono, FY 2027 assumption from rest of world is sort of not much coming from a growth perspective there. We think if we can hold the line there with a little bit of growth, it would be a good thing, but we are not putting too much against that for FY 2027. The growth will come out of Australia and North America. A question from Gavin Allen from Euroz Hartleys. Good morning, Gav. When thinking about the 15% medium-term and long-term growth targets, can we take this to be organic growth with inorganic growth perhaps accelerating this from time to time? How do we feel about that?
I think you probably said it perfectly there, Gav. Yeah, look, organic will contain most of our sort of growth effort. But yeah, obviously inorganic will accelerate things from time to time as we see the opportunity to springboard us beyond what we can do organically.
Excellent. Thanks, Justin. Question from Naika Palma from Euroz Hartleys. Good morning, Naika. In FY 2027, NPAT growth guide is 11%. Is this deliberately conservative given the investment phase with an upside skew to FY 2028 as those investments mature? Now, don't answer the conservative bit, Justin. You'll have to talk to that, but you can answer the next bit.
Sitting next to my concerned CFO. No, thanks, Naika. Yeah, it definitely is. But we also have had enough organic startups to know that these things don't just turn on and it produces bulk NPAT and revenue on day one. They take a while to get going, to get teams in there, to win work, to mobilize and start really tipping in in a meaningful way. So we are allowing for that this year. We are investing hard. We know the opportunity's there. We believe in it. But we're not naive enough to say it's going to turn on in H1 2027. Like, that is something that we're really investing hard in now to supercharge the rest of our five-year plan. If you look beyond the 11% this year, our EPS guidance is 16% over the five years.
If we sort of take those short-term lenses off and have a look sort of beyond FY 2027, the investment today will pay dividends into the future. So it's kind of a go slow, go fast approach, if that makes sense.
Very good. A question from Indy from Bell Potter. Morning, Indy. I love the question about M&A. As soon as you say it, everyone wants to ask about it. A question around M&A. Can the existing business deliver this 15% CAGR growth without any M&A? Justin, over to you.
I think we probably could, Indy, to be honest. But we're committed to exploring M&A, and as I said before, I think where it makes sense, and where it can give us a springboard beyond what we can do organically, we'll definitely consider and definitely take up those opportunities as they arise, if they make sense.
Very good. Just a clarification on CapEx for you there, Indy, as well. The guide of AUD 30 million-AUD 50 million per annum in the long-term plan, that is excluding M&A. So that's service vehicles and tooling and the like that we need to deliver the revenue growth. It's not including any M&A allowances in that number. Okay, moving down. A question from Matt [Joss] from Naveen. Morning, Matt. Can we talk about defense industry and what we're thinking about there and the size of that opportunity? How do we feel about defense, particularly given all the AUKUS changes happening in the next decade?
Yeah. Thanks, Matt. Good to see you've read the annual report. You're up early with the sparrows as always. But yeah, look, we made a small acquisition into defense. It was a small consulting-based company, mainly white- collar. But it gives us our dispersion, it gives us panels on labor panels, and essentially some experts within the defense industry that are going to help us get going within defense. So needless to say, we are busy tendering for work in defense and working with other primes and partners within that industry. We're in a good position to head into that into FY 2027.
Thanks, Justin. A question from John Ferguson from the Australian Shareholders' Association. Good morning, John. His question is, 12% of the Mader workforce are auto and HD mechanics. With the shift to electrification across the Australian economy, are there plans to boost this 12%?
Good day, John. Good to hear from you, mate. Yeah, look, absolutely. Needless to say, the effort towards electrification both in mining equipment and infrastructure and renewables and the like, is real. We think, and again, that's probably another investment that we've made in supercharging our electrical divisions. To one, recruit electrical trades, but also our training departments that have very successfully been upskilling people through Trade Upgrade programs and the like. To look at dual trading, to look at how we train to task on some electrical works that are required. To answer your question, John, we expect to see that piece of the pie graph grow significantly over the coming years.
Thanks, Justin. Another follow-up question from Indy, from Bell's. North American margins, FY 2026 EBITDA 17.5%. Historically, the margins have been 20%. How should we see the margins for this business? Great question, Indy. We saw second- half EBITDA margins in North America improve by about 1%, and that's helped FY 2026 overall margins come up. We think that the 20% target that we've talked about is very real, and in sight for FY 2027. There's been a lot of good work completed in that market as well as the significant pipeline of new opportunities in North America that will only improve the margins across the world over there. Perhaps on that, Justin, we are pretty buoyant about North America, both U.S.A. and Canada. Do you want to talk about the general state of the nation over there?
Yeah, can do, Paul. Look, I think, probably starting with Canada, that has I think outperformed everybody's expectations, probably even including our own. Continues to be a great proving ground for us. The team up there have set up an absolute force of a team. We would have, I would say, circa 150 to 200 vacant roles to fill in Canada as it stands today, which is, I suppose the demand for our product, the demand for skilled trades, and I suppose the opportunity that provides for our business to fulfill those roles. The U.S.A., again, seeing some great tailwinds. I think the current administration, criticize it as you will, but certainly pro-industry. I would say as well as everybody with a golden collar on at the moment is trying to pull as much dirt out of the ground as they can.
Hence the activity there has grown significantly. To see both North American opportunities really pushing in leaps and bounds, it is great to see and we do not really see that changing over the medium term. We think the opportunity is real. Those addressable markets are there. We think it is really go time as far as how we accelerate just beyond HD mechanics in North America, bringing in our other service lines, looking at other opportunities in different industries, and scaling as hard as we can.
Very good. I think we have probably got time for one last question, again on M&A, because that is what we have opened the door on that. A question from Vivian Lynn from [Argonaut]. Good morning, Vivian. Any color on M&A pipeline? Anything currently advanced? Or is organic still the focus for us at the moment?
Yeah. Thanks, Vivian. Look, certainly some stuff well and truly in advanced discussions on the M&A pipeline. I will not provide too much color on what that is at the moment. But yeah, there are probably two in particular that are down the track on a bunch of discussions. But again, they are not transformational giant acquisitions. These are things that are going to springboard us into opportunities that would take us a little longer to do organically.
Very good. Well, I think that might be the end of the time that we have allocated for questions. We will leave it there. Thanks very much for joining us this morning.
Thanks, team.