Okay, I think we're good to get going. We're good. Computershare, thank you. Appreciate that. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Steve Sargent, and I'm the Non-Executive Chairman of Nanosonics Limited. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our shareholders today here at the company's headquarters in Macquarie Park in Sydney, and also to those shareholders joining us online. It's my privilege to chair this 19th Annual General Meeting of the company. I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the various lands on which we're meeting today and pay our respects to all Aboriginal elders, past and present, and acknowledge today's Aboriginal communities who are the custodians of these lands. With me in the room here today, I'm joined by the Nanosonics Board of Directors, our Company Secretary, and representatives of the company's auditor, Ernst & Young.
I've been advised by the Company Secretary that we have a quorum for this meeting, and I therefore declare the meeting open. The number of valid proxies received by 11:00 A.M. on Monday, the 3rd of November, was 330 proxies, representing over 221 million shares, or 72.79% of the company's approximately 304 million shares on issue. In accordance with the Corporations Act, the minutes of this meeting will record, for each resolution, the total number of proxies exercisable by all proxies validly appointed, the directions in which the proxy forms, and the results of the polling. I would like to take the opportunity to introduce the Board and the Company Secretary and the Company's auditors. So, up the front here, we have our Managing Director and CEO, Michael Kavanagh. Then, to Michael's left, we have our Non-Executive Directors, Tracey Batten. Larry Marshall. Lisa McIntyre. Marie McDonald. Gerard Dalb osco.
And our Company Secretary down the front is Matt Carbines. As required by the Corporations Act, the Company's Auditor, Ernst & Young, is also in attendance today, represented by Ms. Vida Virgo, who's sitting down the front here. Vida oversaw the Nanosonics engagement on behalf of Ernst & Young pertaining to the audit of the full year 2025 accounts. The Board, Company Secretary, and the Company's Auditor are available to respond to any of your questions you may have during the meeting. Also present are members of the Management team who Michael will introduce during his address. Today's meeting will commence with my hairman's address. Then Michael will then deliver his address. This will be followed by the formal business of the meeting.
As this AGM is being conducted in- person and online, I will now provide some basic housekeeping instructions on how to ask questions and how each group of shareholders should vote. For those shareholders joining online, shareholders can ask questions, which may be written or verbal. Online attendees can submit questions at any time. To ask a question in writing, select the Q&A icon. Type your question into the text box. Once you have finished typing, hit the send button. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time during the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated or amalgamated if we receive multiple questions on the same topic. There is further information contained on the meeting platform under the Q&A tab for shareholders that wish to ask questions verbally.
For those shareholders in the room joining us here today, please raise your blue Voting Card if you wish to ask a question. One of our staff will provide you with a microphone for you to use when asking the question. We will set aside time after each resolution and before we vote to ask any questions that pertain to that resolution. In accordance with our usual practice, in addition to having an opportunity to ask questions on the resolutions, we will also invite general questions after the formal business is closed. We'll get through the formal business, and then what we typically do is have a more lengthy open mic conversation about the business to avoid these questions, and we do that so we don't mix all the questions up between the resolutions.
For those shareholders joining online, while there will be time for voting after I have introduced each resolution, you may submit your votes at any time until I declare the poll closed. There will also be some time to complete your voting after we have addressed any questions that are raised in relation to the resolutions. If you are eligible to vote, once voting opens, press the Vote icon, and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, simply elect one of the options. There is no need to hit a Submit or Enter button, as the vote will automatically be recorded. You will receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting is closed.
For those shareholders joining in person, after I call for a vote on each resolution, all persons entitled to vote will be given a moment to complete their voting card before I move on to the next resolution. Voting will be conducted on each resolution by poll. For this purpose, I now declare the poll open. Now it's my pleasure to deliver my Chairman's Address. It's a privilege to reflect on a year of meaningful progress and growing global impact. As Chairman, I'm proud to share that our flagship trophon technology now protects over 28 million patients annually across the globe, a powerful demonstration of our commitment to innovation, reliability, and clinical excellence in infection prevention. There are now over 37,000 trophon installed base units worldwide, serving as a strong testament to the trust our customers place in us and the dedication of our team in infection prevention.
This trust is further strengthened by successful release of trophon3, our next-generation technology, setting new benchmarks in ultrasound probe disinfection by providing the highest level of cleaning outcomes in the industry, 40% faster. We're also excited about the upcoming phased commercialization of CORIS, our transformational endoscope cleaning technology. CORIS represents a major leap forward in infection prevention practices in endoscopy. Converting a manual cleaning process to an automated t raceable process. It's designed not only to elevate standards of care but also to support clinics, staff, and the environment through a smarter, automated solution. You can see a CORIS device outside after the meeting. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our global team, now over 470 strong, who are united by a shared mission to improve the safety of patients, clinics, and their staff, and the environment by transforming infection prevention.
I want to extend my thanks to each member of the Nanosonics team for their passion, innovation, and unwavering commitment throughout the year. As we look to the future, it's clear that the healthcare landscape is evolving rapidly, and Nanosonics is well positioned to lead through this change. Healthcare technologies advancing and clinical applications in ultrasound and endoscopy are expanding. At the same time, healthcare-acquired infections remain a persistent and serious challenge, impacting patient outcomes and placing pressure on healthcare systems globally. In this environment, the automation of manual processes represents a powerful opportunity. By enhancing efficacy, reducing human error, and streamlining workflows, automation allows clinical staff to focus more on delivering high-quality patient care. Likewise, the growing importance of digitization and traceability is reshaping healthcare operations, driven by the need to meet regulatory standards, support audit readiness, and ensure patient safety.
Hospitals are also navigating a complex operating environment, facing work shortages, inflationary pressures, and tighter budgets, and evolving payment models. These challenges demand smarter, more efficient solutions. At Nanosonics, we're responding to these forces with a clear focus on patient care, safety, and innovation. Our commitment is to support healthcare providers as they adapt and evolve and ensure they are equipped with the tools and technologies needed to meet the demands of modern healthcare. As we reflect on our performance and look ahead, I want to highlight how Nanosonics continues to deliver meaningful value for both our customers and our shareholders. We are proud to be recognized as the trusted leader in Automated, High-Level Disinfection for Medical Device Reprocessing. Our large and global installed base is not only a testament to our leadership in Infection Prevention, but it's also a foundation of our High-Margin Recurring Revenue Growth Model.
We've maintained a disciplined approach to capital allocation, which is driving operating leverage and EBIT growth today. At the same time, our strong cash generation and high return on capital from the trophon business are enabling us to invest in the future. Through product innovation, market expansion, and the commercialization of CORIS. We are confident that these investments will unlock our next horizon of growth, reinforcing our position as a leader in Infection Prevention and supporting long-term value creation. In addition, we believe Nanosonics itself is a great investment opportunity. Reflecting more closely on the financial strength of our business, we are pleased to announce today Nanosonics will be launching an on-market share buyback program of up to $20 million in financial year 2026.
As you would expect, capital management forms part of every budget cycle at Nanosonics, and our announcement today is in line with our considered approach, which includes Board and Management analysis of our operating cash flows, planning tolerances, and maintenance and growth CapEx requirements. With no debt, a history of predictable cash flows, and a cash balance of $161.6 million at the end of June, we are in a strong position financially to implement this buyback while continuing to invest in our continued growth. This initiative reflects our disciplined approach to capital allocation and our confidence of the company's financial strength and future growth. As we grow the business, we're mindful of our responsibility to ensure we do so sustainably, wherever possible. In full year 2025, we achieved major milestones converting the Australian and U.S. operations to 100% renewable energy, reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 56%.
Looking ahead, our targets reflect our commitment to continuous improvement. We aim to further reduce our emissions in other markets and prevent Scope 3 emissions by relocating consumables manufacturing closer to our customers. We're also focused on safety, targeting below-industry safety incident rates and delivering on our inclusion and belonging objectives. At Nanosonics, we're committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance. Our Board is composed of individuals with diverse experience across healthcare, science, law, commercialization, and finance, each bringing independent judgment and strategic insight. This year, we continued our process of thoughtful renewal. We welcome Gerard Dalb osco to the board, whose financial acumen and governance experience will further strengthen our capabilities. He joined as a Non-Executive Director in January earlier this year and was appointed to the role of Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.
We also thank Lisa McIntyre for her nearly six years of service as she steps down from the Board at the end of this AGM. Lisa has been an absolutely tremendous contributor to this company, and we'll miss her. We believe that a well-balanced, Independent Board is essential to guiding the company through its next phase of growth while ensuring accountability and alignment with shareholders' interests. I would like to thank all Board Members for their contribution and their ongoing commitment. Before handing over to Michael to provide an operational and financial update to shareholders, let me thank you, our shareholders, for continued support and belief in Nanosonics. We delivered strong financial and operating results, advanced our sustainability goals, and continued to invest in future growth. These achievements reflect the dedication and people. It is a real strength of the company today.
As we look ahead, we remain focused on creating long-term value through continued growth and patient impact. We're excited about what's next and very proud of what our team has achieved, and we remain confident in our future. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the world is a better place with Nanosonics in it. Thank you very much. I'm now going to invite Michael to say a few words.
Thanks very much, Steve, and a very good morning, everybody. It's great to see you all here, and in particular, some regular faces. Michael, wonderful to see you again this year, and a special call out as well to Maurie Stang, who has joined us this morning, who, for those of you who don't know, is the Founder of Nanosonics. And Maurie, welcome. Great, you could make it. And of course, to everybody that has joined online.
Steve did mention the executive here. I'm not going to embarrass everybody by asking them to stand up and introduce themselves, but the Executive here, they're the ones that are wearing ties and looking really good. It's the first time they've worn a tie since last year's AGM, myself included. But please do avail of their presence at the end of proceedings to catch up with them and ask any questions, as they're a fantastic team and really driving the growth of this business. So FY 2025, it truly was a great year of progress for Nanosonics. We delivered, I think everybody can agree, very strong financial results, and we importantly achieved some very important operational milestones as well for the business. That truly does set us up for the ongoing success.
But before we dive into the actual numbers, I want to reflect a little bit on something that is just as important, and that's the mission of this company. And if we were to measure our performance against the mission of the company, what would that scorecard look like? I think that's always important to reflect on as well, because the mission is not just something you post on a wall. It's something we should all live by. And truly, here at Nanosonics, it is the foundation of everything we do at the company. It's not just words on a page, as I say. It's the reason we innovate. It's the reason we invest. The reason we succeed. And indeed, many, if not the majority, of people who joined the Nanosonics team are attracted to the business because of the mission.
And I imagine that many of you shareholders are also attracted to the business because of the mission of the business. And so what would our scorecard actually look like? Well, the mission itself is constructed very, very purposefully into three dimensions: the why, the how, the what. The why we exist, the how we make a difference, and the what we deliver. So if you take the why we exist, as it says here, the statement on our mission statement is to improve the safety of patients, clinics, their staff, and the environment. So what does our scorecard look like there? Well, with 37,000 trophons in operation globally, that equates to about 28 million patients being protected from the risk of cross-contamination on an annual basis. And that number grows on a daily basis.
From a clinics and clinicians perspective, clinics, we reduce the risk of HAIs, which can have major impacts in clinics. And for clinicians who have to do reprocessing compared to the old antiquated methodologies they used to use, well, then they've now got an extremely safe product with trophon. It's enclosed and that can be there used at point of care. And from the environment perspective, we take that very, very seriously. And so the environmental output from trophon is just oxygen and water. So the scorecard on the why is not looking too bad, and we are looking with CORIS to be able to deliver very, very similar outcomes to support our why as a business. On the how. And that how is by transforming the way infection prevention practices are understood and conducted.
Well, we have transformed the traditional mechanisms of reusable medical device reprocessing by bringing automation through trophon, through clinical studies, education, and clinical engagement. We've actually helped establish guidelines in a number of countries, and that's leading to more ultrasound procedures now requiring high-level disinfection. And that leads to more patients being protected. And we've done this with trophon, and the intention, again, is that we're going to do that again with CORIS. And the what we do is by introducing innovative technologies that deliver improved standard of care. Well, we've delivered trophon, and if you look in the U.S., here in Australia, some of the Europe markets, it's become the new standard of care. So that truly is innovation. That is adding a lot of value. And our goal is definitely to achieve the same for CORIS.
So I think our scorecard, when we look at the mission, is not looking too bad. Numbers, of course, do matter. And in FY 2025, it was a year of very, very strong financial performance for the business. So total revenue reached AUD 198.6 million. So that's up 17%. And that was driven by the capital revenue growth of 9% to AUD 52.5 million for the year. That was with 3,870 trophon units sold. And, of course, recurring revenue growth of 20% for the year to AUD 146.1 million. And this recurring revenue, I think it truly does reflect the strength of our consumables and service business, which, of course, is powered by a large and expanding installed base. And together, that helped drive our cash reserves higher, of course. Profitability, it grew 72% to AUD 22.3 million in the year. And that's while we continue to invest in R&D and operational capabilities.
And that's included the expansion of our talent, our new U.S. consumables manufacturing that we're setting up over in Indianapolis, enhanced digital infrastructure that we're building within the business, and, of course, a new ERP system that has just gone live, and all of that to support scale. But if you actually step back and take away some of the investments we're making in the future, especially on the CORIS side, and just look at the trophon business itself and the strength of the trophon business, that core trophon business alone delivered AUD 52.8 million in profit. That was up 31% in the year. And that demonstrates the growth potential, the ongoing growth potential on this business. And we truly do remain confident. Especially with the recent introductions of the latest generation trophon3, the trophon 2 Plus.
That we'll be able to continue to drive that growth in our ultrasound reprocessing. But a little bit about that later on. Cash flow. For the year, again, very strong, AUD 32 million. And we now have predictable cash flows coming through in the business on an annual basis. And with AUD 161.6 million in cash at the end of June and no debt. Our balance sheet definitely is in excellent shape. And as announced earlier to the ASX, and as Steve just mentioned in his address, we are initiating an on-market share buyback of up to AUD 20 million for this year. And that is a new element, I guess, this year for our disciplined capital management. And I think this buyback, it reflects three things, really. It's one, the robust financial position that the company is in. Second, consistent cash flow generation that we have coming in on an annual basis.
But most importantly, our confidence in our long-term growth outlook for the business. But importantly, with the cash reserves we have, even post this buyback of AUD 20 million, it is important just to remember that we retain the full flexibility to continue investing in innovation, in operational expansion, and initiatives to deliver. Sustainable value for all of us as shareholders. And that includes continued growth in our trophon business, of course, the controlled market release, and then the broader commercialization of CORIS, ongoing investment in R&D, and any potential bolt-on acquisitions as part of our product expansion strategy that we may identify. So in addition to the strong financial outcomes for the year, we also achieved a lot of i mportant operational milestones during FY 2025. And all of these milestones are truly foundational for our next phase of growth as a business.
From an innovation perspective, we secured the FDA de novo clearance for CORIS. We've developed and recently launched the third generation of our trophon technology, but also a software upgrade, our trophon 2 Plus, that can bring many of the benefits of that trophon3 to the over 20,000 or so trophon 2 devices that are out there in the marketplace. And with our R&D efforts, we've also expanded our patent portfolio with seven new patent families over the last 12 months, most of those associated with CORIS, as you can imagine. On the operations front, we've established a CORIS supply chain. Manufacturing setup for the capital equipment here in Sydney. We're establishing and got regulatory approval for manufacturing of consumables. So that will both be for trophon and for CORIS in the United States, in Indianapolis.
We've expanded our service infrastructure as a business, and that's important because service actually is one of the fastest growing parts of our business and continues to do so. And very recently, we also signed a 10-year lease for a new HQ and manufacturing laboratories facilities. And that move is anticipated around April 2027. Not too far from here. It's on Thomas Holt Drive, about 300 m walk from the train station. So still staying within the same precinct, but one key benefit of the move is that we'll have manufacturing labs and the headquarter functions all under one roof, whereas today manufacturing is about 400 m away from this building. We're also investing in our overall digital and connectivity strategy. And that's a really important aspect of our growth moving forward. And digitalization in general, it is important for us in healthcare.
And connectivity and traceability in infection prevention is growing definitely in importance. We recently cut over to a new ERP system, which we've been working towards for a number of years now. And importantly, we have established a cloud infrastructure for connectivity and traceability with trophon3 and trophon2 Plus. So that delivers, and that cloud capability and that connectivity certainly delivers new capabilities and value for our customers. On the digital front, we also continue to strengthen, I guess all companies have to. Our security, cybersecurity posture with recertification to the higher ISO 27001 requirements. So these achievements, I think, together with many more throughout the year, do certainly position us for the next phase of growth for the business.
As we do enter that next phase of growth, it is important to reflect not just only on the immediate, the short-term objectives, but to step back a little bit and think about the broader ambition as a company. And we all know the healthcare landscape is undergoing a lot of transformation, and that's driven by rapid medical innovations, evolving patient expectations, as you can imagine, increasing global demands for safer, more sustainable care. And at Nanosonics, our aim here is not to merely adapt to these changes, but our goal is really to actively participate in those changes, especially as they pertain to the future of infection prevention. And our long-term strategy is very much guided at the moment by our aspiration to truly redefine how reusable medical devices are reprocessed. And in doing that, set new standards of care that improve patient safety and healthcare outcomes.
And this aspiration, the core areas, of course, span ultrasound reprocessing. So that is our trophon franchise, but we're on our third generation, and it doesn't stop there. You can expect a four, a five, etc., with trophon. So we do continue to innovate and lead, and importantly, setting the benchmarks for safety, efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability. trophon certainly sets the benchmarks there. For endoscope reprocessing, this is a category that does require transformation. And to improve patient safety, you've all seen the data. We've presented it numerous times. And we believe the CORIS innovation, just like trophon has done, can transform that area and set new benchmarks. But we're also interested in not just stopping with ultrasound reprocessing and endoscope reprocessing. We are looking from a product expansion perspective to expand into adjacent categories. And so we're committed to research and development.
And perhaps we may look at some bolt-on acquisitions if we can identify and execute on something that is attractive for us, customers and shareholders. Delivering, in addition to product innovation, of course, is delivering customer value through new recurring revenue streams. And those recurring revenue streams, they'll only work if they really do focus on meeting customer needs. And that actually is a core component of our ongoing growth strategy. And this involves expansion of our consumables offerings as well as our service offerings. And in addition, offering the digital services through subscription-based solutions, which trophon3 and 2 Plus have enabled. That can provide ongoing clinical and operational value that is expected in time to become a pretty significant part of our product offerings and revenue mix. And another key aspect when we talk about digitalization is building an intelligent ecosystem, a connected intelligent ecosystem.
And our goal is to create this connected ecosystem that really seamlessly integrates into hospital workflows. And this not only delivers real-time data access for hospitals' traceability and compliance purposes, but the potential for real-time device monitoring that can deliver data-driven insights for different stakeholders, including ourselves. And that can range from predictive analytics that can really reshape how we think about service and delivering service to analytics for the customer that can improve clinical decision-making. What has been built in trophon3 can actually enable that. And by virtue of the fact we've built our cloud infrastructure, we're in a position to be able to act on that moving forward. So the aim of this digital transformation journey is to unlock new efficiencies, really elevate standards of care, and position Nanosonics, I guess, as a leader in intelligent infection prevention, not just infection prevention. International expansion.
That's also a key component of our future growth plan. While continuing to invest in Europe and Japan, and I think Katsumi Murayama , our Head of Japan, is. He may not be in the room, but he's certainly in the building. You might see him at the end. A lot of really great things happening in Japan. But we do see CORIS as a potential catalyst for broader global expansion. Why? The standards and the requirements for endoscopy reprocessing are well-established internationally. And we believe that CORIS is well-positioned to actually meet or even exceed the expectations of some of those standards over time. So we do see that that could be a catalyst for our geographical expansion. Of course, none of this is possible without a strong organizational foundation.
And we are definitely investing in organizational excellence, from talent development and leadership capability to evolving our operating models, decision-making frameworks. And we continue to strengthen the culture within the organization, really one that embraces innovation, agility, and accountability. And we further aim to empower our teams now with tools, data, and mindset to drive smarter, faster, and more informed decisions as we move forward. And really, all of these investments that we're making. They do ensure that Nanosonics remains resilient as a company, but also really responsive and ready to lead a dynamic and what is a global healthcare dynamic and changing global healthcare environment. In the more immediate term. Just a few comments on trophon. Because there are many growth drivers to the trophon business. And to strengthen our market leadership in ultrasound reprocessing, we recently did launch the next-generation technology. That's trophon3.
And trophon3, it truly does embody our commitment, I think, to continuing to deliver the gold standard in efficacy while adding important new customer benefits. And that includes, with trophon3, a significantly faster cycle time, over 40% faster. But importantly, as I mentioned earlier, those broader digital integration capabilities and integration direct to patient files, which is important. In addition, we also launched trophon2 Plus, and that's a software upgrade for existing trophon2 customers. And that software upgrade can bring the majority of the new feature set. To the trophon2 device. And that's great because our goal is to get as many of these devices connected as possible over the coming years. And installations of these are now happening, and I'm pleased to say that customer feedback has been very, very positive.
So we do see sustained and strong growth opportunity in our trophon business, and that is driven, and our strategies around our trophon business are driven by five core growth strategies. The first very much focused on capital growth, and we do expect continued expansion of our installed base and growth in our upgrades, especially with the new generation being introduced. And. We've got over 10,000 of the original EPR devices out there, and they can now skip a generation and go straight to a trophon3. And there's a lot happening t here, too. Get those customers converted across. Software upgrades, that's really the trophon2 Plus. And I think that will become quite a meaningful part of the business. Our focus at the moment is getting the capital upgrades as opposed to the software upgrades as to where we're directing our efforts.
But I think in time that those software upgrades will become quite meaningful for all the existing trophon2 players. Consumables growth. And that's just not in the core consumables for the disinfection, but our ecosystem. So the products that we bring for our customers to cover the whole value chain that they have to go through from a reprocessing perspective. Service expansion. And as I mentioned earlier, service is one of the fastest-growing parts of our business. And so we see that continuing to grow. And that'll be driven by the ongoing growth of new installed base, but also as upgrades come through. Because many of those old-generation devices, if you remember, were originally placed by GE Healthcare. Now we're selling the upgrades, and in selling that upgrade, we capture the service contracts as well. So we're expecting strong growth in our service.
And as I mentioned earlier, with the connectivity and digital capabilities in these new devices, we certainly do believe that that will become a driver of revenue growth moving forward as well. So a lot of opportunity. Moving very quickly on to CORIS. And last year was a really important year for CORIS and marked by a number of really important major milestones, but importantly, the establishment of a clear pathway now towards broader commercialization, which we talked about in August. And those key achievements in FY 2025, of course, we had the FDA de novo clearance. That's a big, big achievement for the business. And that opens the door for the 510(k) submissions. We have the operational foundations to scale up this business. Be it manufacturing here, what we're doing in Indianapolis.
And during the year, we did an awful lot of market awareness coming from the clinical studies that we have developed in the business. So looking ahead, I'm pleased to say that the first 510(k) has been submitted to the FDA. Fortunately, that first 510(k) got into the FDA a couple of days in advance of the government shutdown in the United States. But people there, they're still working. And so that is going through the process. So that's great news. The first 510(k) for expanded indications has been submitted. And now that that is just submitted, that paves the way for our European and ANZ certifications. And on approval in Europe and ANZ, we will commence what we've referred to in the past as that controlled market release. And followed by the U.S., we'll do the controlled market release on approval of the 510(k).
And this measure, this controlled market release, that is a very measured approach. And what it does is it ensures real-world feedback and then optimizes readiness for broader commercialization. So these steps that we are making with CORIS are very deliberate. And they are very strategic, but it's all very much focused to set us up for the long-term success with the product. And with over 60 million flexible endoscope procedures annually, and that's just across the top seven markets, CORIS does represent a substantial growth opportunity over time. So we want to get this right. Our CORIS model, just as a reminder, it does mirror trophon's multi-revenue stream approach, but even with the potential for greater recurring revenue potential. And while we expect capital volumes may be lower, and that's due to the fact that CORIS, the endoscopy processing is done centralized.
Our expectation is that the revenue per device will be a lot higher because there'll be a lot more cycles going through each device at a higher price point as well. So we do believe that CORIS is very much positioned to transform endoscopy processing globally over time. And FY 2026 will certainly be a year of ongoing disciplined execution, but also exciting progress, I believe, toward broader commercialization in 2027. So in closing, I do want to extend my sincere thanks to the incredible Nanosonics team. The achievements that we did achieve in 2025, which we've outlined today, are a result truly of the passion, the expertise, the commitment of every person here in the company. And I think together, our team, your team, your company has built a very strong foundation that's not only strong, but very much positioned for significant growth moving forward.
Our guidance for FY 2026, that remains unchanged. We gave good guidance at the August result. That guidance remains unchanged. As we outlined in August, we continue to take a disciplined approach in navigating the macroeconomic uncertainties, including evolving global trade and tariff dynamics. We're managing that. Timing of the trophon3 launch, which was mid-Q3 or mid the first quarter, I should say. That did result in fewer units going through manufacturing overall in that first quarter, which then led to the requirement for more air freight in the first couple of months. And so from a, that's resulted really in a transitional impact on gross margin, still within guidance, but we expect improvements of that to come through as we get closer more towards later H1 and definitely into H2.
And these factors, they're all fully reflected in our annual outlook, and we certainly remain very confident in delivering our projections for the year. So in closing, an exciting, I believe, future lies ahead. One where Nanosonics continues to lead in infection prevention, expand into new markets, deliver sustainable value for patients, clinicians, and you, our shareholders. And I'd like to thank, just like all the team here in Nanosonics, I do want to take the opportunity to thank you all, our shareholders, for your ongoing support. For your trust and belief in what this great company can achieve. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Michael. Another really strong year the team has executed on. I will now move to the formal business of the meeting. The notice of this meeting was circulated to shareholders, and copies are available at the registration desk and on the Nanosonics website.
I propose that the notice be taken as read. I will now outline the procedure for this part of the meeting. Prior to calls for a vote on each resolution, the resolution and proxy votes will be shown on the screen, and I will invite questions or comments that are specific to each resolution at the time they are read. As mentioned, voting on each resolution will be by poll. For shareholders who are online, you may either cast your vote at the time of the resolution is read or complete voting on all resolutions after I have read all the resolutions and we've concluded answering questions on these resolutions. I'll then provide a warning that the poll will be about to close. For those shareholders in the room, I have the following specific instructions. Please use your blue Voting Cards.
After I call for a vote on each resolution, all persons entitled to vote will be given a moment to complete their Voting Card before I move on to the next resolution. On the reverse of that blue Voting Card is your voting paper and instructions. For proxy holders, you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your open votes for any votes you are entitled to cast. For shareholders, you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your vote. Once we have completed all the resolutions, a representative from Computershare will then come around and collect your completed voting cards. If you require any assistance during this process, please raise your hand and the Computershare team will come and assist you.
As Chairman, I've been given a number of undirected proxies, and I will vote these in favor of each resolution in the poll. The persons entitled to vote on the poll are all shareholders, representatives, and attorneys of shareholders, and for those in the room, proxy holders who have the blue Voting Cards. For those shareholders joining online, questions may be submitted at any time whilst the resolutions are being read using the functionality that I've previously described. Questions will be considered and answered for each resolution when the resolution has been read. However, there will also be a pause at the end to ensure all shareholders are afforded an opportunity to ask any questions. I will now turn to the first item of ordinary business, and that is to receive and consider the company's reports for the end of year, 30 June 2025.
No formal vote is required on this item of business. I would now like to pause for a few moments to invite any questions for shareholders on this item. We are open to answer any questions on the financials. We've also got Vida Virgo and her team. We've got a question here. We've got a microphone. Thank you.
Peter Bretton, shareholder. Your research and research in upgrading trophon, etc., is the research amount capitalized or expensed for the year?
No, we expense all. Oh, good. Yeah. So. Good question. Any other questions coming online? Great. Thanks. The first resolution is the reelection of myself. And as it relates to me, I've asked Marie McDonald to come up and take the lectern. Thanks, Marie.
Resolution one concerns the election of a director, Mr. Steve Sargent. Steve was first appointed to the board in 2016.
He was lead independent director and deputy chairman until his appointment as chairman of the board in July 2022. This resolution seeks shareholder approval of his reappointment. Steve's reelection is unanimously supported by the Board. I would like to invite Steve to say a few words in respect to Resolution 1.
Thanks, Marie. Thanks very much. Appreciate it. So, folks, I'm seeking your support for reelection as an independent non-executive director of Nanosonics. As Marie mentioned, I joined the Nanosonics Board in July 2016 and was appointed chairman in July 2022. I also chair the Nomination Committee, and I attend all meetings of the Board's committees. Having now served for nine years, I'm seeking to continue for another term to help guide the company through this next phase of growth.
In addition to my role at Nanosonics, I also serve on the board of Ramsay Health Care and also on its European subsidiary, Ramsay Générale de Santé, which is listed on the Euronext. The experience I bring to Nanosonics has been developed over more than 46 years across multiple industries and geographies. I spent 22 years with General Electric leading businesses across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand, spanning healthcare, energy, and financial services. Prior to that, I had senior roles within Westpac, both in Australia and in the United States. As a Director, my focus is on providing strong operational and people leadership grounded in a deep understanding of how to drive performance in complex, globally dispersed organizations. I am passionate about ensuring our people remain engaged, aligned, and inspired by Nanosonics' purpose and the important role we play in infection prevention.
I also bring extensive experience in the medical device sector, including new product development, global supply chain management, along with a deep understanding of the international markets and their relevance to Nanosonics' strategy. Finally, my work across several public company boards has reinforced my commitment to good governance, disciplined risk oversight, and a culture of accountability. Principles I apply actively to my role here. Nanosonics is an important phase of its evolution. I am confident and excited about its future, and I'm committed to guiding it on this journey. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today. With your support, I would be honored to continue working with my fellow directors and the management team to deliver sustainable value for our shareholders, customers, clinicians, patients, and employees. Thank you very much.
I can certainly attest that Steve brings all those skills and experiences and more to our Board.
So thank you, Steve. The resolution and the proxies received for Resolution 1 are shown on the screen. Shareholders are invited to vote on the resolution at any time before the formal business closes. I think that I can say congratulations, Steve. Well done, and I'll surrender the lectern back to you.
Thanks, Marie. Thank you. Thank you. We'll move on to the next resolution. Resolution 2 concerns the election of a Director, Gerard Dalb osco. Gerard was first appointed to the board earlier this year in January 2025, and this resolution seeks shareholder approval of his appointment. Gerard's election is unanimously supported by the Board. I would now like to invite Gerard to say a few words in respect of his reelection. Thanks, Gerard.
Thanks, Steve. And good morning, everyone. Today, I'm seeking your support for election as an independent non-executive director of Nanosonics.
As Steve said, I joined the Nanosonics Board in January this year and have since served on the audit and risk committee, which I now chair, and the people, culture, safety, and remuneration committee. My professional background spans more than four decades across professional services and governance roles. I retired from EY in 2020 after a career which saw me hold a number of senior leadership roles, including Oceania managing partner and CEO, Asia-Pacific joint deputy CEO, and Managing Partner, transaction advisory services across Oceania. In these roles, I led large teams across multiple regions and advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, financial due diligence, and strategic growth. Beyond my corporate career, I have extensive governance experience. I currently serve as a Non-Executive Director at Medibank Private Limited and Chair Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, which operates 300 schools in Victoria.
I also chair the Gillespie Family Council, who are the owners and founders of the Baker's Delight business. Previous governance roles include roles at Mercy Health and Aged Care, Berry Street, Victoria, and the Committee for Melbourne. What I bring to Nanosonics is an Independence of Thought, a deep understanding of risk and governance, and a commitment to ensuring robust oversight of financial integrity and strategic decision-making. Independence, to me, means asking the hard questions, challenging assumptions, and ensuring that every decision serves the long-term interests of shareholders, customers, and the communities we impact. As Steve indicated, Nanosonics is at an exciting stage of growth, with opportunities to expand globally and continue innovating in infection prevention. My experience in financial strategy and governance will help support the company as it navigates these opportunities while maintaining strong risk management and compliance frameworks.
It's been a great privilege to contribute to the Board since my appointment in January, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside my fellow directors and our talented management team to deliver sustainable value and transformative healthcare outcomes. Thank you for considering my election. I very much appreciate your support. Thank you.
Thanks very much, Gerard. Gerard has been a tremendous addition to the Board. Do we have any questions? We do.
I don't have a question. Mr. Chairman, what's the cycle? On Gerard's appointment. This question comes from Mr. Stephen Main. Yep. And the question reads, "Thanks for disclosing the proxy position early. Why was there a 5% protest vote against Gerard on the proxies? Did one of the proxy advisors recommend against? And if so, what was the issue?"
That's a great question. So, one of the proxy advisors was ISS. They raised a concern in their voting recommendations for both myself being on the Board for nine years, and questioned whether I am still independent. And the second issue they raised, where they actually still said you should vote for me, but the other one was with regard to Gerard. Gerard, as he explained, had an extensive career with Ernst & Young. Ernst & Young have been our auditors for six years, seven years. Yeah, a long time now. And Gerard worked at EY in Melbourne, had absolutely nothing to do with Nanosonics, may not have even known if Nanosonics existed, right? Had no involvement in the audit chain, whatsoever. But however, ISS have this, quite frankly, ludicrous policy of "If you've got some involvement here, you can't be independent." And so that was it.
Once we explained, a couple of folks, Matt, Catherine Strong, our IR person, we got the help of an outside firm. So we spoke to a lot of investors to give that context, and 94.77% said, "Yeah, I know where I'm voting." So that's the answer to that question. Anything else? Thank you. For Resolution 3, the remuneration report is required to be considered for the adoption in accordance with the Corporations Act. The Remuneration Report forms part of the director's report and appears on pages 42- 65 in the annual report. The vote on this resolution is advisory only and non-binding. The resolution gives the members the opportunity to ask questions or make comments concerning the Remuneration Report to the meeting.
The chairman of the meeting, other directors, other key management personnel, or any of their closely related parties will not be included in the votes on this resolution. Where in my capacity as Chairman, and I am holding undirected proxies and the appointer has authorized the Chair to vote undirected proxies on this resolution, I will be voting in favor of the resolution and the proxies received on Resolution 3 are shown on the screen. Are there any questions on the remuneration report, Matt? Any communications on the Remuneration Report internally here? Okay. So I invite shareholders to vote on this resolution. Before the end of business, the formal business closes. We'll move on to the next resolution, Resolution 4. This resolution contains the issue of 59,233 service rights to the Chief Executive Officer and President, Michael Kavanagh, under the short-term incentive for 2025.
The resolution of the proxies received for resolution four are shown on the screen. Shareholders are invited to vote on this resolution anytime before the formal business closes. Are there any questions internally? Nothing here in the house, but we do have a question online, Matt.
We do have a question online. So this is coming from a Mr. Bhavesh Shah and Mrs. Harshini Shah, and it relates to the STI, which is the subject of this resolution. And the question is as follows. Why switch to the STI metric from PBT to EBITDA now? And what guardrails ensure this doesn't encourage acquisition for the sake of boosting EBIT? So us acquiring other businesses.
Okay. So that's not looking back. That's looking forward, I think. Correct. Right. And it's EBIT. It's EBIT. It's not EBITDA, right? So. In terms of the financial metrics we look at each year, we really look at the strategy of the company, how the team is performing, and make sure that are we aligning the team to help us achieve the strategy. And as the company evolves, we're gaining more net income, whereas in the past, we were really heavily focused on R&D, which we continue to do forward. But as the company's matured, we've been able to generate earnings. And we just got to make sure that we tweak those metrics to make sure the team is incentivized and rewarded for continued ongoing performance in quite a volatile environment. What prevents the team from doing. I don't know what the word was, harebrained acquisitions? One, I've got enormous trust in the team. But number two, the Board at the head of this room here has got an awful lot of experience.
And Michael can't buy a company for a dollar without the approval of the Board. So. That would be the control factor for. Their question. So I invite shareholders to vote on that resolution. We'll now move to Resolution 5. Resolution 5 concerns the issue of 405,184 performance rights to the Chief Executive Officer and P resident, Michael Kavanagh, under the 2025 long-term incentive. There are a number of refinements in the LTI framework going forward, and they're outlined in our notice of meeting, but also in our Remuneration Report. The resolution of the proxies received for Resolution 5 are shown on the screen. Do we have any questions in the room? No questions in the room. We've got one online.
Yep. So another question from Mr. Bhavesh Shah and Mrs. Harshini Shah. It relates to the LTI.
With LTI back to company-wide EPS CAGR, what three-year EPS CAGR range are incentives calibrated to? And what portion of that depends on CORIS milestones ?
Got it. So the CAGR range is identified in the. Or the CAGR is identified in the notice of meeting. It's clearly identified there. How we get to that target is that. A couple of times a year, we sort of look at our annual budgeting cycle, but also we budget out to three years and in some cases out to 10 years to understand the ongoing performance of the company. And we look at what that three-year target could be and then appropriately set the EPS, the earnings per share target based on that.
Good. The second part of the question is about CORIS. Yep. And what proportion of that depends on the CORIS milestones?
There will be CORIS revenue three years out. For sure. So. Great. So shareholders are invited to vote on the resolution at any time before the formal business closes. Our last resolution is Resolution 6, and this considers the reapproval of the Nanosonics Global Employee Share Plan, under which securities may be issued for the upcoming three-year period before it must be renewed again. And our share plan for employees that is renewed every three years. Are there any questions internally? Doesn't look like it. And nothing online. So I encourage you to vote. I'll pause here for a moment or two to provide shareholders with a further opportunity to ask any questions in respect of any of the six resolutions. Nothing from has come up online. And as a reminder to send a question, we can go through. Sir?
Okay. My name is Enzo Prata. I am a shareholder.
And the question I have is, I understand is that the trophon product will progress beyond version three. So we will have trophon4 , trophon5, whatever. On the other side, we have CORIS. It's not clear to me what is the relationship between the two. Is CORIS a long-term replacement for trophon or as a complementary?
Great. No problem at all. I will answer your question. That's more for the general business once we finish the voting. No problem at all. So we welcome the question. The way to think about it. trophon and the ecosystem of service and products and consumables is for primarily the cleaning of ultrasound probes. So you think of an ultrasound when you go in and get a scan. It's purely for ultrasound probes. CORIS is purely for flexible endoscopes. Think colonoscope, think endoscope, think bronchoscope.
All the various scopes that doctors use to look inside your body. Two very different platforms, very different markets. They both have different characteristics. So similar model where we sell a capital item and then have a lot of consumables and an ongoing service relationship.
Okay. Thank you very much for that.
No problem. If there are no further questions, we can go to the General Business section. And we keep the voting open, don't we, Matt?
I think we'll close the meeting for.
You want to close? Okay. So we'll close the meeting now. But then we can go straight to. And so folks can get their votes in. And then we can go to more general questions. So if you can get your votes. Yes? Just a general question. Yep.
Well, actually, I've got three little basic questions.
The first one is when let's say you're an American hospital, large hospital, and you want to buy two trophons, which is even better. Presume they're all made here in Australia. So they're constructed here and shipped over. The Australian government would be very proud of you. They want more industry in this country. The second question. Yes. You have. Take the trophon, for example, using Hydrogen Peroxide. When you sell a trophon to a hospital, do they must use the Hydrogen Peroxide that you produce? That's very reassuring because otherwise they could use any Hydrogen Peroxide for many. Yep. Thanks. And the third one is about servicing. So if it's necessary to service a trophon, let's say that's been there for a while, it's presumably done digitally.
Okay. Great. So three great one comment, two questions.
Your first comment, when you go outside and look at the trophon out there, you'll see on the front door, we've got a boxing kangaroo on the front. Proudly made in Australia. That's it. Wonderful. Right. In fact, some of the trade shows the team in the U.S. attend. In one of them, they actually had a wallaby, didn't they? They actually had a live wallaby attend this trade show.
It's education.
Yeah. I'll let you take two and three, Michael.
Great to see you again. The second question with respect to Hydrogen Peroxide. Yes, it has to use our product. It has to be our product. We've got a number of patents on it that protect us legally. The other part to take into consideration is what's approved from the regulator is the system. It's our peroxide and the machine together.
So to get the actual peroxide just approved for use in the device, well, we're certainly not going to help anybody do that. The third protection I would say is we continue and have done years and years of probe compatibility work with all the OEMs. So we're now probably close to 1,300, 1,400 probes that are compatible with the device. That's with our peroxide. And so if anybody was to come in and try to put their Nespresso pod in our machine, so to speak, well, the reality of it is it would invalidate all of that warranty and the work that's provided.
And then service?
On the service side, I mentioned earlier about connectivity. And where you're going is exciting because the ideal of having service done digitally is ideally that's the ultimate goal.
There'll always be mechanical times when there is a mechanical problem where it'll have to be a physical service. Today, at the moment, we do have what's called an Annual PM, a preventative maintenance service, and then it's a break fix if something breaks down. But it's a very, very reliable machine. There's some out there that have been in operation for many, many years, which is a testimony, I think, to the design, but also the service that the team provided.
Thanks so much.
Thank you. So if I can, we'll go to more questions, but if I can just declare that the polls closed now. Thanks. And we'll now invite more general questions. We've got a question over the back here. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Peter Middleton, a shareholder. My question is, has the board given consideration to the subject of declaring a dividend?
And if the answer to that question is no, is there an anticipation of when that might be a matter the Board considered? If I could give a slight background to why I'm asking that question. I bought 80,000 Nanosonics shares 17 years ago, so I can have no complaints about my capital growth. I think it's about 2,500%. When we created a self-managed super fund, they were transferred into the fund. And I get a reminder at least twice a year from my financial advisor that I should be further selling down my Nanosonics holding. Given the trillions in the pot of self-managed super funds, I think if a dividend became a component, there would be a lot more funds like mine who would consider and decide to invest in Nanosonics .
Yep. Thank you So to explain the process the Management team and the Board go through, at least twice a year, often more, we look at our capital management, right? And so we look at, are we investing enough in ongoing research and development in the accelerated launch of how do we get CORIS out and operating faster? How do we continue to build out our global network? So invest into the company. We firmly believe that's the number one best return for shareholders. And you're a testament to that in terms of the return the team has been able to generate for you. Once we look through all the capital needed for the business, we then consider, do we do a dividend or do we do a stock buyback? And where Nanosonics is right now, we actually don't have a large franking credit base.
So if we were to issue dividends, you would not be able to get franking credits to any material degree. That will change over time as our earnings continue to grow, but that's where it is right now. As a result of that, we believe it makes more sense that we instigate a buyback program. We've still got enormous confidence in this company and its growth prospects. We can comfortably fund everything we need to for our future growth, and we still have enough cash that we believe you deserve to get some of your money back. Hence, we've started that. We announced the start of that buyback program today. That's been set for this year, for full year 2026, and then we'll assess that over time. But the real answer to your question, why haven't we done dividends? Our franking credit balance isn't that high just yet.
It will over time. Any other general questions? We've got one here.
Ken Barry, shareholder. My question is about geographic expansion. I know that Japan has been an area of focus for a long time, and it seems to have been a slow process to penetrate that market. And I know you alluded to the Japanese gentleman in the building. I just wondered, is there a step change that's happening? Because I don't see that the increase in the numbers is evident from the Annual Report. That was all.
Look, a great question. And Japan, we have a fair amount of conviction around the opportunity in Japan. It's traditionally the second or third largest individual market in the world for medical devices, actually. Interestingly as well, it's got the largest number of ultrasound procedures conducted per capita in the world.
But as we've explained before, they don't have the guidelines and requirements to actually high-level disinfect ultrasound transducers yet. Now it's interesting because the guidelines and requirements to do endoscopes are there. The guidelines and requirements to do TEE ultrasound, that's ultrasound that goes down into your esophagus for cardiac imaging, that's required. The guidelines for nasopharyngeal scopes that go back into your throat from an ENT perspective, they're required. So our goal is to get those guidelines in place. Now, progress has been made. The first thing you have to do is generate a lot of local data. And we've now amassed a number of studies that, A, identify that Japan is no different when it comes to the degree of contamination on these ultrasound transducers. We've now generated data to show that in hospitals, even current practice of just wiping, even with alcohol wipes, makes no difference.
We've generated data to show trophon definitely works up there. And we're now working with a number of advisory boards. One of them actually just presented data in Vienna last week on a study that they conducted in emergency care in Japan. So we're making progress in getting those foundations in place, then working with opinion leaders from multi-societies to try and start the whole process of getting guidelines. The ultrasound sonographer society, they have now established a guideline and put it in. But on the pecking order of importance and influence, we need some of the stronger societies. So we are making progress. It is slow. And somebody often said to me in business in Japan, you go slow to go fast. And someone said it's like the 3x factor.
It can take 3x as long, cost you 3x as much, but the return you can get can be 3x as big when you do actually succeed. So we're committed to it. We're continuing. Obviously, we've been judicious about our investment there. But over the coming years, I can't give you a timeline, but we do believe that that market will change for us in the future.
Okay. And if you see Katsumi outside, I encourage you to give him a bit of a giddy up.
And sharp.
Oh, we've got a couple of questions here, and we'll go. You can stay down, sir. Yeah, we can see you.
Thank you very much. I have a question and a suggestion. The question is to do with CORIS. I've been reading about disinfecting for a long time.
And I'm not a medical person, so this is off the top of my head. But disinfecting endoscopes has just been given up on by so many companies, big ones. And I totally congratulate little Aussie battler for taking it on. And then solving it. My question, though, is due to the—I'm not sure what word I can use—but due to the built-up lack of patience with coming up with a solution, there were single-use endoscopes generated. I can well understand how that happened. Now once they're used, they're thrown away. That, to me, sounds like enormous problems for the environment to start with. But in America, where we are so strong, that doesn't matter anymore. There's no exclusion of the environment. My question is, will that be getting over the barrier of the single-use? Will that be a problem for CORIS?
Yep. Yep.
Let's take one.
Yep.
Great question, Michael. And you're right. The whole reason single-use endoscopes were developed was because of the challenges associated with reprocessing and disinfecting endoscopes. That's the whole reason. If you look at any of the websites of the bigger companies, like Ambu is probably the biggest one on reusable endoscopes, it is all about infection prevention. That's the value proposition. So in America, you mentioned the environment, but there's two other issues with the reusable. And by the way, I believe they still have a place in the market. But the other, we'll use your environment, but there's three Es. There's the environment. Totally agree with you. But the second E is the economics. So you're using some—these are not $15. They're $1.5 , $2,000 or more dollars.
So the economics of throwing away that sort of money, and you just take colonoscopes and about 30 million colonoscope procedures done in North America alone, economically, it doesn't make sense to convert over. In actual fact, I think they've been trying to look at can they get to semi-reusable status? In other words, just use it about five times before. By the way, if they did, it still needed CORIS. So there's the economics. The other part is the ergonomics. I'll give you three Es. And that is for the surgeons and the use of those devices. And I mean, the endoscopes, by and large, are very sophisticated pieces of equipment, and it's all about the dexterity. It's all about the maneuverability. It's all about the image quality that you get from the reusable endoscopes. So we don't see that reusable as a barrier to adoption.
We're not being complacent by it, but we don't see that that would be a barrier to adoption. But as I mentioned, I do think they do have a place for centers that do very low volumes or centers where there's an emergency requirement, that a scope is not ready. They do have a place. So I'm not dissing at all on the reusables, but I don't see it as a barrier for us.
Okay. Now, thank you very much. I've been coming to these AGMs for quite a while. One thing has stood out to me very strongly in every one of them is listening to the executive giving the talks about the performance of the previous year, the care and attention that was given to healthcare workers in hospitals, the lowest level of paid people.
And yet, when something goes wrong, the blame goes back exactly to this person here. Now, I noticed in the AGMs that the Executive of this Company was worried about that fact and what can be done about it? Hence, trophon success. Where I can imagine a healthcare worker, "Oh, I'm using trophon. I don't have to worry about it. No one will blame me. The hospital will not be sued, but this will be a correct thing." Now, in the light of that, I'd like to make the following suggestion. And it comes at an appropriate time. You're moving to a new building, manufacturing and administration all in one place. I'd like to suggest the following.
That a ticker tape, digital ticker tape, be put somewhere over the main entrance to the building, saying something like, "150,000 people will be guaranteed safety today because of the work we do." That's each person coming to work in another service. Because I don't have to tell you, you will know how negative our environment is. People just look for a reason to be outraged by. And they're outraged if they can't find a reason. So, in other words, they have to be in perpetual outrage motion. Now, I'm facing all of this in particular, people who are working. And so we all need every build-up we can get. Now, it's the best we put on in a new building.
Don't go down on Monday mornings.
No, Michael, thank you very much for that comment. And that's why I started my address today with the mission.
Two of you did. Two of you. Sorry if I can interrupt you. The last line of what you addressed was, "The world is a better place for non-ethnic existence."
Very true. And we are all proud of that. And I think we do wake up in the morning. And as I said, at $28 million on an annual basis, it grows every day. So your whole idea of having a digital clock as. The numbers grow up is a great idea. Thank you very much.
Okay. Thanks. We've got another question from Maurie Stang, founder. 'Maurie, you've got a question?
Thanks a lot. I'll be brief. The entire instrument reprocessing world is fraught with problems. Technology issues. Environmental issues, safety issues, and so on.
So beyond the traceability, are we seeing the use of AI as a competitive advantage to help our customers solve more problems than just the data coming out of our machines? I think it's a huge opportunity.
Yep. Do you want to take that, Michael?
Yeah. I think, Maurie, that the whole area of AI is a very, very broad area. And we're certainly looking at it internally in the organization to drive operational efficiencies. I use it very regularly myself. But I think with AI, the one thing, as you're using it within a business. The people that use it really have to see themselves as context engineers. When you're prompting these things to try and find information, it's the context that you have to provide AI to make sure that you get a useful answer back.
Other areas I mentioned, and this would be relevant to customers as well, is on our server side and the ability, when we are connected, to do predictive analytics and all of those sort of things for machines. We're actually beginning to work on that now. Specifically, what you're talking about, I think, is more on the clinical side. And predictability, even from outbreaks and things like that.
To put it very simply, I'm talking about SaaS revenue.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, our SaaS revenue, you'll see that SaaS revenue coming or revenue coming from. Traceability, revenue, I think, when we have. How we redefine how service is done. Once we get the. That's why the connectivity is so important. Connectivity can be a driver of great value expansion for our customers and, quite frankly, then SaaS revenue for the business. I think there are many dimensions to that.
And I think. It's something we've been focused on, Maurie is, as you well know. But if you just look at the revenue from capital goods sold, I saw on the installed base went up 6%, 7% last year on capital items. But the service revenue, revenue from the ecosystem, went up 20%. And so we're hoping to continue to drive that recurring revenue. Another question over here internally. Thank you. Yep.
My name's Linda. Me too I'm a shareholder. And just to carry on with Maurie's AI question, is there any way we're looking at the diagnostic probes now where they're using AI to sterilize them if they're reusable?
I'm not sure. I mean, AI and imaging, obviously, from a diagnostic perspective, is huge. But that's not our business. AI application in terms of decontamination, I'm not too sure about.
No, I'm thinking about TruScreen, company TruScreen, where they are now looking at vital cancer cells on the cervix.
Yeah. So that's on the image. From a pathology perspective. Yeah. I think from a pathology perspective, AI can play a big role. The other part then is maybe there's applicability in the future of post-decontamination or even pre-decontamination, identifying the type of microbes that reside on these devices. But ultimately, all our efficacy data is designed to ensure we're killing everything that's on them. So we don't need to look at pre and post. We're quite confident in all the efficacy data that we have.
Okay. Great. And there was a question over here. So thank you.
Peter Breerton, shareholder.
Hey, Peter.
Oh. Yes. Thank you for the sensible wording of the acknowledgment to country rather than the cringing utterances I've heard from other chairmen. Boris Johnson, for example.
My question has to do with CORIS. Could you just confirm that we do have FDA approval for CORIS? Yes. Absolutely. Right. It just took a further longer time because I think in the AGM in 2022 you said that FDA approval would be around about April 2023. Then 2023 AGM came around and nothing was said. AGM 2024 came around, nothing was said. And so we now have it, right?
If I can confirm, de novo approval has been received by the FDA.
So you can now launch the product on the market.
Yeah. Let me explain. First of all, de novo approval. So what that means is that there's two types of approval you get from the FDA. One is the traditional approval type. It's called a 510(k). In an ideal world, you want 510(k)s because they're faster.
A de novo approval recognizes that you've got a totally new technology, no predicate, it's never been seen before, new mechanism of action, etc. So the hurdles that you've got to go through with the regulatory authorities to get that product approved is an order of magnitude greater than a 510(k). We went through that process, lengthy process, and we have that de novo approval. That's for one of the single colonoscopes. What we've said a number of times now is that we then need to supplement that de novo approval with future 510(k)s. So the first one has gone in recently. And what those future 510(k)s do is they expand the indications to a broader subset of a broader set of scopes. So before launch, we wanted to get the first 510(k) in, which has now been submitted.
Once we get that 510(k) now that's gone in for a broader subset of scopes, that now paves the way for the regulatory certifications in Europe and in Australia. So once we get those certifications through, then we start the controlled market release in those markets. Once we get the first 510(k) approval in the United States with the broader expanded scopes, then we will start the controlled market release. And upon approval of that first 510(k), there'll be another 510(k) to continue to expand the portfolio of scopes. So the core approval is in place.
Okay. So the first 510(k), whatever it is. What's your estimate when that will come through?
That's the problem with regulatory is I can give you a date today, and then you're going to come back next week and say, "I didn't meet it."
Next year.
But in the annual report and in investor presentations, etc., we gave broad timelines that we would like to think that the approval of that first 510(k) will happen in the second half and ideally in Q3. And from that, we'll get kicking off with the controlled market release over in the U.S.
Okay. So is either product going to be subject to Trump administration tariffs?
Yeah. A great question. I think that's a broad question to everybody. And anything that's manufactured here in Australia and gets exported over to the United States will be subject to the 10% tariff rate.
Okay. But what about these drugs? I know drugs are far higher than that.
So much, much higher. The drugs are much higher. We're not subject to that.
But importantly, as I mentioned earlier, the core proposition with CORIS from an investment perspective is the actual capital units will be lower. And that's because all of the procedures are done in a centralized versus trophon. It can be at point of care in lots of different rooms in the hospital, clinical rooms in the hospital. For CORIS, it'll be centralized. So the actual volume of units will be lower. But the true value proposition is a lot more cycles at a higher price point. Now, from a tariff perspective, we're manufacturing the consumable in North America. So that will not be subject to tariffs.
Okay. Thank you.
Good.
A couple of other contextual points, Peter, because they're both great questions. To give you an idea on a de novo approval with the FDA, on an average year, the FDA approves about 30 de novo approvals.
And in terms of 510(k) approvals, typically 3,000, 3,500 a year. So both of them are difficult, but a de novo is specifically difficult. And then as we get each new scope type, we have to get a 510(k) on each one, working with the OEMs. And then also with regard to the tariffs, the team we're working on creating the ability to manufacture at our site in Indianapolis. Michael and I were there two weeks ago for both the consumables for trophon and for CORIS. And back then, it was to reduce the cost of transportation because these products are quite bulky. And to remove the cost or reduce the cost of transportation. And there was also a benefit in the reduction of emissions because you don't have products on ships and in the air. And then the tariffs come along, and lo and behold, we look even smarter.
We'll still pay the tariffs on the capital goods in the United States, but we won't be paying tariffs on the consumables, which is a much bigger component of our revenue. So, Jason, our CFO here, has got it all buttoned down for us. Any other questions online?
We have a number of questions online.
Yep. Got a few questions online.
And then I'll just take them from the top. The first one is about our engagement with retail shareholders, and it's a question addressed to the CEO. It's a lengthy question that I've been asked to read out in full, which I'll do now. Could the CEO please summarize the extent and breadth of engagement he has with analysts, brokers, fund managers, and institutional investors after each six-monthly result released to the ASX? How does that compare with what the company does for its circa 15,000 retail shareholders?
Have you thought about having an Investor Day? And if so, would you consider inviting shareholders to attend? Which retail brokers cover us? And are you happy with the quality and breadth of analyst coverage across the retail broker market?
Yeah. Interesting that investor is not in the room, but they wanted to tell them they couldn't attend.
Okay. In terms of engagement, the process that we follow on an annual basis and half-year or full year. When we release our results, that ASX announcement goes out to everybody, retail and institutional investors. The investor presentation goes out to everybody, retail and institutional investors. The very first call that we do is an open call for all institutional, retail analysts, investors. So our engagement, I would say, with retail, and certainly, it's great to see a number of you here today.
We do do, then, at those time points some engagement, not with all institutional, but we'll have a number of the corporate banks hold meetings where a lot of the institutional investors will actually attend and will present the results and field questions, just like we field questions for retail investors on the investor call. We can't get around to meet every 15,000 or so retail investors. It'd be lovely, but we can't. In terms of, we've got quite a broad range of analyst coverage. A number of those brokers and analysts that work for some of the brokerage firms do cover a lot of the institutions and large funds, but also cover the retail universe as well. So many of them have private wealth components to their business. So you'd have the Canaccords, which just recently merged with Wilsons. You have Morgan's that have networks all around Australia.
And we engage with all of those. In terms of the quality of the analyst reports, well, I mean, we look at them and we provide the same information to those as we provide to the broad market. Some interpret that information really well, and the quality is good. Some interpret it or quite. Maybe in different ways, but if there's anything ludicrous in there, we try to actually address that. We don't see much things that are ludicrous. Then on an Investor Day, look, will come a point in time that we will hold an Investor Day. The construct of that, I think, at the point in time where, etc., will determine that. But we'd certainly like to see some of our retail shareholders attend either in person or there's the opportunity for it to be webcast, just like this meeting is today.
Thank you. So can we just get through maybe the online ones? How many we got online, Matt?
There's another half a dozen.
Okay. Let's quickly go through that, then we'll come back internal.
Okay. The next one is about competition. It's from Mr. Bhavesh Shah and Mrs. Shini Shah again. And the question is, "Are we losing or winning against Germa-Tech, Tristel today? And what specific data (outcomes, cost of use, audit metrics) are you using to defend the share?"
First of all, I have made it very, very clear in the past, and I state it again today, that I think competition can be good for the market in general because it broadens the general awareness as to the importance and requirements for high-level disinfection. As I mentioned, we've now just generated our third generation of our device.
I think we stand by the efficacy, the efficiency, the sustainability that our technology brings. I'm not going to sit here and provide a whole list of reasons as to why I think we're superior to our competition, but I think the results that we've actually presented demonstrate that. So I think competition, by and large, is actually good for the business.
Thank you. Shall I keep going?
Yep.
Okay. I've got another lengthy one coming, so excuse the wait. We've had a couple of questions relating to the shorting of Nanosonics stock, which is sort of combined in this one question. The latest ASIC Report summarizing net short positions across the ASX 300 shows that around 8.5% of our total shares on issue are currently sold short, which makes us one of the top 20 most heavily shorted stocks on the ASX.
Has this influenced our decision to launch today's $20 million buyback? And do we know which of the five disclosed substantial shareholders in the annual report have a policy to lend their stock to short sellers? Do we know the identity of the short sellers? Have we observed any tactics by those short sellers to try and drive the share price lower? And how are we generally handling this situation?
You take it. Yeah. I've got some views on that one.
Thank you both. So, I can't speak to the shorts. What I can speak to is the performance of this organization. I think we clearly demonstrated today and in August the fantastic result, both financially, operationally, that we have delivered. I think we've laid out a very strong growth outlook for the business.
And to be honest, we get up in the morning, and that's what we're really, really focused on. Shorting exists, and it's far too complicated for a simple mind like me to understand it. But what I am convicted on is what this organization can deliver, not what the shorts believe it can deliver. Yeah. We don't focus on the shorts, right? We run the business. Board makes decisions on the business. And then we go on with our day-to-day. The market will do whatever the market does. Our job is to run the business well. Thank you.
I've got four questions here from Dr. Bent Johansen. I think two of them have been answered, being the dividends and the tariffs. But there are two more. One is on CORIS. "Following successful introduction of CORIS, how will the R&D budget be adjusted?" This is the first one.
What I will say there is we are committed as an organization to continue to invest in research and development. That'll be across ultrasound reprocessing, endoscope reprocessing, as well as broadening our portfolio. So our commitment to R&D continues. What you will see, however, is that R&D as a percentage of revenue will start to come down. There are some concepts that people have that the minute you get a product launched, all of a sudden, R&D expenditure can stop. I can tell you the biggest part of our R&D expenditure is some very, very talented people, engineers across all dimensions of engineering that we have in the business. I think it would be ludicrous for us to consider that we'd let that talent go and then try and rehire it a few years later when we've got another great idea of what we want to work on.
So our commitment to R&D continues, but what you can expect is R&D as a percentage of revenue to go down.
Thank you. And the second one relates to M&A. And the question is, "You have for some years now been looking to keep the option open for smaller acquisitions with your growing cash balance. Do you have any concrete plans locally or overseas?"
Again, we definitely are interested, committed. Have the appropriate cash. We just got to find the right thing. What I will say, however, is that the likelihood of M&A and bolt-on small acquisitions increases with CORIS. And why I say that is that the value chain of what happens across the whole reprocessing of an endoscope, there's many, many dimensions to it, many different types of consumables, disposables, etc., along that value chain.
So I think CORIS will potentially open the doors for us from an M&A perspective.
Great. Thanks. One more, Matt?
I think we have time for one more, Mr. Chairman. And it's again from Mr. Bhavesh Shah and Mrs. Shini Shah. And it's about our future HQ. The question is, "How will you manage the headquarters relocation transition period, noting you'll have early access from 1 April 2026 to avoid production or service disruption? What contingency plans is in place if timelines slip?"
So we've been there and done that. We've moved a few times. We've got our Chief Operating Officer, Rod Lopez, here. He's become a bit of an expert in it. And in all the moves we've made, we've never run out of stock. We've never had glitches, and we expect to do the exact same again. So we do have to go through regulatory approvals.
Believe it or not, all of that's happening and in place as we speak today.
Good. Thank you. Now, Michael, you have one last question.
Yes. Very quickly. Michael, what you were saying. In your relationship with a nalysts. If there's something ridiculous in what they're saying, you'll say so. I have an example of that. I know it. In May—oh, sorry—February 2022. At the outset of the direct sales model, a broker a sked you a question about the possibility of CORIS interference. Would GE be a distributor? Now, I was listening, but I can imagine you being astounded by that sort of observation because you said to the person. "Well, GE will not be a distributor because they have no interest in e ndoscopy." Now, the overall impression that went out about Nanosonics was. Taken like this, I believe, that GE is walking away from Nanosonics.
And when you are a big, powerful company, you can exert power. And the power you exert need not be said directly. Like intimidation, something bad can happen to you. But we won't say what that is. So t he shorting that was featured there. Really took off at that point. Thank you.
Thanks for that comment.
Yep. Okay, folks. I think that will. Conclude today's meeting. Really appreciate the folks in the room for joining us here in person. As always, there's a. Little bit of food outside and a coffee machine. And for those folks joining online, we also appreciate you signing in. So thank you very much for that. Thank you.