Thank you for standing by, welcome to the SRG Global Full Year Results Investor Briefing. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please type it into the Ask a Question box and click Submit. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. David Macgeorge, Managing Director. Please go ahead.
Thanks, Zach, I'd firstly like to welcome everyone to the call this morning for our FY23 full year results presentation. I think as you may have already seen, it's been a terrific year for the business, I'd really like to acknowledge all our people at SRG Global. There will be many on this call this morning, they've really stepped up again in the last 12 months and really lived and breathed what we stand for as a business. Live for the challenge, smart together, never give up, and have each other's backs. I really want to acknowledge everyone and thank you for all your efforts over the last 12 months. As we move to slides, I always like to start with a bit about us, who we are and what we stand for.
We are a diversified industrial services company, and I think as you can really see the diverse nature of what of what we do. What we do is bring an engineering mindset to deliver critical services across the entire asset lifecycle of engineer, construct, and sustain. I'll break that down into. When I talk about engineering mindset, it's a smart, technical, innovative company, and it's for critical services that make us sticky for our clients, and we do it across the entire asset lifecycle of engineer, construct, and sustain. What we wanna be, our vision, is the most sought after in what we do. Some might say number one market leader.
For us, it's been the most sought after, and so when our clients have a challenge, a problem, an opportunity, the first people they think of when they pick up the phone is SRG Global. We move to slide 3. This gives you a pro forma profile of the business that we are today, and we are a very different business. We have 3 operating segments: asset maintenance, mining services, engineering, construction. You can see the size of the business now, you know, more than 3,300 people across 20 industries on more than 100 sites in 5 countries, and sort of a pro forma, a circa billion-dollar business with, you know, roughly AUD 400 million market cap moving forward. We move to slide 4, which is really the summary of the year, and it has been an excellent year for SRG Global.
Really what you're seeing is evidence of us continuing to deliver. It's a record financial result, FY23 EBITDA, up 40% on FY22, which is just above the top end of our upgraded guidance range, EBIT up 46%. You know, really, really strong performance. A terrific returns to shareholders, EPS up 34%, and our fully franked dividend, the final fully franked dividend, of AUD 0.04 per share, up 33% on FY22. You know, second half dividend of AUD 0.02, also up 33%. I think that's one of the great things about our business. We're very much a growth stock, but also a good dividend yield stock, throwing off gross yield, of circa 8%. I think one of the key elements of the year is just the evidence of winning and executing.
Now, we won more than AUD 1.2 billion of work in the last 12 months. We've record work in hand of AUD 1.9 billion, which is up 46% on FY22. The pleasing thing for me is not only are we winning, we're also executing, and Roger will touch on this further on in the presentation, but particularly pleased with our margin percentage improvement. When you look at our journey over time, and I've been asked this many times over the course of the last few years as we, as we've grown: Are you buying work?
When we think about our track record, you know, we've gone from 7.4% EBITDA margin to 8.3%, to last year, 8.9%, to this year, 9.9%, which is a phenomenal achievement when you consider the growth that we've undertaken. Clearly, we're not only growing and winning, but we're executing as well. We've also got a terrific track record now of acquisition success, I'll touch on that a bit more in a moment, but it's really giving us a great platform for the future of what is now a very, very strong growth outlook. You know, with guidance for 2024 of circa 20% EBITDA growth, really for us, it's about continuing to execute our long-term strategy. We see a very strong growth profile for our business over the next 3 to 5 years.
I, I think in summary, you know, a really, really terrific performance at SRG Global in FY23. As we move to slide 5, I think the key thing here is this is not a one-off. This, this is track record of us continuing to have really, really positive performances year on year on year. You can see the really good trend from an EBITDA perspective and the growth over the last few years. Again, a really strong track record. You've seen the period revenue is up 26%. I'll never get too hung up on revenue, to be honest, it's all about bottom line performance, but really good top line growth. Really pleased with our cash conversion.
We have a very strong track record of cash conversion over the last few years at 68% cash conversion this year, which is a really strong performance given the level of work that we've won. We've won more than $1.2 billion worth of work in the last 12 months. We've had to fund that. You know, that really strong cash generation has helped fund that working capital growth, and, you know, I'm particularly pleased that it's very much part of our culture and, and DNA of SRG Global, and it's one that, you know, I think it's a really, really strong performance as we move into the future. Again, from a shareholder perspective, you can see the really strong track record and trends from both an EPS and a dividend perspective.
I think that's one thing that we've done really, really well over the last few years, really balancing that growth, and dividend-paying stock. You know, to me, it's, it's one that, you know, I think not only is it a terrific year in FY23, but it really is just a continuation of building on what is a really good track record of performance. To me, I always like to link it back to strategy as we move to slide 6. This is all off the back of us executing what has been a very, very clear strategy for a very long period of time. You know, we're doing everything that we said we would do, and, and in my mind, we're ahead of schedule on where we want to be.
All our SRG Global people on this call, please shut your ears, as I say that, but you know, we are ahead of schedule and where I would expect to be from a strategic perspective. Very much in the growth phase of that strategy, where it's step change growth and asset maintenance services, and you're really seeing evidence of that. Innovation and selective growth in mining services, you're seeing evidence of that. Targeted growth in civil infrastructure, construction, and remediation, you're seeing evidence of that. Specialist services and products in building construction with key clients, you're seeing evidence of that. In this phase, you know, really sort of 2/3 annuity, 1/3, 1/3 project-based earnings. We're probably a little bit ahead of that.
Really for us, it's the growth phase and the leadership phase will more morph together as we move into the future. We know we're aiming to be a Zero Harm and ESG industry leader and an employer of choice, and we are attracting good people to the business as we grow. You know, domestic and international growth in engineered products across all segments, which will ultimately become the fourth operating segment of the group in the next 5-7 years. Selective acquisitions to complement our capability and our footprint, and you're seeing evidence of that. Consistent returns to shareholders.
Look, we feel in this phase it will kind of be around that 80% annuity, 20% project base, and that's probably more off the back of the inorganic growth that we see in front of us, which will involve that sort of annuity, recurring style, businesses. One of the key elements of our strategy is that selective acquisitions. As we move to slide 7, you're really seeing that track record of acquisition success. It's very much a key element of the leadership horizon. We look at the last 12 months, you know, in February this year, we bought AssetCare, which was from ALS. You know, why we liked AssetCare, it's very much that front end, asset monitoring, inspection, testing, to very much complement our back-end maintenance execution work.
It's, it's a business that I've had on the radar for a long, long period of time. You know, it's a very technical business, a lot of good software, a lot of good technology, it really gets to the, that front-end smart piece to then have the ability to execute the work. Now, it was a really successful raise, you know, well supported by our shareholders, I thank you all for that. You know, the start up in the first 3 or 4 months has been terrific. Integration's very well progressed. Really, really good feedback from, from our clients. Particularly me, the highlight is just the cultural integration.
You know, it's a terrific business, you know, well led by Greg Fletcher and the team, and, and they've really embraced us, and we've embraced them, and it very much feels that we're one and the same, which is really the whole. You know, they can see how they fit within our strategy, and, and it's been a terrific, terrific start. You know, certainly from what I see in front of us, a very, very bright future on how it's enhanced our business. We've got our first full 12 months of our infrastructure business, formerly WBHO Infrastructure. You know, really successful first year, you know, completely integrated and exceeding expectations. Very well led by Will Grobler and the, and the team. You know, we're delighted about how, you know, the first full 12-month performance for that business.
We also had a very modest acquisition in our engineered products business. This is an existing business that we ultimately want to become the fourth operating segment of the group. You know, we acquired Bartech Systems in the period. It's an engineered coupling systems products business, and very much expands our product range and access to a supply chain that helps built another brick in the wall on where we want to take the products business. You know, why do I like products? You know, it's very much the same clients, the same sectors, the same geographies. These are specified products. It's such an engineering sell, and you make products, you sell them, you get paid. It's a very low risk, complementary skill set and capability that we think adds to our business.
Really, as we move to slide 8, and what you're seeing has been a phenomenal strategic transformation of a company that's really delivering sustainable growth. You know, we've had very much a diversified industrial services business with a high level of annuity, recurring earnings. We've got exposure to diverse sectors and geographies. We, you know, with a pipeline of, you know, in excess of AUD 6.5 billion, and you've really seen the evidence of us and our ability to win and execute work. We've got record work in hand of up 46%, which gives us a terrific platform for the future. As you can see, coming into FY24, we're not stopping here in terms of the growth as we move into the future.
That all that is ultimately underpinned as we move to slide 9, by a really strong foundation in, in the ESG space and, and what we stand for. I think one of the things with SRG Global, we keep it very real. We try and do things that make very much a difference in, in the industries that we operate in, from a Zero Harm, a governance, sustainability, indigenous engagement, community and people, and translating to what we stand for as a business. I always say it's not the best widgets or the smartest strategy that drives performance, it's people and culture. Very much what we stand for in, in terms of Live for the Challenge, smarter together, never give up and have each other's backs. That is how our people operate, and that is what's driving this performance.
It's our people, and the strong culture that we have and how we want to make a real difference in where we operate. If I dive into a little bit more detail, firstly, starting with environment, there's a lot of really positive impacts we're making in this space, and it's really about us playing our part and working with our clients on their sites. I'm not going to go through this line by line, but certainly from some of the initiatives around local tree planting, particularly in the with our partners in the defense sector and new manufacturing facilities powered by renewable energy. Also our temporary site offices, and you can see one of the photos there, where we're using solar panels as a, as a new and innovative way to power our operations.
Now, on the procurement side of things, particularly want to highlight sort of the greener concrete, which we know we're doing good trials with our partners in this and other products that we use in what we do. It's all around reducing our carbon footprint and using some of our engineering skills to do so, particularly around design. You know, some of the innovative facade designs. Certainly, the Atlassian project is one that is, you know, I think, a real showpiece for the sort of skills that we have in that space, and also in our civil infrastructure and engineering business, where a lot of really smart engineering designs about how to reduce concrete requirements in structures such as water storage tanks and wind farms. You know, again, it's about keeping it real, us playing our part, and really working and helping our clients.
On the social side of things, as we move to slide 11, I'm particularly proud of the work that we're doing in the indigenous space. Our Bugarrba joint venture is really going from strength to strength. I'll highlight some of the new contracts we've won with FMG and BHP. You can see a photo there of Terry and Gloria there, our, our partners, at, at Bugarrba. You know, we've really well progressed on our global reconciliation action plan. A lot of really good initiatives in terms of traineeships, NAIDOC initiatives, and education programs, along with our key partners being Clontarf and Shooting Stars for our female empowerment program.
Keeping that partnership theme in mind, are some of the other social partnership areas, the Perkins Foundation and the Cancer Council in the cancer space, and MATES, which is along the psy- psychosocial lines, you know, Starlight Foundation, along with various organizations in the local communities on which we operate today. On the diversity inclusion side, there's a lot of really good work we do in that space. You know, at corporate level, it's sort of about a 50/50 split between female and, and male participation. In the blue-collar space, in reality, it's less than 10% female participation. You know, we do look for new and innovative ways to really develop the, the female side of our business in the blue-collar area. You know, a lot of real successes in the period.
Linda Lamb, I particularly want to highlight for her winning the Women in Civil Award at the CCF awards night. You know, a terrific recognition for Linda. Please, no one, no one poach her. You know, we also did add some other finalists. Beth Salter is the Training Professional of the Year, and Lindsay Black is the Administration Coordinator of the Year. A lot of really good things we do in the space, and we continue to drive that in our business. On the governance aspect, you know, we have a very robust framework, firstly, starting with Zero Harm, and I always say, a safe business is a good business. I always call it the glass ball. In business, you bounce a lot of balls and juggle them.
In business, they're all rubber, but safety is a glass ball you cannot afford to drop. Really, our focus is developing leaders in this space. We have our Leading@ SRG Global program. We've also developed an in-house program for workplace psychosocial frontline management. It's really about equipping our frontline leaders in this particular area, and ultimately in safety. It's about focusing on the critical risks in our business from a Zero Harm perspective. Keeping that risk management theme in mind, from an overall company perspective, now, we have a very robust risk management framework that we continuously refine.
We have created a new role in the period as Head of Risk and Sustainability, which is Cameron Dee, who's doing a terrific job in really enhancing our work in this space and really helping support and facilitate what is a very well-established risk team and management system. On the ethics and transparency element, you know, a lot suite of documents, procedures, and charters around code of conduct, board charters, continuous disclosure and compliance, whistleblower, anti-bribery and corruption policies, along with a number of modern slavery initiatives to ensure that we're complying, and the partners that we deal with are complying and being good corporate citizens. I think overall, I'm really proud of the progress we've made in the last 12 months from an ESG perspective.
You know, we are keeping it real, and we are making really good headway, which will continue in the course of the next 12 months. I want to switch gears now and sort of move to the financial review, and I might hand over to our CFO, Roger Lee, to take us through that section.
Thanks, David. We've touched on slide 14. The key takeaway out of this slide is the strong margin improvement across all the key markers from FY22 to FY23, and in particular, highlight the EBITDA margin movement from 8.9%- 9.9%. David's already touched on that. I think that's particularly pleasing, given it's been a year that we've grown significantly and, and yet been able to deliver a significantly improved margin, margin profile across all our areas. To the next slide, slide 15, and you can see the breakdown of where the breakup of all the different segments in our, in our business unit. Asset maintenance continues to deliver a very consistent margin of that 11.9% mark, and that's against the backdrop of a strong growth year as well in FY23.
Very pleasing and, and evidence of strong operational delivery in that business. Mining services, EBITDA margins of 21%, very much in line with historical results, and very much, again, evidence of good high utilization of assets, and, and again, very strong operational performance across all our mine sites. Engineering construction, a very good margin of 8.7%. Incredibly good result, especially given the current backdrop, in that sector and that space. All I can say, I guess, it's very strong evidence of a commercial framework, a strong relationships with our clients, and just how we continue to deliver with our key partners in all areas that we service within that engineering construction sector. Our corporate division, AUD 17 million, 2.1%.
We feel it's very, it's, it's, it's lean, and it's, and it's appropriate for the business, but we also feel that there's further scope to leverage that as we, as we grow even further. Next slide, please. We've always shown a, a waterfall and a very detailed analysis of where our cash is and our cash conversion numbers. As you can see, David Macgeorge already touched on our cash conversion rate of 68%, and I think it's a very strong result, particularly given the reasons that we talked about before: a year of strong growth, a year of strong performance, and also a year of paying down debt, and rewarding our shareholders through all this as well. Next slide. The robust financial position in FY23.
We've always had a very clean balance sheet, a very robust balance sheet, one that's very well positioned for growth into the future. Our gearing ratio of circa 4% is modest, I guess, again, provides a good, strong platform for us to grow together with our undrawn facilities, with our key bond providers and banks. We are very well positioned through our balance sheet to provide further growth for the business. Thank you, David.
Thanks, Roger. Well, I think, you know, you know, again, in summing, a really good, you know, set of financial numbers. It really shows the robustness of the position that the company's in as we move into the future. I'll switch gears again and sort of move to our operating segments. I'll switch over to slide 19 and start with our geographic footprint. I, I think you can really see now just the evidence of the terrific platform that we have today.
You know, one of the great things about our business is that cross-selling culture, to me, you can really see just the depth of services that we're now providing across a very, very broad geographic platform, both in Australia and, and New Zealand, with a, a small smattering of projects in, in other parts of the world. To me, this provides massive opportunity. You know, we've got a great footprint, a good depth of services, but in reality, we're getting started in terms of how we can really leverage that footprint and the geography that we now that we now have. We delve now into the individual three operating segments, first with slide 20, Asset Maintenance.
If there's one key takeaway from the asset maintenance business, it's the quality of the clients, and the diversity of services on which we provide. It's very much a blue chip client base across a broad range of sectors. We move to slide 21, and the asset maintenance year in review. Look, an incredibly strong year from an asset maintenance perspective. A number of long-term contracts secured across a broad range of industries with customers such as Meridian Energy, Genesis Energy, Alcoa, Rio, FMG, Albemarle , Fremantle Ports, and Transport, just to name a few. You know, we continue to expand our geographic reach, and you've seen evidence on that, on a couple of slides earlier, that I talked to.
Our Bugarrba joint venture is well established, as I mentioned earlier, with now new long-term contracts with FMG and BHP, and there's a lot more that we can do with that business. A real highlight was the acquisition of AssetCare, that front-end monitoring, inspection, and testing to complement our back-end maintenance capability. It's a very smart, technical, innovative business with a lot of software that, you know, we will continue to develop and apply across the broader parts of the group. You know, we're delighted to bring that business into the fold, and, and we thought, well. I'll move into the mining services business, which is our production drill and blast and geotechnical services business.
Again, I think the key takeaway is just the quality of the clients, the quality of the commodities, where we play pretty much exclusively in gold and iron ore, and, and what is a very production, based business. The year in review, look, a terrific year, you know, well led by Nathan Steiner and the team. You know, a number of new contract wins with one of our key clients, Northern Star. A lot of really good things that we're doing to develop our data intelligence software called Orbix. It's all predictive intelligence that brings good data insight. You know, we're not a, we're not a software tech, tech business, but in reality, not only in mining, but across the board, we've got a lot of in-house software that we've developed that's integrated with our clients.
It very much takes us to the front, to the smart end of town. We continue to develop a lot in that space, and I very much see software and technology as the enabler that really allows us to then be sticky, embedded with our clients, and then drive the actual execution work, and Orbix is a really, really good example of that. We have a very good pipeline of further opportunities, and we're really just focused on growing with our existing clients and adding a couple more. This business is very, very well poised for the future in the next three to five years. As I said earlier, it's all production-based. We've nothing in the ex-exploration area, so very much a consistent thematic moving forward. The third operating segment is engineering and construction.
Again, from a client perspective, it's, it's government clients in the water, transport, and defense space, along with some long-term partners in the, in the building space, being Multiplex, Lendlease, and Built. It's a very focused, targeted business with our specialist skill sets. We look at the year in review. Now, some really, really good project wins in the civil infrastructure business, both in the private and government space. You know, we now do have the highest national road and, and bridge accreditation, being R5B4, and I think that will bear some real fruit in FY24. You know, there's been a lot of, you know...
The Albanese federal government, sort of, there's been quite a bit of work around sort of assessing infrastructure projects as we move into the future. I'm really, really positive on how that accreditation is going to really drive growth in the business as we move into the future. We're an absolute leader in specialist facades. We're led by Paul Dawson and the team. Really, you can see we're an absolute market leader of both all states of Australia and now New Zealand. We're almost agnostic as to the type of structure or the sector, be it health, hospitality, commercial, residential, it's really following our quickly, our key clients and being an absolute leader in the space.
Our engineered products business, we are, you know, step by step, growing that business to ultimately becoming the fourth operating segment of the group in the next five to seven years. You know, I'm really, really pleased with the progress we've made in the last 12 months. I think underpinning our engineering construction segment, and Roger touched on this, a little bit earlier, is just the robust commercial framework that we have. You know, we have 25 to 30 very key long-term partners and clients. It's very much an early contractor engagement style with blue chip clients. It's very targeted, it's very specialist, and we're an absolute leader in what we do, being that most sought after in, in the areas that we play in. I'll switch gears again to sort of more the outlook moving forward. As we move to slide 24, 27, sorry.
It's really just continuing to execute what has been a very clear strategy, very much the growth horizon will morph into the leadership horizon. Probably the key elements of the, you know, products ultimately becoming the fourth operating segment, which I've touched on. You know, we will continue to look at some complementary acquisitions that either complement our capability or our footprint, and really, over time, we'll sort of be an 80/20 sort of split from an annuity recurring versus project base. Look, whether it's 75/25, 80/20, 85/15, really for us, it's more just what makes most sense for the business at the time. It's very much continuing to do what we said we would do. We've got an excellent platform, as we move to slide 28, in terms of an AUD 1.9 billion work in hand, which is a record.
You know, a really strong pipeline of further opportunities. To me, the key takeaway from this slide is just the quality of the work in hand we have, the quality of the opportunities. Just when you look at the map of where we operate, just the ability now to really leverage the footprint that we have with the capability that we have and the clients that we deal with today. Which leads to a very positive outlook on slide 29, where our operating segment performance is driving very positive momentum. You know, asset maintenance, step change growth in diverse sectors with blue chip clients. Mining services operating at high demand, high quality growth commodities. Engineering and construction linked to, you know, significant infrastructure investment. Engineered products gaining momentum both domestically and internationally.
Asset Care, AssetCare really transforms, you know, what we do in that asset maintenance space and giving it that front-end asset monitoring and, and testing capability. If you look at the overall year and, and the momentum moving forward, you know, guidance of circa 20% EBITDA growth, you know, the strength and diversity of the business is providing that protection against, you know, labor and cost pressures. I think you can really see the evidence of our margin % improvement about the robust commercial framework that we have. You know, our balance sheet, it's in terrific shape to really. You know, we've shown that we've really been able to fund the growth and working capital requirements of the business through our cash generation. An earnings profile of more than two-thirds annuity in 2024 and beyond.
The strategic transformation to what is now a diversified industrial services business, will continue to deliver results as we move in the future. That really is the investment proposition of SRG Global as you move to slide 30. Our end-to-end asset lifecycle capability, where we've enhanced that through the period. We play in diverse market sectors and geographies, and I always call that, we've got a natural hedge, that we're not wedded to one client, one sector, one geography. We have a very broad platform on where we can apply our skills and services. It's a highly scalable business model with experience and systems, and really what you've seen in the last 12 months, look, in reality, in the last 3 years, evidence of us scaling this business, leveraging our cost base, improving our margin % profile, and really delivering top-line growth with high-quality blue chip clients.
We now have a very high level of annuity earnings profile, which makes us very predictable as we move in to the future. A very capital light investment profile with CapEx circuit sustaining capital, circa 2% of revenue as we move into the future. We're a high yield dividend stock with gross yields around that 8% mark. I think we've done a terrific job managing that growth and dividend paying element of our business. I'd really like to acknowledge our shareholders for their support in the last 12 months. It's been a very, very positive period for the company, and I'd like to thank the shareholders as well.
You know, it is a very exciting time ahead, and I'd like to close with again, acknowledging all our people in the SRG Global family. You've done a terrific job in the last 12 months. It's been a very exciting period. FY24 is shaping up as a very, very exciting year. Again, you know, I'm, I'm proud to come to work every ti- every day and work with the great people that we have in the business, and I can't thank you enough for all your efforts in the last 12 months. Thank you.
Great. Thanks, David. We might just go to questions now, and there's a few that's come through, and feel free to send some more through as we answer some of these. So in no particular order, so the first one around EBITDA margins, obviously a very good result this year on EBITDA margins. What's your view on EBITDA margins going forward, David?
Well, look, I think the margins will be pretty consistent. I sort of said, you know, 10% was our aspiration. I think we've done a terrific job, perhaps getting here a bit earlier than, than, than I may have, I may have promised. I think, you know, sort of around that sort of, 9 to 10 range is really where we'll sit moving forward. That's, so, you know, we see that as very, sustainable margins as we move into the future.
Okay. 1 around dividends, a view on dividends. Do we have a target payout ratio?
Well, we have no set policy, but, you know, we consistently tend to pay in the 50%-60% range. I think this year was about 58. Very much in that 50%-60% range, and that's looks something we've consistently done over a long, long period of time.
All right, terrific. One around our debt levels, I guess, yeah, I, I, I talked about a good position for us. You know, what's our view on using debt going forward and for future M&A or opportunities going forward?
Look, I think from a, look, you know, we'll look at all aspects of, you know, how, how we fund any internal, sorry, inorganic opportunities as we move into the, into the future. Look, for us, you know, probably from an inorganic perspective, you know, the key areas are asset, asset maintenance.
Yeah.
Potentially fast-tracking things further on the East Coast is one, and possibly adding, adding to the capability more. You know, mechanical's probably an area that we, we have a, a good skill set in, but can perhaps enhance a little bit, a little bit further. You know, engineered products is another area that, you know, that I particularly like, and sort of looking for opportunities in that particular space as well. Then I think, you know, that sort of asset care technology element is, is probably another, you know, another key element for us. Probably unlikely to be in the mining services space.
Yeah.
You know, I'm pretty happy with what we have there, and probably.
Yeah
...unlikely in the engineering construction space.
Okay. Some more general questions, one around AssetCare. Now that we've had it for four months, you know, how, how's it going, and what are our expectations going forward in 2024?
Oh, look, I think it's been a really positive first four months. You know, to me, more... You know, the thing I focus on, in any acquisition in the first 12 months, is culture, make sure the cultural integration is strong. You know, our base case for the first full 12-month period, sort of around that 15, so the $15 million EBITDA mark, that's very much my expectation for the, for the business for FY24. I think our first four months was about $5 million, so very much on track. You know, the thing for me is it's a marathon, not a sprint. My whole focus is integrating the business well, really getting to work well together, we think we can grow this business significantly as we move into the future.
it really does facilitate growth within our existing businesses and, vice versa.
Yeah
... that's, that's my expectation.
Yeah
... in the next 12 months.
Okay. Just one more on cash. Cash conversion ticket said this year, what's our view on cash conversion going forward next year and the years ahead?
We've had a really strong, cash, conversion history over, over a long period of time. I think, you know, circa 80% cash conversion would be a good proxy for us, moving into, moving into the future.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. In the pipeline, where, where, where do you see some of the near-term opportunities? Which particular areas, David?
Well, look, in reality, I think across all 3 operating segments, you know, it's probably, you know, sort of interesting. The federal government sort of had a sort of 90-day embargo on sort of, on certain infrastructure projects across the board, you know, I'm pretty... You know, I think engineering construction will be quite strong on some of the things that we've targeted, and some great opportunities for us in the mining services space. You know, asset maintenance, you know, we also see good opportunities moving into the future as well. I think in that area in particular, it's 1 that a lot of that won't necessarily be an announceable event. It's really around cross-selling and leveraging, the footprint we have.
You know, one of the good things when you've got a really, really strong base of term contracts is your fixed cost base is already paid for on site, so any sort of ad hoc opportunities you get, you know, it, it will generally be at a, be at a higher margin. Look, I think there'll be good growth across all three operating segments of the group. You know, perhaps, I think AUD 1.2 billion in the last 12 months was, you know, a, a really great count -
Yeah
... year. You know, what I'm really, really, keen to ensure is that we're very disciplined, targeted, and ensure that not only do we win, but we execute well.
Yeah.
I'm not gonna grow for growth's sake. I never get hung up on revenue. It's really about consistently winning well-
Yeah
... with the right skill sets, the right clients, the right commercial terms, but then ensuring that you execute well. You know, the last 12 months, I think you've very much seen evidence again of that.
Yep. All right, terrific. One around the engineering and construction division, the significant margin improvement, year-over-year. What's your view of, of that, that profile going forward?
Look, I think that's probably a, a reasonable proxy for the business going forward. One thing around engineering and construction, because we basically, and this is across the board, we pretty much self-perform everything that we do, and we're very targeted by skill set and client, and we're willing to be quite patient. If we have to carry certain engineering costs throughout, through a period, we will, we will do so, and it's about being disciplined and focusing on the right work with the right clients and the right commercial framework. Look, I'm, I'm pretty happy with the margin profile that we now have in engineering and construction. In reality, the individual projects are generally a bit higher, but it's all between jobs.
The overall blend means that it's kind of sitting around that mark, and, you know, that to me, I think, is, a, a, a good performance.
Yeah. This question here around the AssetCare business and the four months that we've owned it.
Yeah.
I think you kind of touched on this before, David McGeorge.
Yeah, it's about AUD 5 million EBITDA in contribution.
Yeah.
obviously, there's about transaction costs of about AUD 4.5-
Yep
... as a one-off.
Yep. Just a question on the data book and any concerns around aging or whatever? No, we don't... You know, I think this is, again, testament to the strong client base that we have. We run a c- we talk about a strong commercial framework, and I, I guess the margin profile is, is terrific evidence, evidence of that. Just trying to just work through, because some of these have been covered off. Sorry, just give me a moment here. Overseas work, what's our view on international work going forward, David? Do you see that, that remains a target for us?
Yeah, look, I think for, you know, for us, the, the international opportunities are very much more a medium-term, medium-term play in that sort of dam, bridge, and tank space, you know, along with engineered products. You know, we are, are now selling products into, into the UK, with, you know, potential opportunities more broadly in Europe. I very much see the international element as being more a medium-term play. You know, it won't be a significant contribution in FY '24 in our outlook. You know, we think there's a lot of really good opportunities closer to, closer to home. In reality, some of the skillsets that we have, you know, what we're renowned for around the world, and, you know, the world's starting to open up a bit more for those opportunities.
You know, we're not, we're not in, in any big rush to, to really push it, too significantly.
... Okay. One around asset maintenance, around tendering new work and working together with ALS, or the asset care business. How, how have you seen that sort of take up happen?
Oh, it's been excellent, and, and not just with asset maintenance and asset care, to be honest, it's been really across the board. Look, we know we've had some early successes, you know, you know, hit areas, in transport and, and the bridge space. You know, we've now AssetCare's now entered the New Zealand market, which was, you know, probably you know, about 12 months ahead of when I would've expected. You know, the client feedback's been phenomenal, and it's very much fits the thematic that we've known for a while.
Yeah.
In terms of clients want to deal with less players that do more.
Yeah.
Having that front end capability to then back end execute the work has been a winning. Yeah, it, it really has been a winning formula. You know, the cross-selling opportunities has been, you know, has been terrific, and you know, we're already seeing early, yeah, early evidence of that.
Yeah. I think we've probably covered off most of it. There's one on products here, being a key focus for us going forward in terms of becoming the next operating segment. David, you know, what's your view on that? Because we talked about this in the past.
Sorry, what was the-
Engineered products. Yeah.
Yeah, look, I, look, I think I've been on record for a long time. I like the engineered product space. It's an engineering sell. You know, the same clients, the same sectors in which we operate in today. It's a natural extension. It's one that, you know, from a risk profile, you make it, you sell it, you get paid. It's a, it's a very low risk profile, and look, we are seeing some really good steps forward in this space. Look, I'm just trying to give a, you know, I guess a good indication of the future and where I see the future going. You know, we have a very clear strategy.
It might be 5, 7 years down the track, that we're there, but, you know, it's really flagging to the market that I ultimately like that area, and I see us as having the ability to be very, very successful in that space. It, but it will take time, and we'll, we'll built it in a very measured and disciplined way.
Okay. Maybe just one final one in terms of tender pipeline, and, you talked about the auction pipeline, that pipeline of $6.5 billion. What's the, what's your approximate timeframe for conversion for that then?
Well, I think, you know, we've got some really good near-term, near-term opportunities. I mean, we're well placed for FY24. Look, in reality, we've got an incredible work in hand number that takes us really forward over the next few years. You know, we'll keep winning work, but it'll be the right work, and then we'll do it in a way that, you know, I'm comfortable that we're winning it on the right commercial terms with the right clients, with the right skills, but also with the knowledge that we can execute it well. Look, we've grown a lot, as you can see, over the last few years, and I want to ensure that we can keep continuing that discipline in the execution as well.
Look, you know, we've nearly doubled our workforce over the last couple of years. So to me, you know, continuing to be very measured and disciplined in the way we grow...
Yeah
... and not just another, you know, I'm not, I'm not expecting to sort of grow by 40%, 50% every year.
Yeah.
'Cause you, you've really got to grow, bed things down and keep growing, and I think we've, we've managed the balance really well, with the business as we, as we've grown over time.
Yeah. All right. I think that's probably all the time we have for questions. David McGeorge, over, over back to you.
Yeah, I just wanted to thank everyone for, for the call today and, and, and really looking forward to, to delivering for you again in the next 12 months.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.