I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. David Macgeorge, Managing Director. Please go ahead.
Thanks, David, and welcome everyone to the call this morning. I'm very conscious that there is a lot of reporting happening this time of year, so we might get stuck straight into it. You know, today's a really positive day, and we're looking forward to the communication we're about to have. I always like to start with a little bit about us, particularly for those newer investors. If we start on slide two, who are we? We're an engineering-led specialist asset services, mining services, and construction group, and that's the engineering mindset that we bring to everything that we do as part of our core DNA. What do we do?
We solve complex problems across the entire asset lifecycle of engineer, construct, and sustain, and have a real skill with complexity. Now, what we wanna be, our vision, is the most sought after in our fields of expertise, so that when customers have a problem, a challenge, an opportunity, the first people they think of are SRG Global. Before I get into the review, I really just wanna pause for a moment and acknowledge our team, our business, and our people. You know, they continue to step up against what is a really challenging operating environment over the last couple of years. You know, culturally, we've really come together, and our people live and breathe what we stand for as a company. Live for the challenge, smile together, never give up, and have each other's backs. I really wanna acknowledge our people rolling up their sleeves.
I'm proud to be a part of this business, and I'm proud of the way that we've come together to keep achieving and delivering. If we move to slide four , which is our executive summary. I think what you see here is evidence of us continuing to deliver. If we look at the first few financials, revenue is up 5%, EBITDA is up 32%, and EBITA is up 69%. To me, it's the quality of the business and the quality of the revenue. The first half of last year, we exited some non-core businesses, and what you're really seeing there is evidence of the translation of that into better quality revenue and higher earnings. That translated into an NPAT of 102% uplift, which is terrific as well.
If we move down the table to the margin areas, this is one I'm, you know, particularly pleased with. EBITDA margin up 26% to 9.1%. EBITA up 64% to 5.4%, and NPAT up 100% to 3.4%. I mean, really, you know, this is a really pleasing result in terms of the further evidence of the quality of the business, the earnings that we're now achieving, and the margins that we're now making. Look, there's no doubt we think there's further chance to optimize that as we move forward, but it's certainly moving in the right direction. What that has allowed us to do is to increase our interim fully franked dividend to AUD 0.015 per share, which is a 50% uplift on the first half of last year.
It's something that really, you know, we are a growth stock, we're a dividend- paying stock, and we think you can balance that, and you're seeing clear evidence of that. That's really off the back of what I think is the key highlight of our first half result, which is the improvement in net cash of 432% to AUD 28.2 million. I think this is a terrific achievement because we've continued to invest in the growth of our business, and we've continued to deliver dividends and yield to our shareholders. It's something that's been a huge focus for us as a business and one that I'll touch on further in the presentation. We exceeded consensus for our first- half EBITDA performance.
We've got terrific high- quality work in hand of approximately AUD 1 billion and a good opportunity pipeline of six billion plus. We're well-funded for growth, and I'll touch on that further in the presentation. I'm pleased today to communicate that our FY 2022 EBITDA guidance is upgraded to a range of AUD 54 million-AUD 57 million, which , again, highlights the confidence that the board and I have in the future direction of the business. We're not here today to pat ourselves on the back, and we're not satisfied. In our view, we're just getting started in terms of where we plan to take this business moving forward into the future. It's really off the back as we move to slide five, our performance, a demonstration and evidence of us executing the growth phase of our strategy.
We are doing everything we said we would do. We've had a very clear strategy in place for a very long time, and what you're seeing today is clear evidence of us delivering against that strategy. The whole growth phase was around transitioning the business mix towards annuity recurring earnings. In that growth phase, you'll see a lot of evidence today of the ticks in terms of step change growth in recurring asset services, innovation and selective growth in mining services, targeted growth in special civil infrastructure construction, and specialist services and products in building construction with key repeat clients. You'll see the evidence of us transitioning to two-thirds, one-third in terms of annuity earnings versus project-based earnings. If we move to slide six, and I really wanna pause on this slide.
This is a very important slide to really highlight the strategic transformation that we've made as a company in the past few years. In 2018, about 70% of our earnings were project-based earnings and 30% annuity. You know, where we are today is almost the complete reverse of that. Why is that important? It's important 'cause what it brings is certainty, predictability, it lowers the risk profile, it gives us a very balanced business. If you're a pure construction company, you can feel the need to keep feeding the beast. You've got to keep chasing more and more work all the time. Whereas the balanced business we've now transitioned to has a two-thirds underlying foundation. We can then be very targeted on the good construction projects side of the business that suit our skill set and our commercial framework.
It's not easy to make this transition. Obviously, there were certainly many skeptics when I communicated this strategy back in 2018 in terms of where we wanted to take this business. A lot of companies talk about we're gonna go to annuity earnings. What you're seeing today is the evidence of that transformation. That's a transformation that's been done against a very, very difficult backdrop in the last couple of years. I think it's a testament to our culture, but most importantly, it's a testament to our people who've really come together as a team to keep driving this business forward. They've really bought into the vision about what we want to be as a company, both from a financial perspective, and more importantly, from a cultural perspective. I'm particularly pleased with where we've transformed to today. It's an outstanding result.
What's that translated to, as we move to slide seven, is that strategy, that transformation is delivering continued earnings growth. You can see the positive trend on these graphs. We expect that trend to continue as we grow further into the future over the next three to four years. If you want to get a bit of a feel for sort of first half, second half splits, you know, we're generally about 45 first half, 55 second half, is what we generally are, as a company. We expect that earnings growth will continue into the second half and continue over the next three to five years organically with the same positive trends. Not only is the strategy delivering continued earnings growth, as we move to slide eight, but it is also delivering increased cash and dividends.
I think, as I stated earlier on in this presentation , you know, the movement of cash has been a real standout performance for us. If you look at our history and transition from net debt to net cash over the last couple of years, that's a terrific result. I mean, this is an AUD 40 million swing in that period, and that's despite making the continued investment in the growth of our company, along with continuing to deliver dividends to shareholders. Which is a really good segue to the second graph on that slide. It gives you the history and trajectory of our fully franked dividends. You can see the growth. Our dividends are up 50% against the first half last year to 1.5 cents. It's a really positive trend. You know, we are throwing off excellent yields.
I think, you know, a yield of 6% fully franked, you know, higher if you gross it up. I mean, these are terrific yields for a business that is a growth business as well. We certainly plan to continue being a growth business and a good dividend-paying stock. I think for me, what we have strategically, and as you can now see financially, is a really terrific platform and fundamentals in terms of taking the business into the next stage of our evolution and growth. As we move to slide nine, it's also underpinned by a really strong foundation, both from a cultural perspective, but more importantly from a people perspective, and it's our people that are driving this result. If you look at slide nine, it starts with our zero- harm improvement.
You show me a business that's improving from a safety perspective, and I know the financials will reflect that. We've, you know, this business has continued to make really good strides forward from a zero- harm perspective. I always call it the glass ball. I don't really like to celebrate. It's a glass ball that we can never afford to drop, and it's something that's an ongoing focus for us, but we are making really good strides forward. That's despite having a growing workforce. Now, this time 12 months ago, we had about 1,800 people. We've now got 2,300 people. Not only is it a terrific safety performance, but it's also a real testament that we are growing from a workforce perspective. We're attracting really good talent. We're retaining really good talent.
We're, you know, in my mind, an employee value proposition that people are attracted to come to SRG. They can see the strategy, they can see the vision, they can see the culture, they can see the level of tenure we've got in contracts moving forward, and they wanna be a part of it. Labor's a really hot topic in the broader market. Whilst it's something in pockets we're managing, you know, we're doing a really good job attracting and retaining key talent. Diversity comes in many forms. We've chosen to highlight gender diversity in this half. You can see from a corporate perspective, quite an even split between male and female from a corporate perspective. Operationally, you know, we traditionally operate in sectors or industries that are far more male-dominated from a blue-collar perspective.
Now we're looking for new and innovative ways to attract more female employees into the blue-collar workforce, and that's very much a work in progress. You know, we have made some good strides forward in terms of bringing not only new skills, but further diversity onto both the board and the executive, in the last period, and it's something that I know is a particular focus for the board. From a community engagement perspective, you know, we do a lot of work with our local communities around training development, traineeships, and apprenticeships. You know, I'm particularly proud of the Bugarrba Indigenous joint venture, and I'll touch on that a little bit later. It's a scaffolding services joint venture. I think it's the first of its kind in Australia, and I'll touch on that a little bit later on.
You know, doing a lot of good work with our communities, not just from a sponsorship perspective, but really investing in developing and providing work opportunities. From a geographic diversity perspective, I really want to highlight this. Just to really highlight the, I guess, the 30-plus years of global experience that we have. We have a very broad platform on which we play. You know, in recent times, we've really pared back the international focus given the pandemic. This particular map really highlights where we have experience globally. The way we're structured today is having that sort of engineering hub in Australia and New Zealand, and really leapfrogging to do different types of projects or contracts internationally.
Look, the reason I highlight this is that the market will open up for us as we move into the future with, you know, borders now opening up internationally and, you know, more importantly, without being too controversial here in the West as well. You know, I think that's something that our geographic diversity really gives us, that broad platform and in some ways a natural hedge in terms of different economies and geographic cycles. You know, we've got a natural hedge on where we can play. For the corporate governance aspect, I know this has been a huge focus for the board. You know, we've really looked at our governance and continue to focus on that. We've gone through a whole refresh of our policies, you know, focusing on areas such as supply chain, sustainability, and modern slavery.
You know, I respect that SRG Global, and we've recently launched our first RAP, our Reconciliation Action Plan. You know, there's a lot of good stuff we're doing from a governance perspective. I know that's a particular focus of the board. I think what you can see on the strong foundation we have from a culture and people perspective is that not only is the strategy clear and solid, the financials are clear and solid, but the culture and people and the foundation are clear and solid. Why that's particularly important is that we're about to embark on the next evolution and growth of our business. You know, the foundations are there to really take this business moving forward. I wanna switch gears a little bit now and just go more into the financial overview.
If we move to slide 11. I've touched on quite a few of the financials in the summary, and slide 11 really breaks it down more into the three operating segments: Asset Services, Mining Services, and Construction . What I really wanna focus on in this slide is our margin. You can see from an overall EBITDA margin perspective that it's up from 7.2% in the first half of last year to 9.1%. I think if Roger might correct me here, but I think it was 8.3% in the second half of last year. You can see the positive trajectory from a margin perspective. We think there's a good opportunity to optimize that further as we move into the future.
If I break down the different operating segments, firstly starting with Asset Services, the EBITDA margins of 11.5%. I mean, that's a really solid performance for what is a capital- light business. I think it's one that I've been asked questions. We've won a lot of long-term contracts over the last 12-18 months. Are we buying work? I think what you're seeing here is clear evidence we're not buying work. We're winning it because we're a smart, technical , engineering- led business, and we have a point of difference. From a Mining Services perspective, you know, traditionally margins have operated from an EBITDA perspective in excess of 20%, and we're consistently delivering against that. You know, it's been a real standout performer for us again.
On the construction side of the business, you know, what you're seeing here is a good trend in margins improving as we sort of focus on higher quality work with key clients that we've had a long-term history with, skill sets where we're the most sought after, and we expect that margin percentage to continue to improve. From a corporate perspective, you know, it's sort of circa 2.4% of revenue. Look, I will touch on this one for a moment. We've really invested in this business in terms of really brought on a board of executive management with experience of running much larger businesses. I guess for us, taking our business to where we want it to be in the future, we've really invested in that.
You know, what you're really seeing today is starting to get some leverage of that, but there is still a lot more opportunity to leverage that corporate overhead further, given the sort of experience and capability we have at those particular levels. A lot of good work is happening from a systems perspective and really investing from a systems perspective, not for the company that we are today, but for the company that we want to be in the future. If we move to slide 12, you know, excellent cash generation. I've touched on this already, but I will keep repeating. I know there'll be a lot of SRG people on this call, and we always keep talking about cash, so I'll never miss an opportunity.
What you're seeing here is an EBITDA to cash conversion of 131%. I mean, that's terrific. It's been a huge focus of the business, and it was probably one of the benefits of the pandemic in the early phases of it, which really heightened the awareness and importance of not just profit, but cash. And we really drove that deep within the business. And I think it's now become very cultural for us in terms of driving the cash and cash performance. And this is a terrific achievement. I guess the waterfall here shows we keep investing in the growth of our business. We keep investing in shareholders from a dividend perspective.
For that, EBITDA to cash conversion is a terrific, a terrific performance, and I'm really pleased with the sort of positive trends we have in the way we're generating our cash. What that leads to on slide 13 is a really robust financial position. You know, we've really focused on this to ensure that we are bulletproof regardless of the situation we face ourselves. Really good available liquidity. You know, we're net cash of AUD 28.2 million. We'll keep investing in growth, but we want to be a net cash business. If you look at our debt, you know, the lion's share of our debt is equipment finance debt. What you can see there is that we have plenty of capacity from a funding perspective to grow this business into the future.
I'll switch gears again and sort of move more into the operating segment starting on slide 15, and that's probably, you know, perhaps a little bit more exciting for those with a more engineering mindset. I'll start with our asset services business on slide 15, which is our specialist maintenance and access services business. If there's one key takeaway from slide 15, it's the quality of the client base. I just wanna read some names to you. Rio Tinto, Fortescue, South32, Alcoa, Roy Hill, Adelaide Brighton, Iluka, Liberty, Minara, Visy, Fonterra, Pilbara Ports, Yara, Todd Energy. None of these clients existed three years ago for asset services. 70% of these clients we didn't have three years ago. This has been a huge transformation for us as a company.
It's clear evidence of the quality of the clients that are buying in to the SRG story and what we can offer. The whole strategy around step change growth in asset services, you're seeing clear evidence of that. What this client base provides us is an enormous platform and opportunity to bring all aspects of SRG Global and add value to their business. If we move to slide 16, the first half is in review. You know, good mobilization, operational delivery. I think if there's a key takeaway from this, you can see the clear relevant evidence of us continuing to win long-term contracts with new clients. You know, we've successfully expanded into the Gladstone region. We've now got more than 100 people in Gladstone.
What you're seeing now is a very broad asset services business with a key presence in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and New Zealand, and even a smattering in New South Wales and Victoria. That's certainly a good opportunity to grow that and expand that business geographically. A really good pipeline of opportunities, but particularly what excites me the most is the expansion opportunities with existing clients, n ot only with winning new contracts with existing clients in this space, but also by being on site and having that presence. Now, if something goes wrong, there's a lot of ad hoc work which is generally at a higher margin because you've got your fixed cost base already paid for. You know, the new slow mightn't be the same as we move into the future, but I wouldn't be worried by that.
The platform we now have means a lot of the stuff we will win, and the margin accretion we will gain will be by being there. That's something I know is a particular focus for David Williamson and the team of Asset Services. We secured a five-year contract for Bugarrba, our Aboriginal joint venture for scaffolding services with FMG in the period. Something we're particularly proud of, and it's one that we think there's great scope to keep growing that business, not only with Fortescue, but with other clients, as well. Now, I won't talk too much about photos, but if you're a bit curious about the top one there, I can categorically tell you it's not a fighter jet. It's the nose of the wind farm. But that does look like a pretty cool photo.
If we move to slide 17. You know, the mining services business, which is production, drill and blast, specialist geotech, and everything we do from a mine's production base, under long-term contract. Again, you can see the quality of the client base. It's all production- related, as I said. I think if there's a key takeaway, it's the quality of the commodities in which we play . We play almost exclusively in gold and iron ore. Good stable commodities that are growing. We do nothing in coal. Certainly, you know, for us, you know, our real focus is on quality clients and quality commodities. If we move to slide 18. You know, the first half in review. Look, again, a really strong operational financial performance. You know, terrific asset utilization in excess of 90%.
You know, we're not a company that, you know, speculatively buys equipment and puts it on the fence. You know, it's very much around following, you know, clients, growing with them, and really investing in kit as required for growth. A number of good contract wins and extensions in the period. Look, I've already mentioned our key commodity exposure. I think if there's a key takeaway from this slide, it's really our innovation focus. A lot of good, smart things we're doing around automation. In particular, it's Orbix, our proprietary data intelligence software. This is something we've invested a lot in. I think it's one that. What Orbix is, it's predictive intelligence. It allows good decision- making, not only for ourselves but also for our clients.
Look, why that's particularly important is that it makes us very sticky. Now, Orbix is integrated into our client's system. It makes us very sticky, and it really keeps us ahead of the game as being the most sought- after in terms of developing that in-house type technology and systems. Look, we'll probably segue for a moment on that technology piece. A lot of companies sort of talk about, "Well, you know, we're now gonna be a technology company," et cetera. I mean, for us, we see technology, and Orbix is clear evidence, as enablers for us to sort of maintain that most sought- after position and make us very sticky with our clients. And in all our businesses, there's great evidence of technology, systems, and innovation that we bring to the table.
Be it visual mock-ups and facades, or data monitoring technology in our civil and engineering business. You know, virtual reality training in our asset services business. Some of the data systems we've brought in for asset services. You know, we could easily call ourselves a technology company now. We've got a technology arm. But we just see it as an enabler. We like to keep things pretty real at SRG Global. It's that enabling piece that allows that engineering- led mindset of SRG to not only keep us ahead of the pack, but to allow us to grow and be sticky with our clients as we move into the future. Sorry, I segued a bit on mining, but I do get a little bit passionate about that at times.
I think from a mining services perspective, you know, while we've had some really good recent wins, you know, there is further growth we expect. I mean, we're certainly seeing the quality of clients we have, and their growth plans, we will grow with them. Again, not necessarily announceable events, but the long-term contracts we have, we will naturally get growth with our clients because of that. Look, we'll be very disciplined in the way we invest our capital. Very targeted, both from a client perspective and also from a commodity perspective. Our third operating segment is construction on slide 19, which is our civil and engineering business. That's our dam, bridge, and tank business and our specialist building business.
We're a national leader from a curtain wall façade construction perspective and our structures business here in the west. Now, from a client perspective, you can see they're very much government clients in that civil and engineering space, you know, particularly in that water and transport infrastructure space. You know, from a building perspective, very much key long-term partners such as Multiplex, Lendlease, and Built. If we move into slide 19, you know, construction in review, civil and engineering. You know, strong first half. Look, a really good pipeline of government opportunities in that dam, bridge, and tank space. I think what, you know, a lot of discussion around what's shovel-ready, and I think what we're now starting to see is more visibility and certainty in terms of what shovel-ready really is.
We think perhaps the second half of this calendar year will really start to kick in in our fields of expertise. Really pleased to report we achieved a highway, bridge, and road accreditation in the period, and that will open up larger infrastructure opportunities for us in our own right, and particularly the trend to alliance-style work. It really fits in the bread basket of what we do. Experienced high demand for our SRG engineered products with excellent growth opportunities globally, and I'll touch on this for a moment. We've got a developing business called SRG Products. These are engineered products, not screws or nuts or bolts.
They're very much engineered products we've designed with smarts, either in-house or we've worked with global engineering products partners or technology partners to bring stuff into the Australian market. I like this business, and we see this over time as becoming the fourth operating arm of SRG Global. You know, I like products. You make it, you sell it, you get paid. It's, you know, it's very recurring. It's a lower risk profile. With the platform we now have from a geography, client, and industry perspective, the whole engineering products angle will really feed into those sectors, clients, and geographies. It's one that, you know, we're particularly excited about where we can take this arm of the business moving into the future.
Look, in time, in the leadership phase of our strategy, it will ultimately become the fourth operating segment of the group. From a specialist building perspective, you know, again, solely focused on key repeat clients, and I will touch on that be cause that is a really important point. These are key repeat clients that we've had long-term relationships with. That's important from an operational perspective, but more importantly from a commercial relationship perspective where we have 25+ year relationships in managing projects and managing commercials. In some ways, we're almost agnostic as to the type of structure. If it's a hospital or school, a commercial development, a hotel, a car park, a shopping center, we're almost agnostic. It's more likely to follow our key repeat clients such as Multiplex and Lendlease.
Really good performance nationally in facades in the period and structures in the west. Probably facades had a little bit of an impact from COVID, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria in the period, but that's something that we you know, certainly is now starting to turn around. Really good work in hand. Terrific pipeline of opportunities. I was really pleased that we've now entered the defense sector for this particular business. It's a new market for SRG. It really further diversifies our sectors and opportunities. A lot of investment is coming up in that space. It can be quite difficult to get in, but once you're in, it really opens up good opportunities. While I said I wouldn't talk too much about photos in slides, I will just touch on it for a moment.
Elizabeth Quay, you know, something that, you know, we're particularly proud of. There's not a structure there that we haven't been involved in building and developing. There are a number of structures we're developing there in that precinct to date, and there's more slated for that particular precinct. I think by the time Elizabeth Quay is concluded in about four to five years' time, there won't be anything that we won't have been involved in that particular precinct. What it does give us is really clear visibility for our structures business in the west and our facades business in the west over the next three, four, five -year period.
I think if there's one or two key takeaways from construction, it's world-class value engineering in what we do, but we're gonna be very targeted on where we play. I always like to link back to strategy in terms of where we're taking the business moving forward. If we move to slide 22, it's about building the most sought-after business in what we do. We're very much in the growth phase of that strategy. Well, what is a very clear strategy? You know, we'll keep doing what we said we'll do in the future. Over time, that growth phase will morph into the leadership phase of the strategy and almost become one. Look, probably the key elements of the leadership phase to highlight are certainly the growth domestically and internationally in engineered products, which I touched on earlier.
You know, there will be selective strategic acquisitions to complement either our capability or our footprint. You know, probably the key areas of focus are asset services, particularly on the East Coast of Australia and potentially internationally, along with our engineered products business as well. Probably the other point I will highlight in the leadership phase, and you can see that we will continue to further transition towards annuity-based earnings to sort of that sort of 80%-20% range. If we move to slide 23, we're not stopping here. You know, we have a really good, strong platform for continued growth. Terrific work in hand, which I mentioned earlier in the presentation. A great pipeline of opportunities, and I think a really good history and track record of conversion, of which you've seen.
What I probably will say, and I touched on this a little bit earlier, is that the opportunity for us is leveraging existing contracts, cross-selling other parts of the SRG business, and really getting that out of ad hoc work as well. What we've seen in industry is they very much want to deal with fewer players that do more, and that means that the SRG value proposition's a strong one. You're seeing clear evidence of that in the growth in our client base, but the quality of those clients as well. This is a good segue into our outlook, which is a positive one. From an operating perspective, Asset Services delivers step- change growth in diverse sectors with blue-chip clients, and you'll see evidence of that. Mining Services are operating in high- demand, high- quality growth commodities. You're seeing evidence of that.
Construction has been positively linked to government infrastructure stimulus programs. You're seeing evidence of that. Our engineered products business is gaining momentum both domestically and internationally. While I don't split it out, our engineering products business for FY 2022 is almost at the full- year number for FY 2021 in terms of the growth and the momentum that it's building. From an overall business outlook perspective, you know, I'm pleased, as I mentioned earlier, we are upgrading guidance to AUD 54 million-AUD 57 million, which will give our shareholders confidence in where we think the business is headed. We've got a really robust financial position, which I've touched on earlier.
We'll keep transitioning this business further towards annuity earnings, which I've touched on, and we'll keep doing what we said we're going to do in terms of executing what is a very clear strategy that sets us up for long-term sustainable growth. We've got a significant organic growth opportunity in front of us over the next three to four years and multiple organic levers to grow this business into the future. Which is why we're a good investment proposition, which is, you know, why we're on this call on slide 25. You know, we have end-to-end asset lifecycle capability as being the most sought after in our fields of expertise. We play in diverse market sectors and geographies. It gives us that natural hedge as different sectors, economies, or geographies cycle, but also a very broad platform on which to apply our skills.
A high level of annuity earnings, which, you know, in time will attract much higher multiples. We're a highly scalable business with multiple organic levers to grow this business, but that's underpinned by an executive management board and systems that are experienced and ready to be a much larger business than we are today. We're a capital- light investment profile, which I think is particularly important to note because that allows us to be both a growth stock and a good dividend- paying stock, throwing off good yields. Again, I really want to acknowledge our people. I'm really proud to be a part of this group, proud to be a part of the SRG family.
You know, the work that they've done, not only in this period, but over the last couple of years, has been terrific, and I think it's a really exciting time ahead. I think I also want to acknowledge our shareholders for their support as we stick through and deliver against this strategy. I think it's also an exciting time for shareholders as well. I'm not a financial advisor, but there's no better time to invest in SRG Global in terms of where we're going, 'cause we think we're just getting started on where we want to be, and there's real momentum in this business, and we're well on the way to becoming the company that I know we can be. Thank you.
Great. Thank you, David. I guess we'll throw two questions now, and I'll try to play as good a moderator as I can, Dave, in this. There are a few questions that have come through. I think there are some of these we might have covered off before, but they're probably around the usual suspects of labor, border restrictions, and cost escalations. The question was more around, I guess, how you're managing those elements, given a lot of commentary still exists in the market.
I think in probably some ways the results sort of show the diversity of the business. There are certainly pockets where there's a more heightened challenge, but the diversity of the business certainly helps. I think to me, we've really largely weathered the storm and shown in the last couple of years that we can really manage, not only labor, but COVID as well. It's one that, you know, particularly now the Western Australian borders are opening up, that's going to really help us. While you know, perhaps Omicron is going to come into WA, and I almost think it's gonna be a zero-sum game in terms of Omicron coming in versus the benefit of the border being open.
We'll probably net each other out, and particularly in areas like New South Wales and Victoria, we've largely experienced that already. Look, I think I mentioned earlier, you know, we've already shown that, you know, we're an attractive employee proposition and are getting good talent in. You know, from a cost perspective, you know, all our contracts have rise and fall mechanisms in them. The lion's share of them is actually linked to the site and the contract, which gives us that sort of protection against rising costs or inflation, which is becoming a bit more of a topic than today. Look, probably only other comment I'll make around COVID is that, I mean, the type of sectors we operate in are very disciplined.
The kind of regimented approach is. It's quite consistent with sort of how those disciplined sectors operate already today. Look, it's largely something that you know. I wouldn't say it's been an easy period in the last couple of years. You know, for me, we've done an exceptionally good job against a difficult backdrop. I'm certain that as the world becomes more normalized, our results will only improve, just off the back of it being an easier operating environment than it has been in the last couple of years.
Okay. Thanks, David. I think this other one you've kind of covered off in the presentation about contract wins coming up, but a question around the recent wins and whether you see that there's some opportunity for us to win more.
I think we've announced nearly half a billion dollars of work in the last few months. Look, you know, we plan to continue to grow. You know, there will be further contract wins as we move into the future. I think the great thing about our business, there will be further wins, there'll be new contracts with existing clients, but there'll also be all that ad hoc work that we can leverage by being on site on several , you know, a lot more sites already. It will come from all those four buckets, along, with getting some of that overhead leverage that I touched on earlier in the presentation.
Yeah. Okay, there are a few more here. I'll try to go through them as quickly as I can. M&A. View on M&A?
Well, certainly, you know, we plan to grow the business organically. There's a lot of good organic growth over the next three to four years, but we will overlay that with inorganic opportunities that make sense for our business.
Yeah.
Makes sense for shareholders. I think I touched on it a bit earlier in the presentation, sort of, you know, the Asset Services area is one that, you know, there's potentially skills around perhaps more mechanical skills, maybe more, development on the East Coast of Australia, and possibly certain jurisdictions internationally. Certainly, Engineered Products is the other one where, you know, there's development in- house, but I think the right products or, you know, products and partners, you know, we may look at in that area, as well. It will be a combination of both.
Yeah. Yep. International work, I think you touched on the opportunities in products as well internationally, but just generally internationally.
Well, that's something that, probably over the last couple of years, we really pared back.
Yeah.
Given the pandemic, I now really see that as a medium-term play. I sort of don't foresee anything meaningful internationally in the next, in the second half of this year. It's certainly a medium-term play in FY 2023, FY 2024, as the borders open up again and those opportunities present themselves to us. You know, funnily enough, in the period we are selling products into the U.K., you know, there's products into New Zealand, you know, there's other things we're looking at, you know, from a product perspective in broader jurisdictions than that.
You know, while we're probably from a services side, we've pared back, you know, the products probably gone the other way a bit. You know, that's something tha t's certainly part of our medium-term plan. That's one thing I like about our business: there are just multiple organic levers in terms of how we're going to grow this business into the future.
Yeah. There's one here around the dividends, and the comment was around; it's pleasing to see there's been an increase in dividends. Is there a set dividend policy for SRG?
There's no set policy. Probably traditionally around the 50%-60% range. I think, you know, the first half, you know, is a smidge higher than that. Given our really strong cash performance and our sort of outlook on the second half and beyond, you know, we, you know, both the board and I felt the confidence to increase dividends and, you know. I think 50-60% is a pretty good proxy for how to think about it without there being a set policy.
I think this one here, around the swing factors in the second half of FY 2022, to the guidance, and how do we think that translates to FY 2023?
Yeah. Well, it's a reasonably tight range, 54-57. I think probably, you know, there's some factoring in there in terms of whether, you know, there's, you know, what sort of impact COVID plays in the second half. We sort of think that if it's a more meaningful impact, it's probably the lower end of the range. If it's not, then, you know, it's probably, you know, at the higher end of the range. I think COVID's probably the biggest swing factor of that.
Yep. A couple of comments around cash. On a good result in cash contribution to the capital reduction, prepayments. Does that exist in the business? You know, what's driving business margins? I'll cover the first part I think.
No, I'll let you field it, Roger Lee.
Yeah. Thanks.
No, no free lunches, so.
Yeah. No, it has been a really good pressure point. David's talked about it a number of times in the presentation, but you know, there certainly haven't been any prepayments by way of contribution. That's really been a real concerted effort from the team to work through our contractual terms with our clients and work collaboratively with them to ensure that we do get our payment milestones tightened up and make sure that we don't have, you know, big carrying amounts in WIP on our books. Then, to ensure that constant working with our clients happens on a constant basis.
As we all know, how cash evolves to become payments is that you need to work through your claims, through your certifications, through your payment regime on a very regular basis. I think, you know, to David's point, we have, as a business, I feel really enhanced not just our understanding of how cash flows, but just in terms of that working relationship with our clients and cash as well. That, that's been good. Do you want to touch on the margins aspect then?
Yeah. There are a lot of questions around driving increased margin in construction, and confidence in this trend continues. I think for me, I touched on this at the start of the presentation, we exited some non-core businesses in the first half of last year in the construction space, being structures in Victoria and in the Middle East. Really, what you're seeing here is us really sticking to the things that we're good at, with key repeat clients. We think that will continue to grow. We've probably been, I think in some ways, particularly in civil engineering, maybe a little bit conservative in terms of just wanting to sort of keep our, you know-
Mm-hmm.
To really be quite targeted and focused. You know, one thing that we you know one of our key parts of our DNA is the engineering skill set that we have. The sort of shovel-ready nature of the East Coast infrastructure has probably been a little bit slower, and I think COVID has had some impact on that. We've probably carried some engineering costs through this phase that I think will be leveraged as we move into FY 2023.
Mm-hmm. All right. Thanks, Dave. Question on engineered products. A bit more detail around that, please, as a potential fourth business segment. Do you have an idea of, you know, what the real opportunity size is for us in that?
Yeah. Well, I mean, today was really just introducing-
Yeah.
You know, the engineered products as a business that we've been developing. It's certainly a part of our strategy. I don't want to spend too much time on it today. It's one that, you know, will ultimately become a fourth operating segment over time. I'm not talking about that. That's not going to be in the next 12-18 months. We'll keep building that.
Yeah.
Business link from a revenue perspective. It's less than 5%.
Yeah.
-of the current business. You know, where we're really getting great traction is with government clients in that major infrastructure-
Yeah
You know, bridges, dams, wind farms.
Yeah.
I'm certainly in the building construction.
Yeah
In the space with all the key Multiplex, Lendlease, and the like, and, you know, we're certainly also in the mining space.
Yeah
It's quite a broad platform.
Yeah
For us, it's one that has really good quality clients and really good sectors that we've got established relationships in, and for clients we've got established relationships with, as well. Probably the difference for products is that it can go to any client.
Yes.
Whereas, probably, have a look at, say, construction, for example, where you're trying to win the project yourself. It's kind of you win, or you lose, whereas with products, you're really feeding the entire market. Look, I won't spend any more time on that.
Yeah
Today, y ou know, product businesses are generally higher margin businesses and attract very different multiples, and it's one that, you know, we'll keep building over time. You know, I'll keep communicating with the market.
Mm-hmm
Over the next period, just to sort of continue to build that awareness about where we're
Mm
Where are we taking that business? Really, today was just a little bit of an entree to sort of-
Yeah
Take us into the next phase. 'Cause, you know, one thing that we've really focused on as a company is to ensure our business is really easy to understand. I think we've done a terrific job in terms of becoming quite a simple business to understand. Simple, but very technical and smart, it has a very clear strategy that's clear and easy to understand. The reason why I'm raising products now is that, as we move into the next evolution of our strategy, it's well understood well ahead of time.
Mm-hmm
In terms of where we're going.
Yeah
That's probably the extent of it.
Terrific. A really hard one, just an easy one to finish off on multiples. I know, but someone's asked a question again. Sorry, Dave. Where do you think we can evaluate from an EBITDA or EV/EBIT multiple perspective, and where do you think what upside we've got?
Well, no one's ever had an ugly baby, have they? I think from a multiple perspective, I mean, we're, you know, from an EBITDA perspective, we're cheaper today than we've really ever been in my time in the business. If you look at the balance sheet, we have the growth trajectory we're on, and where we're going with increased guidance, it shows the cost. We've got multiple organic levers to grow the business. I think as the market understanding builds, and just in terms of how we've transformed this company to the company that we are today, it will drive a re-rate.
I think at the end of the day, I've said this internally many times, you know, we've got a lot of employees invested in the company, which I think is a real plus for shareholders. The best thing we can do is focus on what we can control, and that's being a really good business, delivering good cash, delivering good profits, delivering for our clients, and growing. What we are is that. We are a business that is absolutely delivering. The investment market will catch up in time. Then that's the business I wanna be. We wanna be humble. We wanna keep delivering, and over time, you know, the market will realize that, and they will reward us for it.
I think there's just one last one that snuck in. I think we'll just have to call it quits after this. In Asset Services, can you give us a sense of just how big this business can potentially get?
Well, it's going to grow both organically and inorganically. Certainly, where it is today is not where it will be-
Yeah
Into the future. You know, we expect it, you know, that when I talk about step change growth in asset services, that will continue.
Yeah.
It will continue in steps, not in terms of, you know, smaller increments over time. I mean, it's going to be a big part of our business. Look, I'll probably, you know, plan to give a further update on our broader strategy over the coming period, and I'll make it quite clear in terms of where the different businesses are. Asset Services is one that will grow both in revenue and also just the opportunity to optimize margins further is there, as we grow as well.
Just do that then. Would you call that the new clients that we've had built up over the last-
Yeah
A few years or so? That's pretty significant.
Yeah.
Okay, I think that's it for us. Thank you, everyone, for joining the call.
Yeah. Look, I really appreciate the support from our shareholders and our people, who I know will be on this call, and it's an exciting time ahead. Look, we'll get back to work now, and you know, we're aiming to deliver a really good second half, and which will set us up really well for what I think is gonna be a very exciting FY 2023 as well. Thank you.