Good morning, and welcome.
Hello, everybody, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Tabcorp Holdings Limited Full Year Results 2024. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To participate, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear a message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, simply press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to the Managing Director and CEO of Tabcorp, Gillon McLachlan. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, and welcome to Tabcorp's full year results for FY 2024 . I'm Gill McLachlan, and I'm joined on the call by our CFO, Mark Howell. As you know, we've both recently joined the business, and we're pleased to be announcing our results and meeting investors over the next week. You'll have seen a change in the way Tabcorp's results are presented. There's more information for you in the ASX release, and we've made some new disclosures in the media business, which reflects the feedback of investors and analysts. I'll take the ASX presentation and release as read. The challenges are clear, but so are the opportunities, and that's why I joined Tabcorp. I was drawn to the challenge of unlocking the value in a unique set of assets that have not yet realized their full potential.
We're gonna create a complete sports entertainment experience for our customers. The journey has started. The app is better, our speed to market has improved, our retail offering is being revitalized, and we're achieving structural reforms that will make the company more competitive. I commend Bruce as Executive Chairman, the board and the executive leadership team for the progress they've made on this journey. It's a very different company today compared to pre-demerger. The foundations to unlock value have been built. But the reality is the company is only partway through a turnaround, and we need to continue to enhance execution to create greater value. My job is to unlock new capability and to execute at pace. You're going to see continued change, a new cadence at Tabcorp, a plan that continues to evolve, and a team that evolves as the plan changes.
There will be a laser focus on people and on capability. I'm gonna take the time to understand business capabilities and meet with stakeholders to listen and make the required changes. I'm a TAB customer, and I'm a customer of our competitors, so I know how we compare with others in the market. There's no doubt that the TAB offering looks and feels different. It's much better today than it was at demerger, but our product and our business is not yet where I think it will ultimately be, and I know our teams feel the same way. We will compete hard. Our media business is a unique asset, the only one of its kind in Australia. Our retail network is the same. It's being upgraded, rationalized, and revamped, and further value can be generated. Strong foundations have been laid, but there is a lot of work to be done.
We know the results are not where shareholders or the company wanted to be two years from demerger. The company will not meet the TAB 25 targets, and I want to be clear about that today. This is a company with enormous potential, working hard to realize it. It'll require change, but our goal remains unchanged: to be a world-class, diverse wagering and sports entertainment company. We're the only company that can deliver on that vision because we're the only company with such unique assets. Our strengths will inform how we compete. That's what I find appealing, and that's what I'm confident of doing in time, although we don't underestimate the challenges. I'll now hand over to Mark to talk you through the detail of the financial result before taking your questions.
Thanks, Gill, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to have joined the company in the last few months, and like Gill, I believe the company has an enormous opportunity, and I look forward to working with Gill and the management team to deliver value for our shareholders going forward. Slide 20 shows the group result for the FY 2024 year compared to the prior year. Tabcorp delivered EBITDA of AUD 318 million, down 19% on the prior year, driven by a 3.9% decline in group revenue as a result of a soft wagering market and the divestment of the MPS business and EBET in the prior year. Group OpEx increased 6.3% to AUD 614 million and is above prior guidance.
During the second half, we continued to see persistent inflation across most parts of the business, although our Genesis program, which delivered benefits of AUD 25 million, was able to largely offset this inflation. At the same time, the business continued to reinvest in customer-facing areas such as brand, data and analytics, and product. There were also higher costs associated with regulatory and compliance. The cost headwinds experienced in FY 2024 are likely to persist into FY 2025. However, we are targeting further savings of AUD 20 million from Genesis this year, and as part of this, in July, we completed another round of operating model changes that saw the removal of 85 roles across the business. A key priority of mine will be strong cost management and to ensure we are positively leveraged when the market returns to growth.
In FY 2024, the effective tax rate was impacted by foreign income tax offsets that were unable to be utilized. We have included a tax slide in the appendix that includes commentary on the FY 2024 tax expense, as well as our expected FY 2025 tax expense, cash tax, and franking position. FY 2024 NPAT, before significant items, was AUD 28 million, and the statutory net loss after tax was AUD 1.36 billion, driven by impairments, which I'll now speak to. Lastly, before I leave this page, Tabcorp announced a final FY 2024 unfranked dividend of AUD 0.003 per share. Slide 21 provides detail on significant items. Transformation costs with the Genesis program, demerger-related costs, and one-off Victorian license bids were largely offset by the settlement of various tax matters.
We announced in February a non-cash impairment of AUD 732 million after tax. Given ongoing softness in economic conditions, we have recognized a further impairment of AUD 645 million after tax in the second half, which relates predominantly to New South Wales wagering. On a pre-tax basis, New South Wales recognized an asset impairment of around AUD 100 million and accounted for the vast majority of the goodwill impairment at the segment level. The impairment recognized in the second half primarily reflects a slower-than-it previously expected recovery in the wagering market and a greater tightening of the regulatory environment, as well as the impact of higher-than-previously expected inflation on OpEx.
The impairment announced in February benefited depreciation and amortization in the second half of FY 2024 by AUD 26 million, and together with the full year impairment, the expected impact on depreciation and amortization is AUD 65 million in FY 2025. To be clear, that is the total impact of D&A in FY 2025 for both impairments. I'll skip slide 22, as I just touched on it, and we'll turn to Slide 23, which shows the segment performance for FY 2024. I'll describe the wagering and media key financial performance first and then move on to gaming services. Wagering and media revenue declined 3% to AUD 2.16 billion in FY 2024, reflecting a decline in the overall wagering market. The decline was driven by turnover, which was 3.4% down for the year.
Digital turnover was down 2.2%, reflecting a 4.9% decline in digital turnover, partly offset by higher yields of around 40 basis points. Generosity was 4.1% of digital turnover for the year, 3.9% in the second half, and down from 4.4% in the first half, as we benefited from improved generosity efficiency during this period. Cash wagering revenue was up 0.4% for the year, including growth of 5.3% in the second half. This was driven by improved yields of 40 basis points, despite cash turnover being down 0.7% for the full year and being in growth of 2.9% for the second half, so overall, a pleasing cash result.
Combined turnover in the second half declined by 2.9%, a relative improvement on the decline of 3.8% in the first half. Overall, domestic wagering revenue was down 1% for the year and up 2.3% in the second half. We were pleased with our relative turnover and revenue results when compared to that of other market participants. You'll note in the presentation on slide 11 that we have included an initial view of our relative performance versus competitors. This captures a much bigger proportion of the market than our previous measure and is based on net revenue, including generosities. On that basis, we have performed well versus our major competitors. Following a review of disclosures, international wagering has been included together with wagering to better reflect the activities of this revenue stream.
International wagering declined by 14.8% in FY 2024 due to the increased competition in global pooling markets. Media revenue declined by 6.2%, reflecting the impact of lower wagering market turnover, to which a meaningful portion of media revenues are linked, as you can see on slide 16. Wagering and media VC margins improved 40 basis points for the year to 35.1%, benefiting from the Queensland license reform, which was partly offset by the annualization of higher POC in New South Wales and an increase in Sky rebates to pubs and clubs. Wagering and media EBITDA of AUD 251 million declined by 18.4%, with an EBITDA margin of 11.6%. Turning the focus now to gaming services.
On an underlying basis, adjusting for the sale of MPS and eBET businesses, FY 2024 gaming services revenue was up 10.1% to AUD 163 million. Underlying gaming services EBITDA of AUD 59 million has increased by 14.3% when compared to FY 2023, with an EBITDA margin of 36.1%. The gaming services segment is now underpinned by a high-quality integrity services business, which continues to perform strongly. I'll now move to slide 25, which provides a breakdown of the key drivers of OpEx for FY 2024. We continue to see persistent inflation across the cost lines of the business. In FY 2024, Genesis benefits of AUD 25 million largely offset inflation prior to the investment we are making in key strategic areas and higher costs associated with regulatory and compliance.
Adjusting to the insurance proceeds benefit in the prior year, OpEx increased 4.4% to AUD 614 million. This is above prior guidance. As you can see in the waterfall, we invested in around AUD 15 million in key customer-facing areas, such as the Tab brand refresh. It was pleasing to see this resonated with customers, and we performed well relative to our competitors. We also invested in data and analytics, which drove an improvement in efficiency across the year. In addition, we invested in market-leading vision, which is 7 seconds faster than other WSPs. We believe these investments will hold us in good stead going forward. Employee costs, despite being impacted by wage inflation, came down by around AUD 13 million as a result of operating model changes and the divestment of MPS.
Demerger synergies were driven by increased tech costs as a separation from TLC drew to a close. We were able to offset some of these incremental costs via the Genesis program. Lastly, as the regulatory environment continues to tighten, the cost of regulatory matters and compliance costs also meaningfully increased year-on-year. We remain focused on improving cost disciplines across the business and program execution to ensure we capture positive operating leverage when the market returns to growth. Turning to our CapEx investment on slide 26. CapEx for the year was AUD 151 million and in line with guidance. We continue to increase the proportion of CapEx invested in growth and transformation in line with our strategy. In FY 2024, we spent 64% of our CapEx on growth and transformation. This is up from 49% in FY 2023.
Following three years of significant investment in digital and transformation, we now expect to reduce our CapEx in FY 2025 to approximately AUD 140 million. This reduction also reflects changes in the mix of technology spend between OpEx and CapEx as we move to a more modernized, cloud-based architecture. In FY 2025, we expect depreciation and amortization expense to be between AUD 109 million and AUD 110 million, inclusive of the impairments recognized during the year. On slide 27, you can see we delivered strong operating cash flow conversion of 94% and generated free cash flow of AUD 134 million. I'll now turn to slide 28 and our capital position. Tabcorp continues to maintain access to diversified funding sources with no debt maturities until FY 2028, following the extension of our Tranche A bank facility to 2029.
The company's balance sheet places us in a strong position to continue to pursue growth opportunities. As at 30 June 2024, pro forma leverage was two times net debt to EBITDA. We also have access to significant levels of liquidity, with approximately AUD 600 million of undrawn funds and cash available. Our weighted average debt maturity is 4.8 years. Like any investment-grade company, we will manage our balance sheet to ensure it is strong and provides flexibility for growth, enabling variances in operating performance and maintain an appropriate buffer to our covenants. In addition, we will maintain access to multiple funding sources and an efficient cost of capital.
In light of our recent license extension in Victoria, the enhanced credit quality of the business, and to provide Tabcorp with the necessary flexibility and funding capacity to pursue upcoming growth opportunities, we no longer consider the target leverage of one to one and a half times net debt to EBITDA to be appropriate. We consider a revised target of less than two and a half times net debt to EBITDA to be a more appropriate through-the-cycle leverage target. The target leverage measure is consistent with how our banks and note holders calculate covenants, and it includes interest-bearing liabilities, leases, and cash reserves. As a new management team, capital allocation is a priority. We will be reviewing the capital allocation framework to ensure we have the right settings in place to navigate the risks and opportunities facing the business going forward.
I'll now hand you back to Gill, who will provide some comments on the outlook.
Thanks, Mark. In the near term, we expect the macroeconomic environment to remain challenging, given expectations around interest rates remaining elevated and the high inflation levels that persist. The regulatory environment will also continue to tighten. However, TAB, which is already regulated in every state and territory we operate in, we're well placed to handle those regulatory changes. Australian wagering is historically a resilient market. I'm confident it will return to growth, and when it does, I'm focused on us being in a position to capitalize faster than our competitors. Within this backdrop, the business has solid foundations and unrivaled assets, but we need to move quicker and enhance our execution. We will be better. The key items on the outlook slides are: the market is expected to remain soft in the near term.
Among other things, this will impact the uplift from the Victorian license, as you've seen in the FY 2024 year, and the company will not hit the FY 2025 OpEx guidance. There will be a change at Tabcorp. This is a business of enormous opportunity that must be realized. I can see the asset base creating a world-class sports entertainment experience. The turnaround will take time, but the rewards will be unlocking the significant value that is hidden within the unique assets of this great legacy brand. Mark and I are now happy to take your questions.
Thank you. As a reminder to our audience, if you do have a question, press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To remove yourself, simply press star one one again. Our first question comes from the line of Andre Fromyhr with UBS. Please proceed.
Thank you. Good morning. I firstly just wanted to ask about your outlook commentary about the wagering market. When you say that the softness from second half 2024 is expected to continue in the near term, you know, are you talking about continued declines in the overall market, or is it really a story of not expecting much growth? I wonder if you could talk through some of the assumptions that you're carrying on those comments.
Thanks.
Is it-
Andre, thank you for that. So we've obviously seen, turnover sort of negative, through the second half, and I suppose the recent trends we've seen in the market, we saw in the second half has been broadly consistent with, the first period of the FY 2025 year. So not really seeing any trends there. The one thing we would call out, obviously, is we have gone through a period of, and we'd acknowledge a period of fairly strong yields for some time. And I suppose we would, just flag whether it's a bit unclear as to whether those yields will remain strong or see some level of reversion.
Okay, and I was just wondering, you know, Gill, you commented on the scale of the opportunity and the quality of the assets and you're sort of doing the rounds, meeting stakeholders, learning more about the business. Could you put a bit of a timeframe on when we would expect you to come back to the market with, you know, your strategy under the next era?
Yeah, thanks, Andre. Yeah, and I will. The only time I mention this, I'm at day 18, so, you know, I think people would expect me to get around and speak to the right people and take the time before I come back to the market. I'm aware of the pressure on that, but, I'll be coming back when the plan is set, and then I believe it's the right plan for shareholders going forward. And, you know, that's gonna be how long it takes, and, you know, I want to make sure that it is considered and sharp, and then we've got to execute.
Okay, maybe just one final one from me, specifically on costs. As much as there has been a, let's say, a departure from the existing TAB25 OpEx targets, you know, should we still assume that the Genesis program remains in flight, both in terms of how much you're gonna be spending on transformation, but the scale of those benefits? I'm curious if that's still kind of part of the strategy, at least for now.
Yeah, so what I'd say is we've called out in the outlook, Andre, that we're targeting Genesis benefits of AUD 20 million in FY 2025. I think from a transformation perspective, you should assume, given if you look at the significant items and what we spent on transformation in FY 2024, a decent chunk of that related to the new ERP. So, you should expect that the amount that we'll be spending on transformation in FY 2025 to be significantly reduced from that level.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. One moment for our next question, and it comes from the line of Justin Barratt with CLSA. Please proceed.
Hi, guys. Thanks very much for your time today. Gill, I just wanted to ask you directly, look, the Labor government is pondering some relatively significant ad bans for wagering across the market. I was just keen to get your thoughts directly on the prospect of those ad bans and any indications that you could provide on how we should think about the impact on your business going forward.
Yeah. Thanks, Justin. You know, I've made comments in a former life publicly, and I think they're consistent with Tabcorp's position, which is, I think there is, you know, there's too much advertising, and we expect it to come down, then you know, I don't wanna front run where the government will land, but when we look into this business with the unique assets that we have, I think we're best placed in the market to absorb whatever the change looks like, and we are not modifying our outlook based on any potential changes. We think that actually our unique assets see us well placed to absorb that, and we, you know, consistent with the broad philosophy that Tabcorp's come out with, that a reduction is appropriate.
Yeah, fantastic. Thanks for that. And then just wanted to quick one on the pro forma impact from the Victorian Wagering and Betting License. I think previously the pro forma uplift was to be about AUD 115 million, or sorry, you previously said the pro forma uplift would be about AUD 140 million in FY 2023, but now you're saying it's about AUD 115 mil to EBITDA in FY 2024. I just want to understand, is that reflective more of the operating environment, or is there something else at play there in terms of that pro forma uplift?
No, it's just on as you just called out, it's just on the operating conditions in the marketplace. Obviously, the earnings that would materialize from that was always gonna be dependent on market conditions. The AUD 140 million that we previously gave was based on market conditions of FY 2023. Obviously, since then in FY 2024, market conditions have continued to soften, and obviously, as you think about the look forward, you need to form a view on what you think, I suppose FY 2025 will look like, which will determine, I suppose, how you think about the earnings benefit from the Vic license going forward.
Thank you.
Thank you. One moment for our next question. It comes from the line of Rohan Sundram with MST Financial. Please proceed.
Hi, Gill and Mark, just a couple from me. Firstly, Gill, maybe if we came to hear your thoughts on, from a customer's perspective, on the Tabcorp product and, and how competitive you think it is in this, in this environment, and, and just any thoughts you have on the, the competitive landscape. Thanks.
Thanks, Rohan. I think that I wanna commend the team on their huge improvement in the TAB app. It's dramatically different from where it was two years ago, and it's a very good wagering app. I do think there's opportunities, though, for product improvement. The team know that, and both in terms of functionality and product. So, I think that it's a really strongly competitive app in the market, but I do believe there's opportunities for improvement, and I know the team feels the same way. I think the competitive landscape is exactly that. It's competitive. Our job here is to compete strongly, and I think, you know, the lead in is to compete strongly using our competitive advantages.
I think we are now competing strongly, digitally, and I think there's opportunity to play to our other strengths, as we meet the market.
Thanks, Gil.
Thanks. One moment for our next question, please. And it comes from the line of Matt Ryan with Barrenjoey. Please proceed.
Thank you. Good morning, Gill. Good morning, Mark. Thanks for your presentation. I caught that the cash number within your retail business was pretty strong. I think it grew about 5% in the second half. I note that a lot of the pubs and clubs data across the country is also quite strong, but historically, that retail business hasn't sort of managed to keep up with the pace of growth, probably for structural reasons. Can you just give any color on why you thought that number was so strong in the period?
Thanks, Matt. I mean, my observation, and as I look at other, you know, the earnings results of relevant companies, as you've called out, is that pubs are back big time. My data sample of one, as I live in Prahran, is that all the three pubs in my precinct are booked out every night, and they're busy, and that's the prevailing view in here, is that the pub has post-COVID, become the heartbeat of the community. People are spending, families, individuals, all demographic centers finding time in there, and it's become the center of the community, and I think we're seeing that beyond our numbers into our other verticals.
Thank you. And just looking at slide nine, you've sort of walked through, I guess, where the product is at, and, you know, it seems like the app is ticking a lot of those boxes. Not to preempt your strategy that you're gonna go out and work on, but one thing that doesn't appear to be so much on that page is, I guess, the concept of data analytics and sort of more personalization and below the line promotions. Is it fair to say that that's probably a decent area of opportunity for Tabcorp still?
Yes. Jenny, it's a big project, the personalization project. Jenny and Al and the team are working on that. It's a priority for us. And when we're able to unlock that, I think, again, that talks to the, you know, the suite of assets we have, and it will be a very powerful weapon for Tabcorp, and it's a huge priority for the business.
Thank you. And just one last one on the gearing, the target change. So I guess the word that you're using is that, you'd like to see gearing below two and a half times through the cycle. Just sort of curious on, that comment of through the cycle, whether you'd be willing to, I guess, allow for the gearing, metric to go above that two and a half times, perhaps for the right reasons?
Look, modestly, I would say, but obviously we would want within a reasonable timeframe to be well below the two and a half times. So we're sort of just giving ourselves a tiny bit of flex at the edges, obviously, just not knowing sort of the machinations of the market. But clearly, we wanna be prudent in terms of the way we manage the balance sheet. It, the two and a half, the less than two and a half provides significant headroom to our covenants, and as I said, is consistent with how our lenders actually calculate covenants. So we feel very comfortable, inclusive of the fact that obviously with the new Victorian license, the credit quality and the certainty of the cash flow of the business is materially enhanced.
Thank you.
Thank you. One moment for our next question, please. It comes from the line of Rohan Gallagher with Jarden Group. Please proceed.
Gill, Mark, good morning and welcome. Question for Mark, if I may. Mark, significant items exceeded has currently exceeds your market cap. Can you walk us through the assumptions that you've taken in regards to the incremental AUD 700 million write-down at period end, please?
Well, what I would say, Rohan, is I'm not gonna go through the specific assumptions. Obviously, we've made some assumptions around the market. There's obviously, if you're looking at our disclosures in the annual report, you'll see more detail around some of the assumptions that are outlined, obviously there around tax and other things. I think what we'd say, as sort of in my voiceover, is that, you know, obviously, the vast majority of the impairment was a result of where we are in New South Wales. And as I said, on a pre-tax basis, the impairment was around AUD 100 million in assets, and accounted for most of the goodwill impairment.
The two key factors were a slower than a previously anticipated recovery in the Australian wagering market, and that was driven by the fact that, you know, there's been persistent inflation and elevated rates relative to what we thought back in February. And that has obviously impacted the consumer spending on wagering activity. And obviously, there's been also, at the same time, a tightening of the regulatory environment. So a slower recovery is how I'd say relative to what prior expectations were. And then on the other side is obviously just more impact on the cost base, as a result of persistent inflation. So I'm not gonna go into it any further than that, but they're the two kind of key drivers of the outcome.
Yeah, I was more focused on forward earnings, but, I'll take that. Thank you very much. And just to follow up, if I may, Sky Racing unique media assets as Gil touched on, fantastic. A lot of rebates have been made across your venue base. Are we pretty well through that now, or will that have an adverse impact on FY 2025? Thank you.
So no, there is more to come in FY 2025. Sort of, it's low double digit in terms of the impact of Sky rebates. But what I'd say, Rohan, is that there are other initiatives that we're working on that we think will offset that drag from increased Sky rebates going forward, which is why we didn't specifically call it out in the outlook statement.
Okay, great. Thank you, gentlemen.
Thank you.
Thank you. One moment for our next question. That comes from the line of David Fabris with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Gill. Good morning, Mark. Look, I'm curious about the operating costs. I mean, is there any ability to make wholesale changes to the cost base in the near term, or are you happy with the size of that cost base relative to where your volumes are?
Well, I'll jump in there. You know, clearly, the OpEx targets are not gonna be hit, and we've called that out pretty explicitly. And I think some comments to make is that I think that clearly, some of the underlying assumptions are not correct or were proven not to be correct. And I think we're seeing persistent inflation, and we're seeing the increased costs of regulation playing a persistent role in stickiness in that cost base. It doesn't mean that, you know, clearly it's gonna be a focus, but the cost base has been impacted by those in a pretty sticky way.
Yeah.
Yeah, and what I'd add to it, David, sorry, just to jump in and build on that. And I think it's been previously called out, but the cost base obviously does have a large amount of fixed costs associated with it. Gill and I are very focused on costs going forward. It is gonna take us some time to get our arms around it and put in place the right programs of work and ensure that we've got the right execution going forward. So by no means are we sort of sitting there going, "We're happy with the outcome." We're trying to be realistic as to what we see and be clear with investors on that up front. But it, it's certainly gonna be a sort of big focus of ours going forward.
Yeah, I guess I want to try to understand if we can foreshadow a cost to our program in the next twelve or twenty-four months to rightsize it to where volumes are?
Yeah, look, as I sort of mentioned earlier, we've got we're targeting Genesis savings next year of AUD 20 million. We'll be looking at other opportunities we've got to rightsize the cost base in addition to that. We're obviously not committing to that today, but certainly you know, all of these things are you know, a lot of the what I'd call the sort of low-hanging fruit has been sort of worked through. But you know, we'll look at further opportunities going forward, but that's gonna take a little bit of time just to get that program humming like we'd like it.
Got it. Understood. And one more question, just on wagering, you know, we've had the BetStop program in place since late August last year. Can you make a comment on how much of the volume impact that might have had to the industry or maybe yourselves, and whether cycling that in August is gonna be a positive tailwind into the December quarter?
... I'll jump in, and maybe Gil can build. Look, there's clearly been, you know, whether it's BetStop, there's certainly been just new measures being brought in by regulators that have impacted the market. I suppose the other one we'd point to more recently is credit card bans. So whilst BetStop, we would've cycled that in August, there's probably been other things that have been sort of introduced more recently. And obviously, has been touched on in this call, there's potential advertising restrictions coming in as well, which has also played into our forward thinking of the market. So, it's certainly been a drag. It's really difficult to quantify the exact nature of that drag, but yeah, obviously, you know, would like to sort of see that dissipate over time.
And just sorry, one last question. Do you think BetStop possibly had a benefit to your retail business, seeing the growth we saw in that second half in particular?
That's not something we've considered. Our view is the volumes of the pubs which are represented across the board is clearly what the view of the market here is. I think in terms of to add to the first part of your question, to add to Mark's, is we're totally committed to regulatory reform and safe environments, and as part of our outlook going forward.
Understood. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. One moment for our last question. It comes from the line of Kai Erman with Jefferies. Please proceed.
Thanks, guys. Just one from me on the OpEx guidance. You saw, you spoke about inflation and regulatory costs increasing. Would you be able to provide any quantitative flavor on that, just in terms of the inflation assumptions, if that's gonna be in line with CPI and maybe the quantum of the regulatory costs that you're expecting in FY 2025?
Yeah, we're not gonna provide specific guidance on the regulatory cost, but you should assume it's more modest than what we're seeing as far as we can see right here, right now. We wanted to call it out because there had obviously been a meaningful impost on the business, some of which will flow through into FY 2025. But obviously, from a general inflation perspective, I think you can probably form a view based on what you're sort of seeing and hearing from other companies, and what you're just sort of seeing from a CPI print perspective is a fairly good sort of indicator of the sort of inflation that we're seeing on the cost base as well.
Okay, thank you, and just, following on from Matt's question in regard to the leverage target, just were curious whether that's implying a change in you guys in sustainable earnings through the cycle, and what are the potential uses for the additional capital that you guys could tap into as part of that leverage target?
Well, I mean, obviously, just, I mean, Gill can talk to some of the potential growth. I mean, obviously, just, any sort of future growth opportunities the business sees, going forward. It's not to say, I just wanna be clear, that the idea here is not to leverage up to two and a half times, that the target is less than two and a half times through the cycle. And it's, and it's just in, providing, you know, as I sort of said, future flexibility for growth, and we don't have anything right here, right now. I suppose the obvious thing is, you know, reform in New South Wales.
Okay-
All I'd add to that is that, I mean, clearly there's the many opportunities across the business that would require investment if the board thought they were the right way to go.
Okay. Thank you for that additional color. How would you guys think about use of capital in terms of taking on more leverage, or is there any view that you would look at Integrity Services as a future source of funding, or would you like to look to keep that as part of the portfolio if the right opportunity came up?
We've, you know, without committing anything, the balance sheet's obviously always being looked at. The gaming services business is performing strongly. Opportunities for growth in that. There are licenses up for review, and our focus at the moment on that business is to making sure it's continues to grow and perform strongly.
Perfect. Thank you.
Thank you. As I see no further questions in the queue, I will turn the call back to Gill McLachlan for his closing comments.
Thank you. I wanna thank all of you for joining today. I want to thank you for your focus on our business. Hopefully you take away that today from Mark and I, that we are, you know, clear of the challenges, but clearly also see the opportunity, and our job is to unlock that, and we'll work with you on relevant updates and discussions about as the strategy evolves. Thanks for your time.
And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for participating in today's conference, and you may now disconnect.