Good day, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the WHL investor call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity to ask questions later during the conference. If you should need assistance during the call, please signal for an operator by pressing star and then zero. Please note that this call is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Jeanine Womersley. Please go ahead, ma'am.
Thanks, Claudia. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us at such short notice. I'm joined today by our Group CEO, Roy Bagattini, and our Group FD, Reeza Isaacs. I'm sure you've seen our voluntary announcement this morning, out on FVTPL in respect to WHL sale of David Jones. We really just wanted to take the opportunity to answer any questions that you may have. I'm gonna hand straight over to Roy for some opening remarks, and then we'll go straight into Q&A. Thanks. Roy, over to you.
Yeah. Thank you, Jeanine. Yes, good morning to all of you, and welcome from me. Again, just thank you for joining us on relatively short notice. But yes, I mean, you've seen the announcement. We're very pleased that we've been able to go out with this announcement today. This follows obviously a very comprehensive strategic review that we've undertaken over the last several months. And you'll know that for some time now, we've been saying that we didn't really see David Jones as being a core part of the group longer term. We did run a very thorough process in evaluating different options and permutations for what we call value creation here.
Ultimately, we made a decision to sell the business to Anchorage Capital Partners, down in Australia, a Sydney-based private equity business. We had a number of conversations, discussions, et cetera, with several credible parties over the past 12 months. In the end, you know, the criteria we set for this decision, we felt that Anchorage basically delivered the most compelling outcome for us in that we're able to secure the value we were looking for, deal certainty, which is important, and the net-net, a clean exit. Overall, very happy with the outcome. The transaction itself, the details, the detailed terms and so on are still confidential.
I mean, they're obviously subject to various closing adjustments that we also work through between now and the end of March, which is the timing when this is expected to sort of close out. I certainly can tell you that the value that we will realize through this process will be in excess of the carrying value of David Jones on the WHL balance sheet. So a really positive outcome here. No further write-downs required from David Jones. Certainly, you know, accretive to our shareholders overall.
Importantly, I think, in addition to that, you know, the opportunity that we now have to take around ZAR 17 billion worth of lease liabilities off our balance sheet, is quite transformational for us. Certainly sets us on a different trajectory from a returns perspective. Needless to say, you know, the extensive amount of management focus and time that we've been putting into this business, particularly over the last two years, you know, we can now reallocate, redeploy, you know, against businesses that are more interesting for us. Are more strategically relevant, and certainly yield better returns.
That's really what I wanted to say in terms of opening remarks. Very happy to sort of dive straight into any questions that either myself, Jeanine or Reeza will be very happy to respond to. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and then 1 on your touchtone phone or on the keypad on your screen. If you decide to withdraw your question, please press star and then two to remove yourself from the list. Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and then one. The first question comes from Shamiel Ismail from Primar esearch. Please go ahead with your question, Shamiel.
Good morning, everyone. Apologies for my voice from the game yesterday. Congrats on the transaction. Just one question. A lot of effort has been spent on integrating David Jones with Country Road in the Melbourne campus, including moving David Jones' head office boundary, you know, the so, the central distribution, et cetera. How will this integration be unwound? Secondly, how will that leave Country Road Group in terms of the economies of scale? Because I assume that the systems and distribution setup was sufficient for both businesses. Now with one business only, will it still be optimal? Thanks.
Thank you. Good morning, Shamiel. I mean, I think we all share the closeness. I mean, I know a few friends, it's probably not the happiest day in the world. For the rest of us, I think we're totally happy with the outcome. To your questions, you know, the separation, you know, certainly the initial strategic intent was to integrate these businesses, which obviously in hindsight has demonstrated that that was not necessarily the best and the most optimum approach. These are very different businesses and they operate very differently. Yes, there are certain processes that one can leverage and get certain synergies out of back-end processes and so on.
Over the last two years, in fact, Shamiel we've been, you know, sort of progressively undoing a lot of that integration. You know, you mentioned distribution, for example. The distribution system back in supply chain, et cetera, of David Jones and Country Road are totally independent of each other now. There's no sort of issue there. To your point, there are certain operational processes and certainly certain IT systems which remain somewhat integrated. The not IT stuff is quite simple and straightforward, and there's very little left there for us to do in terms of pulling them apart, and we'll get onto that fairly quickly.
It is a little bit more complicated when it comes to some of the, you know, IT shared services around data and call centers and the like. We've already begun a process of, you know, mapping that out, and there will be a transition period post-closing that we'll work through. We have a committed plan that, you know, ourselves and Anchorage have aligned on that we will go forward and execute with. We don't expect that to have any detrimental impact certainly on Country Road Group or either for that matter on David Jones as they stand up their own respective capabilities from those that were currently shared to them being sort of self-sufficient in the process.
Thank you.
Pleasure.
Thanks. The next question comes from Gary Chigwedere from RisCura. Please proceed with your question, Gary.
Hi. I just wanted to know management's thoughts on where you're going to be focusing a bit more now. I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but I remember you gave us the CapEx outlook for Country Road. I just want to know where the focus is going to be there. Is it still going to be mostly focused on Australia or you're going to work more towards bringing that brand to S.A.?
Thank you, Gary, for the question. Yes, we did communicate at our last results presentation, you know, level of CapEx investment we're looking at deploying across the group, and we were talking in the region around ZAR 8 billion-ZAR 10 billion over the next three years. Certainly as we go forward, you know, and we look at the balance sheet of the company as it is today and the potential impact the use proceeds would have on that balance sheet, and the offloading of David Jones, it does put us in a great position, frankly, to look at what we do. We did put out quite a bit of information last year around our approach to capital allocation.
It's been something that we've been very centrally focused on. Done a major refresh in terms of our approach, process, parameters, et cetera. We've identified three broad areas, you may recall from that capital allocation presentation that we did, whereby we'll be looking at, first and foremost, obviously, you know, our own balance sheet and how further to optimize that. We'll be looking at investing back in the businesses where we earn the highest returns, you know, which is obviously our South African businesses and the CRG business. Then we're gonna be looking at, you know, returning excess cash to shareholders through ordinary dividends and share buybacks, when feasible.
We'll be applying the proceeds from here against all three of those particular areas, and we'll provide more detail on that a little further down the line. Absolutely, we would. You know, in terms of overall focus, you know, to be very candid, David Jones has been an extremely, you know, intensive, you know, sort of process focus and management time commitment, you know, over the last... certainly since I joined the company. Disproportionate amount of effort and energy going into this into this business. We have turned it around. You know, it was teetering at one point in time. We've sort of restructured the business. We've executed a capital plan. We've got the business profitable. We've got it cash generative and self-funding.
It's taken an inordinate amount of time and effort and energy from us. That clearly now goes away, that capacity will be redeployed against Country Road Group, against the Fashion, Beauty and Home business and obviously, our food business in South Africa. The center of gravity does shift to the S.A. businesses going forward.
All right. Thanks for the answer.
Pleasure.
Thank you. The next question comes from Junaid Bray from Laurium Capital. Please proceed with your question, Junaid.
Good morning, Roy, Reeza, and Jeanine. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can, Junaid. Good morning to you. Thank you.
Morning. Thanks for your time. Maybe just a follow-up from a strategic perspective. Without David Jones, will the focus remain on the three core businesses, or does that open up the opportunity to look at something else?
Yes. I mean, you know, we've spoken about this before as well, Junaid. I mean, for us, you know, we see the inorganic growth opportunities across our group with our existing businesses to be particularly compelling for all of our businesses, the Fashion, the Beauty, the Home business, as well as the Food business in SA. Then there's a really interesting you know, trajectory for our Country Road business, you know, in Australia.
That's gonna be where the vast majority of our focus goes. The point I guess you're asking about is potentially other investments or other inorganic opportunities. You know, we're not particularly on the lookout for doing deals or having to do deals. You know, we do have three really compelling investment pieces here across these businesses that we have in terms of FBH, Food, and CRG, and they are going to be where we focus the vast majority of our energy investment and time and attention.
Thanks, Roy. Then maybe just the value of the Bourke Street property that's excluded from the transaction. What is that, roughly?
Yes. I mean, we've sort of put some numbers out on this before. I mean, it's certainly north of AUD 200 million, so more or less, ZAR 2 billion + . We see it certainly in the range of AUD 200 million-AUD 250 million. You know, and it's not something that we feel, you know, sort of compelled to sell immediately. You know, we are going to be earning a healthy revenue stream off that, off that investment. You know, we'll obviously, optimize the opportunity to offload it based on time, where the markets at, and other opportunities.
You know, there are various interested parties, but again, you know, as our focus has been on the operating company, so to speak, David Jones and getting that away, and, you know, in time we will look at what we do with the Bourke Street building. It's a great asset. It's well located, as you know. It's in the Bourke Street Mall. It's, you know, high end downtown Melbourne. So, you know, we feel very good about the asset, but certainly it's not necessarily part of our longer term play. My point was just that we're not gonna rush off and try and sell it and maximize value here.
We'll do that, when the time is right.
Thanks, Roy.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just another reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star and then one. The next question comes from Jonathan du Toit from OysterCatcher Investments. Please proceed with your question, Jonathan.
Morning, guys. Can you hear me?
Yes, Jonathan, please go ahead. Thank you.
Thank you. Just on Country Road and the distribution through the David Jones stores, I mean, is there any agreement that will continue? You know, the new owners, could they potentially pull the brands out?
Yes. I mean, that's a good question because obviously these have been really closely partnered businesses, you know, up until now. The matter of fact here is that the relationship between the selling of the Country Road brand and David Jones is in fact an arm's length commercial relationship. You know, those processes have been put in place for some time. The terms of those particular, you know, the sales plans, you know, there are joint business plans that the teams have created and are sort of supporting. We expect that to continue, you know, is the short answer. We don't expect any particular change.
you know, the Country Road brands are quite an important component of the David Jones offering. They bring other benefit to the David Jones business. At the same time, you know, there is a, you know, David Jones is also an important component of the Country Road business. It is a, it's a great relationship, positive for both parties, and we absolutely expect that to continue.
Okay. There is no, there is no agreement where, you know, the new owners must distribute Country Road for, let's say, a 10-year period or something like that?
Jonathan, there's no specific agreement, but there are contracts in place, between the brands in Country Road Group and David Jones. Those run for multi years, multiple years. We expect those contracts to be honored. Beyond that , you know, as I said, it would be somewhat, you know, ill-advised for them to not want to do that. By all means, I mean, we've had several conversations around this particular point, and all parties are very comfortable with where we are in that relationship. As I say, it is sort of ultimately governed by a contract, you know, that we expect would obviously continue.
Jonathan, if I could just add further to that. There is a preexisting, arm's length concession agreement in place between DJs and CRG. You know, legally it's not something that can be sort of easily terminated.
Thank you.
I think besides that, Country Road is a highly sought after brand, you know, and certainly, you know, it wouldn't be in DJs interest to terminate that concession arrangement. It's highly sought of by other distributors as well.
I mean, could you give me any indication of the length of one of those concession agreements?
They typically run between three and five years.
How many years?
They typically run between three years.
Three and five years.
Three and five years. You know, each brand has its own sort of arrangement. You know, I mean, I, I really wouldn't be, you know, too concerned that this is going to have any sort of detrimental effect on CRG and its growth plans. You know, as I say, these agreements have been in place for some time. They are contracts that legally, you know, sort of defensible. They're not something that, you know, we are concerned about on our end at all actually.
Okay, thank you.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question comes from Damon Buss from M&G Investments. Please proceed with your question, Damon.
Thanks very much for your time this morning, guys. Can you maybe just give us some insight into what the cash generation of David Jones has been in the first half of this year? Just has the trend continued to improve or did it stabilize from where it was on the second half of last year?
No, it's a great question, and I wish I could answer that, Damon. You know, I think we're in close period now, but, you know, we've, you know, we've sort of, you know, prior to us, coming into close period and certainly to our results announcement, we gave an indication of where, where the businesses were at. We released a bit of a trading statement, 20 weeks in, which would've told you or would've given you a sense, that there's a very strong positive momentum in that business.
Okay. Perfect. Thanks very much.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question comes from Murray Moore from Aylett & Co. Please proceed with your question, Murray.
Hi, guys. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can, Murray. Thank you.
Perfect. Thanks so much for the call. Guys, you mentioned that you, look, you're going to get in excess of the carrying value of the assets of David Jones. Are we talking NAV here or are we talking the carrying value of the assets? Is it the same thing?
Well, you, I mean.
If I can jump in here, Murray, I think it's the same thing.
Yeah.
If we look at the value reflected on the WHL balance sheet, we would all then expect to realize proceeds in excess of that carrying value or that book value, that NAV.
Okay. You got at FY 2022 annual financial statements, it's about ZAR 3.6 billion of NAV. The store is about ZAR 2.5 billion. You're expecting to get in excess of ZAR 1.1 billion?
Look, I mean, we don't wanna really go on the specific numbers at this point in time.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, there are a number of moving parts, as you can imagine, that go into this and obviously when we close, we'll firm up and provide you...
Mm.
With all of these details. I mean, from a carrying value perspective, it's obviously been impacted, by the, you know, the sale of buildings, you know, the various cash repatriations that we've done.
Mm.
Also importantly, you know, the profit we're generating currently through the ongoing trade. You know, yes, I mean, I think the key take out really is that, you know, the value realized here will be comfortably in excess of what we're talking about as carrying value.
Okay.
Murray, you can rest assured that post-completion of the transaction, excuse me, we will obviously provide the necessary disclosure to the market.
Yeah. Sure. Understood. Then maybe just if you can give us a sense of the intangibles in your segmentals, you guys put property, plant and equipment and intangibles. How much more intangibles are, is on that David Jones balance sheet? Just a sense would be helpful.
We've written everything off, from an intangibles perspective, you know, goodwill and trademarks.
Nothing, nothing more-
Nothing
on the balance sheet?
No.
All right. Then just the last one was on the amount of cash still sitting in David Jones. You obviously repatriated quite a bit of that. At the ats, it was AUD 2.5 billion. I'm assuming, I think there was, what was it, AUD 90 million that was repatriated?
That was in February, and we've since repatriated another ZAR 50.
Okay.
In November. Yeah.
All right. All right, guys. Thank you.
Pleasure, Murray. Thank you.
I think, Murray, sorry, just one point to note as well is that if you look at our June and December balance sheet cutoff periods, it is typically.
What Janine, I think was saying was she's not in the same venue as us, but it was typically a low point in the. Was that what you were saying, Janine? It was a low point in the capital, in the capital cycle.
Apologies, Roy. Yes. Thank you.
Great.
The June and December balance sheet cutoff periods are typically.
Yes.
low points for us in the working capital cycle.
Okay. Got it. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. The next question comes from Saad Chothia from Citi. Please proceed with your question, Sa'ad.
Hi. Good morning, guys, and congrats on the deal.
Thank you, Sa'ad. Thank you.
Just quickly, is any competition, commission or regulatory approval still required for this? Or is that all done and that included in that May 2023 deadline or guidance that you've given us?
Yeah. It's March 23, 27 March.
March. March, sorry. Yeah.
Yeah. you know, this transaction doesn't require that at all, so no issues from that perspective. You know, I did mention to you that, you know, for us, one of the attractions around the transaction, apart from optimizing value, has been , you know, the, the sort of doability of the deal, you know, the, you know, the ability to get it done, the certainty that comes with the way we set up this transaction and the opportunity to have a you know, a clean exit. Those are all big considerations for us. We didn't want to have anything really lingering. This was an important factor for us.
Cool. Thank you. Just one more question on the cash. You'll obviously receive the cash. The immediate plans, you mentioned those three core areas, but just with regards to the dividend, I didn't hear you correctly. Was that a special dividend or just normal dividend, you know, obviously increasing it to what it was before the David Jones acquisition and when you cut it, and then obviously share buybacks with that. I just wanna... Can you just clarify that sort of in terms of cash back to-
Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, what I was saying was that, you know, across those three broad buckets, you know, we'll obviously apply these proceeds in the most optimum way. Specifically regarding dividends, I mean, we did, and we have communicated, we're looking at resuming dividends back to what we called our normal position, the 70% of SA and Country Road Group, earnings basically level. That we're looking to step back up to and sustain. The opportunity of buybacks remains on the table, and it's something that we always consider, you know, if compelling and feasible for us. We're unlikely to go down the route of declaring a special dividend, though, at this point.
Cool. Thank you very much, and good luck.
Thank you very much. Thanks, Saad.
Thank you. The next question comes from Mark Wade from CLSA. Please proceed with your question, Mark.
Thank you, hi, guys. Congratulations on getting the deal away.
Thank you.
Look, I know Roy before your time, this original purchase decision to buy David Jones in the first place. With the review that's just been conducted, I mean, was there any kind of assessment that revealed on, you know, why the decision wasn't as successful as you liked? The business that, you know, the business hasn't been as successful as you would've liked. Is there something in the original thesis or did just the market changed over the period that you owned it, that meant it wasn't as successful as you would've envisioned originally?
Yes. Mark, thanks for the question. I mean, it's obviously been a very topical point for us. It's not something that we just reassessed and validated as we've concluded this transaction. It's been something, you know, certainly I did very, very early on in coming on board, was understanding why and what we did and where we went wrong and why the, you know, the assumptions that underpinned value at that point in time that we had seen, materialize or didn't materialize. We've shared some of that in the past. You know, for me, I mean, one of the important things, certainly I've learned throughout my career is, you know, people make decisions in the, you know, with best intent at the time.
I can certainly be super critical of decisions that were made. You know, our role, you know, when you come on board is to take what you have and really make more of it and improve it and make it better and that's really what we've been focused on. You know, we did inherit , you know, a situation where the outcomes of what was contemplated hadn't materialized for a whole bunch of reasons. You know, and not necessarily market shifts per se. There are a number of other reasons why. You know, we haven't really wanted to sort of spend a lot of time, you know, tormenting the past.
You know, it was a very painful experience to be very candid with you. It's disappointing, you know, to say the least. You know, our shareholders in particular, and us as a group, I mean, we've taken a lot of pain for that. You know, we've committed not to ever let that be the case again. We really have dialed up our focus on capital allocation, and you can expect to see very different decisions around capital continue to be made going forward now. Yes, I mean, you know, we might write a book one day, Mark, and then we'll, you know, we'll share that. There...
It's been a bit of a business case, for us, in terms of, what not to potentially do, and how things happen with unintended consequences, et cetera. You know, we'd prefer not to really.
Yeah
sort of get into all of that now. Yeah.
Fair enough. Do you think with, like, with your vast, you know, experience the group has had, you know, when you think about next, you know, what could Anchorage do differently and how that might impact the retail environment here in Australia and as that relates to Country Road, any thoughts on how that might play out?
ink one of the criteria around Anchorage for us was, you know, where they stood on David Jones per se. I mean, they're very enthusiastic, you know, acquirers of this business from a brand perspective. It is, you know, it's the, I mean, it is the icon of retail in Australia, so much part of the fabric of the country. 185 years of heritage and history, and they're very enthusiastic about that, very passionate about that. They've spent some time with our key leaders at the management team level, very impressed with what we've cobbled together
I'd say cobbled together, but pulled and installed as a really competent leadership team. Our strategy that the team are executing, they are very committed to. It's delivering. You know, it's delivering value. They are squarely behind what we call our Vision 2025+ in David Jones. It is the turnaround strategy. They've committed to ensuring the execution of that. You know, to your specific question, what they may do differently, I think that's, you know, they've done their own assessment. We haven't had much discussion with them on that, frankly. You know, it's probably something you could ask them.
All right. Thanks so much, Roy. Appreciate your candid insights.
Thank you. The next question comes from Andrew Moses from MIBFA. Please proceed with your question, Andrew.
Hi, guys. Thank you for your time. Can you just remind me what your total capital that you actually have ended up?
Sure.
Putting into David Jones has been, what's sort of come out? It's been a little complicated with some of the property stuff and... Just to sort of say, you know, I know there's been some big write-offs in the past, but what's the total capital that's been put in? What was the profit when you bought David Jones, and what's happened over the, what's it, 2014, I don't know, 9 years of Woolies's ownership of David Jones to its profitability? If you can just give me a sort of just to put things in context.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think we could probably, you know, take this offline. It's a really interesting series of questions there and could make for a lot of, you know, good conversation. You know, I mean, the history, you know, I don't want to sort of regurgitate and repeat and, I mean, it was not a great, you know, experience. The investment, the price that was paid, the strategy, the initial strategy, et cetera, et cetera, you know, didn't really pan out the way that it was envisaged to pan out. I mean, all I can really talk to is me coming on board and what the plan was at that point in time, and how we took that forward and what we've done with the business over the last, two and a half years.
Which has enabled us to get to what we're talking about today, which is this transaction, which I think is, as I say, a really positive outcome, you know, for WHL, you know, and the group overall. Clearly for our investors being what I've said before about, you know, the value we will be, we'll be realizing here. There is, there's a lot one can go into and talk about in terms of the past, but it's, you know, I think it's in the interest of today's session. I mean, I think we can pick that up separately.
Great.
I mean, you'll know that.
I think compared to two years ago.
I mean, you know, from what. Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead, Andrew. Go ahead.
No, I was saying I think you are doing you know, reasonably well to get out at this stage compared to two years ago. Yeah, I was just trying to cobble together all the numbers and then to. I'm just a little bit. There's a couple of moving parts there that are more than I've got in my history. I'd love a sort of just to price you. It would be great. Thank you.
Yes. No, no. Okay, we can certainly get back to you on that. I mean, I do think that, you know, obviously, you know, beyond the two big write downs, you know, and then what we originally paid for the business, you know, there was, you know, was the range of various investments that we've made that we can provide you the details on, of course. And we can, we can come back to you on that, absolutely.
Andrew, does that conclude your questions?
Thank you very much. Yes.
I think whilst we're waiting for the next question. Just while we're on that point, Mark, around Henry, around, you know, we've done reasonably well to sort of get out now. I'd say we've done very well to basically, you know, find a transaction or craft a transaction that delivers against the sort of criteria I mentioned earlier on. We're really pleased that we've got to this point. You know, obviously looking forward to the next phase for the group beyond, you know, David Jones, you know, image.
Thank you. The next question is a follow-up question from Murray Moore from Aylett & Co. Fund Managers. Please proceed with your question, Murray.
Hi, guys. Sorry. Just quickly, I know we've hashed through kind of the 3-5-year contract with Country Road and David Jones and kind of concession agreement in place. Can you just quantify for us how big Country Road sales through David Jones is as a percentage of total Country Road sales? Just so we can kind of frame the risk.
It's Mareesha. I'm happy to take that question. CRG's concession sales account for roughly 15% of the CRG business, and roughly half of that in terms of the DJ's business.
Sorry, Jeanine. You were just breaking up. Is it 15?
Correct. 15% roughly of Country Road-
Yeah. 15. I'll come in here, Jeanine. About 7%, 7%-8% of the David Jones business.
Correct.
Sorry, guys. Breaking up. 15%-
You get that? You get that, Murray?
-of Country Road and 7%-8% of David Jones sales.
Yeah. 15% of Country Road. You have it. That's correct.
Okay. 15%. Cool. I just wanted to say, I'm very pleased to hear that you guys are looking at reinvesting or the proceeds if you do get this over the line, that you're reinvesting the proceeds in the current businesses looking to pay dividends out, maybe some buybacks. I'm very glad to hear that you, as with potentially your peers doing many M&A transactions, I'm glad to hear you are investing in the businesses you know really, really well. Well done.
Thank you. Thank you for that, Murray. We genuinely see, you know, a lot of upside in our own businesses and, we know them well, and they are all actually pretty interesting businesses from an investment perspective. You know, absolutely that's where we stay focused. Thank you.
Great.
Thank you. At this time, we have no further questions. Mr. Bagattini, I'd like to hand over to you for closing remarks. Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much, Claudia. Again, just thank you very much for joining the call, your interest in our business, your interest in this transaction. It is really, you know, a very positive day for us at WHL. You know, I know it's been a long journey and tough journey, and I've referred to it as very painful. We certainly come out the other end, you know, I think with something that I think is, you know, beyond what we had expected to even a couple of short years ago. Very pleased that we've been able to conclude on this transaction. Looking forward to the couple of the next months, short months to get it, you know, closed out.
To shift focus back to our businesses, where we do see Fashion, Beauty and Home, including particularly in South Africa, you know, with significant potential and the opportunity to invest our wherewithal there. At the same time, keep our focus on the Country Road Group. A bit of a transformational moment for us, you know, across a number of different elements from a number of different respects, but really bodes very well for us going forward. We're very excited about that. Let me wrap up there, and thank you again. Also invite you that if you do have any specific questions, follow-up questions, please by all means send them over to Jeanine, who is on standby to receive them, and Riza or myself.
We'd love to keep you engaged, you know, on this to the extent that you need any further information that we can provide it. Thank you very much again, and we look forward to checking in with you in the not too distant future. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's teleconference. Thank you very much for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.