Hello, and welcome to the Intertek November 2019 trading update call. My name is Rosie, and I'll be your coordinator for today's event. Please note this conference is being recorded, and for the duration, your lines will be on listen only. However, you will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end. This can be done by pressing star one on your telephone keypad to register your question at any time. If you require assistance, please press star zero and you'll be connected to an operator. I will now hand you over to André Lacroix to begin today's conference. Thank you.
Good morning to you all, thanks for joining us on the call. I have with me Ross McCluskey, our CFO, and Denis Moreau from our investor relations team. This morning, I'll give you an update on the group trading performance in the first 10 months of the year, and we'll discuss briefly the outlook for the rest of the year. There are essentially three main messages I'd just like to share with you today. First, I'm really pleased with that first important point. We've delivered an improved organic revenue growth momentum in the July-October period with a 3.6% growth at constant currency driven by a better performance sequentially in our product and resources division.
The second point, also very important, the acquisitions we've made in attractive growth and margin sectors are performing very well, contributing 1.4% of revenue growth on year-to-date basis, also at constant currency. Last but not least, 2019 will mark another year of consistent progress in revenue, margin, and cash. We are pleased to exit 2019 with an improved organic revenue growth momentum that positions us well to seize the exciting growth opportunities ahead. In the last four months, the group revenues were GBP 1,045 million, an increase of 4.5% at constant currency and 7.9% at actual currency. Organic revenue growth at constant currency was up 3.6% year-on-year. Our product division grew by 2.6%.
Our trade division grew by 3.5%, and our resource division delivered a revenue growth of 7.6%. Year to date, in the January to October period, group revenues were GBP 2.5 billion, +4.7% at constant currencies and +7.4% at actual currencies. Our revenue performance at constant currency was driven by a broad-based organic growth of 3.3% and by the contribution of recent acquisitions. We've delivered a good organic revenue growth performance in our product and trade divisions, which grew respectively by 2.3% and 4.4%, while our resource division grew by 5.2%. Our disciplined approach to cost and margin management remains firmly in place. We continue to be very focused on cash conversion and disciplined capital allocation. Turning to our full-year guidance for 2019.
Our guidance remains on IAS 17 basis. In 2019, we expect to deliver good organic revenue growth at constant currency in our product and trade divisions. We expect our resource division to deliver a robust organic revenue growth. From a profitability standpoint, we expect to deliver solid margin progression at constant currency based on the divisional mix in H2. We will continue to benefit from our portfolio strengths, our pricing power, and our systemic approach to performance management. We continue to expect to deliver strong cash conversion. We are investing in growth with disciplined investment in attractive growth and margin sectors in our industry. We continue to expect our full-year CapEx investment to be circa GBP 130 million-GBP 140 million. We expect to close the year with a net debt of GBP 670 million-GBP 700 million before any further M&A and any material movement in Forex.
I'd like now to give you an update on Forex based on the actual figures in the first 10 months of the year and the current spot rate for the remainder of the year. The average sterling rate applied to the full-year results of 2018 would provide 175 basis points uplift at the revenue level and 125 basis points uplift at the operating profit level. Let's now discuss our divisions, starting with products. All the comments I will make will be at constant currency. Following an organic growth of 2.1% in H1, our product business improved its growth momentum with 2.6% organic growth in the July to October period. On a year-to-date basis, our product-related business delivered a good organic revenue growth of 2.3%, driven by broad-based growth across business lines and geographies. Our softline business reported organic performance slightly below last year.
We are benefiting from the investment we've made to support the expansion of our customers into new markets. We are seizing the exciting growth opportunities in the footwear sector and continue to benefit from strong demand for chemical testing. The lack of visibility around the outcome of negotiations on tariff has resulted in a delay in the launch of new products in the second half of 2019. Our hardline business reported solid organic revenue growth driven by innovation from our customers leveraging wireless technology, increased demand for chemical testing, and innovative inspection technology. We've delivered good organic revenue growth in our electrical and connected world business, benefiting from electrical appliances innovations that provide better efficiency and connectivity, and increased demand for IoT assurance services, including cybersecurity. Our business assurance business delivered good organic revenue growth with an improved momentum as expected in the last few months.
We continue to benefit from the increased focus of corporations on risk management, resulting in strong growth in supply chain audits and increased consumer and government focus on ethical and sustainable supply. Our building and construction business delivered good organic revenue growth with an improved performance as expected in the last four months, driven by the continuing increased demand for more sustainable and high-quality commercial buildings and increased investments in large infrastructure projects. In our transportation technology business, we've delivered robust revenue growth with sequential improvement in the last few months, driven by continued investment of our clients in new models and new fuel-efficient engines, and increased scrutiny on emissions. We've generated good organic revenue growth in our food business, driven by continuous food innovations and increased focus on food safety.
We've delivered an organic revenue performance slightly below last year in our chemical and pharma business due to the 2018 rich baseline effect. For the full year, we expect our product-related businesses to deliver good organic revenue growth. Let's move now to trade. Following an organic growth of 5.1% in H1, our trade business delivered an organic growth of 3.5% in the July-October period, in line with our expectations, given the baseline effect in 2018 when we saw an H2 performance stronger than H1. On a year-to-date basis, our trade-related businesses delivered a good organic revenue growth of plus 4.4%, driven by broad-based growth across business lines and geographies. Our Caleb Brett business reported on a year-to-date basis a good revenue performance, and we continue to benefit from the global and regional trade structural growth drivers.
Our government and trade services businesses benefited from a stronger performance in the last few months and delivered double-digit organic revenue growth on a year-to-date basis, driven by revenue growth with existing contracts as well as the win of new contracts. Our AgriWorld business benefited from improved momentum in the last few months and reported good organic revenue growth, driven by a broad-based growth across our global inspection businesses. For the full year, we expect our trade-related businesses to deliver good organic revenue growth. Let's now move to resources. Following an organic growth of 3.5% in H1, our resources business benefited from an acceleration of its growth momentum, delivering 7.6% organic growth in the period July to October. On a year-to-date basis, our resource-related businesses delivered a robust organic growth of 5.2%. Year-to-date, our CapEx inspection businesses reported robust organic revenue growth.
We are benefiting from the increased investment of our clients in exploration and production around the world, as well as the wins of new clients in several geographies. The demand for OpEx maintenance services remains stable in a competitive environment. We continue to see an improved level of demand for testing activities in the mineral business, driving a robust organic growth performance. For the full year, we expect our resource businesses to deliver a robust organic revenue performance. I'd just like to spend a few minutes on innovation before we talk about M&A and conclude the call. Intertek operates in an exciting market with attractive structural growth drivers as we benefit from the increased complexity and risks that our clients face in their operations.
Based on the insight we get from our TQA experts around the world and from our 7,000-plus monthly NPS interviews, we develop ATIC services that are innovative and mission-critical for our clients. Let me give you a few examples of two significant recent innovations. Intertek Total Sustainability Assurance. This is a new initiative for the group that provides an end-to-end independent systemic sustainability program from both operational and corporate perspective. We've always been supporting the needs of our clients over the years with a real depth and breadth of operational sustainable solutions that address the important operational areas of every company, covering environment, product, processes, facilities, assets, and systems. We have extended our sustainability offering with the launch of Intertek Corporate Sustainability Certification. This is a holistic assurance program that audit and certify the quality of processes in place based on 10 Intertek proprietary standards.
A very exciting innovation for our clients. Last night, you might have seen that we've launched another breakthrough innovation, Intertek Cyber Assured Certification, the first comprehensive product cybersecurity certification and assurance program. We've always been a pioneer in cybersecurity and cellular connectivity for more than 30 years. This breakthrough innovation is the very first certification and assurance solutions enabling customers to launch secure and connected products as well as monitor and improve their security throughout their full life cycle. Tremendously innovative, tremendous expectations in our customer base. If you're interested in hearing more about the innovation that our TQA experts launch every single day around the world, you can basically follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or read our blogs on intertek.com. Just a small update, a brief update on M&A.
The acquisition that we've made since January 2018 in attractive growth and emerging sectors are performing well, having contributed 1.4% to our revenue growth in the first 10 months of 2019. You will remember in March 2018, we acquired AAS, a leading provider of quality and quantity cargo inspections based in the Med. In April 2018, we acquired Proasem, a leading provider of laboratory testing and inspection service based in Colombia, one of the strongest economy in LatAm at the moment. In June 2018, we acquired NTA Monitor, a leading network security and assurance service provider based in the U.K. and Malaysia, supporting our cybersecurity initiatives around the world. Of course, in August 2018, we acquired Alchemy, a leading provider of SaaS-based people assurance solutions in the food and retail sector based in North America, doing extremely well.
As always, we'll continue to pursue expansion opportunities in attractive growth and margin areas with value-enhancing acquisitions. In conclusion, Intertek is going from strength to strength, making step-by-step improvements every day on strategy and performance. 2019 will be another year of consistent progress in revenue, margin, EPS, and cash, with disciplined investment in both innovation and acquisitions targeting attractive growth and margin sectors in the industry. I'd just like to finish our trading update with a recent customer feedback that I received from one of our top clients who operates in the global luxury fashion markets. We are having, in September, annual top to top 80 sessions, and we updated our clients on the latest industry-leading innovations we have to offer. To my surprise, at the end of the meeting, our client's head of supply said, "André, Intertek is launching so many insightful innovations that, you know what?
I want to organize a session between your team and my global functions, because I'm sure there are more innovations inside Intertek that could help us resolve the quality, safety, and sustainability challenges we face. Frankly, that's the kind of trust we are creating with our clients, and I'm tremendously proud of the relationships our TQ experts have built with our clients years after years around the world. Thank you very much for your time, and we'll be happy to take any questions you might have.
As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question or make a contribution on today's call, please press star one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star two, and you'll be advised when to go ahead. The first question comes from the line of Suhasini Varanasi from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, André.
Morning.
Just a couple from me, please. In 3Q, you mentioned that soft lines, hard lines, electrical, Business Assurance. Now look at the qualitative statements that you made, slightly below, solid, good. They are actually slightly below the outlook that you gave at the first half results, because I think for hard lines it was good outlook and you've delivered solid year to date. You've reiterated your outlook for the full year, but have these trends actually stabilized or is there a risk that that good organic growth and products can actually slow down further? The second one is on Alchemy. Can you talk about how the standalone business has performed organically so far this year? Are you on track to get accretion from this business to organic growth next year? Thank you.
Thanks. Look, as we always do, we give guidance in our November trading statement or May at the divisional level. What we have reiterated today is our confidence in our product division to deliver good organic growth for the full year. As always, you will have moving parts, but the year is not finished. Try to explain the trends. We've seen accelerations in several businesses, TT, BA B&C, as we were expecting. It's true that in our soft line business, we've seen a deceleration, which I've explained in simple terms. As you know, there is uncertainty on the outcome of the negotiation when it comes to tariff, and that is basically creating a situation where we've seen quite a lot of clients putting the launch of new products on hold.
Why would they basically want to invest in tooling a new supply chain investment and equipment till they know exactly what's happening? We believe this is what's happening. As far as Alchemy is concerned, look, the business is in great shape. We are delivering against the expectation we talked about when we acquired the business. You're absolutely right. As of next year, Alchemy will be in our product base and will be accretive to our growth. Well spotted. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Paul Sullivan from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, everyone.
Morning.
Just a couple from me. Firstly, could you clarify the trading day impact in the period? You did call that out at the first half. What was organic growth on a trading day adjusted basis in the four months? Then, on margin, could you just explain the difference between solid and moderate? I think there's been a subtle change in the guidance there. What's the difference? What's driving those? Is it just purely mix effects? Thank you.
Yeah. Look, on tradings, Paul, the full year will have the same amount of trading days as last year. That's true that in the first half there was one less working trading day than last year, and we're going to have one more in the second half. We are not talking about adjusted trading day organic growth because it's impossible to do, frankly, Paul, for simple reasons. While we work here with a calendar based on U.K. working days, we operate in 100 countries, the calendar in terms of holidays is very different. In addition, I would not advise you to try to do adjusted organic growth per day because we have some businesses working the weekend 24/7. If it was obviously a meaningful factor, I would talk about it's not important for our July to October period. As far as margin, you're absolutely right.
Solid is slightly less than moderate in our lexicon, and our lexicon starts from stable and go to solid and moderate. What we're reflecting, as simple as that, is the divisional mix impact in the second half. It has not escaped you that obviously we have upgraded the outlook for resources. Resource is now growing faster than we thought, and that's why we're reflecting our margin guidance. Nothing more than that, purely divisional mix.
More generally, are you prepared to trade market share to sustain margins?
Well, look, Paul, we've always been very clear on our approach to revenue growth. We believe in good revenue growth, which is having the right volume and the right price point and the right mix. Our approach is margin accretive revenue growth with strong cash conversion, disciplined capital allocation. That's why we deliver consistent year-on-year progress on revenue, margin, cash, and return on invested capital. Of course, we will always ask ourselves the questions, if a client wants to have a much lower price than we're ready to take, are we willing to do that from a pure tactical standpoint? We believe it's going too far, it's undermining our ability to deliver quality. We should all remember that superior customer service is what we stand for to build the trust with our clients. I will never compromise quality over volume.
Thank you. It's very clear. Thanks, André.
The next question comes from the line of Edward Stanley from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Morning. Thanks for taking the questions. On the trade war to begin with, you sounded relatively benign so far on that effect, and now it sounds like things are getting incrementally tougher. Is that just in the softlines division where you're seeing, as you say, quite a lot of your clients putting investments on hold, or is that across electronics, hardlines and others? The second question, in softlines, when you say lower, is that getting sequentially lower through the quarter, or was it lower through the quarter all the way through? Just trying to get a feel for the sort of exit rate on softlines.
Finally, on the Cyber Assurance that you launched last night, is that an attempt, in a way, to become more of a B2B to C sort of household name to get your logo out there in front of customers, or is this still very much a B2B kind of initiative?
Yeah. Thanks, Ed, for the various questions. Let's talk about the tariff discussions and implications on what it means for our business. You will recall that what we've been saying consistently since the whole negotiation started, it's very complicated, very complex, very risky for a brand to move their supply chain from China to another market for all the reasons that we know. What we've been seeing since the announcement of the discussions and the tariff increase, we've seen obviously companies taking their time to think through how they're going to eventually change their supply base because it's very risky, very costly. It takes time. That, if you want, has not changed. I've got, as I said several times on this call, the task force that I personally chair to understand which customers is thinking of doing what.
What we are seeing obviously with the increased tariff sequentially since the beginning of the year, we're seeing an increased number of companies looking at it for the obvious reasons. No major decision has been made because the discussions, as we know, are still going on. What the length of these discussions is doing is basically creating the situations where companies are saying to themselves, "Why should we invest in new tooling equipment, new product, change our supply chain with new products if this is all going to change?" What we've seen in softline, we've also seen to a small extent in hardline and electrical.
As far as softline is concerned, when I say on a year-to-date basis that softline is slightly below last year, it means that it is on a year-to-date basis slightly below last year, and you will recall it was solid in the first half, which means that it is sequentially lower in the second half. It is on a year-to-date basis. As far as cyber assurance is concerned, look, this is an innovation that we have been working on for quite a while. It is very technology-based because what we are trying to do is help our clients launch connected devices that are basically safe according to our standards of cybersecurity, but also installing a monitoring system by which we can track how much cyber vulnerability there is in this device around the world. We make it also visible to our clients so they can basically patch their devices and basically make them safe.
This is a really unique approach, and as I said, the demand is very strong in the market. We've always had the ambitions to reposition Intertek from a B2B to a B2B with a B2C in mind in certain categories. You know that we have ETL as a certification brand that is consumer-facing, and this one is in the same vein.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Will Cerkner from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Thanks. I've got two questions, please. André, you referenced a bit of sequential acceleration, Business Assurance, Transportation, Government Service. I agree that wasn't perhaps clear from the adjectives in the statement, so just wondered whether that momentum should continue through into Q4. Secondly, I wondered if you could talk about whether you're seeing any uplift in trade from IMO 2020, whether that's a kind of end-of-this-year story and into next year, or whether it's just next year. Thanks very much.
Thanks. Look, you're right that when we say good, there is a range within good, and that's true that the TT are a stronger good than they were in H1. Certainly, we are pleased with the momentum, and I don't see why this momentum should slow down. The same on GTS and Agri, tremendous momentum. It's good news for us. Obviously, you've noted the acceleration of momentum in our resource business where I believe that our CapEx inspection business is doing a terrific job around the world where all the great quality service we've delivered during the downturn is now paying off while our clients are saying, "You know what? You kept delivering superior service in the tough times. We're now giving you access to exploration and production investments." Also, we have won quite a lot of contracts around the world.
You wouldn't get that growth without just keeping the same base. This is tremendously exciting for us. As far as your question on IMO 2020, of course, this is an interesting area of growth for our Caleb Brett business. We are well-positioned with our global network because we are in every single port. I just want to put a caution to the expectations. As you know, marine fuel is about 8% of the global fuel market. It is attractive. We are working on it, but it's only 8% of the global fuel globally. Okay?
Okay. Thanks very much.
The next question comes from the line of Rory McKenzie from UBS. Please go ahead.
Morning. Just two from me, please. Firstly, can you just talk about China as a whole, and maybe talk about how the domestic market is faring versus the export-focused market? Secondly, just to follow up on the margin. With the delays you're seeing in softline clients impacting your revenue, do you plan to take any more cost actions in the short term? Do you have anything else to worry about on that product's margin itself rather than just the group mix? Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks. Really good questions. The domestic market for China, obviously this is, as we've talked about in the past, around 25% of our business in China, and this is growing extremely well at double-digit. We are obviously tremendously excited about some of the emerging sectors. As you know, e-commerce is a force in retail in China and there is a lot we can do in terms of assurance there. sustainability is a huge opportunity for us in China. Transportation technology, with the focus of the country on cleaner mobility, and on and on and on. I think we have a tremendous team. We are, you probably know, the first international testing companies to get into China. We celebrate our 30 years anniversary a few months ago, and our team is powering ahead and tremendous performance for us there.
As far as the margin is concerned, look, this is a very important question. Look, we are not simply focused on margin. What we believe is delivering a superior customer service for our clients, making sure that we keep this trust that we've earned over the years, and you've got to manage your cost base to make sure you continue to be the best in terms of customer service. I wouldn't just focus on cost to protect the margin. We are here to deliver a mission to our clients. That's the way we think about it. Of course, we are very disciplined in terms of performance management.
In our cost base, you've got both fixed and variable costs, and we do the adjustments that are required if we feel that these adjustments will not undermine our ability to either drive a superior customer service and continue to seize the growth opportunities out there.
Great. Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Rajesh Kumar from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question.
Morning.
First, if we are trying to look at the pricing environment in the softlines and hard lines business, given the lack of visibility, have you seen renewed discussions on pricing for 2020 from your customers? Are they asking for new types of services or new types of assurance, just looking at the supply chain, they might be changing where they're sourcing from? Is that an issue we need to think about? Second, just looking at the organic growth acceleration from Alchemy. Obviously, at the time of the acquisition, you very helpfully provided the differences between IFRS and US GAAP accounting. The billing and revenue accrual models are quite different under the two. How much of the acceleration would come from billing versus how much of it would be from the phasing of this revenue recognition?
Okay, on the second question, not that I don't want to be helpful. It's quite a, I would say, a mechanical approach that you need to go through. If you go back to our presentation last year, we did a sequential comparison of both billing and IFRS. I think the principle we highlighted, you can apply and come up to the answer that you need in your model. I wouldn't say more than that on the call, otherwise we'll be too detailed. If you need some help, obviously Denis is more than happy to walk you through the various steps, because I recognize it is a bit different. As far as the situation with our clients, it's a very good question you're asking, there is no question that the discussion we're having with our clients on the systemic end-to-end risks in their operation is resonating.
There is no AT meeting I go to with either softlines or any other clients where the question is, okay, we are getting all these insights from our testing and certifications reports, but what about the other areas of our supply chain? We are seeing an increased focus on assurance, on audit. Frankly speaking, sustainability is very high on the agenda of our clients, and you will have seen in the press that a lot of NGOs and journalists and reports are basically asking some questions on the sustainability of some of these industries, including softline. Look, price is always part of discussions, of course, in a client-supplier relationship. What's important for me is to see where our clients are taking their QA vision, and frankly, they are looking end to end because they know that the risks are complex in their operations. Okay?
Understood. Thank you. Just one quick follow-up. Just looking at 2020, the market expects 4.5%, 5% type organic growth with 20 to 30 basis points of margin expansion. When you look at the budgets for 2020, how comfortable are you with such expectations, or are some parts of such expectations need to be revisited?
Okay. Look, as you know, we guide for 2020 when we start 2020. Our primary focus at the moment is to obviously finish the year and enjoy a nice Christmas holiday with our families. Then, we'll deal with 2020 in due time. Look, the company is in great shape, and I think you got that from the messages today. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of George Gregory from Exane. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Three, please.
Good morning.
Firstly, just returning to the products trends in the subdivisions and the sequential slowdown you've seen in electrical, and also in hardlines and toys, if we adjust for the, presumed, the lapping of the Toys 'R' Us impact. Just to clarify, is that also due to the trade tensions or is there some other impact contributing towards that? Secondly, could you just clarify if you would describe products growth in the first 10 months as good or solid, so we can interpret what you guide for the full year, please. Finally, within CapEx inspection in your resources division, there looks to have been a reasonable acceleration in growth. I wondered if you could perhaps elaborate on what is driving that, the extent to which that should be sustained for duration of this year and into next year, please. Thank you.
Thanks. Look, as I said to your colleague on the previous questions, the uncertainty on the outcome of the negotiations on tariff has created a situation where we are seeing some of our clients put the launch of their new products on hold till they've got more visibility. I said, this is the reason why we've seen the different performance in H2 for softlines, and to a small extent, this is also impacting electrical and hardline. As far as Mexican, yes, the year-to-date performance for product is good. As far as CapEx inspection, look, we are the market leader globally with our Moody inspection business.
As you know, as I said a few minutes ago, we have retained our clients during a very tough period where we saw the oil price going down. We basically demonstrate to them that we can be a quality partner even in tough times. This is paying dividends. Our clients are basically giving us access to their exploration production investments. This is for the existing clients. Equally, there are quite a lot of new projects around the world. This is public information, so I don't need to go into details. There are extremely exciting projects in terms of exploration productions. We are winning some of these new contracts in multiple geographies. Existing plus new wins is explaining the acceleration of our momentum. Yes, we are pleased with the momentum and we are in a good place.
Yes, this is all positive for inspection business.
Thank you.
Before we go to the next question, please be reminded to press star one on your telephone keypad if you do have a question or a contribution. The next question comes from the line of Tom Sykes from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Morning, everybody.
Morning, Tom.
Morning. Just again, sorry, on the softlines business, was there any Hong Kong effect for you given your business there in the quarter? How should we think about whether there is any effect going forward there? On the sort of tariff related, presumably, non-China is growing within softlines. Does that mean China is therefore declining? If so, is it all tariff related, or are you 100% sure that you're capturing all the business that moves from China to Vietnam, et al., when it moves out? Is that competitive dynamic a bit different outside of China than it is within China, please?
Look on the delay of the launch of new products, this is something that's impacting all jurisdictions impacted by the tariff. The demonstration in Hong Kong has nothing to do with that. This is purely a delay of new products. Look, as I said earlier, the transfer of production from China to other markets is something that we are monitoring very carefully. This is not a new trend. We've seen that over the years. That's why we were one of the first one to invest in Vietnam, in Bangladesh, and we are benefiting from that in other markets. To my knowledge, and based on the intelligence I have, and as I said earlier, I run a task force that I personally lead to make sure that our clients get the best Intertek service should they want to switch productions.
We have not lost any business because of that. As a matter of fact, I just had a call yesterday with our teams, and we are busy with helping our clients thinking it through. I wouldn't read anything into that, please.
Okay. Thank you. Just a follow-up was just on the TQA model that you launched before. Which areas have gained the most interest from when you first spoken that to your clients, maybe at the C-suite level, which are the areas that they're most interested in being certified, and what's been the reaction to that, please?
You're talking about TSA, Total Sustainability Assurance?
Yes. Sorry.
No. Look, as you know, we've launched it with you guys face-to-face in September, so you were the first one to hear about it. We've been going through the discussion with our clients. I've done several meetings myself. Look, I think the first insight is, yes, you're right. Why should we focus on ESG if sustainability is more than that? As a matter of fact, in several cases, we have an internal task force thinking about the framework of sustainability. Can you please meet with them? Basically, we are seeing an open door for having a conversation. The discussion is based on two levels. Basically, from an operational sustainable solutions, what are basically the opportunities that companies don't take seriously in terms of having in-depth operational solutions, which is quite exciting for us because we have all the services they need.
The corporate certification program is also very helpful for them because they can visualize an end-to-end. You've got some interesting leads coming our way, and I'm just going to give you one because you can imagine. I've got a lot of green bonds interest in sustainability at the moment because, as you know, it's a growing market, but how do we know that the criteria are being met and are verified by an independent global assurance company? Look, it's going to take some time, but the opportunities are significant. As we said, sustainability is the movement of our times, and everybody can step up and make a difference, and we are pleased to be part of it.
Okay. Thank you very much.
We have no further questions coming through, so I'll now hand the call back over to André for any concluding remarks.
Thank you very much, guys, for your time this morning. I know it's a busy day and a busy week. Obviously, Denny is available would you have any questions following the call. I wish you a very strong finish of the year, and if we don't talk, a tremendous Christmas break. Let's all meet again in 2020. Thank you very much.
Thank you for joining today's conference. You may now disconnect your lines.