Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our first half results presentation alongside Ben Peacock, our CFO. We're pleased to have the opportunity to talk through our performance in the period, and we'll follow our normal format with Q&A at the end of the presentation. We've had a good start to 2025, continuing to execute well against our Growth Plus strategy. I'd like to thank all of my colleagues from around the world, as these results are a direct reflection of their hard work and commitment. Order growth of 6.3% on an OCC basis was particularly pleasing, with strong growth in water and power and good growth in both CPI and oil and gas. Sales momentum improved through the first half, ending the period up 3.3% on an OCC basis, with a book-to-bill of 1.06 due to delivery phasing.
We also saw good progress in target segments and service sales, which I'll touch on in the next slide. Adjusted operating profit margins were very encouraging at 22%, up 140 basis points on an OCC basis. Margins were helped by NIPS and operational efficiencies, led by the oil and gas division. Combined with sales growth, this resulted in a 10% OCC adjusted operating profit growth in the first half. Return on capital employed remained at a high level at 37%. Disciplined capital deployment remains a key focus for us, and as of the end of July, we've spent GBP 40 million of the GBP 42 million consideration for Noah and GBP 30 million on the share buyback announced at the full-year results. Safety remains the top priority for everyone at Rotork.
We've been making good progress on our continued safety initiatives, but in response to our first half performance, we are redoubling our efforts in this area to ensure the health and well-being of all our employees. The next slide highlights growth in two of our focus areas: target segments and Rotork Service. In the first half, we continued to see good sales growth in our target segments, up 7% OCC. While core markets were relatively mixed in a number of regions, we saw good growth in up and midstream electrification and LNG in oil and gas, mining and marine strength in CPI, and good growth in the water infrastructure and treatment markets, as well as the global power markets. Service is another strategic initiative for the business, which saw continued good growth in H1, reaching 23% of group sales.
Here, we continued to drive penetration of the install base, introduce new products, and increase wallet share with existing customers. In the period, we had particular success in Europe, India, and the Middle East. I'll come back to this slide later in the presentation to talk about strategy and outlook, but for now, I'll pass over to Ben, who will take you through the financial details.
Thank you, Kiet, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that with the strong execution of our Growth Plus strategy, the group has delivered a solid set of financial results with good order growth and margin progression, together with continued high return on capital and returns to shareholders. In the following slides, I'll walk you through highlights of our performance, but please note that the appendix contains some more specific details on our 2025 interim results. If we now turn to the numbers, orders received at GBP 391 million were up 6.3% versus prior year on an OCC basis, with all divisions delivering growth. Revenue at GBP 367 million is 3.3% higher than prior year on an OCC basis and 1.6% ahead on a reported basis, impacted by a foreign exchange translation headwind of GBP 10 million.
From a divisional perspective, Water and Power achieved high single-digit revenue growth on an OCC basis. This was offset by CPI, which was flat to prior year, and Oil & Gas, which increased by low single digits on an OCC basis, with sales momentum gaining strength through the second quarter. We are pleased with the initial contribution of Noah. In line with our original business plan, Noah contributed GBP 4.3 million worth of revenue in the period. Rotork Service performed well, with revenue continuing to grow faster than the group, and its contribution to group sales increased to 23%, consistent with full-year 2024. Adjusted operating profit of GBP 80.8 million is 10.1% higher versus prior year on an OCC basis, and margins at 22% are up 140 basis points. Including the currency headwind of GBP 3.4 million, reported operating margins are up 80 basis points.
The group continued to be cash generative, with cash conversion at 89%. This is down from prior year, reflecting increased work from capital to support delivery phasing in H1 and investments to support the second half order book. We closed the period with net cash of GBP 43 million. Our increased profitability resulted in adjusted earnings per share of 7.1 pence, which is an increase of 3.5% on a reported basis, and our high return on capital is maintained at 37%. Finally, the proposed interim dividend of 2.95 pence per share is 7.3% higher than the prior year. If we now turn to the divisions, and starting with Oil & Gas, divisional sales grew 2.3% OCC, with robust target segment growth, particularly in upstream electrification and LNG. From a sector perspective, upstream markets delivered good growth in the first half, supported by strong electrification related to revenues.
Despite good growth in LNG, midstream markets were slightly down due to reduced spending in the U.S., whilst downstream markets were stable year on year. From a regional perspective, the division experienced good growth in EMEA, offset by broadly flat performance in Asia-Pacific and weaker performance in the Americas. Adjusted operating profit at GBP 43.8 million is up 17.3% on an OCC basis. The 330 basis points adjusted operating margin improvement reflects strong target segment sales growth, a favorable product mix, and operational efficiencies. Turning to CPI, revenues were 0.3% higher year on year on an OCC basis, with underlying momentum improving as the period progressed. On a reported basis, Noah made a good first contribution post-acquisition, adding 3% to divisional sales in the period. By destination, Americas sales were particularly strong, with good growth in the U.S. and Mexico.
Asia-Pacific sales were up, supported by India, whilst EMEA sales declined, which was largely from chemical and process markets in Europe. Adjusted operating profit at GBP 23.7 million is up 3.6% on an OCC basis, and adjusted operating margins were up 80 basis points to 23.4%. Moving to Water and Power, sales were up 8.6% on an OCC basis, with both sectors growing strongly, but with Power growing slightly faster than Water. In target segments, we saw particularly strong growth in water infrastructure and wastewater treatment. Asia-Pacific was the fastest growing region in the period, driven by India and China. EMEA grew with good performance in gas power markets, whilst Americas sales were broadly flat. Adjusted operating profit for the division was GBP 24.5 million. Excluding foreign exchange headwinds, adjusted operating profit is up 4.2% on an OCC basis.
Despite operating leverage on higher volumes, mixed effect, and higher investment resulted in adjusted operating margins being lower at 25.4%. If we now move to the adjusted operating profit bridge, this bridge shows solid profit growth of over 10% OCC versus prior year, driven by increased organic revenues and positive operating leverage. Price increases more than offset salary inflation, and following increased investment in 2024 to support the Growth Plus strategy, current period OpEx investments have been more limited. Reflecting our operating leverage and mix, adjusted operating margins grew 140 basis points to 22% on an OCC basis. The currency headwind to adjusted operating profit of GBP 3.4 million I mentioned earlier reduced the reported margin progression by 40 basis points. If we now turn to the items below operating profit, similar to last year, the majority of the adjustment items relate to our business transformation program.
A further GBP 12.6 million was incurred in implementing the new ERP system and the associated systems and processes throughout the group. This is in line with our previously disclosed guidance of GBP 30 million for the full year. Other costs largely relate to the previously reported relocation of our new facility in Changshu, China, and GBP 1.1 million of acquisition costs for Noah. Finally, tax, the reported effective tax rate and adjusted effective tax rate have both decreased 10 basis points on the prior period, with the adjusted effective tax rate at 25.2%. We expect a similar rate for the full year. Turning to cash flow, we continue to be cash generative, providing the funding for organic growth, strategic investments, and return to shareholders.
Operating cash conversion for the period was 89%, with working capital to sales of 26.4%, which is in line with the prior period and reflects the revenue momentum in the second quarter. Free cash flow of GBP 29.3 million is down on the prior period, reflecting the working capital investment and business transformation costs, which are in line with our expectations. If we now move to capital allocation, during the period, we returned to shareholders' dividends of GBP 42 million and over GBP 21 million in relation to the previously announced share buyback. Additionally, we completed the acquisition of Noah for GBP 40 million for a total capital deployed of over GBP 103 million. In relation to Noah, the group has also recorded GBP 2 million of contingent consideration during future years, bringing the total cost of the acquisition to GBP 42 million.
We finished the year with GBP 43 million of net cash, comprising total cash and cash equivalents of GBP 66 million and lease liabilities of GBP 23 million. The group also retains additional liquidity through our GBP 75 million revolving credit facility, which was undrawn at the period end. The group's balance sheet continues to remain strong and provides with strategic flexibility as we enter the second half of the year. Finally, on guidance for the current year, based on current exchange rates, we currently estimate currency headwinds of 3% of sales versus our previous guidance of 2%- 3%. Spend on full-year capital expenditure of GBP 15 million and investment in our business transformation program of GBP 30 million are tracking to expectations, and guidance for both is unchanged. In summary, we enter the second half with encouraging order intake and an improved second quarter sales momentum.
The group is well-positioned to deliver another year of strong financial returns and cash generation, which will enable us to fund our capital allocation priorities. I will now hand you back to Kiet.
Thanks, Ben. In this section, I'd like to update you on some examples of our Growth Plus successes, our reinvestment strategy, and the end market outlook. We launched the Growth Plus strategy in 2022, designed to deliver mid to high single-digit revenue growth and mid-20s operating margins over time. The strategy is structured around three pillars: target segments, customer value, and innovative products and services. Our target segments approach sets out to identify niches in each division which offer significant profitable growth opportunities above the broader end markets. We encourage the divisional teams to be agile and continually seek and develop new target segments to continue to build our growth momentum over time. Typically, automation, electrification, and digitalization are core trends in these target segments, and we are actively investing in these areas to have the biggest impact.
Rotork Service is another key area of focus for us, with our full product lifecycle capabilities, from field service and maintenance programs through to highly intelligent asset management offerings. We are excited about the opportunities Rotork Service can bring and continue to believe we can increase the revenue potential of a product from two times to four times through our offerings over the 15- 20 year lifespan of a product. Growth Plus continues to drive results, with both target segments and Rotork Service growing above our broader end markets in H1, and we are confident that this will continue. I'd now like to share an example of our strategy at work within a niche of a broader market. The oil and gas industry is committed to halving its scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2030, with one of the key levers being electrifying up and midstream processes.
We have previously talked about our products being used in upstream methane reduction applications for wellheads in the U.S. This slide shows an example of an upstream gas electrification application in Europe. The Next Generation 1DS platform is the first fully electrified gas platform in the North Sea, which is automated and unmanned. It converts wet to dry gas to be exported via a pipeline. The platform targets near-zero emissions in the future through the technology and processes being used. Rotork products support the electrification, automation, and high reliability demands of the platform. We remain excited about the electrification and decarbonization opportunities in up and midstream oil and gas and expect sales to continue to grow within the Oil & Gas divisional mix. This slide shows another example of where we are targeting an area anticipated to show good medium-term growth.
In general, we expect water markets to grow above the group average, with the desalination segment expected to be a strong contributor. Industry forecasts are for increasing water scarcity, population growth, and technological advances to result in a doubling of desalination CapEx by 2030. We anticipate several desalination mega projects in the Middle East, North Africa, China, and Australia in the medium term. On this slide, we show an example of an order win at a large Australian project. The Alkimos Seawater desalination project is designed to provide a sustainable water source for Western Australia. The project involves marine pipelines, a groundwater treatment plant, and broader pipeline connections. Working closely with the end customer and EPC, we have supplied connected, automated, and customized actuators, gears, and instrumentation. We see a strong pipeline of projects in this market and expect to maintain and grow our good market position.
Customer value is another pillar of our Growth Plus strategy. Here, we focus on go-to-market improvements, strengthening our global supply chain, and improving the overall customer experience. We've made progress in a number of areas in the half, but this slide highlights an important go-to-market improvement with Rockwell , a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. In H1, we joined the Rockwell Technology Partner Program. As a partner, we will be included in Rockwell's product catalog and system design tools. This opens a new route to market into greenfield projects and improves our visibility with Rockwell's significant install base in flow control markets. We are the only major electric actuator supplier in the partner network, which will help our positioning in several global markets.
The first product to be included is our IQ3 Pro electric actuator with broad connectivity capabilities, for there are opportunities for the product offering to expand as more of our products become Ethernet capable. Following on from Ben's comments on capital allocation, this slide is an update on our reinvestment strategy. It shows how we have steadily been increasing the amount of money being reinvested, with the H1 run rate well above the levels achieved in previous years. We continue to see a good pipeline of acquisition opportunities. We are targeting businesses with end markets consistent with the Growth Plus strategy, products that will expand our intelligent flow control capabilities, strong franchises, and assets that have attractive financial returns as part of Rotork. This approach is best demonstrated by the Noah and Hanbay acquisitions, where we believe we are the best owner of these assets.
Our preference is to deploy capital into M&A. However, we remain focused on strategic and financial discipline, and combined with the nature of the typical bolt-on deals we are targeting, it makes it difficult to time. As a result, we will continue to use share buybacks to manage our financial position. Year to date, we have spent GBP 30 million on share buybacks, with the remaining portion to be completed by the end of the year. As Ben highlighted, our balance sheet remains strong, and the underlying cash generation of the business means there is scope to continue to do both bolt-on and buybacks. We don't see this as an either/or decision. Now turning to the market outlook, the outlook for our end markets remains supportive, with H2 growth underpinned by order book visibility and the project pipeline.
Our Growth Plus strategy, focused on target segments, will continue to drive growth above the broader end markets, despite the current mixed global environment. Service is also a tailwind as we continue to expand the product offering. At the divisional level, in Oil & Gas, we continue to see significant opportunities in up and midstream electrification, LNG, and decarbonization target segments. We expect downstream markets to remain stable and enter H2 with a good book-to-bill. CPI remains focused on pivoting between the growth opportunities in its end markets. Like Oil & Gas, the division enters H2 with a good book-to-bill, and we expect CPI to continue to identify and expand into new and structural growth markets, with a focus on specialty chemicals, mining, critical HVAC, and marine markets. The outlook is positive for Water and Power.
Stricter water regulations are expected to remain a key driver for the division, supported by tightening compliance requirements, growing demand for advanced treatment technologies, and favorable funding cycles. Power markets are expected to remain supportive, and we see good momentum in Rotork Service. In summary, I'm pleased to see a good set of first-half results delivered through our Growth Plus strategy. Orders have shown healthy growth across all three divisions. Sales momentum has improved through the period, and the good book-to-bill gives us confidence for H2. Margins have been strong, helped by MIPS and operational efficiencies, resulting in a 10% OCC adjusted operating profit growth. Capital discipline remains a key focus. We invested in Noah in the period, returned £30 million of the planned GBP 50 million through a share buyback at the end of July, and still maintain a very strong balance sheet.
We expect the current buyback to conclude by the end of the year, foresee the combination of bolt-ons and buybacks as a formula we can continue, given our financial position and underlying cash generation. Perhaps the most satisfying part of the first half was the target segment performance up 7%. These parts of the business have clearly outperformed their broader end markets, which we expect to continue, given the structural drivers behind them. We continue to anticipate 2025 to be another year of progress on an OCC basis, with our full-year expectations unchanged. Thank you for your interest today. We'll now open the floor to Q&A.
We are now happy to take your questions. To register a question, please use the raise hand button at the bottom of your screen. If you're dialing in from a phone, please press star nine on your telephone keypad. To unmute yourself, please press star six. This morning, please keep to three questions only. Our first question this morning comes from Lush Mahendraraja from JP Morgan. Lush, please go ahead.
Morning, guys, if you can hear me. Thanks for taking my questions. I've got three, if that's okay. The first is just on the Americas. Of the three, I guess, regions that you report, it seems to have been the weakest, maybe Oil and Gas driving some of that CPI stronger. I guess what you're seeing there, obviously, a lot of sort of headlines and geopolitics in the U.S. at the moment. Just trying to think if you've been seeing delays, etc., on the back of that. That's the first question. The second is on Rotork Service. Good momentum in the first half. I guess you've called out Europe, India, and the Middle East in particular. Is there anything you're doing in those regions in particular that you're seeing growth there be faster, or is it just a function of where you're seeing growth more generally?
Just that comment of it going from sort of two times to four times, what are some of the big drivers in terms of getting there? The third question is just on margins and mix in particular. I guess in Oil and Gas, you've seen some quite positive mix drivers, and then in water and power, maybe the reverse. Can you give us a bit more clarity on what's driving those in the respective two divisions, and how we should think about that into the second half as well? Thank you.
Yeah, morning, Lush. Thanks for the questions. I'll take the first and the second one. I'll hand over to Ben for the mixed question. In terms of the U.S., just to clarify, overall, the U.S. has grown for us. Actually, I should quantify U.S. is circa 18% of our sales. We've actually had good growth in the U.S. from CPI. That's through our data center work in critical HVAC applications. That's been positive for us. The U.S. upstream midstream market in Oil and Gas has been soft. However, with all of the work that we've done in our target segments in upstream and midstream electrification, we've actually been able to grow that portion. Overall, U.S. is up, softer markets in upstream and midstream, but we've done well with the electrification trend. Due to that, we're not seeing much impact on the tariffs ourselves.
We've done a lot of work to mitigate the risks. The impact for us is negligible. The teams involved have done fantastic work. We've been absolutely agile on that. We've put through our surcharge in May, consistent with the rest of the market, and we haven't seen demand drop off in that regard. We've also re-diverted some supply chains. Canada and LATAM are being supplied out of Europe. That's to mitigate any upcoming risks that we may see. We've been really agile, and overall, we haven't seen an impact on that. Hopefully, that answers your questions for the U.S. In terms of Rotork Service, we're really pleased with the progress so far. We laid out a strategy to be able to grow from two times to four times. Essentially, what we're trying to do is increase the number of service intervals and increase the amount gained per interval.
We've introduced services such as reliability services, using our intelligent asset management capabilities. We're very proactive in chasing up products that are due for service. We've had good success over the last few years. Actually, I think over the last three years, service has grown ahead of the group, and service in the half was 23% of revenue. In terms of EU, India, and the Middle East, these initiatives are global, and it's just where these markets are particularly good for us. Hopefully, that answers those. I'll hand you over to Ben to take on the mix.
Yeah, just on the margins point, Lush, on the Oil & Gas margins, which is up 330 basis points, there's a number of moving parts. One is really a higher, as Kiet said, in terms of target segments. There's more in Oil & Gas, and particularly in service and spares. Also, from a mix standpoint, we had a lower amount of gear sold in the half. Just on the margin side, we had some really good margins come through on our fluid power product. Finally, operational efficiencies, a couple of factories actually serve our Oil & Gas division. We saw some operational efficiencies come through there. It's a mix of three or four things that have come through in the quarter. In terms of Water and Power, we had a couple of headwinds.
Again, from a mix standpoint, if you look at a product line level, even though we sold the same amounts of electric actuators, actually at a product line level, we had some headwinds in terms of the product mix. Also, we've chosen to make some investments in Water and Power. I think we've been consistent in saying Water for us is a real opportunity. I think given the medium-term outlook for Power, we've decided to put a bit of investment in that as well.
Just on the second half, sorry.
In terms of second half margins, you should think about, I suppose, Oil & Gas will be up H2 on H2, although that positive variance in the first half will not be the same in the second half. Similar to Water and Power, you will see H2 margins up on H2, but effectively, probably not the same. CPI, again, is 80 basis points up on a constant currency basis year- over- year. You will see that come through, but again, to a lesser extent in the second half. Just to be clear, Water and Power is a negative variance in the first half, and as a positive, it'll actually be slightly down in the second half year over year.
Oh, brilliant. Thank you, Ben.
Okay.
Thanks, Lush.
The next question comes from Andrew Douglas at Jefferies. Andrew, please go ahead.
Morning, guys. Thanks for the presentation. The standard three questions, please. Can we talk about the book-to-bill that is required in the latter part of the year? I recognize that you've got a good order book, which probably gives you, what, three to four months visibility? We're talking about the last couple of months. I'm asking a question for you here. Is that right? How much do you have to do this year compared to the prior year? I was really interested in your Rockwell slide. Clearly, a lot of opportunities there. Is this kind of a one-off in nature, or do you have plenty more Rockwell's in terms of what you can do in terms of joining their, I guess, new roster market and their lists? Last but not least, on OpEx, Ben, you talked about some OpEx being scaled back.
Is that a long-term thing, or is that a kind of a one-off six-month thing, which then reverts in the second half? Just wondering where we are on that kind of investment cycle. Clearly, we've had quite a lot over the last few years. Just wondering whether there's been a change in tone.
Yeah. Okay. On the book to ship, and you're absolutely right that we enter the second half with a good book to bill, 1.06. That does give us good flexibility. You mentioned the three to four months visibility into the second half, which is about right. That gives us an absolutely normal book to ship in the year, absolutely normal to prior years. That's why we're confident going into the second half. We've also started the second half encouragingly. July was very encouraging for us, which underpins our confidence for the full year. In terms of the Rockwell partnership, we're really pleased to join that partnership. This is a joint partnership where we are the only electric actuator in their partner network program. What that does is it opens up a route to market into greenfield opportunities for us.
Working with the end users, working together on combined packages, really beneficial for both parties. I think this is contextual. There's a few more potential partnerships. We'll do it if it's right for us, if it's the right commercial position for both parties. This is an example of what we can do going forwards.
Do you want to take on the OpEx?
Yeah. I think on the year-over-year end, you'll see in the corporate cost, it has gone up slightly as part of those salary increases. I think we are still trying to invest in our people, but I think as we said at the year-end, in terms of what we do with CPI, we are very much managing the cost base in line with the top line, and we will continue to do that. It's very disciplined around the costs. We have put costs into business over the last 12- 24 months, and we've seen the benefits of that, particularly in the service and the business development teams across the divisions. Going forward, again, we will manage the cost base absolutely in line with the top line.
Super. Thanks so much, Ben. Thank you.
Thanks, Andy.
The next question comes from Jonathan Hurn at Barclays. Jonathan, please go ahead.
Hey, guys. Good morning. Yes, just three questions from me, please. Firstly, just on site service, just looking forward on that business. Obviously, you're saying it's going to continue to outgrow the wider group. In terms of restrictions to delivering that growth, are there any? Do you need to invest more in sort of headcount to deliver that growth? Any comments there would be helpful. Secondly, it was just on CPI. Obviously, you're calling out some of those target segments, but I just wonder if you can give us a little bit more color on how those segments are growing, maybe focusing on mining, HVAC, and also your penetration that you're getting into data centers there and the growth rate. The third question, also end-mark focus, was just on nuclear. Obviously, it's a market that's growing. There's a long growth trajectory ahead.
I think you pulled out of nuclear to an extent post-Fukushima. How are you thinking about nuclear going forward? Do you need to reinvest? Can you make acquisitions in that space? Any thoughts there, please? Thank you.
Morning, Jonathan. Good question. Thank you. On the Rotork Service, there's nothing really holding us back in terms of structural. You're absolutely right. As we grow more, we'll look to invest in a number of heads and expand our coverage in the right geographical regions. The regions where we think that there is good significant growth, we will invest and put in the additional heads that we need there. Other than that, other things are technology. We are always improving our technology and introducing new technologies. Recently introduced the intelligent asset management. We've got our mobile app. We're always constantly updating. We've now got what we call integrated Ethernet IP, which is part of the technology required for the Rockwell partnership. We are investing in R&D to be able to improve that service capability as well.
Those are the two things that we've really been focusing on to grow service and will continue to focus on. In terms of CPI, if I break down the certain elements, the IP , the industrial piece, is very small for us, as I've said. In terms of chemicals, the chemicals market overall has been a weak market over the last two to three years. We actually have been able to grow the chemicals portion of our business over the last two years, really predominantly because we've been focusing on specialty chemicals. However, we do have some exposure to bulk chemicals, and in the half, we have grown specialty chemicals, but the bulk chemicals haven't grown, which is why we're a little bit softer in the chemicals in CPI. In terms of the process markets, process markets are okay, I would say.
It's really up to us to generate and drive the growth, and we're absolutely doing that. We've made good inroads in the data center initiatives. We've had very good growth in that initiative. If you think back to the results presentation, we highlighted opportunities where we said within one data center outside of the server rooms, there's circa 1,000 valves that we could look to electrify. We're making really good progress in that area. Inside the server room, it's quite nascent at the moment, but we're doing a lot of work there to be able to be specified in should technologies take off. That's the data center piece. The mining and marine piece have also been very good for us. It's business that we've already had, but with the focus and with the drive of the teams in CPI, they've been able to grow that.
I think the story of CPI is really encompassing the strategy. In difficult markets, we've been able to forge growth in our key target segments. I know on a revenue level, we've been broadly flat and slightly up, but actually on an orders level, we are up. We've had good orders, and we enter H2 with a good book-to-bill in CPI as well. That's CPI. In terms of nuclear, you're absolutely right. We did take a decision to exit the nuclear business. However, at the start of this year, we have taken the decision to re-enter into nuclear inside containment and also outside containment. There's not really that much reinvestment that we need to put in. We need to fire up our supply chains because the products that we have are still specified in the application.
Actually, the nuclear target segment is something we look forward to in the coming years. Hopefully, that answers your questions.
Yes, thanks very much. That's great.
Thank you.
The next question this morning comes from Mark Davies-Jones at Stifel. Mark, please go ahead.
Thank you very much. It seems to be compulsory to do three, so I'll do three. Firstly, obviously, target segments going very well indeed. You set out that list of focus areas a while back now. I just wanted to know how static that was or whether there were new target segments coming onto the horizon that might drive the next wave of growth. The second one is around this sort of increased focus on M&A, perhaps. Is there any divisional focus within that? Water and power seems to be an area of considerable excitement. Is that a particular area you're looking at at the moment? Thirdly, just a sort of follow-on question from tariffs, kind of indirect impacts. Obviously, it's creating some shifts in global production patterns.
Do you think you've got the right capacity in the right places for the way the world is becoming post that sort of tariff move?
Hi, Mark. Thanks for your questions. Yeah, I think absolutely, we're really pleased with our target segments. It's going really well. That's probably the most pleasing thing for me in the first half. This is a moving thing. What we challenge our teams in all of the end markets is to continually identify potential new target segments and then develop business within those target segments so that we kind of generate growth pipelines, and the pipelines are good. It's not static. However, it doesn't change that much year on year. I think we mentioned a few, probably a few years ago, we've got potential in offshore wind in HVDC applications. That's coming through, actually. We've seen some wins in alternative energy in water and power for offshore wind farms. That's really pleasing. We just mentioned nuclear.
That'll be, whilst it's not new for us, that'll be a new target segment because we're going to re-enter into that. The CPI teams are always continually being agile and pivoting from growth opportunities. The marine markets have been good for us. The whole ethos is within markets that are subdued or when the tailwinds are not with you, how do you generate that growth? You do that by picking pockets of niche markets within the broader markets to really try and execute. I think we've done that really, really well. Really pleased. In terms of the M&A, you're absolutely right. The strategic view of our M&A pipeline is that we want the pipeline to be able to align to the target segments. Obviously, water is a really good target segment. It's got continued investment, and you've seen the growth of water over the last three years.
That is absolutely an area where we're focusing on. Just if I can expand, in terms of technologies, we're also looking at core, which I would say electric actuation like a Noah, but we're also looking at adjacent technologies, so instrumentation and sensing. You're absolutely right. Key target segments in water and power and CPI will be key for the pipeline. In terms of the tariffs, I think we are set up very well globally. We call it a local for local, but really, it's region for region. What we sell in that region, we typically build in that region. That has actually given us quite a lot of flexibility. We built that up after the kind of COVID supply chain blockers. Actually, what that has allowed us to do is re-divert supply chains to other continents. For example, Canada can be supplied out of Europe.
LATAM can be supplied out of Europe. We've got a really flexible model, and the teams have done a really great job being really agile and diverting supply chains. We feel good about being well set up to handle anything that comes from the tariff changes.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question this morning comes from Maggie Schooley at Redburn Atlantic. Maggie, please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Hi, Kiet. Hi, Ben. How are you? I only have one, but I wanted to go back to, as it was multi-part. Sorry. I wanted to go back to the data center physical infrastructure piece within CPI. Can you give us, I know it's hard, but can you give us some understanding about what level of contribution you have to that division from data center? Is it growing at the + 25% that we're seeing from other companies that are participating in that area? Also, as you move from outside the server room to inside the server room, what products you have that can play in that market, particularly as liquid cooling starts to become more of a reality, a bigger market?
Yeah. Thanks, Maggie. Good question. I think for our data center growth, it has been good. We haven't disclosed it exactly, but it's been really, really good. If that translates into a number, it's in line or greater than the kind of things that you're seeing there in terms of those numbers. There are two applications: outside server rooms and inside server rooms. We talked about the outside server rooms, and they will take Noah-type products as they electrify. They also take our gears technology with that. We've made really good inroads there. In terms of inside data centers, they will take our Hanbay products, which is one of the reasons why Hanbay was really attractive. Small electric actuation as inside data rooms, they look to isolate and flow so that they can isolate individual servers and take individual servers offline rather than taking the whole room offline.
That's quite nascent at the minute, but we're doing a lot of work to become specified into designs. That's to come, but we are excited about that. That's where we are in the data center space.
If I can ask one more.
Yes, please.
In terms of the data, one of the clearest benefits of electric actuation is that the data comes from the actuator. When you're thinking about that feedback loop to these other players, what is Hanbay or what technologies is Hanbay offering in terms of that data transfer so that these guys can really understand the efficiency running within the server room?
Yeah. Typically, we don't run the DCS or the SCADA. The SCADA or the DCS will look for signals like, are you open, are you closed? We can record data such as the torque we're pulling with the amount of energy that we've seen. They boil it down to very simple: are you open, are you closed, are you functioning correctly, if I need to operate you, will you operate? They're the types of signals, I think, if I make it really simple, that we need to send to a SCADA or a DCS system to allow the operators to operate that, and we can do that.
Is that a competitive advantage for you versus others?
It is. I mean, if you look at our IQ3 Pro with intelligent asset management, we've got 20 years of data where we can process and we can tell what's going on with the actuator and valve to say, are you running or is that application running at an optimal level? We haven't yet, but we can bring that experience into the Hanbay products, which gives us a really good competitive advantage, which is why we win on Rotork Service as well, because we have that with our IQ platform.
Thank you.
Thanks.
The next question this morning comes from Alex O'Hanlon at Panmure Liberum. Alex, please go ahead.
Good morning, guys. Thank you very much for the presentation. I really appreciate it. Just two from me, if I may. The first one is just you mentioned that you're still actively looking at M&A opportunities and have given us some really good color on that. Absent M&A, you say you'll use share buybacks to manage the financial position. Do you have a target level of cash or even net debt in mind? I guess how should we think about buybacks and when they might occur, or is it not that mechanical? The second question is just on water. Where are we sitting in terms of the investment cycle? Should we expect revenues to be ramping up from investment from AMP7 in the U.K. and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the U.S.?
I guess what I'm trying to get at is how should we think about the phasing of the water investment cycle over the next few years?
You always say water first, and then you want to... Yeah. I think for Water, it has been consistently growing. There's been no inflection. It's just been a good gradient of growth, and that's what we expect to continue. Specifically, as you mentioned, in the U.K.., we're just starting year one of AMP8. We expect that to ramp up. We've already had good growth in the U.K. from AMP7. We expect continued growth there. In AMP8, they have nearly doubled that investment. That's why we're confident we kind of anticipate growth over the next five years, let's say, in the U.K. with that AMP cycle. In other geographies, Water and water infrastructure has continued investment. In the U.S., there's continued investment to upgrade the infrastructures. Desalination on the West Coast is also really strong in the U.S. In the Middle East, desalination is really, really strong as well.
In Asia-Pacific, with migrations to big cities, again, a lot of infrastructure investment in there. Water is actually consistently investing all the time. There's going to be no inflection. We're confident about Water. We expect it to continue to grow. Do you want to...
Yeah, just on the leverage and the capital allocation, Alex, I mean, we've been really consistent. I think the policy is clear. Where we can invest back in the business, we will, and we're doing that with ERP implementation. Progressive dividend, we've now paid, I think, over 20 years of a progressive dividend with the exception of one year in COVID. M&A, as Kiet said, that is a priority for us to actually grow inorganically, but the timing of those acquisitions is unknown. In the absence of doing any M&A, we've always said that we will return the cash back to the owners of the business. We said, I think, at year end, we wanted to move the balance sheet to a more neutral position, and we'll continue to do that. That is at this point in time, dependent on how the M&A pans out.
I think we're very consistent in the application. Like we said, if we don't do any M&A, we will return the cash to shareholders.
Perfect. That's really helpful. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
Thanks, Alex.
We have time for one last question this morning, which is a follow-up question from Andrew Douglas at Jefferies.
Morning . Thanks for that. I noticed that you've recently been included on the Saudi Aramco supplier qualification system and AVL as a local manufacturer. Is that important in terms of the growth potential, or is that just something that you need to play in that market? To be frank, I'm quite surprised you weren't on that list, given that Saudi Aramco is a big customer. If you can just explain that in more detail, if it's important, that would be great. Thank you.
Yeah, that is important. It's part of our target segments investment. We have opened up a facility in Saudi Aramco. We have gained approvals. There are only three companies who will gain approval. We are one of the three. It creates a good kind of barrier to entry. It's really important for us to be able to grow in Saudi and the Middle East. Essentially, if you want to win business there, there's what is called an IKTVA score. That score kind of scores you in terms of how much in-kingdom manufacturing that you can do. Now that we can manufacture our electric actuators in Saudi Arabia, that gives us a very good score. It makes us very competitive in terms of growing our business in the Middle East. Very important for us. We're really, really pleased.
The teams have done a fantastic job, and we are one of only three.
How big is that factory facility in Saudi? Does it compare with Bath or Alucor or in the U.S.?
It's dependent on the volumes. At the minute, it's geared up to facilitate the Saudi and the wider Middle East. As that business grows, we'll look to expand it. It isn't as big as a Alucor or a Bath, which is kind of a huge center. It's a relatively smaller factory, but it is nonetheless state-of-the-art to be able to build our IQs.
Super. Thank you.
Thanks, Andrew.
This concludes the Q&A session, and I would now like to hand back to Kiet for any closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for your interest. Thank you for dialing in today. If I can just summarize the call, we're really pleased with our first-half performance. We've entered July with an encouraging start, so that's good to see. We therefore feel confident about the H2. For me, what's the most pleasing is our performance in the target segments, and therefore really shows that the Growth Plus strategy is really working and delivering the numbers. We continue to have considerable financial flexibility to pursue opportunities that are value-creative for our shareholders. With that, thank you again and have a good day. Thank you.