Good day and welcome to The Weir Group PLC Q3 IMS Conference Call. Please note this call is being recorded, and for the duration of the call, your lines will be on listen only. However, you will have the opportunity to ask questions. This can be done by pressing star one on your telephone keypad to register your question. If you require assistance at any point, please press star zero and you'll be connected to an operator. I will now hand the call over to Jon Stanton, CEO. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our third quarter trading update. As usual, I'm joined by our CFO, John Heasley, and after a short overview from me, we'll be delighted to take your questions. First, though, let me talk you through the group's performance for the third quarter. We delivered strongly, and the momentum that I talked about at the time of our half year results continued. We saw this in our orders, which on a constant currency basis, were up 19% year-on-year, and also in execution, where we are delivering significant year-on-year revenue growth and continuing to mitigate the impacts of input cost inflation.
Conditions in our mining markets were positive through the quarter and continue to be so with our customers focused on maximizing all production, driven by continuing strength in commodity prices and increasingly tight physical inventories for key metals. In infrastructure, conditions in our largest market of North America were stable, although demand in Europe continued to weaken. Across the group, high levels of mining activity drove very strong demand for our aftermarket spares and expendables, with constant currency orders up 21% year-on-year. Original equipment or OE orders were up 12% year-on-year, and here demand predominantly came from de-bottlenecking or small expansion projects as miners focused on expanding production from existing assets. Complexities in permitting meant large projects remained slow to convert, but demand for our expanding digital and sustainability solutions was encouraging.
The group's book-to-bill was 1.02, reflecting growth in our order book, which is at record levels, and strong revenue growth across both aftermarket and OE. Through the period, we continued to successfully mitigate the impacts of inflation with gross margins maintained. Encouragingly, we saw challenges in global supply chains starting to ease, which will further support our operating momentum and focus on execution as we progress through the fourth quarter. I'd now like to give a little bit more detail on the performance of both divisions, starting with minerals. Here, orders in the division grew 21% year-on-year and reflect a typical seasonal patterns following the booking of some multi-period orders in the second quarter.
Demand was particularly strong in aftermarket, which was up 25%, and this reflected very strong volume growth and also price increases, which had a mid-single digit year-on-year impact. Demand was strong across all regions and especially strong in North America, where the general trend to reshore mineral production in the U.S. continued and oil prices remained supportive of increased activity in the Canadian oil sands. In South America, we saw strong demand for spares for our Warman slurry pumps as miners focused on delivering year-on-year growth in copper production while managing the ongoing offsetting effect of declining grades. Aftermarket orders also included some commissioning spares as production commenced at a number of recently installed OE projects, particularly in Central Asia, further growing our installed base.
In OE, as I mentioned a moment ago, demand was driven largely by small expansion projects, solutions to de-bottleneck existing mines and sustainable solutions. We expect this to continue in the near term, and in the absence of new projects, miners are likely to accelerate production from existing assets to meet demand, which of course plays to the Weir sweet spot of integrated solutions. In the quarter, we continued to grow our installed base in forward-facing commodities, including GBP 16 million of orders booked to provide equipment to high-grade nickel applications in Indonesia.
This reflects a growing trend as other parts of the world increase nickel production to compensate for the expected absence of Russian supply. We continue to work in partnership with our customers, using our differentiated tech, technology to help them address their biggest challenges and make mining smarter, more efficient, and sustainable. One of our most recent innovations is our TerraFlowing tech, TerraFlowing technology, which improves water recovery from tailings, making them easier to transport and store.
In the quarter, we were pleased to see continued traction for this sustainable solution with a GBP 6 million TerraFlowing order for a customer in Mexico, where the technology will eradicate the need for a tailings dam. From an operational perspective, the minerals division performed well, and we saw evidence that supply chain challenges, which have been impacting the timing of some OE shipments, are starting to ease. We expect this will continue to improve through the fourth quarter, with significant improvements in freight capacity and container pricing now giving more certainty in operational planning.
The division's book-to-bill was 1.04, reflecting order book growth coupled with a focus on operational execution as revenues grew strongly year-on-year and also sequentially from the second quarter. Turning now to ESCO, where constant currency orders were up 13% year-on-year. This included an increase in volumes from mining customers, a contribution from acquisitions, and the year-on-year impact of price increases, which were at similar levels to minerals. In mining, orders were up year-on-year and also ahead on a sequential basis as the division benefited from the mining production trends which I outlined earlier. Similar to minerals, demand was strong across all regions and particularly in the Americas.
Through the quarter, we made good progress on our geographical expansion initiative, with net conversions and market share gains in South Africa and Australia as customers continue to recognize the production and total cost of ownership benefits of our proprietary Nemisys ground engaging tools. Progress on our mining attachments initiative was also encouraging, with high levels of customer interest. Orders included bookings for existing GET customers in North America as miners recognized the benefits of our packaged solutions. In infrastructure, North America accounts for around three-quarters of ESCO's exposure, and we saw activity in this market remaining stable at high levels. Elsewhere, infrastructure demand in Europe continued to decline, reflecting the trend which we saw in the second quarter.
We remain delighted with the acquisitions of Motion Metrics and CiDRA, both of which made a good contribution to orders in the quarter and which continue to perform ahead of the expectations set out at the time of acquisition. Operationally, ESCO also performed well. We continue to use pricing to mitigate the impacts of inflation and maintain gross margins, while our digitally enabled supply chain and selected use of air freight meant we delivered for our customers while managing the residual effects of supply chain complexities. As with minerals, the impact of these reduced through the quarter, and we expect further easing as we progress through the balance of the year. The division's book-to-bill was 0.97, reflecting strong year-on-year growth in revenue, which also grew sequentially from the second quarter.
Now a brief comment on net debt, which was higher than that reported at 30th of June 2022, reflecting the impact of translation foreign exchange on our U.S. dollar denominated debt and typical seasonal patterns. As we expected, our leverage ratio was in line with that reported in our half year results. And given the better visibility mentioned earlier, we continue to expect this to reduce over the balance of the year as our free operating cash conversion reaches 80%-90%.
Before I close and turn to Q&A, I'd just like to say a few words on our strategy, the outlook for the balance of the year, and on the broader market environment. The long-term fundamentals for the mining industry are highly attractive, underpinned by the technology transition to make mining more sustainable and increased demand for metals as the world drives towards net zero. As a focused mining technology company, the drivers of our business are therefore strong and clear, and our unique capabilities and focused strategy give us confidence in achieving the through-cycle revenue growth and margin expansion targets which we outlined at our recent capital markets event.
At the same time, our large installed base of equipment, which supports our aftermarket-focused business, underpins our through-cycle resilience with revenues driven by ore production, which is largely inelastic to CapEx cycles and day-to-day commodity price fluctuations. Turning to the current year, we're going into the fourth quarter with a record order book and strong operating momentum, so our guidance for 2022 remains unchanged. We expect to deliver strong growth in constant currency revenue and profits, operating margin expansion, and 80%-90% free operating cash conversion.
We know that everyone is trying to look ahead to next year, and the current macroeconomic and geopolitical environment is complex and hard to predict, and we'll all have better visibility in a few months' time. What we do know is conditions in mining markets remain positive. Our customers are maximizing production to meet demand and address falling levels of physical inventory, and therefore it remains to be seen if the broader environment will impact mining. In our base case scenario, we expect mining markets to remain supportive, with aftermarket growth rates consistent with our through-cycle targets and demand for OE continuing to be driven by small expansion, debottlenecking, and sustainability projects. In infrastructure, we expect market dynamics to remain largely unchanged, with demand in North America remaining stable and the demand environment in Europe continuing to decline.
So to close, let me just summarize the key takeaways. We've had a great third quarter, delivering significant year-on-year growth in orders with particularly strong demand in the aftermarket. Through the quarter, we've executed well, managing the impacts of inflation and growing revenues significantly versus the prior year. We're carrying a record order book and good operating momentum into the fourth quarter, and our 2022 guidance remains unchanged. Finally, we remain convinced that Weir has huge potential to deliver long-term value creation in line with our equity case. In our base case scenario, we assume that mining markets will remain supportive in the short term as well. So thank you for listening. John and I will now be happy to take any questions you have. If I could return to you, operator. Thank you.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question from the queue, please press star two. But again, please press star one to ask a question. We will take the first question from Andrew Douglas from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Morning, gents. I've got three questions, but they're all cash or balance sheet related. I think you've covered most of the trading stuff in your remarks. When we talk about covenants for year-end, can I just double-check? I believe that your covenants are average FX in the P&L or the cash flow and on the cash flow as well. In the previous downturns, we've had kind of funny things happening at year-end in terms of year-end debt limits on the balance sheet. Can I just confirm that? And secondly, on the cash flow guidance, how fourth quarter heavy is your guidance in terms of that 80%-90%?
Are you guys gonna run like, you know, like Trojans to get to that 80%, or have you had a good third quarter performance, which means the fourth quarter ask isn't too much? Last but by no means least, there's been some negative comments about your ability to refinance your USPP going forward. Have you guys got any indications of what that kind of rate might be relative to the 4.3% you're paying at the moment? Thanks.
Thanks, Andy. Good morning. I'll let John answer those questions, and then I might come back with an overall comment at the end.
All right. Good morning, Andy. In terms of your three questions on the covenants, absolutely average FX on both the debt and the profit numbers. So that's you know, been well embedded in our financing documentation for many years. No change on that. No surprises. Secondly, in terms of the phasing of the cash flow, then, as you saw from our statement, debt was higher at the end of September relative to the end of June. That was mostly FX. What I would say is that normal seasonality applied, which is the third quarter typically you know, does have a little bit of build of working capital in preparation for you know, a big push towards the year end in terms of shipments, et cetera.
Seasonality consistent in third quarter as expected. Therefore, you know, we do expect a, as I said, at the half year, a significant inflow of working capital through the balance of the year. Consistent with what I described then, we've got, you know, really good visibility, actually better visibility now than we did at the end of June on the basis that you remember it's about, getting those minerals projects and getting the supply chain, third party supply chain components received. Those were delayed through the early part of the year for supply chain reasons that we all know about. As Jon described, that's easing. We're starting to see and continuing to see those components come into the business. We've got that all mapped out in a very granular basis. Those are flowing through our shops now.
We have really good confidence in how that is going to unwind through the fourth quarter, which again underpins the 80%-90% cash conversion leverage coming down, and likewise, working capital as a percentage of sales coming down. In terms of the third question on USPPs, we have $200 million of USPPs maturing in February. That's currently paying interest at just north of 4%. I would remind you that in May last year, we did a bit of advance refinancing. So we issued an $800 million sustainability-linked public bond. That was when five-year treasuries were 79 basis points.
We paid a margin of 140, so that is a fixed rate for five years at 2.2%, which effectively is to a large degree pre-financed that $200 million that is maturing in February. However, to double emphasize that, you know, we're sitting with more than GBP 600 million of liquidity. Clearly, as we go through the fourth quarter, that will increase further. If we do choose to refinance, then you know, we'll choose the appropriate time for that to ensure that the rate is attractive. But overall, the key takeaway, Andy, is that there is no need to refinance that just now if we don't want to because of liquidity. And s econdly, given the refinancing with the public bond last year, our overall interest rate is coming down relative to previous PPs and is fixed on a five-year basis.
Okay, very clear. Thanks for that. That's perfect.
Yeah. I'll just come in at the end there. I think that, you know, our Weir finance team has done an amazing job and a very prescient job in terms of the financings that we did, both the sustainability-linked notes, but also the RCF earlier this year as well. We feel we're in a really good place from a balance sheet view. And i think, as I think about the cash, you know, I want to reiterate, we're absolutely focused and committed on delivering the cash conversion targets that we've set out. As I characterize the year, you know, first half of the year was, you know, quite challenging for us, as for many, for reasons that I won't reiterate, you know them all.
But i feel that we got, you know, real grip on it through the third quarter, you know, and we go into the fourth quarter with real visibility on what needs to be done, what are the moving parts, and the business is intensely focused on that. So you know, hence we feel very good about our ability to meet those targets.
Thanks very much for that. I'm all done. Thank you.
Cheers, Andy.
The next question comes from Klas Bergelind, from Citi.
Thank you. Morning, Jon and John, Klas at Citi. The first one I had is on the revenue growth. Looks to be about 30% like for like in the quarter when we back out from the book-to-bill. I don't know if you could comment on what kind of growth level you expect here into the fourth quarter. Supply chains easing implies more conversion out of the order book. I'm wondering if you could perhaps comment a little bit more. The fourth quarter implied growth. My second one is on FX and pricing versus your GBP 10 million guide that you've guided for before. Guess we're talking another GBP 5 million-GBP 10 million on top.
If you can comment on what you see now and then on pricing, would you think pricing in the P&L will be greater than the mid-single digit level that we've seen here over the last couple of quarters on the orders as you convert the backlog further? Finally, on construction, I guess this is mainly European weakness, but is there any change through the quarter and into the fourth in terms of deceleration, whether that is getting worse? Thank you.
Okay. We'll come back to John for the FX question, and I'll take the other three. Look, in terms of revenue growth, you know, clearly significant, sequential momentum into the third quarter, which is good. What we're expecting for the full year, and I think is reflected in consensus, is really the sort of typical seasonal balance that we normally have, sort of 45%-55% split in terms of revenue. I would say that's what you need to look at as you think about the fourth quarter. From a pricing point of view, our last increase was in July. Since then, as we've said, you know, I think if anything, input cost inflation, particularly freight has and some of the commodities has moderated.
So we feel we're in a very good place from a pricing point of view. I think, you know, that mid-single digit guide is right for the full year. You know, we're three quarters of the way through. That's what we've delivered. As I said earlier, that's, you know, fully offset input cost inflation and more such that our gross margins are maintained. I think, you know, on the construction point, Klas, you know, I think the U.S. economy remains strong. I think that's what we're seeing reflected in activity high at stable levels at the moment. Europe is continuing to be weak and as we sit here today, we don't think either of those things are gonna change in the short term. So that's how we're feeling about that, in terms of the construction infrastructure exposure. On FX, John?
Yeah. Good morning, Klas. You'll remember at the end of June from a profit perspective, I said that we were expecting around GBP 10 million operating profit tailwind year-on-year in terms of translational FX. That's driven by, or that was driven by the fact that you know roughly 50% of our operating profit is U.S. dollar denominated, the other big currencies being Chilean peso, Aussie dollar, and Canadian dollar. Clearly since then we have seen sterling weaken against the U.S. dollar, which is going to be positive if that continues for translation of revenues and profit. Actually, the other three, the Chilean peso, the Aussie dollar, and the Canadian dollar haven't moved that much.
So if we were to assume for the balance of the year that we do stay on cable around, you know, the 1.14, 1.15 mark that we seem to be bumping around at, then relative to that GBP 10 million tailwind I said before, there's probably somewhere between another GBP 5 million and GBP 10 million to come if rates were to stay where they were today.
Perfect. Thank you.
The next question comes from Andre Kukhnin from Credit Suisse.
Good morning. Thank you very much for taking my questions. Firstly, just to follow up on cash, thank you for all the comments. I just wanted to ask whether your level of confidence on the 80%-90% conversion has changed at all versus the end of June. Secondly, I wanted to just dig a little bit deeper into the TerraFlowing. Could you give us any idea on the kind of TAM potential there and what your market share is in this specific offering? Maybe finally, just on ESCO performance when looking at the like for like growth rates and that small decline in OE, could you elaborate a little bit more on that and whether that's kind of market driven or is there anything else going on there? Thank you.
Okay. Morning, Andre. Yeah, I mean, I think hopefully from the initial comments on cash, you know, we remain highly confident of delivering on our target, and that hasn't changed. If anything, you know, we feel probably better today than we did in July in terms of that. So we feel that we're in a good place. In terms of TerraFlowing, look, it's something that we, you know, technology we developed for a specific application, and piloted it. You might recall a couple of years ago, we talked about projects in Australia where we pilot it. We're now in a sort of phase with it.
I mean, it's early days in terms of the, you know, the technology and the product line, but we're now in the sort of phase of sort of taking that technology that we developed for a specific project and broadening it out across other applications. The GBP 6 million order that we talked about this morning is a perfect example of that. In the specific application there, you know, it's a complete integrated solution, a sort of modular project that sort of slots into this particular customer's, you know, tailings circuit, which is gonna eliminate the need for a tailings dam because of the dewatering capability that we've been able to build.
It's a really early days, but a really good reference site for us, and we're working on, you know, a number of other different types of applications and opportunities, across the world on that as well. It's a good example of something, a new technology, a novel technology that we developed and we're starting to get traction with. Really pleased with that. And then, yeah, you know, as far as ESCO is concerned. I think, we're very pleased with, you know, the progress that we made, in the quarter.
Sort of underlying the sequential trends are, you know, obviously the negative in infrastructure that we've talked about in Europe, but the underlying mining GET has grown sequentially, you know, reflecting, as in the case of minerals, the focus on production at, you know, large mining sites at the moment. Net, I think, you know, we're very happy with the ESCO performance. You know, I think hopefully that answers your question.
It does. Thank you very much.
Great. Thank you, Andre.
We will now take the next question from Vlad Sergievskiy from [audio distortion]. Please go ahead.
Yes, gentlemen, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. They will be all related to cash flow and debt. First of all, you mentioned net debt increasing in Q3. Would you be willing to provide the magnitude of this increase? Is it GBP 50 million, GBP 100 million, more than that? Secondly, you mentioned that not all increase in debt was driven by FX, the majority of it, and highlighted working capital build as well. Are you able to disclose whether free cash flow was actually positive or negative in Q3 alone? And finally, also, would you be willing to share whether utilization of your working capital financing facilities have increased or reduced during the quarter? Thank you very much.
Okay. Good morning, Vlad. Thanks for your questions. So in terms of the net debt increase in the quarter, as we said, that was mostly due to FX. You can see clearly and sort of do the calculations on how the dollar has moved. As you know, the majority of our external debt is U.S. dollar denominated. The dollar sterling rate at the end of June was 1.22. That clearly at the end of September was, you know, in the sort of 1.13 sort of range. So when you look at that's a GBP 0.10 move, which, you know, in terms of the level of our gross debt is around GBP 100 million. That's the FX impact broadly in Q3.
In terms of the free cash flow in the period, that was around breakeven, so you know, very strong operating cash flow and then you know, clearly we continued to invest in CapEx and pay tax and various things like that, so broadly neutral. But again, as I said previously, that as expected, that's normal seasonality, that there was no surprise in that for us, and that's still consistent with us getting to our 80%-90% cash conversion on the full year basis. In terms of your third question, no, I mean, there's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in terms of invoice discounting or supply chain financing. We give full disclosure on that in our annual report and interim statements.
You know, that's in the ordinary course of business where we utilize invoice discounting in certain parts of the world, like Latin America. For context, at the end of 2021, that represented less than 3% of our overall receivables for the group. On a supply chain financing basis, you know, similarly low levels, but no change and no anticipated change to any of that.
That's great. Thank you for those details, John.
Thank you, Vlad.
As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one. We will now take the next question from Mark Davies Jones from Stifel. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Morning, both Johns. If I can stick to cash, but maybe on a slightly more positive tack. Given how strong the revenue trends are and how bullish you are on the outlook for your core markets, what does that mean in terms of your own investment, both in terms of CapEx requirements to expand, organic capacity, but also on M&A, recent deals seem to have gone very well. Is that an area that you're focusing more on as you release more cash from working capital?
Good morning, Mark. Thanks for the question. Yeah, look, I think, we, you know, we're in a good place. The focus obviously through the balance of the year, you know, is that we delever and, we move the net debt EBITDA ratio, down to the sort of range that we would like to be in through cycle, which as a reminder, is 0.5-1.5. So you know, we'll be there or thereabouts by the end of this year, I think.
From a CapEx perspective, in terms of what we need from a capacity point of view, that is really baked into the cash conversion targets that we've set out for this year, next year and beyond where, if you remember, you know, after 2023, we expect we'll be up to sort of 90%-100% cash conversion. We've got the you know large foundry expansion for ESCO running through CapEx this year and next year, as we expand capacity. Then we'll be sort of reverting to 1x depreciation after that. There's plenty within that for us to continue to you know add capacity, as we need it, but we're in a very good place at the moment.
One of the things that we've done, I think, you know, extremely well over the years is to, you know, use CapEx to, you know, create more and more capacity from our existing roof line. You know, just as an example, like, you know, I was in our foundry in Todmorden a couple of weeks ago, and there, just by the underlying CapEx that we've and the expansions we've done in that facility. We've got threefold the capacity we had from about seven or eight years ago. It's just an ongoing process within the Weir Group. And as we think about acquisitions, yeah, you know the strategy. I think we've got a very, very clear organic growth story going forward.
We know where the sort of white space and the technology organic opportunities are between the bookends of our business today. If we can accelerate those plans through select acquisitions that meet our criteria, and specifically, you know, are accretive or consistent with our business model, and we can deliver the returns, then those things are gonna be of interest. Yeah, obviously the priority for the rest of this year, deliver on the cash, as we've spoken of quite a lot on this call.
Indeed. If I can, squeeze in a second market question.
Sure.
For a long time now, we've had this situation of little in the way of greenfield builds and a lot of pressure on squeezing what you can out of existing mines. How sustainable is that? Are we gonna reach the point where to meet the capacity requirements, we're gonna have to see bigger greenfield work? Because obviously, that has implications for your mix, particular margin.
Yeah. I don't think in the long run it is sustainable. There is not enough extra copper and nickel production slated for us to get to net zero. That is a fact, and it is increasingly being picked up, you know, in the media at the moment. All of our customers are talking about that. You know, about how we're gonna get some, you know, more copper and so on. I don't think it's sustainable in the long run. What you're seeing in minerals at the moment, and we expect this to continue, as I said in my prepared comments, you know, is that, you know, intense focus on maximizing production from existing mine sites, you know, will be a very, very strong driver for us and for Weir.
You know, I talked about it last time as being a win-win. It's great for us if the greenfields come in due course and we get extra, you know, new installed, big installed base from that, but in the meantime, we are gonna benefit from, you know, our position that we have with our customers, the fact that we're deeply embedded within their operations. We're there on the mines, trying to help them debottleneck, drive the expansions. And i think that's gonna be a, you know, a consistent theme for some time to come.
You know, I think we're probably waiting for, you know, more of a price signal. If you look at, you know, the tightness in copper markets, for example, the price of nickel and lithium, it feels to me like that might come before too long. But i think that's probably needed before you see more conviction on greenfields, just given the macro uncertainty at the moment on top of the long-standing permitting issues.
Thank you very much indeed. Makes a lot of sense.
Thanks, Mark.
The next question comes from Jonathan Hurn from Barclays.
Good morning, guys. I just have a few questions, please. First question is just about order intake, and what we can expect, in terms of order intake for Q4 and how that sort of plays out sequentially versus Q3, both for OE and aftermarket. And then secondly, obviously you've commented on FY 2023 and your outlook. Are you still committed to 17% margin target for 2023? And if so, what are the potential risks, if there are any there? If you could just sort of elaborate on that. And then thirdly, just in terms of 2023, again, just in terms of order book coverage, for the revenue there, can you just give us a feel of currently where that's sitting across sort of minerals and ESCO, please? Thanks.
Okay. Morning, Jonathan. I think as we think about aftermarket trends from here, you know, the sort of phrase that we used in the statement is that, you know, we expect, you know, aftermarket trends to be, you know, broadly consistent with our through-cycle guidance on aftermarket. You know, if you look at Q4, it's clearly, you know, we saw a big pickup in the fourth quarter last year, so that's a tough comp. I doubt we're gonna see another 25% print. But yeah, reverting to those through-cycle type growth numbers over the balance of the year, and I think that's sort of, you know, consistent with, you know, with what we would expect to see next year at this point in time.
And i think, and it sort of relates to the margin point as well. You know, if you think about next year, the underpins for that are, you know, the things we always talk about in terms of, you know, production growth, declining grades and so on. I think the extra underpin we've sort of got for next year is really around, you know, the growth in the store base that we've got coming through. The Iron Bridge project, as you know, is commissioned at the beginning of next year, starts operating. That's roughly GBP 15 million a year of additional aftermarket for us. We've sold a lot of big mill circuit pumps this year. A lot of those will be coming into action through the course of next year.
So there's a lot to suggest confidence in, you know, in continued strength in the aftermarket. I think back to the fourth quarter, I think, you know, the original equipment pipeline is looking very good. You know, we'll see how it converts. I think that focus that I talked about earlier on, you know, debottlenecking, trying to get more out of existing mine sites, increasing traction with sustainable solutions, you know, that's all playing very well at the moment. I think the other comment I'd make on FY 2023 is, you know, the orders that we've seen in the third quarter, you know, give us a, you know, really decent underpin to the first half of the year.
You know, obviously it remains to be seen how things play out. Don't have visibility to H2 yet, but so I think we'll feel good going into the year. That strength of the aftermarket, you know, and the momentum really underpins the confidence that we still have in that margin target. We see the building blocks. The momentum is with us, and, you know, we feel good about delivering that.
Great. Very clear. Thank you.
Thanks, Jonathan.
That will conclude today's question and answer session. I will now hand back off to Jon Stanton for closing.
Okay. Thank you very much, operator, and thank you everybody for the questions. Obviously, we're available through the day if there are any follow-ups. Just wanna leave you with a reminder, we also highlighted in the press release our next capital markets event on the 30th of November in the afternoon, which will be a virtual event where we'll be focusing on our sustainability strategy, the technology roadmap that flows from that, and how we're gonna help deliver smarter, more efficient, more sustainable mining in the future. We look forward to interacting with you on that. Thanks again for your questions this morning.
Thank you. That will conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, ladies and gentlemen. You may now disconnect.