Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Refining NZ full year conference call. All participants are in a listen only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to Naomi James, Chief Executive Officer of Refining NZ. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Refining NZ's 2021 financial results briefing. I'm Naomi James, CEO of Refining NZ, and I'm joined by our current CFO, Denise Jensen, and Jarek Dabrowski, who will step into the CFO role of Channel Infrastructure when Denise leaves Refining NZ at the end of March. Before getting started, I draw your attention to the disclaimer up front in the presentation on slide two. Turning now to slide three, and let me start by giving you a summary of the key messages in today's presentation. In terms of 2021, we have had another excellent year of safety and operational performance, while at the same time delivering the long term plan to unlock the value of the infrastructure we own
Our transition to a terminal business model is now imminent, with only a few weeks of refinery operations left, and we have today reconfirmed our previous cost estimates for the conversion. With the transition to Channel Infrastructure from 1 April, we will have a fundamental reset in our asset base, providing earnings stability and be focused on the return to payment of dividends to our shareholders. We today also confirm we have contracted additional private storage, providing positive early traction with our focused growth strategy. Please turn to slide four. The briefing today will effectively be divided into three parts. The first part will cover our 2021 performance, reflecting the results of our last full year of refining before we transition to an import terminal. This will include taking you through the balance sheet changes resulting from the conversion to import terminal operations.
We'll then provide an update on the transition to Channel Infrastructure and finish with a full year 2022 look ahead. Please turn to slide five. Beginning with 2021. On this slide we have the key priorities we set for 2021 that I communicated to you at this time last year. I'm pleased to report today that we have achieved what we set out to do. We will go through the details as we walk through the pack. In summary, our personal safety performance in 2021 was excellent for the second year in a row. We completed our planned maintenance turnaround, including the first statutory inspection of the platformer safely, on time and below budget. We successfully implemented the Simplified Refinery model from the start of the year to enable us to operate the refinery cash neutral at the fee floor.
We concluded our import terminal negotiations with all three customers, and we successfully progressed other elements of our strategic review process to conclusion, obtaining the approval of our lenders and shareholders. With 99% of shareholders voting in favor of the conversion, we took the final investment decision in November to shift to import terminal operations from April this year. In summary, we operated the refinery safely and to plan, reported a disciplined financial result in a challenging business environment, and delivered a long-term plan to unlock the value of our infrastructure for shareholders. I want to up front recognize the whole team at Marsden Point for what we have been able to achieve over the past year. Our staff have maintained their commitment to operating safely and to delivering to plan throughout the last two years, and the times of uncertainty and change created by our strategic review.
These results are a credit to all of our team. Turning now to slide six and starting with safety, as we always do, I'm pleased to note that we achieved a significant milestone of no recordable personal safety incidents for the second consecutive year. This is an outstanding result, particularly given we conducted a turnaround of the platformer and crude distiller during the year, and is a testament to the quality of people we have working at Marsden Point. Two tier one process safety incidents were recorded and were responded to quickly. These events did not result in significant plant damage, and following the events, we took action to further strengthen our safety controls and procedures.
An independent assessment has confirmed that there is a low risk of harm to the environment from the unauthorized release of non-compliant firefighting foam during firefighting training exercises, which we reported in the first half of the year. During the year, we received a renewed site resource consent for a further 35 years, which demonstrates our commitment to Marsden Point. We are committed to continuing to ensure the site maintains high levels of environmental standards and are working with local iwi on projects to improve the coastal environment in the vicinity of Marsden Point. Turning now to slide seven. Refinery and RAP throughput continued to be impacted by COVID-related restrictions in 2021. Compared to 2020, pipeline volumes were overall similar at 13.4 million bbl. However, this is around 35% lower than 2019, the last year in which there weren't travel restrictions.
As you can see from the RAP deliveries, outside of lockdown periods, we observed a strong recovery in demand for gasoline and diesel. The diesel recovery was particularly strong, recovering above pre-COVID levels outside of lockdown periods. Demand for jet fuel remained low as a result of the ongoing international border restrictions. In the refinery, throughput reflected the reduced capacity of the Simplified Refinery, and product exports kept inventory balanced through COVID lockdowns, with no temporary shutdowns of the refinery being required as occurred in 2020. Please turn to slide 8. While improving from 2020 levels, refining margins remained below the fee floor. Over the course of the past two years, this has meant our customers have paid fee floor subsidies amounting to NZD 127 million or $2 U.S. per bbl.
The Singapore complex margin averaged $120 per bbl. Excess refinery capacity and COVID-19 related impacts continued to be the key reasons for this. The lower price for crude oil processed relative to Dubai meanbt the company was able to achieve an uplift of $4.93 per bbl, which supported an overall GRM outcome of $3.73 per bbl. I will now hand over to Denise, who will take us through the 2021 financials.
Thank you, Naomi, and good morning, everybody. Let's pick up on slide nine of the presentation and start with a snapshot of the financial results. As Naomi mentioned, we operated at the fee floor throughout all of 2021. Refining revenue was down 7% compared to 2020, which reflects lower gas usage and no wage subsidy in 2021 and lower carbon unit sales, while infrastructure revenue was relatively flat. As you can see, reported EBITDA is up 44% relative to 2020. The cost savings from implementing the Simplified Refinery model are the key driver of this, and I'll talk to this more on the next slide. CapEx was flat year on year, which is a very good result given that 2021 included the cost of the crude distiller and CCR maintenance turnaround.
This meant that free cash flow was positive, achieving our aim of cash-neutral performance at the fee floor. We report a net loss after tax of NZD 553 million, which really reflects the write-off of the refining assets and provisions for costs associated with the import terminal conversion. A revaluation of the import terminal assets has also occurred and offsets this, but that is not processed through the profit and loss statement. We'll step through these changes in a bit more detail shortly. Our net debt closed the year NZD 47 million lower, reflecting our successful equity raise towards the end of 2021, which was to fund the cost of private placement. We now turn to slide 10. This slide provides a waterfall between EBITDA for the year end of 31 December 2021 compared to 2020.
Despite operating at the fee floor, you can see the measures we've taken to improve EBITDA. As I noted earlier, we significantly reduced the cost base through the refinery simplification that was implemented from the start of 2021. Non-cash releases associated with the cash out offers made to pensioners and medical retirees, the release of employee provisions and gains on electricity hedges offset both the increased costs of the strategic review and conversion project and also the absence of any COVID wage subsidies in 2021. Now, we'll turn to slide 11 and look at the 2021 cash flow. In keeping with our past three financial years, we were able to once again reduce net debt in 2021.
Operating cash flow funded NZD 32 million of maintenance CapEx, including the cost of the crude distiller and CCR maintenance turnaround, which was delivered below budget, as well as costs related to the strategic review and import terminal conversion project. Within the chart, you can also see the capital raise we conducted in November, and that has had an impact on our net debt position. These proceeds of the equity raise will be used to fund the costs associated with our private storage growth initiative as they are incurred. The reduction in net debt in 2021 sets us up well ahead of 2022, where net debt will increase as we fund the cost of conversion. Now, to slide 12. I wanted to present this summarized balance sheet as our impending terminal conversion has had a number of financial reporting impacts.
I thought it was simplest to step through some of the notable conversion-related accounting entries, of which there are three main adjustments. First, the impairment of refining assets. We have recorded a non-cash impairment of refining assets amounting to around NZD 567 million, leaving a net residual value of around NZD 34 million for scrap and other assets with residual value. Secondly, where appropriate, we have recognized through the income statement around NZD 176 million of provisions in relation to conversion costs. These include workforce transition costs, shutdown and decommissioning costs, and future demolition costs. It does not include capital costs for terminal upgrade projects, which of course will be capitalized as they are incurred. Thirdly, we have revalued the terminal assets to fair value, resulting in a net carrying value for property, plant, and equipment of NZD 869 million.
This followed a change in our accounting policy for the measurement of PP&E from historical cost to fair value in order to provide more relevant financial information to readers of our financial statements. The valuation of the import terminal assets was conducted by an independent third party using fuel demand forecast presented to the market last year, import terminal fees that we've negotiated with our customers, and forecast operating and capital costs together with a post-tax WACC of 6.7%. The revaluation uplift is recognized in a revaluation reserve, reflecting the tax-adjusted uplift of the import terminal assets.
The final aspect to note is that following conversion, we expect to recognize NZD 350 million-NZD 400 million in tax losses, which will be reported as a transfer from property, plant, and equipment deferred tax liability to the deferred tax asset associated with the losses, and that's as they crystallize. These tax losses, together with our existing tax losses of around NZD 70 million, will be available for future use, subject to the business continuity test or if the shareholder continuity test were to be breached at any time. The net result of these changes is net assets of NZD 495 million as at the end of December 2021, which is equivalent to NZD 1.33 per share. I'll now hand back to Naomi, and she will take you through our transition to Channel Infrastructure.
Thanks, Denise. Now, before I talk to Channel Infrastructure, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge Denise, as this is not only Refining NZ's last results but also Denise's last results with us. Denise has played a central role at Refining NZ for many, many years, and for me, over the last two years, has been a huge support and central to our success in resetting the refinery cost base and securing the support of our lenders and shareholders for what is a significant change in our business. Thank you so much, Denise, for your very significant contribution. It has been huge. Turning now to the future and our imminent transition to Channel Infrastructure. I know we have a number of new investors and wanted to start with a recap on the strong investment proposition we have.
The company owns critical infrastructure, supplying the Northland and Auckland markets, which make up 40% of New Zealand fuel demand, and all of the jet fuel to Auckland's international airport, underpinning long-term asset utilization. We have long-term contracts in place with our customers, with fixed and minimum fee components which incentivize utilization of the infrastructure. The higher take-or-pay commitments over the first six years of these contracts, which are between NZD 90 million and NZD 100 million per annum, will support the funding of conversion costs and allow time for a recovery in jet demand from COVID impacts to occur. These contracts, together with the NZD 400 million-NZD 450 million of tax losses we expect to have following conversion, provide our business with projected stable earnings and cash flow.
We have reconfirmed today our expectation that we will recommence the payment of dividends within one to two years of conversion. Our business will deliver a significant carbon reduction for New Zealand through the conversion, around one-third of New Zealand's first emissions reduction budget. Our infrastructure will remain relevant as New Zealand's fuel requirements shift to lower carbon fuels in the future, with jet fuel demand underpinning long-term asset utilization and our pipeline delivering fuel to Auckland at one-tenth of the emissions compared to transport by road. Finally, a focused growth strategy, which we are already delivering on with the additional private storage contracts we have announced today and opportunities for repurposing of the Marsden Point site and for future growth in other terminals. Please turn to slide 15. The fee structure provided for in the terminal services agreements will commence from 1 April this year.
The TSAs, together with the private storage contracts we have signed, provide us with significant revenue certainty. Over the initial 10-year contract term, we expect TSA fees from the shared terminal facilities to average NZD 95 million per annum in real terms. These fees are a combination of fixed and throughput-based fees and are structured in a manner that incentivizes use of the terminal assets. The higher take-or-pay fees over the first six years will support the company's debt funding of conversion costs and our return to dividends. Private storage adds incremental revenue to this, and I'll talk to that further shortly. Both the TSAs and private storage fees are subject to PPI-based indexation, providing strong protection for our earnings in an inflationary environment. Turning now to slide 16. In November last year, we raised capital to fund additional private storage sought by our customers.
As signaled at the time of our equity raise, we have been working on contracting additional private storage, and I am pleased to announce today that we have now contracted around 100 million liters of private storage capacity in total, adding an extra NZD 50 million of incremental revenue over the next 10 years to what we announced in November. This capacity and revenue adds to the 180 million liters of shared capacity that is provided under the TSAs. Similar to the initial TSA period, the private storage agreements will initially last for a period of 10 years. They are structured as fixed rental agreements, providing further incentive for customers to utilize our terminal facilities in order to lower their cost per liter.
The incremental OpEx and CapEx associated with this capacity is relatively modest, meaning they have a high conversion of revenue to both EBITDA and cash. Looking across all of the private storage we now have contracted, we estimate incremental revenue in real terms of NZD 90 million over the initial 10-year term, and upfront capital costs of NZD 45 million-NZD 50 million, which can be fully funded, NZD 47 million dollar equity raise last year. The private storage capacity will be progressively made available as upgrade works are undertaken over the next 18 months, as you will have seen from the fee chart in the previous slide. We expect there may be further opportunities in the private storage space following the New Zealand government's announcement in January that it is proposing to introduce inventory stock holding requirements similar to those introduced in Australia.
These measures are going through consultation at present, so are still at an early stage, but our initial estimates are that there could be potential for a further 50-70 million liters of storage at Marsden Point, which our existing crude tanks could deliver. Turning now to slide 17, and turning our attention to timing, and as advised earlier on this call, we remain on track to begin operating as an import terminal from 1 April. This is only five weeks away now and getting closer by the day. At the start of March, we will receive our final crude shipment at Marsden Point, and we'll be shutting down the refinery in the second half of March. We will have an intensive period of decommissioning in April and May as we decontaminate facilities and make them safe, followed by around a year of daywork decommissioning activity.
This means the most significant workforce changes will occur mid-year. I once again wanna reiterate how proud I am of our workforce and the commitment they have shown through the strategic review over the last two years. As I've said before, we have some of the best talent in New Zealand working at our site, and through these coming months, we'll be working closely with all our staff to support them with their transition and plans for the future. Like everyone in New Zealand, the key risk we are managing through this time is COVID. We have introduced additional COVID protocols on-site and have accelerated the supply of key materials required for conversion works. We are seeing COVID-related pressure on costs, which we are actively managing and currently remain well within our project budget contingencies.
As we have previously announced, through the year, we will be providing quarterly reports to the market to keep you updated on the conversion project with the first report in April. At the same time that the new terminal services agreements commence on 1 April, we will formally rebrand as Channel Infrastructure, which includes a change to our NZX ticker code. We are also planning to release our first sustainability report in April, which is being prepared to TCFD standards. Looking forward to 2023, we look forward to our return to dividends. I will now hand over to Jarek, who we are really pleased to welcome to the leadership team as Channel's incoming CFO, who will talk about conversion costs and funding.
Thanks, Naomi, and good morning, everyone. I'm really pleased to be joining you today to talk in some more detail to the forward-looking financial position of Channel Infrastructure starting on slide 18. Beginning with our cost expectations, as you can see on the slides, we are confirming today our previous expectation that conversion costs will total between NZD 200 million and NZD 220 million over the next five to six years. We are now much further progressed with our planning and contracting of these spends, and many aspects of the work are now underway. It is pleasing to be able to confirm we remain in line with the cost estimates that we originally provided in July last year, and that we retain contingency in our plans, which is especially important now given we will be implementing this work through a COVID-impacted period of time.
Our terminal conversion costs comprise terminal upgrade works, shutdown and decommissioning costs, as well as workforce contract termination and other transition costs. As reflected in our cost estimate range, we have allowed for contingency in our project budget. We still expect demolition will cost around NZD 50 million and are not intending to complete this within the next 10 years. In the year to 31 December 2021, we incurred around NZD 15 million of conversion costs. In the year-end balance sheet, we have provided for NZD 176 million of conversion and demolition costs as well. The balance of conversion projects and private storage expenditure will be capitalized as they are incurred. Now, please turn to slide 19.
In 2021, we secured the consent of our bank lenders to the conversion, which enabled us to keep our existing facilities on foot, as well as raising new facilities to advance conversion. I wanted to acknowledge our bank lenders for the support they have provided to us throughout the year and the strategic review process. The additional liquidity means the company currently has committed facilities totaling NZD 410 million in place. Of this amount, NZD 155 million is liquidity headroom that matures outside of the next 12 months, providing financing certainty. We expect our reported debt levels to increase over 2022 as we draw down our committed liquidity headroom to fund the conversion. As the terminal commences, cash flow from the terminal will also support funding of these costs in what will be the year of highest spend.
Prior to the recent increases we have observed in wholesale interest rates, we were able to put in place interest rate hedging, which means 75% of loan debt is currently fixed. We have further hedging in place with four start dates to provide additional cover as our debt levels increase. These hedges provide some protection against future interest rate movements and increase our cash flow certainty. A key priority for us this year will be our financing program. This is aimed at ensuring our financing arrangements are suitable for our infrastructure business. As part of our financing strategy, we will be looking to extend the term of our financing arrangements and diversify our financing sources through an MTN offer. We will also be working through the refinancing of our bank facilities through the course of the year.
Collectively, all these financing activities are expected to optimize our cost of debt, capturing the benefit of our long-term customer agreements and the improvement in our credit delivered by the transition. With the equity rates last year, our peak leverage has reduced. As agreed with our bank lenders, we will be able to recommend the payment of dividends after the end of this year when net debt to EBITDA falls below 4.5x . With confirmation of the timing and cost of conversion today, again, we are pleased to reconfirm our previous expectation that dividend payments should commence within one to two years of the conversion. As previously advised, the proposed dividend policy is based on a payout ratio of between 60%-70% of adjusted free cash flow. I'll now hand back to Naomi to wrap up.
Thank you, Jarek. Now, moving on to the outlook for FY 2022 on and starting on slide 21 with our priorities for this year. For the next five weeks, we are very much focused on running the refinery safely and then shutting down safely, particularly with the impacts COVID is having. That strong focus on safety will continue throughout this year with increased activity on site, with the terminal conversion works and decommissioning of the refinery, as well as the significant workforce changes that will occur through the year. Delivering the conversion activity safely, on time, and on budget is our next key priority for the year. As we do this, we will de-risk this transition and move forward as a strong and stable infrastructure business.
We will have a strong focus on our organizational capability throughout this year, both to retain the key skills we need for the terminal business and decommissioning activity, and to set up the new organization with the skills, systems, and culture it needs to be successful long term, which is very different from that needed for a refinery business. We are also putting a lot of effort into supporting our people impacted by the transition to find new jobs when they are leaving our organization. We are really launching a new company this year, and we will be actively engaging with both investors and lenders through the year to ensure there is a strong understanding of the new business. A key part of this will be our refinancing strategy, where we will be focused on delivering the benefits of the significant improvement in our credit profile post-conversion.
Finally, we have a range of near-term growth priorities that we plan to progress, which I will talk to further on the next slide. Turning to slide 22. While our immediate focus is on successfully converting to an import terminal safely, on time, and within budget, we are also excited by the potential opportunities that await us on the other side as Channel Infrastructure. Last year, we completed an initial assessment of the full range of repurposing opportunities for the Marsden Point site, and that has given us a good basis on which to prioritize our work on the opportunities going forward.
In the short term, as well as providing the additional private storage services to our customers and supporting the government with its fuel security measures. We are exploring our options to ensure we have a resilient supply of low-cost energy, with electricity making up 1/3 of the terminal's cost base. This includes evaluating the Maranga Rā project and the potential to develop solar and battery capacity in the region in partnership with others. Looking slightly further ahead, we are looking at the import and supply of biofuels and how we can use the Marsden Point infrastructure to support the biofuels mandates as biofuels infrastructure requirements become more known. Longer term, we want to maintain optionality across the range of types of fuel and energy Marsden Point can support in the future.
The previously announced Fortescue Future Industries study of potential hydrogen production at Marsden Point is now underway, and findings from this study are expected later in the year. Please turn to slide 23. Finally, I wanted to finish up by providing some guidance on certain financial measures for the year. With January 2022 now in the books, we are pleased to announce we were able to operate above the fee floor, which represents a strong achievement and satisfying way to end our refinery operations. Our long-term refining margin outlook is unchanged, but we are expecting GRM above the fee floor in the first quarter. From 1 April, the TSA fees will commence, including the take-or-pay commitments, which equate to NZD 75 million for 2022.
With the transition to import terminal operations, we expect a significant change in our operating and capital expenditure and expect normalized OpEx in FY 2022 to be circa NZD 70 million and reducing further in future periods. Our borrowings will increase over the course of the year as we draw down to fund conversion costs. We expect an average level of borrowings for the year of around NZD 250 million and financing costs to be circa NZD 14 million based on our current cost of debt and hedging positions. That concludes our formal presentation for today, and I will now hand back to the operator for questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request please press star two. If you are on speaker phone please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Cameron Parker with Craigs Investment Partners. Please go ahead.
Good morning, guys. Congratulations on closing out the last year as a refinery. Could you just give me a bit more color around the conversion cost risk that's gonna unfold through FY 2022, what you're seeing in that environment at the moment, and how that risk may be mitigated over the year?
Thanks, Cameron. So you'll see in the pack that we have a bit of a breakdown of the overall conversion spend, both from a timing perspective as well as the nature of the spend. The workforce and contract bucket is fairly well-known, so we don't see a lot of risk in that part of the conversion budget in terms of execution. The decommissioning costs, we have the most intensive period of that through the first half of this year, and then a less intensive period through the second half, where we will have more flexibility around timing of work. COVID is really the key thing we are managing there, and access to resourcing.
We are currently continuing to be able to access the resourcing that we're needing through the first part of the year. We are certainly looking forward to the borders opening in the second half of the year with the amount of activity not just that we're doing, but that really is happening across New Zealand. The final part of the conversion cost spend is the terminal upgrade works. Those works occur over about five to six years. There is some flex in some of the work in terms of when we are executing it, and it is not all being spent in this first year.
Some exposure there, but probably, you know, we're expecting that much of that work will hopefully fall outside of the period where we've had the most significant impacts from Omicron.
Okay, great. Thank you. Just wondering about your contingency. I'm not too sure if you're willing to sort of divulge that at all, or if you can give us any more color around that.
No, we haven't put out that specific number, and I'm sure you'll understand why when you're contracting works and that sort of thing. It doesn't tend to be what you look to disclose. But look, we are very actively managing that. We have a good level of contingency in the budget. We continue to assess it against what we see as the potential risks around Omicron, and we are really today confirming that currently we remain comfortable with the cost estimates we've provided.
Okay. It's correct. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Cameron.
Your next question comes from Mark Robertson with Forsyth Barr. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. This is Mark. Can you hear me?
I can, yeah. Hi, Mark.
Awesome. Morning, afternoon, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Just, I've got two here. Firstly, on the fee floor for the first quarter, you mentioned refinery operations are gonna cease kinda mid-March. Just wondering if that fee floor is payable for the whole period, and what the fee floor actually is for the first quarter.
Yes. The agreement with customers is that the processing agreement, which are our current refinery agreements, will continue to run to the end of March and come to an end at that point. The fee floor continues to be payable through to there. We have also, I think, but probably in a very small footnote, disclosed the fee floor for 2022 on, just looking, slide 23. It's NZD 147 million for the full year. If you divide that by four, you'll get a pretty accurate figure for Q1.
Awesome. Thank you. Just my second question. I'm just wondering how volumes have tracked since the introduction of the red light system across the whole country. Is it comparable to any sort of alert level we saw last year or period last year?
Yes. We've seen a similar decline in terms of what's going down the ramp to what we've seen when Auckland has gone into lockdowns previously. But it hasn't declined to quite the same level that it has fallen to in the previous lockdowns. You'll probably see from the chart we've included, Mark, that what's tended to happen in the previous lockdowns is you have a quite significant initial drop, and then it tends to rise back up if you have a look on slide seven of the pack. You know, early days, we've certainly seen that drop happen through February, not quite as far as where it went to in previous Auckland lockdowns.
Probably too early to tell sort of what the recovery profile looks like.
Yeah, no, understandable.
Sorry, I was just gonna add. One important thing for us, I guess, in the current year is that with both the fee floor in the first quarter and then those take or pay commitments, we are relatively protected from a volume perspective in terms of the timing of the recovery from COVID.
Yeah. Makes sense. Thanks very much, guys.
Thanks, Mark.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Nevill Gluyas with Jarden. Please go ahead.
Good morning, team. Several from me. First one is just to understand in terms of how EBITDA will be reported this year, FY 2022, you're saying refining operations will be treated as discontinued activities. Does that mean they appear below the EBITDA line? If so, I guess, we'd need some splits of those operating costs, et cetera, to be able to take that line to isolate the terminal services.
Yes, Nevill, thanks for the question. In the financial statement, I think in the segmental note, there we have outlined potential impacts of the conversion on the 2022 year, indicating that refining operations would likely be reported as discontinued operations. I think that would be effectively meaning that in the P&L that you will see in 2022, those would be presented as a one-line, whether it's profit or loss position, sort of, you know, a result from those discontinued operations. The terminal financial results will be obviously presented as they are in the format, you know, consistent with the current existing one in 2021.
Right. In terms of, you know, if we're picking FY 2022 EBITDA targets, we should treat it as if it's not discontinued for those purposes.
Yeah.
Great. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Just moving on. Maranga Rā, any idea on sort of timing? I think you've indicated sort of a decision over the course of this year or in the timeframe commentary. Should we expect capital raise, or would you look at project financing or, you know, potential partnership projects that are generated in the area? Obviously, we're all looking at Meridian. It's right on the doorstep. Any color you could add around timing and how that might be financed?
Yes. Sure, Nevill. I think we think about electricity a little bit different to things like private storage, because for us it's really about locking in long-term electricity supply rather than, you know, we're not a electricity business and don't see our investors as investors in that. Whatever structure is the best option to deliver that outcome, we will be open to. I wouldn't anticipate a structure that has us wholly funding it on our balance sheet is likely to be the answer we get to. We do need to be a bit further progressed before, you know, before we can probably talk more around exactly what it might look like.
From a timing perspective, and you'll be across this, there's obviously a fair bit going on around us from a solar and battery perspective, right next door. We're very keen to understand what those plans look like and how our plans might connect with them. We are also closely watching and inputting into finalization of the TPM changes, which are relevant to what we do. They're probably going to drive sort of exactly when we get to a clearer view on how we take that forward. In this first quarter, we're really trying to make sure we're not distracted by other things and are focused on the terminal conversion.
Once we are through that we'll certainly be putting some more time into those discussions.
Very clear. Thanks. Okay, last question for me. Just in terms of the tax depreciation guidance, obviously, with the revaluation, et cetera, there are gonna be some accounting depreciation figures. I guess, it would be very useful to get some idea of how the tax authority will count depreciation, once conversion is complete. What level that'll be?
Thanks, Nevill. It's Denise here. Look, I think in the explanatory booklet, we did give a forward-looking view around what the tax depreciation charge was likely to be. Obviously, when we're going through a transformation like this, you don't actually reset the tax base. The revaluation that we've done is purely for accounting purposes. The tax base that we've got reported, I think it was just trying to remember back. I think it was NZD 10 million-NZD 15 million tax depreciation charge per year. That's right.
That continues. There's no change in that as a result of sort of finalizing the write-offs from a tax perspective. 'Cause I guess there's an implied tax write-off in all this.
Yeah, that's right. Nevill, the guidance that we gave in the explanatory booklet was solely focused on those assets that would be retained for the import terminal. That guidance is still relevant today.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
There's an ongoing tax depreciation shield.
Yeah, I understand. That's very useful. I guess there will be some small increment to that for us to think about as well, which is from the private storage investment on top of the 10-15.
That's correct, Nevill. The money that we're investing in those capital projects is available for a further tax depreciation offset, if you like.
Fantastic. Thank you very much. That's all from me.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Your next question comes from Andrew Harvey-Green with Forsyth Barr. Please go ahead.
Well, good afternoon, Naomi, Denise, and Jarek. Thanks for this. Quick question just around the dividend from me and the timing of it. Are you likely to recommence dividends once you meet the banking requirements, so just to keep on being the 4.5x net debt to EBITDA? Or is your current thinking maybe to be a little bit more conservative and pay off a little bit more debt first?
No, I think we've tried to be clear on that once we are able to pay dividends, we will look to pay dividends, Andrew. As you say, the key requirement for us to do that is to go below that 4.5x level of leverage. The thing that we will look at as we get further through the conversion work is that payout ratio. We've indicated the dividend policy at 60%-70%, which does allow for deleveraging over the next few years. I think that will be the bit that we give some more attention to once we're further progressed through the conversion.
That's great. Thank you. I'd just like to just wish Denise all the best going forward, I think. Thanks for all your help over the last 12-13 years. I think you've been CFO while I've been covering the refinery. Yeah, all the best, Denise.
Thanks very much for that, Andrew. I've certainly enjoyed it and I will be watching the developments of Channel Infrastructure and the great things that will come for the company. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one. We will now pause a moment to allow for any final questioners to register. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Naomi James for closing remarks.
Thank you. Denise, Jarek, and I would just like to thank you all for your time this morning, and we look forward to providing you with further updates through the year as we make the transition to Channel Infrastructure. Thank you.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.