Costain Group PLC (COST) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Well, good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning for Costain's Full year results for 2024. I'm Alex Vaughan, Chief Executive of Costain, and I'm going to sort of take you through the sort of highlights of today's results and also give you an operational overview. And then Helen Willis, our Group CFO, is going to take you through the financial details of the results. And then I'll come back just to sort of take you through -- give you an update on the strategy for the business and the outlook as we see it move forwards. Look, I'm really delighted to be able to report another strong set of financial results for the business that demonstrate the strong operating performance of the business and the robust financial position that Costain finds itself in, and how we're capitalizing on the very clear strategy that we've got as a business. As you'll have seen in the results, the adjusted operating profits have increased by 7.5% to GBP 43.1 million and operating margins are at 3.4%, and we're achieving the targets that we set out and announced 2 years ago. We've also had an increase in adjusted EPS, up 19.7% to 14.6p. And free cash flow remains a real strength of the business. It's part of how we perform as a business, and that's we've got a net cash position at the end of the year at GBP 158 million. And it benefits from the way we select the contracts that we want to do and the way that we deliver our contracts. Really positively on the back of the strong performance, we've also delivered a record increase in the forward work for the business, up by GBP 1.5 billion to GBP 5.4 billion. That's over 4x the annual revenue of the business. And we continue to be incredibly busy bidding further work, and we look forward to securing further work throughout the year. Our strategy that we've been implementing is clearly delivering growth and the positive outlook as a result of the markets that we're focused on, where essential infrastructure is being delivered and is being invested to meet some of the real critical national needs that our country has. We're successfully building a broader customer base, which has been one of the priorities for us that brings long-term resilience to the business, but we're also continuing to develop and broaden the range of services that we provide, today being a leading construction business, but also a growing and meaningful consultancy business for our customers. And as a result of the business being in good financial health, and the outlook being very positive for us, we're very -- we're pleased to have been able to announce today a doubling of the dividend to our shareholders. So in summary, we've delivered a really strong financial performance. We've grown the amount of forward work that we've got in the business, and we're in a really strong financial health, all on the back of a very clear strategy. Now if I move to the operational sort of overview for you. A really strong performance in transportation. As expected, we've seen a small reduction in revenues, and that was a result of a number of highway contracts coming to an end and the completion of our Gatwick Airport contract. But the Roads business has continued to perform strongly. We're completing a number of contracts for national highways as we speak. But also, we're now moving through the design phase on the new M60 contract, and we hope to be able to get that to start next year. And our Area 14 highway maintenance contract is going very well, and we're actively pursuing further work on the roads market. In rail, our activities on HS2 are progressing well and to plan. And I've got to say, when I go around and I visit so many of the sites, the 21 sites that we've got, I'm blown away by just the leading-edge way that we are delivering this major critical infrastructure program. But we obviously announced 2 further wins on the HS2. So we've got 2 large systems contracts, one being an HV power contract for the whole of HS2 in partnership with Siemens Mobility and the other being the M&E fit-out contract and we expect those to start towards the end of the year and into next year. We've also completed the Gatwick Airport contract -- station contract, but we are securing greater volumes of consultancy work for Network Rail, really helping them think about some of the master planning. And that includes work that we're doing for the Department of Transport and thinking around some of the big decisions around the integrated rail plan. And we're pretty busy growing the pipeline of work in rail, which gives us a lot of positivity. Integrated Transport is -- has given us growth within the year as we've got additional contracts coming through, really good growth on our 5-year program of work with Heathrow Airport. And you can see, obviously, there's significant investment that Heathrow and Gatwick and Manchester Airports Group will be making. And the good news is that we've got contracts with those people -- with those customers to work with them. And clearly, we're also growing our investment with Transport for London, upgrading some of their major transport facilities. So we see aviation, ports and devolved government as being a real strength market for us and for us to grow. From a natural resources point of view, it continues to perform strongly with growth right across all of the sectors that we're in. Revenue, profits and margins have grown right across the division as a result of real operational improvements that have been made, the quality of the contracts that we're writing and winning and the consultancy volume increases that have come through. Our water programs for 6 water companies, large water companies in AMP7 continue to grow as we get towards the end of the AMP and are operating well. Tideway, you'll have seen is now connected and will make a sustainable difference to the River Thames, but also will unlock the growth for London to be a more resilient city. And that's now connected to the London network, and we look forward to that completing this year. And as you'll have seen, we've continued to secure extensions to a number of contracts, including for United Utilities where we're providing the maintenance services for them, Severn Trent Water and Thames Water. And then we've won a number of new programs that we previously announced for Northumbrian Water, United Utilities and Southern Water. Many of those contracts for another 12 years, which really gives us an opportunity to make a real difference for those customers. Our energy activities are predominantly consultancy, and we're seeing increased demand for our services and the leading position that we have in the energy transition. The first U.K. at scale industrial cluster is up at T-side and Costain has done the design for the carbon capture network. We're now overseeing the program delivery of that and we've also won the hydrogen network design, which we're doing at the moment. And we're also looking to grow our services around that place and helping a number of our energy customers upgrade their existing infrastructure and repurpose it. And also we are targeting the energy grid upgrade as part of the future. Defense and Nuclear energy also continues to grow in line with our plan and the opportunities are numerous in that area. In defense, the work that we do is associated with the continuous Sea Defense for the submarine program. And then obviously, the work in nuclear is about extending the life of the existing nuclear fleet and then starting to bring on new nuclear energy and our bidding in this area is incredibly busy at the moment. So overall, I'm really pleased with the strong operational performance of the business. The growth in profits, margins and securing a high volume of work a testament to an amazing team and the focus that we've got in the delivery of our strategy, and we expect to see further progress on the back of a very busy bidding period, and I'm now going to hand over to Helen.

Morning. So it's great to be able to deliver another set of strong results. We've been talking about momentum in the business, and I think that you can really see it coming through in the numbers now. So building the operating profit, the margin is going up, the forward work is there and that strong cash generation is backing everything up. So it's actually a delight to be here to be able to talk through the results. So first of all, I'll go through the headline financial results. So revenue, GBP 1.25 billion this year, slightly down from last year. And as Alex has just said, that was as expected with the runoff of certain contracts. Adjusted operating profit up 7.5% to GBP 43.1 million, and that's at the upper end of expectations and reported operating profit up as well. we saw continued margin improvement with adjusted operating margin increase of 40 basis points, up to 3.4%, and that's against 3% last year. And we delivered an operating margin of 4.4% in the second half of the year, and we remain on track, importantly, to deliver the adjusted operating margin run rate of 4.5% in FY '25 with our ambition to reach 5% in the future. Adjusted basic earnings per share for FY '24 was up 19.7% at 14.6p, and that's supported by net finance income and an adjusted effective tax rate of 18.3%. And as Alex said, we've been delighted to double our full year dividend to 2.4p. Net cash at the end of the year was in line with expectations at GBP 158.5 million, and that's after investment in the business and a share buyback in the year. And of course, we delivered a record increase of GBP 1.5 billion in that high-quality forward work of GBP 5.4 billion. So turning to revenue. Just take you through the divisional highlights. So revenue produced 6.1% over last year as expected. In transportation, we saw reductions in road volumes, as we've just been mentioning, due to the completion and delays of certain projects and in rail due to the completion of our main works at Gatwick Station. And then in Integrated Transport, we do have an increase with the growth in H7 at Heathrow and new contracts at TFL. Natural Resources revenue increased by 4.2%, and that's reflecting growth in defense and nuclear energy and in water and stable revenues in Energy. Water increased by 2.5% as the industry moves from AMP7 to AMP8, and we've got good visibility across our ongoing 5-year AMP7 programs through to this year and our AMP8 projects for the period '25 to '30, where we expect to see strong growth. Our work for Tideway, as Alex just mentioned, is connected for operations in February '25, and work is ongoing there as we're responsible for the Eastern section. Energy revenue increased by 1.3% in the prior year, and we expect significant long-term growth in this sector given the requirement for energy infrastructure investment to support economic growth, tackle climate change and enhance the natural environment. Defense and nuclear energy supports several public and private sector organizations in a variety of customer side delivery partnership roles and saw revenue increase there 9.8%. We deliver a mix of services and expertise with engineering and construction solutions on major capital programs, representing a majority of the revenue. In addition, we're building a meaningful consultancy service, and this represents 12% of revenue, and Alex will cover this a little bit more later in the presentation. So moving now to the operating profit walk. The adjusted operating profit grew by 7.5% to GBP 43.1 million driven by margin improvement in both divisions. We've seen 12.7% compound annual growth in our adjusted operating profit since '21. Margin improved with an adjusted operating margin increase of 40 basis points to 3.4%, and that's compared to 3% in '23. That's 0.8% higher than '21. I'll cover the adjusting items on the far left and far right of the chart on the next slide. Profit in Transportation increased by GBP 1.9 million to GBP 29.9 million, and that's due to improved operating performance margins across our newer contracts giving an operating margin of 3.5%, up 50 basis points versus last year. Natural Resources was up GBP 2 million, bringing the divisional operating profit to GBP 23.8 million. The operating margin first division increased 30 basis points on the prior year at 5.9%. Central costs increased by 0.9% on the prior year, and that's driven by cost and wage inflation. But it's important to note that the total administrative costs across the group decreased by GBP 5.8 million on last year from GBP 78 million to GBP 72.2 million and GBP 4.5 million of that decrease has been driven by the transformation net of cost and wage inflation and after incremental investment in the business. Moving on to the adjusting items. During the year, we incurred GBP 5.4 million in respect to the final year of our transformation program, down from GBP 8 million in the previous year. And during the year, we also settled a claim related to the design and build of a residential development completed in 2001. A detailed review has identified one other potential related obligation and a provision has been created for this liability. Both the settlement and the provision have been treated as adjusting items, reflecting that the costs have not -- do not relate to Costain's normal course of business. Adjusting items in '23 also included GBP 5.3 million relating to an impairment of an intangible asset following the repositioning of our digital services. Finance income for FY '24 increased by -- sorry, to GBP 5.4 million as compared to GBP 4.1 million in the previous year and is driven by interest income from bank deposits, higher than the previous year on increased cash placed on deposit and higher rates. We also incurred GBP 1.4 million of banking facility fees, which was lower than the previous year, firstly on the reduction of the facility and secondly, from lower amortization fees and arrangement fees. The interest income on the net assets of the pension scheme was lower than the previous year at GBP 2.6 million due to lower pension scheme asset position over the year. Interest expense on lease liabilities was GBP 2.5 million higher than FY '23 due to higher charges on new property leases entered into during the year. The balance sheet continues to strengthen with net assets increasing from GBP 219.4 million as at the 31st of December '23 to GBP 235.7 million at 31st December '24. Noncurrent assets have increased from the prior year-end position, driven by an increase in the retirement benefit assets and that's due to a change in discount rate assumptions. And we've also seen an increase driven by the capital investment undertaken during 2024. Trade receivables and other current assets balance have decreased from the prior year, driven by a decrease in trade receivables and trade payables and other liabilities have decreased largely due to a reduction in contract liabilities. I'll walk you through this chart from left to right. So the red bar at the left-hand side of the chart shows cash flow on adjusting items of GBP 8.6 million, which is principally payments relating to the transformation program in the year. Adjusted free cash flow of GBP 27.1 million is shown next in the boxed area. 2024 was lower than FY '23, principally reflecting the timing driven working capital flows around the year end. And we also incurred higher capital expenditure payments of GBP 9 million as we have begun to invest in new systems and offices. In the year, we've made cash contribution payments to the pension scheme of GBP 2 million, in line with the agreed reduced deficit contribution plan with the trustee of the group's defined benefit scheme. An assessment of the scheme's funding position was carried out on the 31st of March '24 and as the funding level was more than 101%, contributions stopped from July '24 to June '25. These contributions would have amounted to GBP 3.4 million for the period should the scheme level have been less than -- funding level would have been less than 101%. We saw net interest receipts of -- sorry, GBP 3.2 million in the year, it's worth noting that operator lease expenditure is shown separately from cash from operations, and this was GBP 11.3 million for the year. With GBP 10 million cost of a share buyback in the year, our dividend payments totaled GBP 3.2 million, and we also acquired GBP 1.1 million of treasury shares during the year. We expect our FY '25 year-end cash position to be in line with current market expectations of around GBP 180 million. And finally, I'm happy to announce that we have been reconfirmed as one of the top fastest paying lead contractors in construction, paying 98% of invoices within 60 days. This is really critical for supporting a quality supply chain. As I mentioned, the net cash position for '24, cost and cash balances of GBP 95.8 million, cash held in joint operations, GBP 62.7 million and borrowings of nil. We've introduced average month-end and average week-end measures. And during the year, the group's average month-end cash balance was GBP 169.8 million, and the average week-end net cash balance was GBP 164.3 million. That's compared to GBP 141 million in FY '23. This continued growth in our net cash balance is a clear illustration of our continued strong underlying cash flows. Utilization of the total bonding facilities as at the 31st of December '24 was GBP 65.3 million. Our facility agreements run to September 2026, and they comprise an GBP 85 million sustainability-linked revolving quick facility and surety and bank bonds totaling GBP 270 million. This is backed by a group of 4 banks and 5 sureties. For the year-end at 31st December 2024, the group has changed the presentation of amounts held in trust bank accounts on behalf of certain customers and designated for future payments to suppliers. These are previously recognized in the group's balance sheet as a trade receivable. This is shown in the bottom left table with a balance of GBP 38.4 million. The group has represented these accounts as cash and cash equivalents with restrictions and restated comparative as of December '23 resulting in no net impact on the statement of financial position and no impact on profit and loss. As we've mentioned a couple of times, we're obviously very proud of it. There was a record increase in our forward work position that stood at GBP 5.4 billion at the end of the year, an increase in GBP 1.5 billion, and that's from GBP 3.9 billion at the end of December '23. The contract wins across all sectors and significant growth in water and rail. The full position is a combination of the order book and preferred bidder book. Our order book stood at GBP 2.5 billion at the period end, up from GBP 2.1 billion at the end of '23. The order book evolves as contracts progress and new contracts are added at periods aligned to our customers' strategic procurement windows, which are typically every 5 years. The order book does not, therefore, provide a complete picture of the group's potential future revenue expectations. We've seen a continuing shift towards the preferred bidder book away from the order book as we continue to secure long-term that's 5- to 10-year framework positions with our customers, especially in the water sector, providing a reliable and long-term stream of future work. The preferred bidder book increased to GBP 2.9 billion at period end, up from GBP 1.8 billion at the end of '23 and includes contracts in all sectors. It comprises contracts for which we've been selected on frameworks where further works order is required prior to the work commencing. Importantly, the quality of this forward work reflects long-term programs with no single-stage lump sum contracts and is predominated by target cost contracts where the scope of work, design and cost are developed and agreed with the client. This, together with growth on existing frameworks, gives us increasing visibility and confidence on delivering progress in FY '25 and '26 with a step change in performance in FY '27 and beyond. We've shown you this chart a few times, and I think it's important to reinforce that we continue to monitor and manage the business really tightly with an approach to risk that pervades everything that we do. So we transformed our business in terms of assured delivery, lower risk contracts in our forward work, improved operational effectiveness, cost control and a broader business mix. We've invested in how we procure, invested in our gating and governance in our bidding activities. And we've invested in how we monitor performance. A key part of transformation has been to build risk and assurance skills and processes right across the business. This focus drives the path to higher margins as demonstrated by our continued margin progression over the prior period. We've delivered a further year of margin improvement, up 40 basis points to 3.4% in the second half -- sorry, 3.4% with a second half of 4.4%. We remain on track to deliver adjusted operating profit margin of 4.5% during FY '25 by improving margins within complex program delivery, further efficiencies from our transformation program and increasing the mix of higher-margin contracts. Costain continues to perform well against its strategic targets and expects to deliver long-term sustainable value for its stakeholders. The group's capital allocation priorities are investing for growth, a progressive dividend, selective M&A and returning surplus capital. The group's transformation program, which simplifies and increases efficiencies within the business was largely completed during FY '24. We invested around GBP 5 million in upgrading our HR system to increase efficiencies within the business and have also invested in office moves. Costain will continue disciplined investment in the coming years in key areas such as systems and digitization that will accelerate its business improvement. The Board recognizes the importance of dividends for shareholders and dividend payments taking into account the cash flow generated in the period, but also the potential impact to the dividend parity arrangement relating to the dividend defined benefit pension scheme, which continues until 31st of March '27. Over time, the Board expects to target dividend cover of around 3x adjusted earnings. Dividend payments were resumed in FY '23 with a full year dividend of 1.2p per share for the year in line with the pension payments level and the dividend parity arrangements. The Board has proposed a final dividend of 2p per share for FY '24, an increase of 150% for the final FY '24 dividend and an increase of 100% for the year. I mentioned in an earlier slide that pension contributions are stopped for the year as the funding level of the scheme at 31st of March '24 was more than 101%. This also means that dividend parity with the pension scheme was suspended for a year during July '24 to June '25. A further annual valuation will be carried out as of 31st of March '25, which will enable the Board to review future capital allocations. We continue to review options for restructuring the defined pension scheme with the sole trustee of the scheme. In August '24, having reviewed the group's strong cash performance and ongoing capital requirements, we announced an on-market share buyback program of GBP 10 million, which completed in November '24. So the successful execution of our strategy has delivered a record increase of our forward work position of GBP 1.5 billion to GBP 5.4 billion. This, together with growth on existing frameworks, gives us increasing visibility and confidence on delivering progress in FY '25 and '26 with a step change in performance in '27 and beyond. We've already approximately 80% of our forecast revenue for FY '25 secured at the end of '24, and our current levels of bidding activity remain high. Having successfully completed our transformation program and delivered a robust 4.4% adjusted operating margin in the second half of '24, we remain on track for our targets for 2025. Balance sheet strength, strong cash generation and forward visibility of good quality forward work has allowed us to invest in the company to return surplus share capital -- surplus capital, sorry, to shareholders with a share buyback in the second half of '24 and to return to dividend payments doubling for the full year to 2.4p. So with that, I'll hand back to Alex.

Thanks, Helen. A really good set of numbers, nicely presented. Thank you. A lot of detail in there. I'm now going to give you an update on the sort of strategy and our view of the sort of outlook for the business. So as a business, we've got a very clear strategy, all on one slide, and it's about a business growing as we create a sustainable future for the U.K. We're a purpose-led organization but we're a business where, together with our customers, government and stakeholders and partners, we're going to create a sustainable future for the U.K. It's about building a more prosperous U.K., a more resilient U.K. and a decarbonized U.K. We're going to grow by delivering this sustainable future because these are the challenges that the U.K. faces, and these are the opportunities available to us, where the government has now focused its missions on. There is a clear need and drive to deliver regionally spread national growth across the business. There is a clear need to be able to address climate change, both to mitigate future damage but also for us to adapt to the climate that we experience today. There is a need for us to safeguard the very future of our water supply and for us to look at our environment in how we treat water. And there's also a growing need for us to preserve our national security in a world that faces increasing challenging international issues. Therefore, as a business, we're focusing on growing our business in what are growing markets and I've set out there the strategic focus for the business. So the first one is for us to grow in what are growing markets for us. And for us to be increasingly recognized for our predictable best-in-class delivery by clients. And where we are further extending and growing the resilient customer base that we've been building over the last few years and growing a meaningful consultancy business for us and as a result of all of that, we will become an increasingly admired and growing company. And this is through our focus on markets where we believe and we can see that there is critical long-term investment needed and it is being made to ensure the U.K. has that essential infrastructure to meet the national needs I talked about earlier. This is all aligned, as I said, to the government -- the current government's growth missions. And if you look at the second national infrastructure assessment put together by the National Infrastructure Commission that is due to be launched as an infrastructure strategy in June, you can see the volume of essential infrastructure investment that's made to meet exactly the challenges I said earlier. In these markets, we work with Tier 1 customers in strategic long-term partnerships where we are offering an increasingly broader range of expertise and services to those customers. Now our chosen Tier 1 customers in our markets predominantly operate through long-term 5-year programs of work, underwritten by their business plans and regulatory commitments. Now importantly, Costain has a tremendous track record of being able to secure positions on these investment programs we have done for quite some time where we're able to work with our customers in creating, shaping and then delivering solutions to meet their wider business needs. These markets and these -- and our customers committed spending programs give us the opportunity for us to broaden our service. So as we work with the customer, whether it be for 5 years or some of the water companies now for 12 years, we're really able to become part of their DNA and that allows us to really use our expertise, and that is what helps us really drive the broadening of the offer in Costain. So for example, we can talk about the water industry that's now embarked upon the biggest ever investment in the water industry over the next 5 years. What's more frightening is the 5 years after that is going to be even more investment. That is the scale of the challenge that we're facing up to and the opportunity for us. We've seen a lot of media coverage recently about aviation and our customers in the aviation space under their 5-year regulatory program are investing significant capital in upgrading and enhancing the capacity that they've got to meet increasing levels of travel. And we also see companies like National Highways, who are progressing with the delivery of their RIS2 program and are currently working on their RIS3 program. All long-term 5-year programs. That's what -- when we talk about the quality of the forward work position for the business, it's the fact that we have a 5-year visibility that we're able to work with our customers, help them develop the solutions, agree a price for those solutions and then deliver them in that long-term framework. And as I've said, we've got a proven track record of securing strong positions with our customers through these cycles, building and maintaining long-term relationships, many of whom we've worked consistently with for over 25 years. The depth, strength and strategic nature of the relationships we have with our customers are a key enabler as again, for us to be able to broaden the services that we have set out in our strategy. We bring together, through Costain, a unique mix of experts who have a broad range of solutioning and delivery expertise where depending on our customers' individual approach, we act as either a construction partner or as a consulting partner. We're a business today that shapes and creates the solutions for the future for our customers. Today, we are the design partner for 12 of our customers. And we also deliver a number of innovation projects for them, step changing the way the future solutions are going to be delivered. We design infrastructure solutions and improvements for network rail, for the Department of Transport for National Highways, for transport of London for most of our water companies and for the energy companies. And we also do project controls to be able to oversee and help our customers manage their big infrastructure programs. We also support the capital delivery of major programs for our customers, primarily as a leading contractor but also increasingly as a delivery partner, program manager overseeing some of their big capital programs as their partner. And we also operate, optimize and repurpose existing infrastructure because capital programs in a 5-year period only touch 2% of the asset base for our customers. Therefore, we are increasingly growing our role in helping them optimize, repurpose and redevelop their existing infrastructure. And I've said before, for example, working with EDF where we've got 170 people helping them extend the life of their existing nuclear fleet, but also where we're working with companies like United Utilities, managing all of their asset maintenance over their 5-year program. We're uniquely focused around our customers, whole ecosystem, and we look at our customers for their whole broad needs and how best through the expertise and strengths and capability of Costain, we can support them transform their business performance. As I've said, today, we are a leading construction company delivering major programs of work for our customers but we're a meaningful consultancy business transforming their business performance as a valued partner. Now as I've said, we are -- we support many of our customers as a construction partner. And a few examples here, the Tideway major scheme that we're getting to a completion, very complex, very challenging program right in the heart of London. The highway schemes that we're delivering in Cornwall and the Northeast for National Highways and in the Midlands on the M6, the HS2 program, where we're doing the section from the M25 through to Houston in joint venture and the AMP8 programs, Heathrow, the baggage handling upgrade that we're doing at Heathrow Airport for Terminal 2 and then the work we're doing, keeping London's traffic flowing by upgrading their critical national infrastructure. But we are growing a meaningful consultancy service. It's been a core part of our strategy. And as Helen said, it's now -- it now represents 12% of our revenue. and we expect that part of the business to grow. The largest area is where we are the delivery partner for our customers. This is where customers have made a decision that they want someone to work with them to oversee their capital program. And this is where we bring to bear our team's amazing capability at coming up with fantastic solutions with the delivery expertise so that we can deliver them predictably. And you can see that we're doing that for customer in defense, we're overseeing Cadence whole investment program for the East of England. We've got the Devonport program, the big upgrade, 20-year upgrade to that facility. Heathrow Airports program and then BP where we're now overseeing the delivery of the carbon capture network. As I've said, we're also a growing engineering and design business coming up with leading capital solutions. And I think what differentiates us is those solutions are driven by what is the most predictable way and best way you could deliver that infrastructure in a holistic design. But we've -- I'm blessed to work with truly amazing people, which is why the advisory and digital services part of the business is also growing. We have extensive capability through program management, program controls that we're able to help our customers in managing some of their wider business needs in that space. And as a result of our amazing people and the services we provide to the customers and the growth in the markets that we operate in, we've been able to grow our forward work position to GBP 5.4 billion. I think this map just shows the scale of the opportunities and where we're working with our customers right across the U.K. We're very proud of the increase that we've made to the forward work position, but we've got more that we want to do, and we're very busy bidding further work. We've got very strong positions with our Tier 1 customers right across all across all of our sectors with an increasing broad service line. The quality of our forward work position, which Helen talked about is a result of the robust approach we have to select in the contracts that we want to work on. And trust me, we don't want to work on all of them. And the expertise that we have in those key markets, but it's also about the fact that we're working with someone for 5 years, and that's a partnership and we're able to work with them to develop the solution to agree the price and then to help them deliver that program. And in addition to this strong secured position, our work-winning teams are absolutely flat out bidding further work this year, and we have a very significant pipeline, very similar to the level we had last year. Now we're steadfast in our commitment to ESG, right? This is really important to us. Our people, planet and society credentials are a clear point of differentiation for this business with our customers and wider stakeholders and support the delivery of the group's performance that we've been able to announce this morning. Our customers expect us to be able to support them in meeting their commitments. And therefore, having these capabilities is really important to them in choosing their partner, especially if you were choosing someone for 12 years. Our performance and expertise supports us winning this work. Our approach around EDI ensures that we have the best team that come up with the best ideas and therefore, we offer our customers the best solutions. It's fundamental to how we deliver business. And by working with our communities proactively, those that we live and work in we can build strong relationships with them. And as a valued partner, it will help us deliver infrastructure effectively. And we're committed to living our core values as a business in meeting our purpose of improving people's lives. And we've got a snapshot of some of the performance in 2024 across a broad range of areas. It's strong, it's going to get stronger, and we will continue to drive further progress in this area, not because we just want to, but because it's absolutely a business imperative for us. So in final summary, you'll be pleased to hear. I'm very proud of the continued strong operational and financial performance of an amazing team. The growth of operating profits, margins and we're on track to meet those margin targets that we set out previously. We've built a very strong financial position for the business, robust, resilient, allowing us to invest that's allowed us to increase our final dividend. As we said we would, we've won the work that unlocks the future for this business, a high-quality forward work position built on long-term customer relationships, amazing expertise within our team and a broader offer linked to meeting our customers' growing needs. Our strategy is very clear. It's a focus on essential infrastructure that will deliver a sustainable future for the U.K. as we meet those national needs. And we're very confident in the future and grow through 2025 and 2026, and we see a step change in our performance coming through in 2027 as a result of the positions that we've secured. We're very ambitious and I look forward to updating you further on our further progress. So thank you, and we'll now take your questions.

Just 2 for me. It's Aynsley Lammin from Investec. Just on the -- you talked about the step change in performance you expect from '27. Just a bit more color around that. Is that just the contracts coming through? So is it volume, margin or a bit of both? And what would be the kind of key challenges for the group to meet that step change in performance? Is it people, resources? How confident are you in the capability to deliver that? And then secondly, just on capital allocation. Obviously, quite a lot. You've got 10 million share buyback done. I'm just interested to hear your kind of priorities around share buybacks, maybe some investment for growth you mentioned and the dividends for the next year or 2.

I do the first one, you do the second one. I'll have a go at the first one. So look, the step change really comes in -- if we look at the volume of work that we've secured in water and what we're seeing the sort of timing of that and when we see AMP8 beginning to reach its sort of high levels, that is going to come through in sort of 2027. So we're already working on design phase of some of those schemes. That will probably continue going forward. But the real scale of water will really come through in 2027. Also, if we look at some of the transport infrastructure that we're at the design phase on, we'd see those opportunities coming through at that phase. So it's really just looking at the sort of cycles of that area. And the margins will be fairly similar. So the operating margins of our construction activities are now at a good sort of predictable level, which is great. And then our consultancy margins, we're winning work at the margins we'd expect to be able to make, which are in line with sort of normal market levels for our peers, and we would see those coming through. Challenges. Obviously, the people agenda is a big challenge. So we're recruiting 180 graduates and apprentices this year. We're investing a huge amount in developing the skills and capabilities of our team. Helen leads our frontline supervisor program and we're driving that. So look, skills capability is going to be a key thing. So we're working really hard on building that capability up. Anything I missed?

So yes, capital allocation. So we've been investing in the business. That's been absolute priority #1, investing through the transformation. We talked about the investment in systems that have started now and creating that environment to attract those good people into the business as well. So I think priorities going forward will remain our investment in the business. So there's more for us to do from a systems perspective that's going to bring real efficiency and a differentiator, I think, for us in our markets. So that's really important. We're off on that already, HR system done and working into sort of the delivery space now. So it's exciting times. It is on very nerdy about this stuff. And then into dividends. So we've been sort of governed by the dividend parity with the pension scheme. We -- I talked about the March check that we did last year. We have to do a March check this year. My hope is that we're in a similar place, but we don't know until we've done the check at the end of March. We hear about that in June, and that hopefully gives us optionality for July '25 to June '24 but as sort of underlying everything is we are firmly committed to moving towards that 3x dividend and hence, you see the increase in the full year dividend this year. We are now in a position, I think, with the cash balance where it is and the strength of the balance sheet to also think about M&A. It's sort of a priority for us, but actually, we'll look. We're interested. There might be things that bridge capability gaps, for example, or something we might consider priority to invest in that growth and get back to dividend 3x.

It's Jonny Coubrough, Deutsche Numis. I think you answered it there, Alex. But in terms of the Natural Resources margin tracking at a strong 6%, should we take it there that you expect AMP8 to be at that margin level as well?

Well, I think that -- so that margin reflects the sort of mix of work in natural resources at the moment. So there's a high volume of consultancy work in there. I would expect that margin to come off a bit as we grow in AMP naturally, we want to be growing our consultancy, but I think the volume increase in construction work that will come through AMP8 will end up bringing that margin down a bit. That's what we would expect just as that mix changes. But that doesn't mean we're not driving hard to grow our consultancy. It's just that the scale of capital delivery work will be pretty significant and...

And I think as that volume comes through, obviously, we're going to help by operating leverage on our cost base of [indiscernible].

And just one follow-up there. As the transformation program ends, do you think that volume growth can come through without any of those costs going back in?

Absolutely. We've won the work. We can see the pipeline. We've set ourselves up with our core skills to deliver it well. It's just about the timing of those contracts coming through. So I think we're set for that growth.

Andrew Nussey from Peel Hunt. A couple of questions as well. As you sort of said, consultancy based revenue is sort of around 12% of the group. When you look at those 3 segments, can you just give a feel for sort of the contract structures? Is it straight fee based? Is there an incentive mechanism there? Are you taking any risk on your delivery partners beneath you? And just in terms of the margin journey and the sort of the 4.5% run rate for the second half of this year, how much of a tailwind is there still from transformation? Or are we still -- are we more reliant now on mix and operational delivery?

Should I do the first one and you do the second one? So just -- thanks, Andrew. Just -- so on consultancy, so the biggest one -- so of the 3 elements, the biggest one is the delivery partner contract. And essentially there, we've got teams that are fully allocated to that work for a long period of time. So we don't have utilization issues to manage. We've got long-term structure, and it's -- we're paid on a people per day rate. So the fee is based on people. There are some KPIs around performance alignment that can come through, but not that exposes it to risk, but more gives us an upside in incentive. And we don't take the risk on any of the delivery. So we oversee the partners that are delivering that program. If I look at the engineering and design, very clearly, that is a utilization model. So we have -- we've actually just brought in a new leader to lead that as it's a growing business and something that we're pushing hard. But there, we are -- we manage the utilization of our teams, and we bid for that work and that -- and again, we sort of earn a fee on each of those people working on their -- and then advisory and the advisory piece is a mixture of the 2. So for example, where we're working with EDF, that's 170 people fully co-located with EDF around the country, supporting them extend the life of that, whereas some of it will be -- some of our P3M expertise will be on a sort of people hour basis supporting some of our major customers in driving project management change in their organization. So it's quite different. But the risk is not really on the downside. It's more on the upside linked to performance.

So target margin, so 4.5% during FY '25. So think about that as the second half versus the 4.4% that we've delivered in '24. So it really is about the improving, if I can just put at the health of the portfolio. So as we've -- the portfolio is more full of work. We've won more recently with better Ts and Cs managed in a much tighter way. That's really what's driving the majority of that margin increase. It's not cost-out programs driving this next push and a little bit of mix coming in. But as we talk about, it's relatively small compared to the key volume of the construction work. So really, it's about improving portfolio, I would say.

Most of the questions have been answered. But if -- would like them one at a time or individually?

Well, whatever you want to.

Okay. Maybe to start off with the dividend. If you get a good actuarial review in June, how quickly do you think you could bring that dividend cover down 3x. And secondly, on the pension, you alluded to kind of options for the pension. I can imagine what those options are, but I would love to hear your view of how you think you can manage the pension risk going forward. And finally, on the nonunderlying items, 2 of the problem contracts were in fire safety, could you explain kind of is that a coincidence? Or is that related to the Building Service Act?

I do the first 2. So dividend, yes, we'll do the check as at the end of March. We hear about it during June. As things stand I would hope that, that would be over 101%. Let's see. It's not done until it's done. And that gives us optionality for July '25 to June '24. I think we have an ambition to return to 3x but we will do it gradually. And if indeed we do have that dividend parity removed for the year, then we will consider other options as well as we have done in this past year. Pension upstreams, we sort of talked about the restructuring. So we're going into the triennial review now due to be completed during the middle of next year, we'd hope to do it pretty quickly. Key things there are keeping cash contributions to a minimum dividend parity removal would be great to do, but we'll see where we go. And of course, there's always the option to take it off the balance sheet, which is becoming more and more feasible with where interest rates are and so on. So we are actively looking at that. But those are all things that we'll consider during the fairly lengthy valuation process that we'll go through during '25.

Yes. And I think the 2 fire safety matters relate to what you said in your question there, Joe. These are small 2 cases where there's been a need for some remediation to the fire proofing on 2 buildings. So following our review, though, that's the work. One of them has been completed, and the other one is in the process of just being finalized.

It does relate to building services and just following up on the dividend parity. Could that be permanently?

I don't know. That's what -- it could be. That's the hope.

It's Ed Prest from Berenberg. Just a couple, please. Firstly, on cash, what do you view as an optimal cash balance? And how do you think of that? Is it kind of a percentage of revenue? Or do you look for an absolute level? And secondly, there's much talk maybe the markets become more rational. Margins have improved, particularly in natural resources, you've got 5.9%. Is that bringing new players into the game or are you sufficiently protected by your expertise by your relationships?

Yes. So cash, no, I don't think about it as a percentage of revenue, the working capital flows are fairly steady. I think of that more as an absolute level. And we've talked in the past to sort of use the phrase more than enough cash, clearly, with the commitments we've made and the investment that we've made in light of CapEx, the decision to do a share buyback. You can see that we think the levels that we've been out during 2024 are sufficient for us to be making those sorts of levels of payout. All of our plans say that cash generation will continue in a similar fashion, and therefore, the cash balance will grow. And I think that leaves us with the same sort of optionality.

I think coming to your second bit, I think the market is a lot more sensible and rational. I think competitive behaviors, everyone now knows that what risks you can take in a contract, what risks you can't take and everyone's probably more sensible around the margins that we need. We've all got the same investors for listed businesses. So that is good. So you're able to win the work at a good margin. And I think probably the lessons of some of the historical failures have driven that, which is great. And yes, look, we win work on our expertise. So if I look at the water work that we've won, it's a result of the relationships we have with those customers and the expertise that we've got in being able to work in that environment and provide solutions and deliver predictable and it's exactly the same. If I look at the 2 systems contracts that we've won in transportation. The fact that we delivered that work expected expertly during Crossrail is probably one of the big reasons why we were probably the perfect choice for that work. So it does come back to your reputation and the relationships that you've got and the experts that you've got in your team to win that work. So we're not seeing that many new entrants. I mean, clearly, we've had the big Europeans come in during HS2, but that was a requirement when HS2 procured the program that they wanted a European in every joint venture. But no, we're not -- but it's still very competitive as much as I'd like it not to do. It's still a very competitive market, but you tend to be selected on quality rather than cost.

Max Hayes from Cavendish. Yes, I think it's just a follow-on from a couple of questions we already had. So just given that the mixture of revenue is going to change, particularly from water. Just wondering how that sort of impacts your 5% margin target?

Yes. Look, I think we've clearly got a plan and a sort of business plan of where we want to get to over the next -- over the medium term. And that's all -- our margin targets that we set out reflect that. So I think my comment was more natural resources at the moment is trading at a very good margin, which I'd like it to be more. I'm just looking at the MD, I'd like it to be more, but it just reflects that the mix of work will change. So we expect our margin to be a combination of number one, just predictable best-in-class delivery, which we're increasingly seeing and that's giving us a really good underpin to a solid margin, absolutely the growth of consultancy as a whole. So when we look at the significant increase that we could see in that and the margin we can earn from that, what that will give us. And then as Helen muted, we've got the economies of scale as we become a bigger business, we don't need 2 chief execs, hopefully. And we'll just have the economies of scale, and that's what's going to get us to those margin targets as we grow the business. Well, thanks very much for your time, and we're around if you want to chat to any of us any further. And as I said, very excited about the direction of travel that we've got and the future that we've got and look forward to updating you again soon. So thanks very much. Keep safe.