Gentrack Group Limited (GTK) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everyone, wherever you are, and welcome to Gentrack Group Limited's Annual Shareholder Meeting. My name is Andy Green, and I'm delighted to be attending my second Annual Shareholder Meeting as the Chair of Gentrack Group Limited. Today, we are very pleased to welcome you, as online participants through our virtual meeting platform provided by our share registrar, Link Market Services. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we're holding a virtual meeting again this year to assist in curbing the spread of the virus, while still providing for participation and engagement amongst our shareholders. We pre-recorded my Chair's address, and our CEO, Gary Miles address, and the introductory message from Fiona Oliver, who is standing for reelection as a director. This is to minimize the risk of technical issues interfering with the smooth running of the event. You'll be able to vote and ask questions online. To vote, you will need to click and get voting card within the online meeting platform. You will be asked to enter your shareholder or proxy number to validate. And please then mark your voting card in the way you wish to vote by clicking for, against or abstain on the voting card. Once you have made your selection, please kick submit vote on the bottom of the card to lodge your vote. Please refer to the virtual meeting online portal guide or phone the help line on 0800-200-220 if you're in New Zealand or plus 64-99-67-7751 if you're outside New Zealand and you require assistance. I'll provide you with a reminder of these instructions, as we progress through the meeting. I'd encourage you to send through your questions as soon as you can through the virtual meeting website. This will allow us to answer these questions at the appropriate time of the meeting. To ask a question, you will need to click ask a question within the online meeting platform, select the item of business, type in your questions and click submit. Before we formally begin, I would like you to introduce you to my fellow Board members, Nick Luckock, Fiona Oliver, Darc Rasmussen, Stewart Sherriff; and our Managing Director, Gary Miles. Details of the background and experience of all Directors is contained in the Annual Report and on the website. We'll hear more about the background of Fiona Oliver, who is standing for reelection as a Director during the formal business of the meeting. Gary Miles will provide a brief introduction to our management team in his CEO's address. Also with us today are Grant Taylor from our auditors, Ernst & Young; and Toby Sharpe from our Solicitors, Bell Gully. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our auditors and lawyers for the work they've done for Gentrack over the year. The company Secretary has confirmed to me that the notice of meeting has been sent to shareholders and other persons entitled to receive it. The company's constitution prescribes a quorum requirement of 3 shareholders having the right to vote at this meeting. This requirement has been met. On that basis, I'm pleased to formally declare this meeting open. Details of proxy voting are now available on the screen. I'd like to thank all shareholders for their participation in today's meeting. My fellow directors and I intend to vote all discretionary proxies we have received in favor of the resolutions, as set out in the notice of meeting. The financial statements for the 12-month period to the 30th of September 2021, together with the auditor's report, are set out in the Company's Annual Report. The Annual Report was made available on Gentrack's website in December. The order of events for today's meeting will be as follows. Well, first our Chair's address, then the CEO's address, then we'll do the formal visits of the meeting, which includes the 2 resolutions of the meeting. And then on the general business, we'll answer questions more generally on the company. Voting on all resolutions will be conducted by way of a poll. You'll be able to ask questions online through the virtual meeting website, and I encourage all shareholders to send their questions through as soon as possible. Instructions on how to submit questions can be found by clicking on the link in the notice of meeting. We'll now move to the first agenda item, which is my Chair's address. The fiscal year 2021 was an exciting year of progress for Gentrack, with major restructuring completed and a return to growth in the Utilities business. Veovo showed slight revenue decline, but maintained its position as an essential supplier to the airport sector. It remained a net contributor to the group despite the pressures of the pandemic on the aviation industry. The group's revenue growth was driven by an 8.8% increase in Utilities to $89 million from $81.8 million in the previous year with new customer wins and growth from existing customers, offsetting previous years' losses. Veovo revenues were down from $18.7 million in financial year '20 to $16.7 million due to the continued impact of COVID on the aviation industry. But pleasingly, annual recurring revenues were up 7.7%, as new customers moved into live operation. Underlying Group EBITDA of $12.7 million was up 5% on financial year '20, slightly ahead of the guidance issued earlier in the year. Costs were up 5.2% versus financial '20, driven by increased investment in personnel development and training with continued savings in nonpersonnel costs and the introduction of our Indian development center and associated cost base. The group achieved strong net cash generation of $9.2 million for the period, resulting in net cash of $26 million at the 30th of September 2021. In Utilities, the energy industry is going through a rapid transformation to address the triple challenge of decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization. At the same time, the water industry is modernizing to address better customer service and to introduce much needed operational efficiencies. Both energy and water are moving away from large, on-premise and inflexible systems to innovative, agile, cloud-based solutions, like Gentrack. This IT transformation is an essential step in the industry's move into cloud technologies and the sustainable era. With this energy transformation well underway, at our June '21 Strategy presentation, we communicated our 3 strategic growth pillars for Utilities, further developing our customer base, winning new logos and rolling out managed services. Gary will update you on progress on these in a little while. At Veovo, we are still feeling the impact of the pandemic on the aviation industry, but are starting to see signs of global recovery. Despite global restrictions, we won 4 new logos, signed extended support contracts and upgrades and delivered 6 major projects across the globe. The transition of our customers to our Passenger Predictability SaaS platform has moved at pace, and we will continue the investment in R&D in the next fiscal year to prepare us for the recovery of the market. On the people front, we are committed to being a high performance, people-centric technology organization. We have put this focus into action with higher reward and more training, where required. Employee engagement is up, and the organization is moving at pace. Our commitment continues to focus on both investing in technology and the people we need in both Utilities and Veovo. I'd like to thank the great team of Gentrack people across the world for their dedication and innovation in a transformational year for the company. For financial year '22, we are forecasting growth beyond financial year '21. This is despite the impact of the pandemic on the aviation industry and the recent unprecedented market conditions in the U.K. energy sector. Gary will also comment further on this. At this meeting, we are saying goodbye to our CFO, James Spence. I'd like to thank James for all he has done at Gentrack, steadying the ship as Interim CEO and ensuring the business manages cash really well and is able to forecast its revenues reliably, stand out amongst his many achievements. We wish him well for the future. We're also delighted to welcome today our new CFO, John Priggen. In closing, I'd like to thank shareholders for their continued support of the Company during its transformation and to thank Gary and his leadership team and my Board colleagues for their commitment over the past year. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your attention to my Chair's address. We'll now move on to the CEO's address from Gary Miles.

Hi, I'm Gary Miles, Chief Executive at Gentrack. It's a pleasure being with you here today, and I want to start by thanking you for your continued support. So we had an amazing and transformative year. It was quite frankly fascinating, fun and a lot of hard work that we enjoyed thoroughly. So a few highlights to touch on in the year. We reorganized the business into a high performing matrix organization. We opened our India center. We ratified a new Board, a new Chairman. We brought in a new Chief People Officer and a wide array of people programs. We also articulated our 3 pillars for growth in our core markets, which I'll talk about further, and we have effectively weathered a storm of solar insolvencies in the U.K. B2C business. We are a very diversified business supporting B2C -- B2Bfor both energy and water, and this has impacted only our B2C U.K. segment, but it is a significant headwind that we've been able to weather well actually. So if we go to the next slide, I would like to talk about the results, which we covered in more detail in the November telecast, but I would want to -- I do want to highlight a few main points here. So the Veovo business, which is our airports business continued to be a net contributor. We are confident that this business will return to growth, and we'll talk about that further. The Utilities business grew approximately 8.8%, and our net position on cash has gotten very strong. Now if we look in more details at the 3 growth pillars, so the first growth pillar and maybe our most important is to have a strong base with our customers. We support over 50 customers globally in the Utilities segment. We've been fortunate to bring them new technologies and to change the dynamic in which we engage with these customers. Many of these customers, we've increased our revenue at those customers from 50% to 200%. We're doing much more with these customers, as a partner to drive them into the clean tech era. They're satisfied across the board for the most part, and this will continue to improve. We feel very good about a strong referenceable customer base, that's a platform for further growth. One of our core values is that we are one team and we play to win. So we're experiencing a winning culture. We won 7 new logos. I feel good about the direction we're taking here. We do have very strong references and Tier 1 transformation capabilities and scale. However, when we hunt new logos, we've not been hunting this space as effectively as I would like in the last few years, and we're starting to enter the arena of competing for new Tier 1 businesses, and this is an area of a really strong focus for us. So winning culture and winning the large and transformative deals. Managed Services, we repackaged this last year and took it to market. The revenue was flat for the year, but that's -- it's a new offering. We have a strong backlog and a strong pipeline, and I feel like this will be a significant growth engine for us. So I think we're executing very well against our 3 growth pillars, which are articulated for our core markets, and I look forward to improve -- further improving upon this, as the year progresses. On the Veovo side, it's interesting, I think that we are at the beginning of a new beginning. The airport industry is starting to come back to growth. We're seeing it in all the numbers. And it's our belief that if any energy goes into a period of hibernation usually when it comes out, particularly in the IT space, it does transform at an accelerated pace. So we look forward to this business turning around. In the meantime, it is a net contributor to our business, and we are investing in this space. We plan to lead in it, and the industry will need a strong partner, as it turns back on, and we plan to come out of the pandemic stronger than we -- than we were before. Now if I look at the team, I'm really proud of my team. I'd like to take a moment to thank them for their contribution to the business, to the people in the business, to the customers and the shareholders. We've had a fantastic year. They're a group of people that are high performance, very execution-oriented people and people-centric. So we have a very, very world-class top team. We're collaborating well together, and I think this is going to take us -- take us to the places that we -- that we want to go. So I want to thank them for that and call them out here in particular. Now if we look at our environmental and social programs, so Gentrack does a lot for the [ planet ] and for the communities in which we operate. I have to say that since I've been in the business, it is a little bit sporadic. So we have local developments and local programs and local drives. We are consolidating all these efforts around 3 main focus areas, which are our community and an umbrella community themed support that we will roll out this year. Our innovation, particularly how we bring innovative technologies that help our customers provide clean tech solutions to the planet, whether it's water and energy. So this is a multiplier effect, where we think we can actually have a bigger impact than many businesses because we do play in the clean tech space. And the other -- the third one is our own commitments to Net Zero. So this is a focus area for the business. We will set objectives, clear targets and engage as much of the workforce that are keen to lean into it, and we have a lot of employees that are keen to -- they actually are attracted to Gentrack because of this thesis that we stand behind. So we look forward to reporting more about this in the future. Now in closing, I would like to say that I'm very excited about the market. The utilities market and the airports market are both growth markets. I have some statistics here, some of these from Gartner that by 2025, 300 million meter points in the energy sector will be recontracted. This is amazing growth opportunity. Somebody is going to seize this opportunity, which is the first step of even further disruption, and we'll dominate this market globally for the next 15 years is our view. Same thing in the water space. The IT systems are leaking and creaking. They need to digitize and move to the cloud. So it's a less of a compelling driver unlike energy, which has -- has to transform. We see the water pace transforming to move to digitization and to be more cost-effective and community-oriented. And then as I mentioned, the airport industry will recover and be back to growth. So in closure, I would like to say that we have proven that despite the B2C U.K. headwinds that we have experienced, we are growing revenues and delivering complex transformations and projects at scale. We have unique technology, amazing technology and very unique delivery capabilities to do major transformations. We are now looking beyond our core markets to extend this growth. We are confident. We have a great team and a great engaged people and highly referenceable customers. So with that, I would like to close by thanking you for your continued support. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, we now come to the formal part of the business, matters requiring resolution. They are outlined in the notice of meeting. You may ask questions on each matter being put to shareholders through the virtual meeting website. Moving on to the resolutions. I propose to call a poll on each of them. As I mentioned, shareholders will be able to cast a vote using the electronic voting card received when online registration was validated. To vote, you will need to click Get Voting Card within the online meeting platform. You'll be asked to enter your shareholder or proxy number to validate. Please then mark your voting card in the way you wish to vote by clicking for, against or abstain on the voting card. Once you have made your selection, please click submit vote on the bottom of the card to launch your vote. Please refer to the Virtual Meeting online portal guide or use the helpline on 0800-200-220 if you're in New Zealand or plus 64-99-67-7751 if you're outside New Zealand if you require assistance. Voting will remain open until 5 minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. The results of the vote will then be announced via the stock exchanges. Each resolutions set out in the notice of the meeting is to be considered as an ordinary resolution, and as such, must be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast by shareholders entitled to vote and voting on the resolution. The outcome of proxy votes will be displayed for your information on the slide for each of the resolutions. Resolution 1 is the appointment of auditors and the authorization to fix auditors' remuneration. Resolution 1 concerns the remuneration of Gentrack's auditor. The Companies Act 1993 provides that Ernst & Young continuing office as auditor. However, a resolution is required in respect of their remuneration. Details of the proposed resolution are outlined in the notice of meeting. I now propose that the Directors are authorized to fix the remuneration of Ernst & Young as auditor for the ensuing year. Are there any questions for the Board concerning the motion from shareholders in attendance online.

There are no questions relating to this resolution.

Thank you. Please now select either for, against or abstain for Resolution 1 on the voting card. Resolution 2 is for the reelection of Fiona Oliver as a Director. Fiona Oliver joined the Board, as a Non-Executive Director during 2018. She retires by rotation and offers herself for reelection this year. Fiona's credentials are set out in the notice of meeting. I now invite Fiona to address the meeting on her proposed election.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a privilege to seek reelection for the Gentrack Board. I have been a Board member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee since 2018. I've also been a member of the People Remuneration and Nominations Committee since 2019 and have chaired this committee since 2020. I have had the opportunity to work with a talented group of people that make up the Gentrack senior management team and Board. Indeed, one of the many highlights for me has been to witness the passion and commitment of the people, who work at Gentrack. And every meeting I have attended and when we've been able to visit made, the focus of the Gentrack team on customer centricity is palpable. Gentrack people believe in and are committed to creating technology solutions that work the way our customers need them to. Another key highlight for me is Gentrack's commitment to managing non-financial risk. Much of my career was in funds management, and this career coincided with the creation of the first Sustainability Equities [ Indices ]. In those days, the view was next, but today, it is commonly shared wisdom that we must consider non-financial risk if we seek to add shareholder value and ensure the long-term sustainability of a business. As a Board member, it gives me confidence to be working with the management team, who also believes us and who actively considers the broader stakeholders of the Gentrack business, as it goes about its operations, including its employees, the community and the environment. My governance portfolio has continued to deepen, and I have considerable experience in the energy sector. Energy is a complex industry in all regions of the world and all markets are experiencing significant change [ of ] pace. It is our role as directors to support the business to ensure it is robust and can withstand the implications of change. I can say with confidence that Gentrack remains determined to partner with the customers to ensure they can also [ call for ] change and where possible take advantage of the opportunity, the change may bring. I will also continue to bring my significant experience, as an Audit and Risk Board Committee Chair and a corporate lawyer to my role as a member of Gentrack. We are all dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of the risk that's challenging to mitigate. The Gentrack Board continues to be vigilant about working with the business to identify and manage strategic risk and ensure the business remains [ adaptive]. The Board also continues to ensure that we maintain a high level of regulatory compliance to ensure the trust and confidence of the stakeholders in the business. In summary, I bring my governance, professional and executive leadership skills and understanding of the New Zealand and wider global business environment to my role at Gentrack. If reelected, I'll continue to bring my focus, which [ I noticed ] shared by fellow Board members and the management team on delivering value and sustainable returns to you, shareholders. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have for me. Thank you.

The Board has determined that Fiona Oliver is an independent director for the purposes of the NZX listing rules. The Board unanimously supports the reelection of Fiona. I now propose that Fiona being reelected as a Director of Gentrack Group Limited. Are there any questions for the Board concerning the motion from shareholders in attendance online.

There are no questions relating to this resolution.

Thank you. Please now select either for, against or abstain for Resolution 2 on the voting card. That concludes the formal part of the meeting. You should now submit your votes. Voting will be open until 5 minutes after the close of the meeting. Results of the poll will be announced on the stock exchanges after the conclusion of the meeting. I'd now like to give shareholders the opportunity to ask questions, whether related to the presentations, the financial statements or the management of the company. You can continue to provide questions online, and we will also address questions already submitted. If we run short of time and are unable to answer your question online today, we will endeavor to respond to you after the meeting.

We received questions from shareholders online. The first question is, can the directors provide the approximate year that dividends will be recommencing?

We understand this is important to some shareholders. But clearly, the priority for the business is to invest for the future and for the significant growth opportunity that Gary has set out. So we're keeping this in mind, and we'll return to the subject, obviously, frequently, and we'll restore with dividends at the time we consider appropriate.

Second question. In one of the market updates last year, you mentioned that Genesis Energy was considering to not renew their contract. Do you have any update on this matter? Is this confirmed now? Or have they changed their mind?

Gary.

Genesis are going through their selection process. No announcements have been made. We have a good working relationship with Genesis, and we will continue to support their innovation and their operations as we have in the past.

Third question. What impact on Group revenues and U.K. operations, would the loss of Bulb have? E.g., should a decision by the special administrator mean that Gentrack's [ straight ] Junifer solution is no longer required?

Bulb is an important customer, but we have a very wide spread of customers. That is just part of what's going on in the U.K. B2C market, which is facing a real significant change in the way it operates. It's having widespread impacts. It's really important to understand that the U.K. B2C business is just part of our U.K. business. We have significant water business, significant B2B business as well. And across Gentrack as whole, of course, we're also diversified widely across geographies. And all the rest of those businesses are growing very well indeed. That's why you've seen that in this year despite the fact that this trend was starting from -- from well back into last year that we've been able to see revenue growth as we put out in the new guidance that we announced this morning.

Is management concerned about Gentrack's ability to retain and win new business in Australia against the merged Tally Group, Telia IT and Agility CIS. Gary, one for you.

We take all of our competitors very seriously. We respect them. We've got a competitive desk that covers the main competitors. I actually believe and our competitor -- the competitive desk has concluded that this actually represents an opportunity for Gentrack. When 2 companies come together, there is disruption, there is change, and there's opportunity. And that's the way we're tackling it. We feel confident in this regard.

Further question. At balance date, there were some $5 million in trade receivables past due date with an assumption that the credit loss will be similar to the previous year, has activity since balance date supported that assumption?

Yes. Look, I think our creditors are under very good control. It's one of the things that James Spence, who is leaving us at the moment has put a lot of energy in it -- into. And I'm sure John will carry on with that and the Board has no concerns on this issue.

Further question. Can you tell us more about your plans for the Indian development center?

One for you, Gary.

Sure. We're excited about the Indian center. We've got approximately 70 professionals there now. We're growing. We're leaning into it. We're growing actually in all operating markets in which we run. This has served us well so far. It takes a while to bring these centers up to speed. And we've put a lot of investment in it and it's paying off for us. And I think that shows in the numbers.

One final question. What will be the impact on Gentrack, if there is a local war in Eastern Europe?

What will be the impact on the world, as far as local war in Eastern Europe. No, we're not exposed directly to Eastern Europe. And as an organization, we're privileged to serve clients that provide vital services to the everyday lives of people. So you would expect us to be pretty isolated from such -- such things. Clearly, it may impact air travel again, but I would expect it to remain isolated personally. I think we all hope that there will be a good solution and that some -- some way forward we have found that will not disrupt the global economy.

No further questions.

Right. Well, thank you very much for the questions, all very good questions. And we do appreciate your attendance of the meeting and also appreciate the questions that you put in. This brings me to close the meeting. So ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attendance at Gentrack's Annual Meeting. We will be announcing the results of the formal business of the meeting via the stock exchanges later today. I now declare the meeting closed.