Ion Beam Applications SA (IBAB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, everybody. My name is Olivier Lechien. I'm Head of Communications at IBA. I sit here together with Olivier Legrain, CEO; and Soumya Chandramouli, our CFO. [Operator Instructions] I would like now to turn the conference over to Olivier Legrain.

Thank you. Thank you, Olivier. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on our full year results. And with me today Soumya, our CFO. Before we start, I would like to draw your attention to the company disclaimer on forward-looking statements as usual. Moving on to the agenda. I'd like first to start today by thanking the entire IBA team for their continued hard work over the course of the past year. We're pleased to see all that hard work paying off with the incredible resilience of our business, and I'm delighted to report on our positive progress over the year. As always, I will give an overview of our business and run through our outlook for the future. Soumya and I will then summarize our financial statements, and we will then be happy to take any questions. I will start with providing an overview of the business. As you know, the group is founded on our world-leading expertise in particle technology, which falls across 4 core business lines: Proton Therapy, RadioPharma Solutions, Industrial Solutions and Dosimetry. Each of these business lines performed extremely well, and they were all profitable in 2021. As shared previously, IBA's long-term strategy leans on 3 key pillars. We will capitalize on and develop our market-leading position across all of our 4 businesses. We'll give more details on specific business units on the next slide. We will invest in new technologies and products to ensure the group retains its competitive edge and provide solutions that are tailored to customer needs. Finally, we will ensure excellent operational execution across all the business with a focus on delivering the backlog and enhancing recurring revenue streams. In the light of the long-term strategy, you can see here the specific drivers related to each of the business units, and I'll pick out a few details here. Clearly, we have record backlog and we're confident on being able to translate this into future revenue. Patient QA is growing in importance, and our Dosimetry unit is looking to gain market share here. Within Proton Therapy, we have a number of drivers, including customer service enhancement and investing in technologies for the future. Within RadioPharma solutions alongside the theranostics-focused partnership with SCK CEN, we are looking at growing opportunities in existing and a new market, such as chemistry and targeting. On the industrial side, we are targeting a strong increase in E-beam X-ray penetration as market adoption of this technology continues. And maybe last but not least, we have been B Corp certified. Moving on, let's take a look at some of our key highlights on the 5 years as an adjustment, I will highlight a few words -- what did happen in 2021. As previously announced, we were delighted to receive the B Corp certification in recognition of our commitment to our stakeholder approach. In line with this, we are focused on impactful ESG goals. For example, we are targeting carbon neutrality by 2030. We have seen a strong performance across all business units with 1 five-room ProteusPLUS deal agreed in China and 4 ProteusONE contracts agreed in the U.S. and Europe. There was a record order intake for Other Accelerators with 31 systems sold. Dosimetry has also seen a solid order intake on par with full year 2020. Our strong cost control measures are still in place, partially offsetting the remaining impact of the COVID-19 while allowing for strategic investment in research and development. On the broader corporate side, we are pleased to achieve a number of milestones, including a strategic research and development partnership announced with SCK CEN for the production of Actinium-225, a novel therapeutic radioisotope, which has significant potential in the treatment of cancer, the so-called theranostic. In addition, during the year, we launched the Cyclone IKON, a new high energy and high capacity cyclotron, which offers the largest energy spectrum for PET and SPECT isotopes. We also announced the creation of a global DynamicARC Consortium, preparing for the clinical rollout of the DynamicARC treatment modality with the proton therapy community using the Proteus platform. All of this underpinned by a very strong balance sheet with net cash position of EUR 130 million, doubling from EUR 65 million last year. Finally, the Board has proposed a dividend of EUR 0.19 per share in line with the new dividend policy. Here are some of our post period highlights. In early 2022, we received the down payment for a Rhodotron as well as adding a contract signed and received the down payment for a ProteusONE. More recently, we announced a partnership agreement with Tractebel to support IBA's customers with their proton therapy design and construction project. We also completed the share buyback program we launched in December with 400,000 shares bought back under the program and around 1 million shares bought back to date. I now pass to Soumya to talk through the summary of the financials.

Thanks, Olivier. You'll see a snapshot here with the financial highlights, as announced this morning. Maybe a few points to pick out here. Group revenue of EUR 313 million was broadly flat versus last year, mostly due to the EUR 63.5 million contribution from CGNNT in 2020. However, if you look at year-on-year revenue growth, it would have been more than 24%, highlighting the strong uptick in activity and backlog conversion coming mostly from the Proton Therapy business, but also well supported by the Other Accelerator business and Dosimetry. The group REBIT of EUR 14.5 million and net profit of EUR 3.9 million reflects the strong performance of the business and ongoing cost control measures. There was a very high equipment order intake of EUR 228 million with 9 PT rooms sold, that was 5 systems and 31 other accelerated rooms sold across the geographies. It's also worth highlighting the increase in PT and Other Accelerator service revenue, which was up 6%. Services now make up 46% of the PT and Other Accelerator revenue line, and this recurring revenue stream continues to grow on an annual basis. Now looking at some of the numbers in more detail. The decrease in PT revenue was due to the CGNNT effect, as I mentioned previously, which offset the strong backlog conversion in the year. However, if we exclude CGNNT then the year-on-year revenue growth, as I mentioned, would have been around 24%, with strong backlog conversion as we continued to build and install systems around the world. Other Accelerators performed very strongly with revenue up 26%, thanks to high order intake and backlog conversion in that area 2. And the REBIT margin of 4.6% reflects the top line growth and flat cost structure. As Olivier mentioned earlier, the Board has proposed a dividend of EUR 0.19 per share to the AGM that will be held on June 8. Turning to the balance sheet. Now our cash position has really never been stronger with our net cash position of EUR 130 million versus EUR 65 million at the end of 2020. We also have EUR 37 million on our own short-term credit lines still available and have complied with all our bank covenants. As such, the strength of our balance sheet provides us with significant stability and optionality through which to continue to support and grow the business. Now moving on to Proton Therapy and [ Other ] Accelerators. Overall sales were flat from 2020, but again, reflecting the CGN deal in 2020. They were actually up 30%, excluding the revenue recognized from that deal and driven by intensive construction of machines to be delivered over 2022 and mostly in 2023. Other Accelerator revenues were also up 26%, thanks to the record intake and strong backlog conversion as well as an increase of service revenues. To continue, we saw a strong impact of the licensing revenues last year with EUR 63.5 million recognized in 2020. We've had 5 new orders for PT equipment that's the 9 rooms I mentioned earlier. A single -- a 5-room system in China and 1 ProteusONE in Italy and 3 ProteusONEs in the U.S. Other Accelerator equipment also had a very strong year with revenue up 35%, reflecting that record order intake. And finally, our service business has also seen strong performance with revenues up 6%, stemming from geographical expansion, new applications and also strong industry interest in X-ray technology-based sterilization. Coming back to the order intake. We can see that 2021 figures were very strong for both PT and Other Accelerators in spite of the pandemic challenges. We sold 9 PT rooms in the year, up from 5 in 2020 and back to the 2019 levels. Other Accelerators also had an excellent year with 31 systems sold, up from 17 in the prior year and 25 in 2019. Our regional strategic focus remains on Asia with more than half the systems sold in that region. However, at the same time, we also sold several machines in the growing markets of South America and Africa. In addition, we see exciting new opportunities with the launch of 2 new machines for the radiopharmaceutical market, as mentioned by Olivier earlier, as well as a strong growth potential in the industrial business as the industry is ramping up adoption of X-ray technology for medical sterilization. Looking more specifically now at backlogs, which we define as contracts for which we have signed contracts, but where we have not yet recognized revenue. This has increased to an all-time high of EUR 449 million, up from EUR 382 million in 2020, and this despite the high level of backlog conversion in 2021. Of this, ProteusONE represents around 46% and Other Accelerators, 24%. On the Services front, revenues are also up more than 6% to EUR 109 million -- EUR 119 million with PT service revenues now approaching the EUR 100 million mark. Services backlog is now at EUR 727 million with 39 IBA PT sites now generating revenues worldwide and 2 new centers in service since 2021. As we previously communicated, Services are a very important recurring revenue stream for the group, and we continue to invest in R&D to enhance the performance and efficiency of our service offering. Now taking a look at our Dosimetry business. Order intake was slightly down from 2020, but remained strong at EUR 50 million despite pandemic-related effects. Backlog increased by 5% to reach EUR 16.3 million, and REBIT is now up to EUR 4.9 million, practically doubling from 2020 with strong contribution from investment in Patient QA as well as sales in Asia. I'll now hand back to Olivier to take you through a more in-depth business update.

Thank you, Soumya. So a total of 9 Proton Therapy rooms were sold globally in 2021, with 5 sold in China and 4 in Europe and U.S. Installations have continued with 5 ongoing and 1 started in 2021. Two new service contracts were initiated in 2001. They are both in Asia, 1 in China, 1 in India, underlying the importance of this region. The final quarter of 2021, we saw a strong system availability of 97% plus ensuring continuous patient treatment despite the pandemic. IBA continued to forge new and to extend existing technology collaborations. In October, we announced that our partnership with RaySearch was expanded with the area of FLASH, proton arc and treatment of moving tumors, a research agreement with the University of Pennsylvania on FLASH was signed in October to advance research into ConformalFLASH therapy, another combination of ultra-high dose rate FLASH and a unique [ bracket ] properties of proton. 2021 also saw the initiation of a global DynamicARC Consortium in collaboration with the leading clinical centers preparing for the rollout of DynamicARC treatment within the protein therapy community. Looking more broadly at the Proton Therapy market, we see that IBA remains market leader across the categories or client below homes sold in 2021, total rooms in operation and total market share. Proton therapy adoption has also continued to progress, thanks to us working hard on innovating, coming with new technology. Expanding its reach, IBA continued to advocate for greater proton therapy adoption. This includes promoting clinical trials. In August, we shared the launch of ProtectTrial, aiming to improve access to Proton Therapy for patients as well as validating a model-based approach for the use of proton therapy in cancer. The research comprised 12 PT centers with 400 patients expected to be included in the trial with completion anticipated by 2027. In addition, the trial aims to improve patient selection and create a shared reimbursement guidelines. In addition, IBA launched Campus in 2021, the world's first proton therapy online platform. As already mentioned, innovation is key to IBA's proton therapy approach and comes under 3 trends: motion management, ARC therapy, FLASH therapy. I've already referenced some of the partnerships listed here, and I underline that industry collaboration is key. We remain convinced on the potential of FLASH as a game changer in radiotherapy. Now looking at radiopharmaceuticals, which again demonstrated our leading know-how in particle accelerator technology, introducing 2 new machines on the market, the cyclone IKON and the cyclone KEY, both of which should increase our client base and provide them with new development opportunities. We were excited to agree a strategic R&D partnership with SCK CEN during the year to enable the production of Actinium 225, seen as increasingly important given its potential for the treatment of cancer. On the Industrial side, Rhodotron technology underpins the segment, X-ray and E-beam radiation has been recognized for the safety, and we are very excited to see the particular breakthrough in terms of the use of X-ray sterilization globally, with IBA selling more and more machines each year as the industry start to adopt this technology more widely. The collaboration with NorthStar agreed in 2021 aims to increase the global availability of technetium-99. In terms of progress, 2 electron beam accelerators have already been shipped from IBA with the third machine orders. In addition, we opened the INDux training center opening training center in 2021 with the aim of improving technical performance of our industrial business teams in order to better serve our growing client base. Two further partnerships were agreed with TRAD and Aerial, enabling the transition to E-Beam and X-ray sterilization. Finally, looking at Dosimetry, we've seen strong order intake here, including a patient dose monitoring device. We have continued to invest in this segment and are gaining market share in quality assurance for both conventional radiation therapy and proton therapy, particularly in high growth areas such as China. COVID-19 shown a spotlight on the need for mobile QA imaging systems, which has also contributed to increase the order intake. In terms of innovation, we further enhanced our product portfolio and launched several new products including myQA iON in photon therapy, myQA SRS for stereotactic surgery and the Phoenix detector for machine QA in proton therapy. Now over to Soumya to talk about the numbers in more detail.

Thank you, Olivier. As mentioned earlier, total group sales in 2021 was flat versus 2020 but grew 24%, excluding the impact of CGN (sic) [ CGNNT ]. And this mainly reflects the healthy order intake and strong backlog conversion in all businesses. At the expenses level, while there was a strong decrease in selling, marketing and G&A costs due to the lower level of travel and marketing expenses due to the pandemic, R&D levels were maintained as the group invested in the future growth of the business. And there was an overall decrease in operating expenses of 2.6%, thanks to the above. Finally, we saw an increase in the tax line as we started to pay taxes in several countries where we've started operations over the past few years. As a result of all of the above, IBA reported a net profit of EUR 3.9 million. Turning to the cash flow. Operating cash flow in 2021 was EUR 87.2 million, driven by continuing improvement of working capital despite backlog conversion. The increase in cash flow used in investing activities was in part due to higher CapEx investments, in particular, in Technology and Digital Solutions, where we've been investing quite a bit over the past few years. And the release of a deferred payment following the final completion of the sale of RadioMed, which was compensated by an investment related to the bond financing of a proton therapy customer. The cash outflow used in financing activities included repayments on borrowings, repurchase of shares and dividends paid on 2020 results. You have the balance sheet here, and I won't go into the details, but it's worth reiterating that there was a further significant strengthening with gross cash position at year-end of EUR 199 million and an all-time high net cash position of EUR 130 million compared to EUR 65 million at the end of 2020. I'll now hand back to Olivier to discuss outlook.

Thank you, Soumya. The strong performance that IBA has seen across all business lines has continued to accelerate into 2022. Our pipeline is highly active, particularly in the U.S. and Asia, which provides us with significant visibility for the year ahead. The growing service business provides further visibility as a stable recurring revenue stream and backlog remains high. Alongside this, our strong balance sheet and record high cash position provide us with significant opportunities for both organic and inorganic growth. In spite of these factors, in light of the current and very unfortunate geopolitical situation and some remaining pandemic-related complexities, we are unable to provide a reliable financial guidance. At the moment, we do not see any major impact on the business as a result of the ongoing conflict. However, given the rising inflation, global supply chain disruptions and increasing cost of doing business, this could change, and we will continue to closely monitor the situation. Finally, I'm pleased to say that the Board will recommend to the Annual General Assembly the distribution of a dividend of EUR 0.19 per share to be paid in 2022. If approved, the annual bond is paid out to employees will be matched at the same level as part of the company initiative to share the value created with all its stakeholders. This is our financial calendar. So I would finally highlight a few dates. As normal, we will publish our Q1 business update on the 19th of May. Our general meeting will be held on 8 -- on June 8. Then in August, we'll report our half year results as normal. We plan to do a Capital Markets Day at ASTRO in October. And now Soumya and I will be pleased to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] I think we have first question from Michiel Declercq.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. Great. Great. Great. Maybe my first question, you already mentioned it a bit at the end. But one of the key themes, of course, is the inflationary environment. So I was just wondering what the impact is for IBA? I recall that for the services contracts, these are indexed. So I was wondering if you can give me an update on the periodicity of this indexation. But more importantly, for the equipment revenue. So you have a very large backlog, what the impact is here? Because a lot of these revenues will only materialize in the future. What impact you see there? I recall that -- yes, you are, of course, exposed to copper prices, which remain elevated, but also steel prices. So I was wondering, is there a for the contracts that have already been signed, can you also increase prices there when your products prices go up? And what impact could it potentially have on your gross margins, especially within the equipment revenues?

Okay. I'll take that. So first of all, indeed, you're right on service. We have an indexation, which is practically on all of our contracts annual. And so because a big -- the biggest portion of our cost in our service contracts is labor. There is a labor indexation which is linked to inflation, and so we're covered there on inflation. For the equipment contracts, for those that have been signed already, for most of them we already had the equipment and a big chunk of the equipment. So we don't expect very large impacts on those. And going forward on newer contracts. So we made sure that we have clauses in our contracts which cover price increases up to a reasonable level, for sure. Now if there's a situation where things become very hyperinflationary then, of course, we'll have to see how we work on things. But at the same time, when we speak to customers today, many of them understand our situation in terms of increase of cost. And we make sure that contractually, we have clauses in the contracts that allow us to be able to speak to them about that inflation and reflect it in our contracts. So overall, I'm quite confident that we'll be able to cover reasonable increases in inflation. Now we still need to remain prudent because we don't know how things are going to go going forward and how much there will be inflation, of course. But that's anyone's guess.

Okay. Just to have this clear, when you say potentially renegotiating these contracts, I assume this is when you do the actual installation. Let's say it's in 3 years from now, then I would assume that you pass on these costs, of course. Yes?

Yes, absolutely.

All right. One quick follow-up on a bit on the Russian situation. You recently sold a system to St. Petersburg. What is your stance on this? In terms of delivery, will you go through with this? Or will this be put on hold? So just seeing for an update on that front?

Okay. So indeed, the thing is we got the first down payment, which is significant. So as you know, from a medical standpoint, we have decided to continue to provide our solution in Russia. Not that we are not against the war. It's just that we feel the our recompense is used to mainly treat cancer patients and a lot of children. So we felt when we were asking ourselves the question, that it was more reticulate to continue to support the business in Russia. When it comes to the contract in St. Petersburg, we got the first significant down payment. We have started to produce the machine. As you know, it will take 18 months to 24 months to produce the machine. We'll see how and monitor the situation. And if it's appropriate by the time we're ready to ship, to basically send the machine, depending on how the situation will evolve. So that's number one. Number two, there is no risk for IBA. This contract is covered by an export insurance, including political risk. So that's how we will basically monitor the situation. And the contract, by the way, is in euro. So there is no currency risk. We are covered for political risk. And we have a little bit of time to see how things will unfold in Russia and in Ukraine. The next question is coming from David Vagman, David.

I've got 3. I'll try to be quick. The first one is on M&A. So you said a few things in the press release and in the presentation about it. So I would want to ask you what is your strategy? What is the type of targets you have in mind, the size? So is it about consolidating those in the 3? I think you said something about it recently? Or is it more about accelerating R&D, so buying other tech companies? And is it about software, hardware, sort of type of things? So that's on M&A. Secondly, on the EBIT margin, future development. And I know there is no guidance, but what sort of operating leverage could we hope to see given the very nice order book you have, the very nice order intake and the growth which we should expect the tandem of sales? So when I look at consensus, for instance, I see quite some growth on the top line, but actually margin are expected to decline in the coming years. So what is your view here? And then my last question is about theranostic. So could you give us an update on the development of your strategic partnership and also your strategic thinking? I think you were not hesitating, but not decided yet whether you wanted to manufacture isotope or rather build the machine?

I will take the first question or I will start with the first question and maybe Soumya wants to join me. I will then leave the margin and operational leverage to Soumya before I come back to theranostics. When it comes to M&A, our focus is really to strengthen the strategy of our 4 business units. And you rightfully basically expressed all the opportunities that we're currently looking at, which is us to complete product portfolio with additional projects that fits very well in the in our global offering or improving our solution by adding additional site services to our solution. It could be hardware, it could be software. I don't see any major acquisition on the horizon at this stage. But more, once again, the reimbursement of our current strategy being in those inventories, as you rightfully said. So -- or in medical device sterilization, potentially in RadioPharma Solution, I think we're very strong on cyclotron. There is a lot of side, let's say, applications that could nicely contribute to improve our competitive advantage and give more business opportunity to IBA. We're already in the chemistry field in RadioPharma solutions. There is potentially a new horizon with new radioisotopes coming in that could be an opportunity for us on the chemistry side. Theranostic is another one, and I'll come to that later on. And then last but not least, in Proton Therapy, I think everything that is in the room could potentially be nice add-on to -- when we sell a proton therapy system, we sell a lot of other equipment. And it could be, once again, I would say, easy addition to our product offering and could bring some additional business to us. I will now let Soumya come back on the operational leverage and then comment on the theranostics.

So in terms of operating leverage, well, we had a discussion with Olivier, and we were wondering whether or not we should give guidance in this year. And before the war started, we would probably have potentially given some level of guidance because we started to feel reasonably confident on our strategic and financial plans for the coming years. Now of course, the war has really changed that because it's created so much uncertainty. But let's say that we see a steady and improving -- all other disturbances set aside, we see a steady and improving margin level over the coming years, thanks to several things. First of all, we've been investing quite a bit in technology in order to be able to improve our margins, both on equipment and on service and in all of our businesses. We are seeing new avenues of growth in areas where we are able to have a very strong market position, which allow us to have good margins in those businesses. And finally, we have continued all of the cost control measures that we had applied over the past couple of years, and we've reached a level where excluding inflation, inflationary effects which, of course, are out of our control. We were able to keep a very nice level of OpEx going for the coming years. So all in all, I think we are able to continue to deliver good margins and improve them. Of course, the uncertainty right now that we have could have an effect. Michiel asked a question earlier on about inflation. And as I said, we are reasonably confident that we are able to absorb a reasonable level of inflation in our contracts. Now it becomes completely unreasonable that it will, of course, have an impact. And there are several ongoing initiatives internally to measure and anticipate those impacts, but it's really very early to say where that will go.

So coming to theranostics. Yes, indeed. So we have 2 process in parallel. One is, together with SCK CEN, we are evaluating the business model of the radioisotope production scheme. You know how together we could position this new venture, let's say, in the overall theranostic competitive environment. We're making good progress, not only on how we could position it but how are we going to organize it between ourselves. So it's progressing quite well. And it's one of the conditions, let's say, to decide on one of the models or the other. But there is no -- let's say, all the lights are green on that, and we're progressing well. We have not taken the decision yet, but we're progressing well. And the second stream, let's say, we are monitoring is -- as you might remember, it's a very promising market. Now we still have a few technical challenges that we need to resolve before we are certain about the solution we can propose. And we have the number -- I think we have 5 work package where we need to basically come with a technical solutions. And there as well we're progressing well. We're not at the end of it. We expect to come to a point where we will be able to take a decision I would say, within the next -- probably by the end of quarter 2. And indeed, then we will decide if we join forces with SCK CEN and start radioisotope production facility in theranostics or if we stay somehow in an equipment type of business model. Once again, a lot of dim lights so far progressing towards more radioisotope distribution model, but we still have a few things to agree upon and to understand before we give it a final go. So stay tuned and probably, I would say, before the end of quarter 2, we will be in a position to announce our decision. The next question is for [ Laura ]. [Operator Instructions] You're mute again, I don't know what went wrong.

Can you hear me now?

Yes, now we hear you.

Congratulations on the results. I have a question regarding backlog conversion. So we have seen an improvement in 2021. Could you provide a bit your view on backlog conversion in 2022? How many installations in the pipeline for the next year? And also what about China?

Sorry, could you just repeat the last portion, what was about China?

Yes. Just wanted to know about China reopening. I think you're building a team...

Okay. Okay.

Okay. I can -- do you start with the overall and I'll take China?

Yes, sure. So on backlog, well, I can't give you guidance on things. But we should have reasonable conversion of backlog also continuing into 2022. Of course, we have all the order intake of 2021, which we'll also be adding onto the existing backlog conversion. So that will help. Now we have some big installations starting more in 2023 than '22. So in 2022, we're really in a phase of building up the equipment and preparing it for shipment. And actually, quite a few things are going to be happening at near year-end. So as you know, it's a very, very binary calculation. If the shipment happens before year-end, and there's a recognition in EMEA, and it happens after the year-end, it's afterwards. Right now, it's planned after year-end. So more in early 2023, especially for several Chinese projects where the installation should start at that time. If you look at the order intake over the past couple of years, you'll have seen that we've sold ProteusPLUS every year in China, so all of those will kind of build up into installation by 2023. So we'll see more conversions happening at that time. But potentially, yes, if things go faster than it could happen in 2022 also. Your other point was -- yes, it was on China and Olivier will take that.

Yes. I think China, first of all, maybe a quick update on our partnership with CGN. We're very actually pleased with the development. And despite the fact that indeed, we cannot really meet face to face, I think they have made fantastic progress. Both on the scale-up of their operations and on the sales effort as well, by the way, it's public information, they have been selected for first ProteusPLUS sales late last year, I believe. We have not formally announced it because they need to get the down payment and then place the orders to IBA, but it's looking quite well, actually beyond my expectation. They're very active on the market and a close gait, and indeed was a plan that we set up when we understood that we might not be able to resume travel to China fast. So we are going and we are currently setting things up where we train CGN and they hire people. So the they will be in a position to basically act as subcontractors to IBA for the installation of the system that IBA has sold in China. So we expect to have quite a smooth transition. We have many people over there. We have decided to send a number of our expatriates as well that will remain in China for a couple of years and help CGN to basically accelerate -- there is learning and install on behalf of IBA, the 3 systems. So it actually looks good. And I really thank you whoever I need to thank for signing this partnership, I would say, in the perfect timing for us without knowing that COVID to what's coming, but it puts us once again in a very positive position in China despite the fact that we cannot travel in China anymore or not really easily to China. So looking good in China, both from an acceleration of the partnership with CGN and their ability to help us to install our machine in the near future. [Operator Instructions] David, the floor is yours.

Yes. I have one follow-up on working capital. And I know it's a very tricky one. And explained that there will be -- that it was a bit binary at the end of the year. But let's say, rather than pinpoint or, let's say, ask for the working capital evolution, let's say, in 2022 or 2023, what can you tell us about the working capital evolution overall a bit in a cruise mode over the coming years? What should we expect? We've seen a lot of down payment then there was COVID, so you couldn't install or stand much more slowly. Should we expect a negative evolution there?

Yes. I think it's reasonable to say that now we have to start building up inventory once again. So we have quite a bit of inventory already if you look at the balance sheet. But we will start to build up it -- we are starting to build up inventory again. We need to make quite a few purchases given the level of order intake that happened in 2021, not just for PT, but also for RadioPharma and for industrial. Of course, the turnaround periods are much smaller for the other accelerated business. But still, we'll need to build up there. So we should see a use of cash happening over 2022 for that. That being said, we think that we should be able to maintain levels more or less -- our cash levels more or less at where we are today, so that new deals or new down payments coming from our customers will compensate for the expenses that we will make on inventory buildup. So yes, indeed, I would say working capital will deteriorate somewhat over 2022, 2023, but not drastically and will be compensated by reasonable levels of term payments coming in again.

Thank you, David. Lloyd [indiscernible], the floor is yours.

A quick follow-up from my end on the PT opportunities and especially in Europe. We saw end of '21 that the Ortega Foundation received quite some money to invest in the proton therapy. Can you maybe update us on the tender process there? When can you anticipate some announcements? And how do you position yourself in this one? And second question on the cash allocation. Next to organic and inorganic opportunities, when you find suitable targets in the near term, could you also foresee some return to shareholders via a new share buyback program or special dividends?

Indeed, we spent a lot of time in Spain lately. And...

It's a good place to be.

It's a good place to be, yes. And you might have seen, because it's also public, I think we organized a lot of training and educating the market. We have many, many contacts. Our understanding is that the MOH will be in a position to issue the tender in quarter 3 in 2022, with potentially a decision towards the end of the year or early 2023. I think we're reasonably confident that we are well positioned over there. We understand from MOH, even though it has not been officially announced, that they will probably split the allocation as well. We understand a few of the players actually are not really going to play and that potentially IBA, for sure, we'll go for it. And from what we understand, Varian will go for it as well. So it might be a 2-players game with a willingness, I would say, from MOH to potentially split the agreement. That's what we understand. Part of it is not official. We have a lot of contact with all the regions, with all the players there and a lot of positive competitive advantage to put forward. So I think it's a fantastic opportunity. We'll certainly fight for it. And I think we're in a good position to take the lion's share of it. That's what I can say about it at this stage. So quarter 3 decision towards the end of the year, early next year, IBA well positioned to take the lion's share of it. And the other question was about capital allocation...

Yes, correct.

Yes.

Do we want to issue share buybacks on...

So share buyback for us is basically -- finish low, I think we -- I can see a lot of opportunities for our business to accelerate. I think over the years, we -- we are, I think, sitting on a nice market with the right product portfolio, medical device sterilization looks like it's finally moving quite hopefully, rapidly towards E-beam X-ray. I think Dosimetry is coming back very strongly. We have improved our competitive positioning in patient QA. There is some opportunity to expand the portfolio for us in RadioPharma Solution, we have theranostic opportunity plus some others as well. And in Proton Therapy, I think with the, let's say, the new dynamic of the market with, I would say, competition being more rational. I think it's better for us to focus on that and seeing the opportunity than to basically do share buyback or increase dividend at this stage.

And just so it's clear, the share buybacks that we did in 2021 were really to hedge our stock option plans that were launched for employees in 2020 and 2021. So that was the major reason for those buybacks.

[Operator Instructions] There is a new question for Michiel. Michiel Declercq.

Michiel, can you unmute it?

Yes. No, just following up a bit on the previous topic. So in your press release, you highlighted your confidence in the PT market going forward or at least in the short term and also bit in the longer term. But you were specifically talking about the U.S. and Asia. Now with the -- yes, the contract that is open in Spain, let's assume that you take half of the systems, so 5. You don't even mention Europe in your press release. What could we expect then for the U.S. and for Asia? Do you have an update on the tender activity there? I recall that in the first half, you had around 5 tenders in the U.S. open. You closed 2 of them. So just a bit of an update on that front?

Yes. We have closed 3 of them in the U.S.

Yes, yes. But were in the first half. So...

Yes, yes. Okay.

Which we completed in the second half.

Yes. Okay.

I think we're able to fill in the pipeline in the U.S. as well. I think I see the same kind of level of activities in the U.S. with some prime institution actually, where I believe IBA has a pretty strong position. EBITDA end of last year was homerun as they say in the U.S. with ProteusONE. And then we see same kind of level of activities in the U.S. And then Asia is mainly driven by China, where I just explained that together with CGN, I think we have let's say, winning combination of local presence, capacity to be close to the customers, understanding of the culture and a great product. So I also expect to see a number of orders coming from China. And as you know, it's always a big system. And India is also, I think, quite dynamic at the moment. I think that's about it if we look at India, China, U.S.

And if you're speaking about Europe. Well, Europe is -- there are quite a few prospects, but let's say that they are more midterm than the Spanish opportunity, whereas in the U.S. and in Asia, I think it's much more short-term prospects that we see.

Italy, maybe as well for 2022. There's a few prospects in Italy, I think we will make the move. So you're right, we should have put Europe as well in our press issue.

Okay. Clear. But the same for the Other Accelerators, record year in number of system sales. How should we look at this going forward? You already mentioned the strong momentum that you see in the sterilization field with 31 systems. Could we use this as a base going forward to further increases? Or should we expect a more normalization towards the, let's say, 25 system level?

I would say, a normalization plus. I -- from what we see now and once again providing the caveat of this war in Ukraine, we see a very good momentum. Now are we going to -- I think there is more potential in industrial than what we have seen. So I see a slight increase of industrial application versus last year and maybe a bit less of RadioPharma solution, which was very, very active segment for us. So yes, probably a normalization plus, let's say, increase in industrial, a slight decrease in RPS once again in the context of the war in Ukraine. There is no more hands raised, so then I suggest maybe we close the call. And I would like to thank you for joining, and we look forward to see you in [indiscernible]. It's going to be in San Antonio, where we will hold the Capital Market Day in October. But we speak to you earlier, of course, and at the latest during our half year result, really. Thank you very much. Have a great day, and see you soon. Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye.