Nampak Limited (NPK) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the year-end Nampak Results Presentation. I must say this is a highly anticipated results presentation. We think you'll walk away with all the information that you need. I see a lot of familiar faces here and a couple of new faces. We welcome that. Today, I've got Andre Van der Veen, who's our Chairman, he will be starting his address; Mr. Phil Roux, who's our Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Glenn Fullerton, who's our Chief Financial Officer. So without any delay, I would like to call on Mr. Andre Van der Veen to address us. Thank you.

Thanks, Teboho. It's unusual for me to stand here and hopefully it's the last time you see me up here at the pedestal. The Chairman should be in the background not the foreground and Phil is pretty good at being in the foreground so there's no need for me to be here. But we thought this year it would be a good idea for me just to start proceedings mainly because turnarounds are tough; they take a big toll on management, they take a big toll on everybody involved in the process. And I guess this year for the first time when we put out our trading results, we had a bit of a flutter and I think Phil had more calls in a short period of time than he's ever had from shareholders. And I think, Anthony, you were particularly fluttered as well. But the reason I wanted to provide some context I guess before we start is to say, one, turnarounds are tough and secondly, Nampak is a unique business. It's a big organization that doesn't change course easily and it's part of the challenge which we have in actually fixing this organization. I thought the results this year and the efforts which we've gone through for the last 20 months have been particularly pleasing and we've got the management team in front here. They look better in person than often they do in the week because there's a lot that happens. So the reason we wanted to start proceedings with that context is to say that: one, I think we could do a better job in putting out our trading statements and we do apologize for the distress that it caused some shareholders and the uncertainty. And hopefully the update, which we put out the next day, satisfied the concerns which the shareholders had when it initially was released. It is the function of an organization I think that's dealing with a lot of complexity at the same time. And that complexity I think was embodied in just that very vanilla trading statement which we put out and to give you some context. I think Glenn didn't sleep much over the last 2 weeks because the difficulty in fixing Nampak especially in a reporting environment that we're in is something which I really can't explain to people here. We've got operations throughout Africa. Each African operation has got different reporting currencies. We try and put our results together in a very short space of time and that just led to the situation where we said okay, the trading statement is a bit more vanilla than it should have been. If I look forward, and I think this is the point which we reiterated in our statement which we put out, I think Nampak is in a very healthy state. I think we know what we need to do. I think the last 20 months was focused on cleaning up the balance sheet, making sure that we've got a balance sheet which is stable. We've got a debt level, which we think is manageable even if the Nigerian sale takes a bit of time to come through and Phil and the team will address that in his presentation. But the work that we need to do going forward is really focused on the internal operations and our business over the last 20 months has been focusing on getting our balance sheet and the big issue solved. But we're a manufacturing organization and the thing which we have to do well is manufacture well and I think during the last 10 years, that discipline in manufacturing and servicing our clients is the one area which Nampak didn't do as well as it could. So I think you'll see in Phil's focus and in Glenn's focus when they talk about what we're going to do for the next year ahead, it's making sure we get back to those manufacturing disciplines, which are critical to making sure that Nampak stays best in class. So that's the ship which takes a long time to turn. Fixing the balance sheet and making financial transactions and doing deals, those things have got a finite and a quick life. But fixing manufacturing and getting the right people in place, getting the disciplines in place, getting the reporting in place; that's the process, which I think when we get right really makes Nampak a very sustainable and very attractive business. It's got an annuity effect. You don't put up a canning line like we've got in our facilities. You don't hire the manufacturing disciplines like Nampak have in a very short space of time. So I guess when Phil and I talked about the reaction to the trading update, we wanted to emphasize that point today in that Nampak actually is a very stable ship. It takes a long time to turn, but when it turns, it's got a certain momentum which keeps it on track and we're very confident that we're starting to build that momentum now. I can see the internal information, which we publish every week and every month. Sometimes I get daily updates from Phil in the areas of the business which we're focusing on and it's especially focused on manufacturing. So the thing which gives me a lot of confidence for the year ahead is that focus and that discipline which we're starting to see coming through in Nampak and we've seen it in some of the results which the business has produced. But if I go and look at H1 and H2 performance, which we'll look at and Phil and Glenn will break down, I still think there's a lot in the tank with respect to improving our H1 and H2 performance going forward not only in terms of what we can do in terms of our manufacturing capacity, but also there were some headwinds in this financial period, which I don't think will be there in future and when we start executing going forward, that I just think positions us very attractively going forward. So Phil and Glenn will touch on those 2 aspects today. I'm very grateful for the effort which they and the management team have put in. It's not always visible, as said upfront, and I think we're very well positioned for 2025 to build on those initiatives. So Phil? Thank you.

Thank you, Andre. We can certainly attest to that. The work is not always visible, but I guess the results we'll see, the proof is in the pudding. I would like to call on Phil to come through and give his much eagerly awaited address.

Thank you, Teboho. Mission impossible or the art of the possible. We have elected to choose the latter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's good to see you all and a warm welcome. Let's briefly touch on the macroeconomic environment for a minute or 2 not that you aren't familiar with it. The world at large and global economies have shown vulnerability compounded by unrest and warfare, which has had a destabilizing impact. The African continent has contracted dramatically as oil prices fall, currencies devalue and consequent constrained consumer consumption amidst persistent inflation. South Africa too has been plagued by significant inhibitors, which include inter alia political uncertainty, high unemployment, a low growth economy and energy disruptions and inflation. The newly formed GNU, however, portends potential upside for South Africa as capital formation should increase as companies begin to invest in a less risk prone environment. That said, it will require hard yards, commitment from all and tenacity. Nampak has had to contend with the vagaries of economic variability during this period. The turnaround and transformation of Nampak from a distressed asset to one with a renewed investment case has required significant fortitude by the Board, shareholders and management alike and I want to thank you for your commitment. A few considerations for a turnaround company often include some of the following to a greater or lesser degree. We have faced many of these in our efforts to date in particular and addressed them by expecting more from our Board which has been forthcoming, a fanatical focus on cash, creating the investment thesis or change story and treating every turnaround like a crisis not that we needed one, we were presented with one. And most importantly, which is difficult in South Africa and globally, is finding and retaining talented people. A new s-curve, however, is required for Nampak to ensure sustainable investment thesis and trust in the organization. While significant progress has been made, the new Nampak is in developing maturity. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, Nampak has made significant strides. Whilst the revenue is pedestrian, it's symptomatic of the economy, business rationalization, customer facility closure and a slow start to our Beverage new line installation that we spoke about. But as you can see, the EBITDA has grown from ZAR 343 million to close on ZAR 1.5 billion. There's lots of noise in the operating profit, which Glenn will unpack, but ZAR 1.7 billion with a margin at 17.2%. But most importantly, the cash generated from operations before working capital up from ZAR 741 million to close on ZAR 1.6 billion. Even after working capital, I guess more impressively is we've managed to release more working capital notwithstanding the significant release of the prior year, which is difficult to replicate. Let's unpack that a little bit further. Beverage SA grew from ZAR 583 million to ZAR 860 million for the period under review, that's some 38% growth; Diversified from practically nothing to ZAR 325 million; and a really stellar performance from Angola with ZAR 276 million EBITDA giving you the close to ZAR 1.5 billion in EBITDA. So how does that translate to the actual margins? So Beverage SA expanded from 10% to 13.2% and perhaps worth mentioning that second half of this reported period versus the second half of '23 notwithstanding the slow start of our Line 2 grew 38%. So second half on second half up 38%. Diversified from nothing thanks to the incredible work by Andrew Hood and his team, 11.3% margin and I suppose almost immeasurable given the significant turnaround in Angola of 28%. The success drivers to date: portfolio optimization, you would have known we've rationalized assets and we've cleansed the portfolios; a relentless focus on various transformations across the value chain; more like a cultural revolution; a new business operating model underpinning our efforts; an incredible focus on cost reduction and frugality as part of our DNA going forward; and a significant financial turnaround. But it wasn't all smooth sailing, there were bumps in the road. We all know that we are reliant in the main, but not completely at the behest of our customers, but there was slower consumer demand. You would have seen that in many of the FMCG companies that have published their results. As mentioned, some of our -- well, 1 customer in particular closed their manufacturing facility for 3 months. This isn't typical, it's atypical given major maintenance scheduling. It was problematic commissioning of the new beverage line, but I'm pleased to report that for the first time since commissioning in the month of November we actually produced and sold more than November last year. There was loss of some volume luckily not in a large area of our business from competitive pressure. And then it's the muted consumer demand speaks back and ties into the customer demand that slowed down. There are emerging trends in the industry we participate in. Notably an increased demand for circularity and this is where the can format offers the greatest benefit. Re-engineering for lightweighting is nothing new, but it's ongoing and being supported by investment in technology. Personalized packaging and design aesthetics is the territory of the can format. You cannot express in marketing terms and consumer terms the types of aesthetics that you'll find on a can. Shift to cans in general and the large format expressions continue as a trend, so too the convenience and mobility offered by this format. The key insight and implication for Nampak is that cans are well positioned as a substrate of choice, which requires investment to meet sustained market demand. This must be delivered with quality distinction. Of interest, we supply our facilities with 115,000 tons of raw materials annually to deliver 9 billion widgets. That's 25 million of them each day of the year. So as Andre said, if Chapter 1 in our twin objectives was restoration of vitality and the transformation imperatives, then Chapter 2 has to be about growth and sustained value accretion. In order to do so, you need strategic coherence otherwise you will not generate a coherence premium, which in essence means you need to define where you want to compete, whether you have the capability system and the brand and service fit. If key strategic imperatives could be isolated in terms of importance and shareholder value creation, then strategic customer management and stripping out or unearthing operational inefficiencies take center stage. Healthy free cash flow and returns ahead of our cost of capital is consequently the desired outcome. This leads to our new vision, a renewed vision to be the leading packaging solutions partner in select geographies. A vision is worth nothing unless you unpack words otherwise they become meaningless. So by partner, we mean a customer obsession that permeates the entire company. We will be a partner of choice based on leading edge capabilities and a category thought leader. By leading; it implies innovation, efficiency, profitability and return on capital and to sustain the current 60% market share superiority and grow off that base. The packaging solutions is limited, a highly focused portfolio which includes food and beverage metals, also homecare metals and perhaps down the track Horizon 3. As our balance sheet corrects itself, there may be scope for smaller type bolt-on acquisitions. Our renewed vision has significant -- gives rise to significant residual brand equity and our renowned technical supremacy, which we've been known for at Nampak. I'd like to hand over to Glenn, who has tricky numbers to unpack for you and I'll come back and talk a little more strategically and what the outlook might portend. Over to you, Glenn.

Thank you, Phil. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to present the results for the year-ended 30th September 2024. I think if you step back from this particular set of results, it can be characterized by a step change in profitability, very strong cash flows and this has all been supported by a successful refinancing in the period. If we unpack the income statement to start with. ZAR 10 billion in revenue, up 1% from ZAR 9.9 billion in the previous year. I think a very, very strong performance at the EBITDA level of ZAR 1.5 billion being produced, up 331% from ZAR 343 million and the strong contributors to that are Beverage South Africa at ZAR 806 million with that number being up 38%, Diversified has grown significantly up from ZAR 15 million to ZAR 325 million and then Angola performed very, very strongly at ZAR 276 million from ZAR 43 million. If we have a look at the operating profit before our net impairment losses, we've produced ZAR 1.2 billion for the period compared to ZAR 78 million in the prior year. And then when you take into account the asset impairment reversals, that number grows to ZAR 1.7 billion and that's compared to a loss of ZAR 1 billion in the prior period. Now that's very significant as a signal because those impairment loss reversals indicate a very much stronger outlook for those 2 particular businesses where the future cash flows have been taken into account based on the expected future profitability and that has resulted in a net release of ZAR 471 million in previous impairments that have been booked. ZAR 273 million of that is attributable to Diversified South Africa and ZAR 234 million to Bevcan Angola and that compares to a ZAR 1.2 billion impairment in the prior year. The year has delivered a profit of ZAR 626 million from continuing operations compared to a loss of ZAR 2.2 billion and if you summarize it; really it's improved trading profits, a positive contribution from our capital and other items, these asset impairment reversals and lower finance costs in the period. This has translated into headline earnings of ZAR 278 million compared to a loss of ZAR 1.3 billion in the prior year and when you take that down to a per share metric, the headline earnings of ZAR 33.61 compares favorably to a loss of ZAR 390.04 in the previous period. If we look at it an earnings per share level, we've produced ZAR 75.54 a share compared to a loss of ZAR 644.15. If we look at the balance sheet; very, very significant change in that balance sheet. I think it's been strengthened materially from a successful refinancing. Very critically all debt is now long term. We have refinanced the business, Standard Bank has become our sole financier. We've reduced the number of finances from 16 to 1 and we've got 98% of the funding now rand based, which takes out significant variability from a foreign exchange perspective. Good strong position in our short-term liquidity where we have got a current ratio of 1.9x. The asset disposal program is progressing well. We've got net assets held for sale of ZAR 1.8 billion and really those are made up of 3 particular assets; ZAR 1.2 billion for Bevcan Nigeria, ZAR 432 million for the Zimbabwe business and that's for our 51.43% share of that business and then the I&CS business for ZAR 143 million. The net debt excluding the capitalized finance leases of ZAR 4.4 billion is down 4% compared to the ZAR 4.6 billion in the previous period and there are future deleveraging opportunities through our disposals. The net debt is targeted at ZAR 2.6 billion after the disposal proceeds have been applied and that would translate into a ratio of about 2.3x and we're targeting a ratio of 2x. We have managed through the process of disposals to shed lease liabilities of ZAR 524 million, which is pleasing in the process. A very, very significant point to note is we've generated ZAR 1.6 billion in cash from operations before working capital and this is a very good sign of the health of the businesses. That compares favorably to the ZAR 741 million last year so that's up by 114%. Last year there was a ZAR 905 million release from working capital where we rightsized the balance sheet from the [ pregnant ] balance sheet the previous year. This year despite that big improvement last year, we've managed to release a further ZAR 175 million. Our free cash flow, which is the cash flow after working capital and after replacement CapEx, is at ZAR 1.6 billion, up from ZAR 1.4 billion in the prior year. We spent ZAR 393 million in CapEx to meet demand. And what you'll see later in the presentation is a very significant shift where the majority of the CapEx spent in the period has been for expansionary CapEx as opposed to purely replacement CapEx. We spent ZAR 222 million in the period on the Springs Line 2 upgrade and cumulatively that spend is now at ZAR 301 million, in line with our expectations and below the budget. ZAR 111 million of that CapEx spend relates to discontinued operations and I'll unpack that for you as we go through the presentation. If we look at the more detailed numbers. As you can see, revenue growth has been limited due to muted consumer growth, which has impacted our volumes. But I think what we have to note is that particularly in the Diversified business, we've intentionally exited certain product lines and product groupings, which has put a bit of a hold on certain of the turnover growth and we've got a major customer, as Phil indicated, that had to shut down for a period of the time. Trading profits increased by ZAR 610 million. There have been good margin improvements through cost optimization and selling better. And then the operating profit before net impairments has been boosted by capital items where there's been a positive swing of ZAR 556 million. Embedded in that number, there's ZAR 137 million which relates to a reduction in the foreign exchange losses in Angola and then we had a very successful negotiation with the members of the post-retirement medical aid funds. We managed to offer continuing good benefits to them, but curtail those benefits and that resulted in a ZAR 290 million credit to the income statement. We have spoken about the asset impairment reversals and, as I've said, that indicates expected future strong cash flows. The finance costs have reduced by 24% and that's despite higher interest rates in the period. The cyber impact in March certainly impacted our level of funding for quite an extended period of time as we recovered from that and we've also had to fund out of internal cash resources the Line 2 expansion. The effective tax rate in the period of 20.2% is up from 2.2% shield in the previous period. And if you summarize the profit for the period; very good cost containment, improved trading profits, the contribution from the capital and other items has assisted lower impairment reversals and the interest has assisted. What we have reported is ZAR 1 billion loss from discontinued operations. And I think the important point to note in this is that there have been profits of ZAR 77 million from operating those assets to the date of disposal and then we've had losses on disposal of those businesses of ZAR 423 million and then embedded in that number is ZAR 661 million impairment of the goodwill in Nigeria to write that asset down to its recoverable amount. So the majority of those losses are not cash losses in the period. What we have done and these slides are not in your pack. They are slides that try and open up a picture for you on the headline earnings per share. For the first half, we reported ZAR 446 million in headline earnings per share, which translated into ZAR 53.93. And then for the full year, we've produced ZAR 278 million headline earnings, which is ZAR 33.61. So implied in that number is a headline earnings loss of ZAR 168 million in the second half. I think what we've got to recognize is in the ZAR 446 million for the first half, the aftertax effect of the post-retirement medical aid liability gain was ZAR 212 million. So that's ZAR 290 million times 0.73 and that's a noncore and nonrepeatable item. So trying to get down to H1 pro forma number, one would have to deduct that. And then we've added back certain onceoff restructuring costs in the first half that are not likely to repeat themselves in the half next year. Then if we have a look at that for the full year the ZAR 278 million, we deduct again that after-tax effect of the post-retirement medical aid liability and that gets us down to ZAR 66 million. And then there are a lot of onceoff items in the second half that don't repeat themselves going forward because of the nature of these particular costs. We've experienced certain volume unusually so losses in the beverage business and there's certainly been demand greater than our ability to supply. And I think with our ability to get the Line 2 operating going forward, that should not be a feature going forward. There have been share-based payments that have been booked in this period and restraint of trades of ZAR 31 million. There's a disputed charge from certain of the utility providers of ZAR 28 million. And just to remind you, these numbers are all after tax. The ForEx losses in Angola of ZAR 27 million. Then there have been certain cyber recovery costs in the period and certain corporate costs that are not likely to repeat themselves. So if you go through this particular list, there's also a onceoff tax charge that comes from Angola where previously we were allowed to deduct unrealized foreign exchange gains on the tax computation. The tax authorities have changed their view on that and we've had to put through a onceoff charge of ZAR 65 million in that income statement for the period, which won't repeat itself. So if you look at this, we think we get down to a pro forma number of ZAR 438 million for the year. Now if you back that out on the right hand side of the slide, it would imply that the first half would be ZAR 261 million and the second half ZAR 177 million to get to the ZAR 438 million for the year and that translates into a headline earnings per share of ZAR 52.95. If we relate that back to a share price on the 29th of November of ZAR 448 a share, it's an implied price earnings multiple of 8.5x. If we unpack the divisional results; very, very strong turnaround in the Diversified business as I've mentioned, a very significant improvement in the Beverage business and very strong recovery in volumes in Angola. I think the pleasing fact in this slide is the very significant improvement from a 4.4% trading margin to a 10.5% trading margin. And then if you have a look at the operating margin before the net impairment reversals, it shows you a very significant recovery from a 0.8% margin to a 12.5% margin. And if we have a look at the individual businesses. In Beverages South Africa, there's very, very strong growth continues for the 500-milliliter can. There's very good growth for beer, energy and wine and ready-to-drink categories that are fueling the growth there. We have had some initial problems with the installation of the new Line 2 in Springs, but those are being attended to and production levels are now reaching desired levels. There have been very good cost-saving initiatives in these results, which have driven the results up nicely. And the operating profit margin has increased to 11.3% from 8% in the period and that translates into an operating profit of ZAR 691 million for the year, up 48% from the ZAR 467 million in the previous year. If we look at the Diversified business, there's been an exceptional turnaround and again a great effort by Andrew Hood and his team. There have been volume declines, but in many cases those have been intentional where we've shed business that we don't want. There have been shutdowns from a particular customer that's affected the volumes. The margin management and revenue management has been a key to success in delivering this result. There are new contracts that have been acquired, which are expected to benefit future reported results and the asset impairment reversals of ZAR 273 million assist the results. That's translated into the operating profit of ZAR 301 million compared to the loss of ZAR 6 million in the previous period. Pleasing results out of Angola. We see that economy being boosted by some oil production. There have been volume increases through normalized trading in that environment where in the previous period, we had to put certain customers on hold. The beverage format continues to grow nicely and the costs have been exceptionally well managed and augmented by very good plant efficiencies. There have been lower foreign exchange losses of ZAR 41 million compared to ZAR 179 million and with an operating profit of ZAR 260 million compared to ZAR 9 million in the period. If we have a look at the growth from the previous period, it really is summarized by judicious margin and cost management, which has driven profitability. And if you see the operating profit for FY '23 of ZAR 78 million; there's been ZAR 224 million improvement in the beverage can South Africa contribution, ZAR 307 million from the Diversified, ZAR 251 million from Angola and then at the center there have been cost reductions and that post-retirement medical aid benefit of ZAR 290 million, which has got us up to the ZAR 1.2 billion. Operating profit margin, as we've spoken about, in all cases there's a very pleasing result there where those margins have improved. This is a first half, second half look on the numbers and I think if you look at the Metals group and this excludes the central costs. In the first half of the year, ZAR 660 million operating profit compared to ZAR 290 million so that was up 128%. And in the second half, we've grown from ZAR 180 million to ZAR 592 million and that brings us back to the ZAR 1.25 billion. So the second half has been strong and the numbers are looking very pleasing. This is a bridge that I've built that tries to unpack for you the movement from the first half where we had an operating profit of just over ZAR 1 billion. In the core Metals business that sits at ZAR 621 million, then there was the ZAR 290 million release or the benefit from the post-retirement medical aid and then there are 3 businesses in the first half that were classified as discontinued in the second half that totaled ZAR 94 million. Then the incremental profit in the second half from our Beverage Diversified and Beverage Angolan businesses. There was a corporate cost in the second half of ZAR 50 million, then you take out the ZAR 94 million from those previous businesses that have been reclassified and then there have been certain onceoff costs in the second half that gets you back to the ZAR 1.2 billion. If we look at the finance costs, pleasing in the light of high interest rate environment, those are down 24% from ZAR 1.2 billion to ZAR 926 million. The rights issue proceeds have certainly assisted in that. We have utilized proceeds from the disposal of certain assets to repay ZAR 720 million to our funding partners and then there are significantly lower refinancing costs of ZAR 32 million compared to ZAR 335 million in the previous period. That's been partially offset by on average much higher interest rates in the period. The cyberattack did impact our ability to collect our working capital in that period and there's overall a ZAR 22 million increase in the net finance cost on core borrowings. If we look at the key thing going forward, you can see from those rates that I've published there that in the financing package going forward both on the rand component and the dollar component of this funding package, lower interest rates will be a feature of the future reported results. If we look at the reconciliation of the loss for the year last year of ZAR 2.2 billion, how did we get to ZAR 626 million for the period. Trading profit increased by ZAR 610 million. The capital and other items, there was a swing of ZAR 556 million. And compared to an impairment last year and a reversal this year, there's a positive ZAR 1.6 billion swing on that line and finance costs are down ZAR 293 million and we've had to pay some more tax. If we look at the balance sheet, I think it's significantly stronger than it has been with all the debt converted to long term. We have ZAR 11.2 billion worth of assets. That is down 19% from the previous year because of certain of the disposals. The net book value of the property, plant and equipment is down ZAR 1.3 billion, but you need to take into account the portion of that that's been moved to discontinued operations. The movement in the goodwill is the impairment of the ZAR 335 million in Nigeria. Very strong short-term liquidity with a current ratio of 1.9x, up from 1.8x in the previous period. And then the material assets held for sale at ZAR 1.8 billion on Nigeria, Zimbabwe and I&CS and once we receive those proceeds, they will be used to reduce debt. As I've mentioned, very significant refinancing process took place this year. It's a much simplified and flexible funding structure, all debt long term and 98% dollar-denominated. And we've spoken about those changes in the leases. If we look at the capital expenditure for the period. 60% of the expenditure in this period has been allocated towards expansion and that's a significant change from only 27% in the previous period. Our asset base remains very well capitalized and very well maintained. The expansionary CapEx we've spoken about that, ZAR 222 million for Springs Line 2 and overall ZAR 301 million. And then the replacement CapEx includes ZAR 111 million for discontinued operations. There were certain contractual requirements in certain of the disposals where 46% of that number relates to the plastics business where that was disposed of and the balance we had to spend in Zimbabwe and that actually acts as a partial rand hedge in that period. Our future expected CapEx requirements for 2025 around ZAR 450 million and thereafter that should decline to ZAR 350 million. If you look at the debt profile, in 2022 our net debt was sitting at ZAR 6.5 billion. We closed the period this year at ZAR 5.3 billion, including leases. And if we look at the portion excluding leases, it's reduced from ZAR 5.2 billion down to ZAR 4.4 billion. And I think as we dispose of these businesses and get the cash in, there will be significant changes in that funding profile. And what we've done here is to try and demonstrate that in 2022, 41% of our debt profile was exposed to dollar fluctuations. We've significantly changed the risk in this balance sheet with only 2% of that debt structure exposed to dollar fluctuations. If we start with the ZAR 4.4 billion, apply the expected net proceeds of ZAR 1.8 billion, our targeted net debt of ZAR 2.6 billion translates into a position of a net debt-to-EBITDA of 2.3x where we're targeting 2x. And if we look at the makeup of the expected proceeds; 67% of that comes from Bevcan Nigeria, 25% from Zimbabwe and the balance of 8% from the I&CS business. If we look at the net debt movement for the period and we relate this back to our cash flow statement: we produced ZAR 1.6 billion in cash, we released another ZAR 175 million from working capital, we spent ZAR 157 million on replacement CapEx which we effectively funded out of contracting our working capital and we sit with free cash available for application of ZAR 1.6 billion. We then applied 60% of that to fund our interest bill and then our tax bill as well. But I think the point of this slide is the strong cash generation as they've been able to service these interest costs and the tax payments. As we decline in the debt levels, those interest costs should decline going forward. So there's a very strong cash flow underlying these numbers. If we just look at the top bit, we don't need to go into the detail of this slide. Last year a very significant portion of the cash generated from operations came from rightsizing the balance sheet. The very strong message here is there's a 114% increase in the engine room's ability to generate cash this year where the cash from operations has increased to ZAR 1.587 million. Very sustained positive triangulation where we've got strong cash flows from our continuing businesses. This has I think been reflected in the share price. We've had margin expansion, there's free cash generation and the proceeds from the disposals will go to degear the balance sheet further. Looking at sustaining the investment thesis, we now have a very highly focused metals portfolio strategy. We've got rid of the businesses that consume cash. The cost base has been reset and that's yielding expanding margins and improved cash generation. There's been judicious capital allocation and you can see that's been geared for growth with 60% of that CapEx being funded towards expansionary CapEx. There's been decisive action to reduce our debt to sustainable levels where we're targeting a 2x cover. And we have a flexible funding structure with ratchets in it that as we apply these proceeds from the disposals, our interest costs will reduce accordingly. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Glenn. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to Glenn and his team in an incredible year -- given an incredible year post a cyberattack, a change in auditors and the complexities of reorganizing the corporate organization to a simplified company that we now have. The picture you have in front of you is our Springs manufacturing facility, aka Battlestar Galactica, which is gearing up for growth. But I thought I'd tell you a little story about exemplars because the Ball Corporation is a Nampak exemplar. One of the largest manufacturers of aluminum cans in the world has shown an earnings per share growth of 8% for 44 years returning 51,900% to shareholders. It sells 270 billion units a year with a 40% market share. Another boring and resilient business worth studying. What might this mean for Nampak? Can you as investors see the future value to be unlocked? We can. While not the sexiest industry, we believe it offers a resilient and reliable earnings ability going forward. So what gives credence to this amongst others are our distinctive capabilities. Notwithstanding the past, the Nampak brand equity has residual power in it. We have a low cost capital expansion opportunity. Nobody can replicate the installation of a line at the cost that we can. We have plant flexibility moving between pack format expressions. We now have a highly focused portfolio and we have science-based technology with a group of scientists that no other organization possesses on the continent. And we have a highly valued asset base with rather high entry barriers. In the light blue depicted are the capabilities that need improving and every organization needs improving and we're fortunate and privileged enough to have those. The growth agenda and unearthing fuel for growth by virtue of our efficiencies and our efficiency driven initiatives takes precedence in this Chapter 2 of our journey. So what are the medium-term initiatives? Most importantly, companies have to grow, failing which they are dying. So we will grow our category share and our volume share within the existing customer base. That's a twin objective. Secondly, the correction of the beverage Line 2 false start has been corrected. There will be further modification to one of our lines at Springs and that will be ready in May, which will unlock further capacity for growth. Then the work has commenced on the relocation of the spare line from Angola, which comes at a fraction of the cost compared to installing a new line, and this line hasn't been used before. There'll be a phased implementation of the revised manufacturing architecture within Diversified, which will also provide fuel for growth. There won't be a closure of Kenya. We closed it last week and the proceeds will be forthcoming in due course where we sold the land and 2 assets within that facility and 2 of them are being transferred to South Africa, which is polish can manufacturing capability to augment the capacity constraints that we currently have. And an ongoing theme will be to cut the clutter and reduce complexity within our current portfolio so that the efficiency agenda is top of mind. Ladies and gentlemen, the outlook for the medium term speaks for itself, but surely it has to be a promising one. We will leverage our newly installed capacity to fully capitalize on the category growth opportunity and the consumer predisposition to the can. The further capacity enablers will provide further impetus to the growth trajectory anticipated. The Diversified portfolio must defend and grow whilst unlocking value from these manufacturing architectural initiatives. These opportunities have been carefully evaluated and quantified. The corporate activity and turnaround intensity over the past 20 months is largely behind us allowing us to focus on extracting value from our core business. The balance sheet is in a far healthier state. The assets well capitalized allowing for free cash flow generation. Nampak has a distinctive value proposition of quality distinction. We will continue to act like owners, be frugal at all times and sustain a bias for action guided by a well-articulated strategic framework. My sincere thanks go to the Board, shareholders and employees for their unstinting support. I want to thank you for your attendance, your ongoing support and listening to our update. So it's true to say that over the past few months, we've had our customers in our Beverage business on allocations. That's rapidly disappearing. We're on the front foot, we're going to chase volume and ensure that this company grows and sustain these margins as far as possible going forward. Thank you very much. We will now be more than receptive to any questions that you may have. You may clap. By the way these pics that you see, these are export products. It's one of many companies that I used to run with in the Tiger Brands portfolio. We acquired this business, clearly not in our numbers because we're into the deciduous season. I thought it's worth mentioning Langeberg & Ashton Foods. And we've also very recently acquired a big portion of the business of Giants Canning, which is a private label producer, which is clearly not reflected in anything that we've shown you thus far as well. So we're really excited about that because it's happened in the short term. So we actually own production of deciduous fruit canning production of the can in South Africa given that we do the business both for Rhodes and now for Tiger Brands.

My name is [indiscernible].

I can hear you clearly, Ivan, if that helps.

I'd just like to ask on Nigeria. It's obviously top of my mind as a shareholder as it's taken a long time and we understand regulatory positions. But do you see closure in the near future?

Ivan, it's such a telling question. I used to have this golden rule because I come from highly acquisitive or corporate activity driven organizations over the past 2 decades and I always said from the time you shake the potential buyer or seller's hand, it should take you 6 months till the funds flow and this has taken a bit longer than that. But we're talking about Nigeria not a normal environment. So we have consent from the FCCPC, which is the Competitions Authority in Nigeria, for this transaction with a list of conditions attached to them. Now it's not incumbent on us to approve those conditions, it's the buyer. And there's a process that we've engaged on with the buyer, but he has to work through these facets of the transaction and if that meets with his approval and we're trying all sorts of alternatives, then there should be no reason for the transaction not to be consummated. Having said that, we're not resting on our laurels. You always have to have a plausible plan B or plan C and we will make sure that we're not caught too flat footed.

And could I ask you as well with Zimbabwe if there's good progress on that?

Look, I did that transaction quite recently. We have a letter of comfort from the financial institutions. As you know, TSL is a listed company and they have a very strong balance sheet. This portends good value to them and these are solid businesses that produce strong cash flows. They've paid dividends. So I really don't see the kinds of timelines attached to Nigeria accruing to Zimbabwe. It's far less complex.

And Phil, there's a follow-up question on Zimbabwe. What's the update on the monies owed by the Zimbabwean government and how does the sale of Zimbabwe impact this effort to collect?

So it was quite interesting to answer that question and thank you for that. We've been to Zimbabwe a few times to try and fetch the money that was de facto taken from us some $52 million owing to the company. The government in fact employed NECI, which is an authority that investigates if there's anything untoward attached to these transactions, which clearly there wasn't. And what has been agreed is that the amounts owing; the first amount being $35 million, Glenn, if I'm correct, that will be paid to us. Of course everyone would like to pay it to you in 20-year bonds, which we're not interested in. So we may have to exercise a little bit more patience with the government and those monies would be paid into the existing companies, the 3 of them, the businesses in Zimbabwe. However, of course we will ensure in the sale and purchase agreement that those are excluded from the sale of Zimbabwe so that those funds can be repatriated back to the Isle of Man, which is where they belong.

I would just add to that. [Technical Difficulty] We have got no exposure on this balance sheet at all. We had previously provided 97.5% against that financial asset. There's no exposure. It's all fully recovered and anything we get further from this is completely upside.

Any question from the floor?

James has a question.

I've got a few questions. The first one is are there any more businesses to be sold or have we very quickly gone through that process? The second one is just regarding the production in Angola Bevcan and South African Bevcan, just where are we in terms of sort of operating rates and what sort of growth could they achieve? And then thirdly, in Angola, how easy is it to get that cash flow, which is now significant out? And if I may actually because you're going to go somewhere else. Just in terms of the CapEx for 2025, seems like quite a big number given that in 2024 it was lower and it had a big Springs number and quite a bit from discontinued. So just interested to know what that CapEx is for.

James, I think there were 4. So I said to Andre, my memory on the cusp of turning 60 isn't what it should be. So he'll repeat them if I should omit any of them. There are no more assets to be sold. We have one asset called Tubes where we produce toothpaste tubes for Haleon. There are potential suitors for it. However, should that not come to fruition, you have the other options of fix or close and we haven't had engagements with management or staff in that respect. So we'll pursue all 3 of those and they lack materiality. In respect of Angola, the current volumes soak up approximately 30% of the available capacity. So there's ample room for growth, hence our ability to relocate the other line to South Africa to be utilized and the cost of that will probably only be circa ZAR 150 million, quite worthwhile in light of the cost of putting in a new line, which would cost you circa ZAR 1 billion. The third question on Angola is whether -- or the second question was whether we get our money out. And we have exercised all sorts of instruments, which Glenn can explain to you, but we've been really successful in reducing our ForEx exposure over the past 12 months. Glenn, you may wish to expand on some of the instruments we've used.

During the period, we have purchased U.S. bonds for $3.3 million. For those of you who have followed the business for some time, in the past we were very successful at hedging against ForEx risks there where we bought U.S. dollar-linked kwanza bonds. These are quite different. The historic ones we hedged against a kwanza amount and then you'd get back the same adjusted in kwanza so that you were the same in dollars. This time it's actually better, we don't have to go look for the dollars in the market at the end of the period. You get back dollars. It's a 7-year instrument with a coupon attached to it and we get repaid in dollars. So what it is doing is it's obviously taking up a bit of liquidity where we've had to invest in that long-dated asset. But what happens where they issue these instruments is the secondary market emerges and you can go and then discount these instruments in the market. Now you might say well, what discount? Historically, we actually sold these at a premium of 2%. So I think it's put in a reasonably good hedge at the moment while there's shortage of dollars in the market that protects us to a large degree.

James, was that your last question or was there a CapEx related question as well?

Yes. So it's the ZAR 450 million of CapEx. Just a question on what that's for?

Going forward for the entire business?

Yes, for 2025. I think you said some of it's for the...

So we have the balance of Line 2. We'll invest circa ZAR 30 million in the expansion of our 300 ml, 500 ml capacity and then we'll slowly begin to commercialize the move of the Angolan line. And then a small amount is being invested in Diversified, but that's mainly in the area of major maintenance as opposed to buying any new equipment per se. Chris?

Just if I can start off by saying a good friend of mine always likes to point out Buffett saying turnarounds seldom turn. So you've done a remarkable job. It's truly stylish. It's great to see. I'm very happy to see you emulating Ball. I don't know if you know before Ball adopted EVA in 1991, they had something like 30 diverse operations and it took them 7 years to start beating their cost of capital. Of course Nampak has told us before they did beat Ball in 1 field in getting the Angolan operation where Ball was interested. Of course that leads to the question how interested do you think they may be in the future?

I hope very. First of all, thank you for the kind words. You always almost overindulge us and thanks. We really, really appreciate that. Not many appreciate what it takes to manage the number of elements that my team has done successfully and concurrently. I told Andre again, it's not a 12-month result, it's 22 months of like seriously heavy lifting. I jokingly say I used to be good looking and if you see a pre-imposed photograph, they are not the same anymore. So we've completed I think a really rigorous piece of work that we presented to our Board in respect of what we call Create the Future 2028. And of course when you look to long-term options for this organization, which I wouldn't like to pronounce on, it could incorporate any number of options. We have a fantastic business here that has so much growth potential. That should be obvious to all and one should take a term view on that. I don't believe we have the appetite for anything opportunistic right now. We've still got a lot to settle down in Chapter 2 that I attempted to articulate. But there's no reason to believe that this organization in a focused sort of complexion that it will take on with these types of earnings and earnings growth potential and the cash that it generates, its resilience and reliability, hence me referring to it being a boring business; but hell it's reliable. Someone could potentially find that extremely attractive. But that's not for me to decide, that will be up to shareholders and we'll see what the future portends.

Sorry, if I could just talk another moment. I meant to say it and there might be more questions. But Phil, thank you and Glenn, for the absolute efforts it's garnered. And Andre, I'm also trying to build up a little bit of a shareholding, but less than yours. But to have Coronation and Prudential and yourself and other people around, I think from my own family point of view, it really gives us good comfort with the statements you've made particularly near the end today that this company is in good hands and will turn around. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much for those kind words, Ivan. Greatly appreciated.

Chris, if I get you clearly, are you saying Nampak is playing Ball? But anyway just a question from Ivan Soh from Sumitomo Corporation Asia and Oceania. Is Nampak planning any further acquisition of assets?

Our first priority is certainly not to be acquisitive. Our first priority is to get the gearing of this balance sheet down. That's number one. And importantly, as you would have seen in Glenn's numbers; the promising part in the absence of getting rid of assets, which we're attempting to do, is that the underlying businesses are generating such strong operating cash flow, which will assist us greatly while we go through the disposal program. So really when I say acquisitions, that's Horizon 3, which is a long way out.

And we need to get back to paying dividends. The job of our business is to produce consistent cash flow. And when we get the manufacturing metrics right and our models indicate we will start paying dividends and we think that's a big part of the value underpin from Nampak going forward to demonstrate the cash flow profile to pay good dividends. So well before we even look at an acquisition, that principle needs to be intact. I think that's what shareholders indicated as well on dividend. So I'd say acquisitions is the furthest thing from our mind at the moment. We need to run our operations efficiently before we think about acquisition.

And Daniel from Finway has a follow-up on Nigeria. He's asking is the buyer holding up the process as they work through the conditions that the regulators have given?

The buyer is not holding up the process. There are numerous aspects that the buyer has to contend with. He has other aspects in country and there are consequent implications. So we have to afford him and the FCCPC time to ruminate in respect of these conditions that have been set out.

And then a question from Cobus Cilliers, All Weather Capital. What volumes does the customer that was closed for 3 months bring back to Nampak if operating normally?

I wouldn't like to peg an exact number to it, but it's significant. We are in full supply of that -- that customer is in full supply of that raw material and it's not my job to forecast and I cannot forecast. But suffice to say, at the start of this financial year we're in full flight.

And a further question. If the spare Angola line is relocated, what does the capacity utilization look like in Angola?

If it's dispensed off?

Yes.

It doesn't change because the line that we would relocate to South Africa is completely unutilized. So we are currently at 33% capacity on the line that will remain, which means we've got so much runway for growth that we probably won't certainly not in my lifetime run out of capacity in Angola.

Questions from the floor.

Raj, I know you had a question.

Just a follow-up to Ivan's first comment on Nigeria. It's a very interesting topic currently for analysts and shareholders granted it's 6 months down the line. I was quite intrigued by your comment. Perhaps you can give us some comfort. You mentioned plan B and plan C. Hopefully, this transaction will conclude because you wouldn't want another flutter would we, Andre?

Well, I think you need to have some trust in the management team. That's why I made the comment on a flutter.

I wouldn't mind having a conversation with my wife in due course because mostly they are with a buyer in Nigeria. It's been taking place for a long time. And to the end, a flutter is a flutter. You have no guarantees when you do these transactions. That's why I like to close them out in 6 months.

But I think the point is if it doesn't happen, we do have a plan B to look up on buyers. And secondly, I think Glenn mentioned that the cash flow generation even though you've got ZAR 1 billion worth of losses from discontinued, ZAR 600 million of that arose from impairments of the assets. So the assets in naira terms is still running profitably even though Nigeria is probably in the worst possible position that it is. So even if you had to hold Nigeria for a period of time while you look for alternative buyers, that business I think will improve rather than decline going forward. I think you're probably through the worst in Nigeria at the moment, but it's Nigeria. So our view as a management team is one, we need to get a decent value for that asset. Don't give away the asset. I think we've got enough balance sheet capacity to deal with the delay and our bankers are supportive of that process, which is the most important thing. We've operated under duress for the last 18 months with bankers putting unnecessary pressure on us and we had to sell assets at prices which we didn't think were optimal. So now even if Nigeria doesn't happen now, I think we've got great support in Standard Bank and we do have to commend them. The 1 bank I have to single out now is Standard Bank.

Andre, can I interrupt? Can you please use the mic?

So we do need to commend Standard Bank in this process. They've worked with us constructively so that we don't get into a situation where if Nigeria takes longer, we're forced to make suboptimal decisions. So your options are 2. One, can you hold the asset for longer while you look for another buyer? Yes, we can. I think that the asset will generate positive cash flow. It's not going to do Angola for us, but at least we can hold it and figure out what the best way is to extricate ourselves from that market. We want out of that market, that's clear, but we don't want to be rushed to that decision. So we are already contemplating other alternatives, other buyers who potentially would be interested in the asset in Nigeria. But as Phil said, we've got faith in the current process and we're working that process as hard as possible, but you just don't have any certainty and we recognize that the market wants a certainty. For us to repay that amount of cash of our debt, just the benefit on the interest charge is enormous to us. So for us at the moment, it's not as much a balance sheet issue. I think we've derisked the balance sheet. It's getting the benefit from the interest and the amount of time which you have to spend actually managing an asset in Nigeria. There are enormous difficulties in raw material supply dealing with customers. The customers in Nigeria are different to the customers in South Africa. They chop and change the whole time and it's like a trading operation I think selling cans there. Here we've got a relationship business, there it's a trading business. And your volume certainty in that facility is completely different to the volume certainty which we've got in South Africa. So it soaks up an enormous amount of Phil and Glenn's emotional time to deal with that issue. So one, from a Board point of view, we focused on that asset, but we're not going to make silly decisions in terms of disposing that asset. And even if we don't dispose it, my point is I think we can handle it in the medium term.

And let me hasten to add, 3 months ago we didn't know that there was another ZAR 600 million coming in from the sale of I&CS in Zimbabwe. So we've built up a buffer in a few ways, our operating cash flows plus these new proceeds that will accrue to us.

It's Rajay from Excelsia Capital. Just a couple of questions. I think my first one on Nigeria has been answered. But maybe the other ones were a lot of consumer companies are talking about sort of stronger sales numbers post sort of September. So maybe you can comment a little bit on October, November and what you're seeing from a volume perspective in South Africa. The second one was I remember you talking about a COVID claim. Maybe you can just give us an update on where that process is and the likely amount? And then I think you talked about some new contracts in DivFood. Maybe just expand on the potential to add new customers within that business? And then the final one for Glenn is maybe just the tax rate guidance for the coming year?

Rajay, thanks for the questions. I look back at EPOS data so sales out the till in FMCG companies recently going back for quarter 2, quarter 3, and I was horrified to see the extent of category contraction and as you know, we're in the middle of this. So the fact that we could hold on to the kind of volume that we have got knowing what's going on out there, I spent my life in FMCG and I haven't seen volume contraction like that. So it's like a relief to see in the short term and we speak to our customers to see that there does seem to be a momentum shift. So I concur with your views that there is positivity; whether some of these macro comments, whether it's political aspects happening in the country, consumers feeling a bit more upbeat, maybe the slower or an ongoing reduction of interest rates; spending power and consumption levels seem to be lifting. Your second question? The COVID claim is ongoing. We never made a claim under the infectious diseases category because we could have got our money yesterday as many other companies did. We believe and we know that we should be obtaining a sizable amount more than that. So we're going through a legal process, which will culminate arguably in arbitration, but we certainly won't settle for the amount that most people have and we hope to conclude that in the first quarter of the new calendar year.

If I could just add to that, we have not raised any debt for that amount in our numbers because in terms of the accounting provisions until it's certain in terms of outcome and amount, we can't raise that potential recovery. So to the extent that we are successful in settling on a claim, there's a credit that will come through the numbers in the FY '25 year. And then just to answer you on the tax rate. There's currently a portion of our interest cost that is unproductive in the current structure and to the extent that the disposal proceeds are received and applied to what we call a disposal facility that will reduce that portion that is unproductive at the moment. I think the tax rate should start settling down quite a lot now because in the historic numbers, what you've seen is a very, very distorted tax rate position through hyperinflation accounting and the like because of Zimbabwe. With effect from the 1st of April this year, we changed the functional currency to dollar and now that it's in discontinued operations, I think all the vagaries in those tax computations should go away. So I think the tax rate should approximate more the statutory tax rates in the countries going forward and be far less complex.

And Rajay, your question around the growth trajectory for Diversified. So I've made mention of a client called Giants, Langeberg & Ashton Foods currently not in our numbers. I wouldn't like to publicly mention the value of those contracts. They are material in the life of the profitability of Diversified and we recently had a visit to our monoblock facility in Mobeni by a large organization that does lots and lots of aerosol type business. So we continue to plow ahead looking for these opportunities and they have been well articulated by Andre and his team. But you chip away, chip away, this is a share gaining strategy. But of course if you have market growth, which we're starting to see, we'll be the beneficiary of that as well. So as opposed to a double jeopardy, it portends growth opportunities.

And Glenn, guidance on the tax rate?

Glenn answered.

All right. Is there any questions from the conference call, operator?

There are no questions on the lines.

So if I can close. I have enormous respect, and I'm sure you all know him, for a gentleman called Karl Leinberger who works at Coronation. I had dealings with Karl from when I was young and good looking. Now I'm just good looking. And we were doing phenomenally well at that point in time I can't recall if it was at Tiger Brands or Pioneer Foods and he said to me, is there still something in the tank? Can you do more? Can these margins expand? And I said to him, Karl, the job is never done. The job is never done. And I leave you with this quote that no one has ever lived to outwork the job. It will always be bigger than the individual. So as a collective; we will continue to use our experience base that we have, our energy that we bring to the organization, the high performance anatomy that I want as an outcome for Nampak and as Andre said, hell, we're going to get back to paying you dividends and I trust that we won't disappoint you in the medium term. So thank you so much for your attention. And you would have noticed that we've also refined our logo. You may find this trite, I don't. It's symbolic. It's crisp. It connotes a future with positivity and renewal and that's where we're at at Nampak. So thanks again from myself and my management team and we look forward to engaging with those of you that we are seeing one-on-one during the course of the week. Thanks.