Peoplein Limited (PPE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Peoplein Limited FY '26 Full Year Results Briefing. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Tom Reardon, Managing Director. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Good morning, and welcome to Peoplein's Full Year 2026 Results Presentation. I'm joined by Peoplein's CFO, Adam Leake. It's been a privilege to step into the Managing Director's role over the past 4 months following my recent role leading the growth of the Engineering, Trades and Labour division. As everyone would be aware, we've had a lot of moving parts over the last year with the selling off of our Health division and Techforce and investment into New Zealand to further cement our staff mobility through the Pacific Asia and Trans-Tasman. Peoplein has continued to weather the changing economic conditions of 2026, ensuring that the business remains adaptable, resilient and operationally efficient. Our focus on staff and candidate mobility as well as focus on our core growth markets has enabled us to continue to outperform the staffing industry. We're maximizing our pricing and our workforce given our improved systems, reporting and market skills shortages. As a result, our billed rates are up 9.4% and hours up 6.3%. We're efficient going into FY '27. As a result, we're delivering a net revenue margin of 18.6%, over 50% up on our competitors with room for further improvement. We've capitalized on the largest infrastructure investment in Queensland history with Engineering, Trades and Labour delivering a solid organic growth and mitigating economic challenges in other sectors. We have a robust balance sheet going into FY '27 after collecting over 100% of normalized EBITDA, reducing our net debt ratio to 1.37x. Part of what's driving this confidence is the pending infrastructure boom in Queensland, which will generate strong market conditions for several years. Our origins are in Queensland, and nearly half of our revenue is generated in the state, so we're well positioned to capitalize. We've been successful increasing hours and rates across the business over the last year and continue to trend this way with permanent placement fees up 32% on H2 FY '25. Net revenue margin is consistent as we stabilize the new business mix, and cash collections have been a standout at over 100% further reduction in net debt. We are seeing growing momentum in the second half with EBITDA up 19% on the same half last year, driven by organic growth of circa 42% on last financial year of our Engineering, Trades and Labour business. Our New Zealand acquisition is currently outperforming expectations, and second half cash collection above top end of target post an abnormal first half with how the weeks landed. I'll hand it over to Adam now, who can run through the results in further detail.

Thank you, Tom. The financial year has been a busy one. It has been about continuing the journey of simplifying the business, improving the balance sheet and making sure we have the resources available to capitalize on the growth developing across the Queensland region in particular. We have seen an improvement in performance with normalized EBITDA for FY '26 reaching $19.0 million, up 1.6% on FY '25. Of most significance is the momentum in the second half with EBITDA of $8.5 million, up 19% on the prior corresponding half. This improved trading has been underpinned by our core business area of Engineering, Trades and Labour. Central to this growth has been the Queensland region that has started to see the commencement of key infrastructure and pre-Olympic projects. Organic growth, which excludes the impact of Infrawork, was 41.9% higher, reflecting the strong demand for skilled labor across a wide variety of sectors and locations. Our March 2026 acquisition of Infrawork in New Zealand has integrated well into the greater group. Financial performance is tracking ahead of our internal acquisition targets. There continues to be a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects in New Zealand, together with a more positive economic outlook, which has increased demand for both skilled and semi-skilled labor in the region. The pull factors of New Zealand labor moving to Australia as Australian demand picks up will always require supply of international resources into New Zealand to satisfy demand. The unique ability to continue to recruit skilled and semi-skilled labor from Asia into New Zealand ensures that Infrawork has a continued supply of candidates to deploy. A key focus of our business is our discipline in cash collections. Cash collections finished the full year at 101.7% of normalized EBITDA. This above-target performance continues to improve the overall balance sheet health, reducing the net debt ratio to 1.37x pro forma normalized EBITDA. This is particularly good spot so soon after a strategic acquisition. Turning to the detailed results. Revenue from ongoing operations was $788.7 million, down 4.3% for the full year, but essentially flat in the second half compared to the prior corresponding period. Net revenue increased 1.3% to $101.9 million, supported by higher billing rates across all divisions. Again, there has been momentum building in the second half of the year with net revenue rising 8.5% against the second half last year. In particular, permanent placement fees rose 8.5% for the year and were 32% higher in the second half. And this momentum has continued into July and August, particularly in professional services roles. Cost discipline remains strong. Overheads increased only 1.2% despite continued investment in sales, technology and compliance. This includes the impact of Infrawork. Organically, excluding Infrawork, overhead costs fell 1% on the prior year. This allowed the net revenue margin to remain stable at 18.6%. Normalized EBITDA was higher at $18.965 million, an increase of 1.6% for the year and up 19% in the second half. Lower amortization helped to improve normalized NPATA to $8.695 million, an increase of 29.9%, improving NPATA per share to $0.0818 per share, a rise of 32.8%. The charts on Page 6 show the stabilization of the business over the last 3 years. Revenue has been stable from $791.2 million in FY '24 to $788.6 million in FY '26 as we simplified the portfolio and operated through softer markets. Despite that lower revenue base, normalized EBITDA stabilized and moved up to $19.0 million this year from $18.6 million in FY '25. The net revenue margin has been resilient. It improved from 18% in FY '24 to 18.6% in FY '25 and has held that level through '26. This reflects the benefit of higher billing rates, business mix and careful cost control. The normalized NPATA per share has also rebounded to close to FY '24 levels, rising from $0.063 in FY '25 to $0.0818 in '26. FY '26 is really the year of stabilization with the positive momentum really coming in the second half of FY '26. As we turn to our key operating divisions, Engineering, Trades and Labour was the strongest performing division and the foundations of the group. Normalized EBITDA increased 74.8% for the full year and was 122.7% higher in the second half alone. Billed hours rose 5.5% across FY '26. Growth accelerated in the second half with billed hours rising 15.2% from FY '25 levels. We continue to see stronger demand for skilled roles in Queensland and increased activity in New Zealand infrastructure. Billed rates increased 13%. Skill shortages, wage inflation and a greater mix of skilled placements supported pricing, while favorable workers' compensation outcomes also benefited margins. The strength was broad-based. Every specialty grew by more than 20%. Skilled and semi-skilled roles across blue collar and hospitality have seen significant upticks in demand. This increase in hours and rates has come with lower costs across the division, down 5.8%. There remains unfilled demand for roles in most blue-collar areas. This will continue to see improvements in pricing and margins into FY '27. Our acquisition of Infrawork completed on the 1st of March '26 and is fully integrated and performing ahead of its acquisition targets. The speed in integrating operations with New Zealand in under 4 weeks shows we have the unique ability to find, integrate, operate and expand acquisitions to achieve planned targets. This gives us confidence that the division is well positioned to capture the next phase of infrastructure-led demand, both locally here in Australia but also in New Zealand. Food and Agriculture faced the most difficult operating conditions during the year. Normalized EBITDA declined 18.3% on FY '25 levels. Drought conditions across Victoria, South Australia and Western New South Wales and now recently in Southwestern Queensland resulted in reduced livestock levels in these regions and impacted operating hours of client sites. At the same time, clients are delaying replacing expiring visas and with sector demand softening impacted by U.S. and Chinese tariff changes. All of this has the effect of reducing the number of PALM scheme candidates to 3,640. This resulted in billed hours down 15.3%. Some of this impact has been offset by favorable workers' compensation outcomes, improving billing rates. Management responded with disciplined cost action. Costs were reduced 8.6% to partially offset the lower activity. This is happening at the same time as compliance costs across the sector are rising significantly. Increasing costs for accommodation in regional areas, timing between securing accommodation and candidates landing and impacts of reduced hours is all placing pressure on profitability. While the RWM Food and Agriculture business remains profitable, focus is ensuring it remains lean and able to grow when conditions improve. Professional Services delivered a steady result across FY '26 with stable temporary activity and clear signs of recovery in permanent recruitment. Normalized EBITDA declined 7.8% for the year and was 3.8% lower in the second half. Temporary billed hours have, however, remained steady since January 2025, providing a more stable base. The encouraging indicator is permanent placement fees. They increased 9.4% across FY '26 and were 37.5% higher in the second half. We are seeing confidence return across corporate services, finance and IT roles with Queensland and New South Wales continuing to be the strongest markets. We have invested in additional sales and recruitment capability to convert that improving activity into placements and earnings. Momentum in the permanent recruitment market, particularly in Brisbane, is continuing at a rapid pace and has started FY '27 ahead of expectations. While the full year EBITDA result was lower, the second half placement trend points to improving demand and provides a stronger platform entering '27. Cash conversion remains a key strength of the result. The information presented is the full cash flow from the group, including operations from the discontinued operations. Full details of this are available in the full financial report. The reduction in operating cash flow for the year was lower with the reduction in the size of the group. Our key metric focuses though on the cash collection to normalized EBITDA. This again was above our target range for the year at 101.7%, reflecting the disciplined focus that the business has to cash collections. Debtor days remained consistent at 27.5 days. Our focus does remain on ensuring we operate in this 80% to 90% conversion ratio. The strong cash collections at above the top end of the target range, combined with the capital access from divestments has resulted in significantly derisking of the balance sheet. This has been a strategic financial focus over the last 3 years to ensure we are in a good balance sheet position for growth. Total net debt at year-end was $29.6 million with cash balances of $35.7 million. The cash balance is lower than the December '25 as we used the proceeds from the earlier sale of Techforce and Health and Community on the acquisition of Infrawork that was made in cash in March '26. The group has fulfilled its previously announced share buyback program of $6 million during the year, returning some of this excess cash back to shareholders. Even after that investment, the net debt ratio remains conservative at 1.37x. That financial flexibility supports several capital management options available for the future. Overall, this 3-year program to improve the balance sheet, stabilize operations and set up the group for the next growth phase has been successful. The improving financial performance, balance sheet and the emerging Brisbane Olympic opportunity has now commenced is setting up for quite exciting times. I might turn back now to Tom.

Thanks, Adam. Our purpose is to power the people and industries that build nations. This is what we're currently doing through our mobility and staff from Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific. The core of the group is trades and essential industries. That is where we started and is still the heart of the business. Professional Services sits around that core and services the same clients, which means the 2 halves feed each other rather than competing for attention. Then the opportunity, there's a $119 billion infrastructure pipeline in Queensland in front of us, and we're positioned 2 ways. First, proven capability. More than half of our revenue already comes from Queensland where the spend is landing. We mobilize thousands of PALM workers a year, and we have an established pipeline out of the Philippines and New Zealand to service this. Second, new capability. The Visahub acquisition brings visa processing in-house, which makes mobilization faster and cheaper for us and for our clients. The Trans-Tasman mobility opens up a second supply route. We're in a very defensible position where our clients and competitors can't replicate. We've already proven where the spend is landing and the supply routes we're building are hard for anyone else to replicate with volume. Strong demand plus scarce labor gives Peoplein a lasting competitive advantage. Peoplein has government-supported channels to recruit workers from the Pacific and New Zealand, an advantage competitors cannot easily copy. Additionally giving us an opportunity to send PALM workers post their 4-year skilling in Australia to New Zealand food processing facilities and direct access to skilled workers from the Philippines with 5 to 10 years construction experience into Australia, both direct and through the Trans-Tasman agreement by New Zealand. Queensland is entering a period of unprecedented infrastructure investment with record spending projected across the state over the next 7 years. Infrastructure Australia estimates that Queensland will face a shortfall of more than 50,000 engineers and construction workers, with demand expected to accelerate from this year and peak between year '29 and FY '30. We're already seeing momentum build, reinforcing our confidence in the scale and timing of this opportunity. Peoplein is exceptionally well positioned to support Queensland's infrastructure-led growth through our scale, specialist brands and established local footprint and international mobility access. We're Queensland's largest staffing business with more than 50% of the group's revenue generated in the state and several of our staffing brands holding top 3 market positions. AWX, one of our brands, brings more than 25 years of infrastructure and construction expertise. This is now supported by deep talent pools across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. PERIGON GROUP provides the professional talent, including finance and human resources capability that organizations will need as they expand their Queensland operations. Tribe is positioned to support the increased hospitality demand expected as infrastructure activity strengthens regional and metropolitan economies. Vision Surveys are the first on the ground, working while feeding through projects to our other brands. Our Queensland heritage and network of regional offices provide a compelling local content proposition for major project tenders. Together, Peoplein's scale, sector expertise and regional reach position us to be a workforce engine for Queensland's growth through to 2032, supported by skilled workers from New Zealand as the largest provider of infrastructure offshore staffing in New Zealand currently. On top of these, data centers dominate the nonresidential building outlook, both here and in New Zealand, with our electrical and building clients tendering for major works with our support with both local and foreign skilled and semi-skilled staff to them. An example of this is that the New Zealand qualified Filipino electrician can be granted a Queensland electrical license by the electrical board based on skills agreements between both countries. Though we have only just had the New Zealand business for a quarter, we have already started to test that process with the support of our in-house Visahub and the government. Peoplein enters FY '27 as a more focused, resilient and efficient business following portfolio reshaping and continued operational discipline through challenging market conditions. Improving pricing, high workforce utilization, strong cash conversion and lower leverage provide a solid platform for growth, while our scale, specialist capability and talent mobility networks position us to capture emerging demand. With a leading presence in Queensland, we are particularly well placed to benefit from the state's major infrastructure investment cycle, complemented by our targeted acquisition in New Zealand. The business has been stabilized, and management remains focused on converting these structural advantages into sustainable earnings growth and long-term shareholder value. Myself and Adam will now open the forum to any questions and give everyone an opportunity to ask.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Elise Kennedy with Petra Capital.

A quick question just around the Queensland construction boom. Can you remind us what percentage is directly exposed to Queensland? Obviously, the division, but what Queensland specific? And then when do you think the timeline to start to really see that construction boom come through your numbers?

Yes. I'm happy to take the first bit. And so in our overall group, about 51% of our total revenue comes from the Queensland market, and that's skewed a little bit higher in the Engineering, Trades and Labour where it sits at 60% of that group. So it is quite significantly exposed to the Queensland market. We are starting to see some increased demand from, as we've talked about, infrastructure spend and pre-Olympic projects. But Tom, do you want to comment on timeline?

Yes. I think, look, the peak's around the '29, '30 year, but we're actually seeing some traction come through now. We're also seeing, Elise, the fact that there's a lot of dirt being moved in the infrastructure space to ensure that they -- and the residential space to get ahead of the Olympics. So the commentary, I suppose, from a lot of the property developers that we talk to is that they need to be out of the ground by mid-FY '27 for any of the private construction space. Otherwise, they're going to have, I suppose, a pushback due to trade availability and companies being able to complete. So we're seeing a lot of cranes being put into the skyline currently to try and get a start before the Olympics infrastructure starts as well.

So do you think you'd see it in the next half start to come through? I know that you said the peak is '29, '30, but given some of those other moving parts or is that still too early?

I think based on the works that we're tendering the infrastructure around the Olympics, the actual Olympics works will only just be starting, but the infrastructure around that Olympics works will definitely be in the second half of this year.

Your next question comes from Ian Munro with Ord Minnett.

Relates to Infrawork and also PALM, obviously, noting your comments around the ability to sort of transfer labor between the 2 markets. Should we be increasingly taking the performance of those segments and business units together? Just trying to get a sense of the magnitude of outperformance at Infrawork relative to some of the drought conditions within the PALM business and potentially kind of offsetting that with more workers in other segments through the PALM.

Yes, interesting question. When we look at the 2 businesses very separately, in the very infant days of us having Infrawork itself. But you're right in the sense that it does add mobility to one of our tools that we have. So with drought conditions in Australia, there's more ability to move workers from underserved regions to other regions, and that may include then transferring them to New Zealand, if need be, into agricultural areas. We continue to explore that at the moment with opportunities lining up in New Zealand, but we haven't yet transported people from Australia to New Zealand at this stage.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Liam Schofield with Morgans.

Tom, Adam, just 2 quick questions. Can you just touch on seasonality sort of going forward? Has anything sort of changed around the seasonal patterns given recent sales and acquisitions?

No, not a great deal of difference, Liam. Obviously, it just depends on where the weeks land for the year, tend to have 27 weeks in the start of the year and then less in the second half depending on which year it is, which obviously had an impact on our cash flow for the first half of FY '26. But from a volume perspective, the second half is generally busier due to the Christmas period shutdown for construction sector and also for maintenance sectors rolling through scheduled maintenance for the food processing through that Christmas period. So generally, the second half, but then you also have Easter as the impact in the second half.

Yes. So just think of that third quarter in any financial year is the softest.

Yes, absolutely.