Raubex Group Limited (RBX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to our results webinar for the year ended 29 February 2024. It is a great pleasure to present to you the results for the financial year ended 29 February 2024. Thank you very much for joining us. As is customary, I will make some high-level remarks, then hand over to Sam Odendaal, who will take you through the financial performance, and Dirk Lourens, our Operational Overview. I will then come back with a review of our outlook, order book and value proposition, which speaks to our strategy. Feel free to post your questions during the duration of the session, and we will respond at the end. Starting with some reflections from my side, the group has really delivered yet another pleasing set of results. As you would have seen, this year, Raubex celebrates 50 years of excellence and growth, an absolute testimony to the resilience of the group. The group's performance has been commendable, particularly given the myriad of challenges faced by the country as well as the industries in which we operate. This performance is especially pleasing in light of the fact that the Beitbridge Border Post project is no longer included in the numbers, given the completion of the project in the prior financial year. Our results are mainly attributable to the very strong performance of Bauba Resources as well as our operations in Western Australia. We are proud to announce an excellent growth rate of 27.5% in our order book to ZAR 25.5 billion. This is testimony to running a diversified order book and our ability to execute projects on time and within budget. Later in the presentation, I will provide you with a detailed information on our order book. We are encouraged by the current tender activities in all divisions and we have seen an increase in SANRAL tenders. We are selective in taking on opportunities with good risk-versus-reward ratio. I will now hand over to Sam Odendaal to take you through the financial information.

Thank you, Felicia. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Just from my side as well, I'm very pleased to present the financial highlights for the year 2024. If we look at the revenue, it's up 13.8% to ZAR 17.43 billion. Operating profit is up 20.4% to ZAR 1.54 billion. Headline earnings per share also increased to ZAR 476.3 per share. We generated good cash from operations of ZAR 1.9 billion and the capital expenditure also increased to ZAR 1.76 billion. Our order book is currently sitting at record levels of ZAR 25.5 billion. The group's operating margin is healthy at 8.8%. We declared a final dividend of ZAR 0.92 per share to bring the total dividend declared for the year to ZAR 1.55 per share. The return on our capital employed is at 16.5%. If we look at the summary of the income statement, we did already look at the revenue, the operating profit and the margin, including the operating profit is a recovery from old Zambia debt of ZAR 68 million. Net finance cost increased to 36.6%. The profit after tax is up 25.1% to almost ZAR 1.1 billion. The effective tax rate is down to 27.1%. The biggest reason for the decrease is that the corporate tax rate of companies was reduced from 28% to 27% last year and the deferred tax adjustments on the sales losses that was not recognized in the previous year, but now utilized. A more normalized tax rate would be around the 27.5% mark. Profit in noncontrolling interest is up 46.7%, which quite a few companies with minority stakes that was performing well for the year, like Bauba and Australia, instead increased. The earnings per share and the EPS is up by more than 20%. If we look at the segmental analysis, that's the makeup of the revenue and the operating profit per division as a percentage of the total revenue and the operating profit for the group. If we start with the divisional spread of the revenue, that's on the left. It's a very similar split to that of the previous year. Materials Handling and Mining's contribution is up from 19% to 23%, mostly because of Bauba Resources. The revenue contribution is slightly higher in the Construction Materials division, with a reduction in the Roads and Earthworks division from 39% down to 32%. The contribution by the Infrastructure Division is very much in line with last year at 31%. If we move over to the operating profit distribution in the group, it was a good contribution by all the divisions. Starting again with the Materials Handling and Mining division. Operating profit contribution increased significantly from 13% to 38%. All the companies making up this division had an increase in operating profit and margins, with the biggest contribution by Bauba Resources and our Namdeb project in Namibia. The Construction Materials division, again, had a similar contribution than that of last year, with a 7% overall contribution. The biggest contribution in this division is from the Quarry operations. Those are a bitumen company also had a strong second half performance, and included in the Construction Materials profit is a restructuring and impairment cost of around ZAR 72 million. The operating profit contribution in the Roads and Earthworks division is down from 40% to 22%. Included in last year's operating profit was the [indiscernible] border contribution, that's not included this year. The operating profit margin in this division is 5.8%, which is in line with market guidance, and we expect this margin to gradually increase in 2025 and the 2026 financial year. The Infrastructure Division, they contributed 33% to the group's total operating profit, the biggest contribution coming again from our Australian operation that's reported in this division, but there was also a good performance from the Commercial Building and Housing side and also from our Concrete and Infrastructure business. This slide is an analysis of the geographical segments. The revenue contribution in South Africa increased from 71% to 75%. Australian revenue also increased from 16% to 19%, with a reduction in the revenue contribution in the Rest of Africa. Looking at the operating profit split, there was a big increase in the operating profit contribution in South Africa, up from 34% to 70%. This was mainly because of the increase in operating profit at Bauba Resources, but all operations in South Africa performed well. Western Australia is contributing 18% of the group's operating profit and the operating profit contribution in the rest of Africa is down from 47% to 12%. This is a look at the group's performance over the last 5 years. Our turnover grew from ZAR 8.7 billion in 2020 to the current revenue of ZAR 17.4 billion, with substantial growth over the last 3 years. Operating profit was also as low as ZAR 364 million in 2021, and it grew over the last few years to just over ZAR 1.5 billion. This is a compounded annual growth rate of 49.3% over the last 5 years. The Roads and Earthworks division's operating profit increased drastically since 2020 and the diversification into Mining with addition of Bauba is also starting to pay off with a big contribution by this division in 2024. The Infrastructure Division had a steady performance over the last 3 years, and all indications are the Construction Materials division's contribution will also increase over the next few years with good prospects in the pipeline. If we look to earnings growth, it's in line with operating profit growth, and the group is consistent in paying out dividends every year, without missing a dividend payment to shareholders. Management is a big drive to improve on our capital that we employ and the return on capital employed increased from 3.8% in 2019 to 16.5% in 2024, and that is a compounded annual growth rate of 34.1% over the last 5 years. What is evident looking at this slide is the importance of our diversification strategy that keeps Group [indiscernible] evolving. And through the diversification strategy, we keep on performing consistently, and we keep on growing in that -- in a sector that's been struggling for a few years. It's a record that we're very proud of. The group still has a strong balance sheet. The result is that we have enough available facility in place to participate and to capitalize on the increased danger activity that we experienced at the moment throughout all our divisions. This is a summary of the statement of financial position. I'm not going to go through it in detail. The property plant and equipment have increased 27.7% to ZAR 4.68 billion. Our contract assets also increased 55.4% and this is the cause of an increase in both retention and work in progress. Our cash and cash equivalents is stable at ZAR 1.66 billion. We will look at the cash flow statement in a future slide. With the increase in property, plant and equipment, borrowings also increased by 41.3%, and the current liabilities increased 38.9% and that's mostly because of work in progress that increases in the Roads Division. The group's net asset value per share is just over ZAR 33 compared to the current share price of around ZAR 31 per share. The group's CapEx spend have increased a lot over the last few years. A big portion of the spend was on expansion CapEx. The group's order book has grown substantially over the last few years, and in order to gear ourselves and to increase capacity, we have to spend quite a bit on CapEx. The group was awarded the Namdeb project in Namibia recently, and we had to buy equipment to execute that project. And we also acquired the majority stake in Bauba Resources. Bauba showed a lot of potential, and we spend the CapEx to the other company to generate maximum profits going forward. We are at a point where most of the expansion CapEx was spent. That is up to 2024 financial year. The spend will have a positive impact on profitability going forward. And all indications are that we have reached the peak and that the CapEx spend should start to decrease going forward. The below graph just indicate the CapEx spend per division. Majority of the group's CapEx is spent in the Materials Handling and Mining division. The other division is not that capital intensive. This is the CapEx spend of Bauba since 2023, up to the planned spend for the 2025 financial year. In summary, we've spent CapEx at Moeijelijk Mine on an underground conveyor belt system and also on grid connections. And at Kookfontein, we put up a crushing circuit and a spiral plant to beneficiate the chrome and also a Tailings Storage Facility. The balance of the CapEx spend was on the underground mine infrastructure and stopping assets. Planned spend for 2025 is to complete the Tailing Storage Facility and also to put up a PGM plant to beneficiate the tailings. The underground mine infrastructure and stripping assets should also reduce in 2025. If we look at the cash flow statement, we started the year on a cash balance of almost ZAR 1.7 billion. Some of the bigger movements were operating cash generated of ZAR 2.3 billion. Working capital outflows was around ZAR 400 million. We've paid taxes of ZAR 338 million, and the cash flow from investing activities was an outflow of ZAR 1.7 billion. That was mostly on our CapEx spend. Net borrowing inflows was around ZAR 500 million, and we paid dividends of ZAR 314 million, and that brings us back to a similar cash balance then at the start of the year. Cash at the half year with the August results was around ZAR 1.2 billion, to have increased -- it has increased nicely during the second half of the year. We expect the cash balance to also increase towards the latter part of the new financial year. The group will declare a dividend of ZAR 0.92 per share. The interim dividend was a dividend of ZAR 0.63 per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to ZAR 1.55 per share. And that is very much in line with our 3x dividend cover policy and below is just the date of dividend payments. I will now hand you over to Dirk Lourens to take you through the operational overview.

Thank you, Sam, for the introduction. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As customary, let's begin with a general overview of the group's operational structure. The group comprises of 22 independent companies reporting into 4 divisions. At Raubex, we believe in working hard while having fun, all while we create shareholders' value. We achieve this through a robust decentralized management structure that foster's ownership and a strong sense of entrepreneurship. We prioritize internal growth, emphasizing succession planning and mentoring to cultivate young talent within the group. We start off with the Materials Handling and Mining division. Revenue increased by 39.6%, mainly due to the improved production at Bauba Kookfontein North and South pits, and the increased production at our Namdeb operations. Operating profit rose by a remarkable 246.8%. Operating profit margin increased to 14.6% from a previous year's 5.9%. We started with Bauba Resources, a company that has continued to excel in its operations, contributing to the success of the group. Kookfontein opencast chrome mine performed exceptionally well in the period under review. The demand for chrome and PGM ore remains favorable, supported by stable high chrome prices and a favorable exchange rate. We successfully commissioned Phase 1 of the 80,000 tons per month chrome ore wash plant and crushing circuit at Kookfontein, marking a significant milestone in our expansion efforts. Furthermore, the collaboration between the subsidiary companies have yielded fruitful results for entire group, with Raubex Construction benefiting in building the Tailings dam, SPH doing the contract mining and B&E doing the beneficiation. Additionally, we are excited to announce the acquisition of a 74% shareholding in Naboom Mining Company, which adds substantial value to our portfolio with its undeveloped opencast primary chrome and PGM resource. Bauba will have a 77 million tonne resource between all 3 mining operations, an average chrome reserve of 23.3 million tonnes at a grade of 32.8% with an average PGM grade of 1.31 grams per tonne. We deemed it necessary to present a salient number of Bauba Resources separately from the group's numbers to better illustrate the financial benefit to the group. Revenue as well as operating profit increased by 74%. Operating margin remains the same at 15%. EBITDA increased to ZAR 508 million. Total production increased to 1.6 million tonnes from the previous year's 780,000 tonnes. Total volumes sold increased by 76.6% to 1.3 million tonnes. Met grade price CIF China increased to $286 per tonne. The exchange rate remained favorable at ZAR 18.68 to the dollar. Capital expenditure increased to ZAR 734 million. Next, we look at the other companies in the Mining and Materials Handling division. B&E International has continued its meaningful contribution to the results, particularly through the ongoing 5-year Namdeb contract. Towards the end of the financial year, we saw a significant increase in the contract crushing activity due to the award of some road contracts by SANRAL. B&E are doing well on the operation and maintenance of the processing plant at both Kookfontein and Moeijelijk. SBH Kundelilla has been negatively affected this year by the termination of the Pilanesberg Platinum Mining contract due to a low platinum price. The inefficiencies of Transnet has also negatively impacted the iron ore ship loading contract at Saldanha Bay Harbor. OMV faced challenges on the Gypsum side, due to the low demand in the manufacturing of cement. On a positive note, ready-mix concrete and aggregate supply did very well due to the supply of material to the career on tailings storage facility contract. We remain optimistic about their prospects, especially with the successful performance of the investment made in Attaclay, a bentonite source located at Steelport. This is a picture from Bauba Resources, Kookfontein Mine. Next up, we've got a picture from the Rustenburg Eco-Gypsum process. The next picture is from our Kareerand Quarry by B&E International. Next, we look at the Construction Materials division. Revenue increased by 29%, primarily due to the good performance of the quarry operations in both South Africa and Botswana. Operating profit increased by 41.1%. Operating profit margin increased to 4.8% from the previous year's 4.3%. The restructuring cost of the KwaZulu-Natal asphalt operations during FY '23 and FY '24 impacted margins negatively. The performance of the Construction Materials division has been boosted by the robust performance of Raumix, our commercial quarry operations, driven by increased commercial sales in the North as well as volumes in the South increase due to the award of SANRAL road projects. Increased economic activity in the Transkei contributed to their profits. Raumix produced a total of 5.7 million tonnes of aggregates in a year. Significant aggregate sales in Botswana were boosted by water-related infrastructure projects in the surrounding areas of Gaborone. In KwaZulu-Natal, the restructuring and optimization of the 4 remaining asphalt plants is ongoing, with renewed focus to meet the growing demand on the N2 and N3 SANRAL projects. The heavy rainfall experienced in KwaZulu-Natal during the year led to disruptions in construction activities, causing a significant portion of plant asphalt volumes on the order book to be carried over into FY '25. The profitability of asphalt operations in the rest of South Africa regions, outside KwaZulu-Natal, remained under pressure during FY '24. We saw a solid performance by Tosas due to the increase in demand for bitumen during the summer months in the second half of the financial year. Currently, Tosas imports approximately 75% of its bitumen requirements, while procuring the remaining balance locally. By partnering with reputable international suppliers, Tosas ensures a consistent supply of high-quality bitumen, essential for maintaining the standards of its asphalt operations. The increase in volumes of imported bitumen has placed an unnecessary burden on their working capital. This is a picture of national asphalt portland plant in Cape Town. This is a picture where Tosas is busy spraying bitumen on the Bierspruit Thabazimbi project. This picture of mixes Donkerhoek Quarry in the eastern side of Victoria. Next up, we look at Roads and Earthworks division. Revenue, excluding the Beitbridge Border Post Project from FY '23 increased by 8%. Operating profit, excluding Beitbridge increased by 47.3%. Our operating profit margin increased to 5.8% and margins are in line with management's expectations. All our SANRAL projects are performing exceptionally well with progress, that's on time and within budget. One project that deserves special mentioning is the construction of the Senqu River Bridge in Lesotho. I'm pleased to report that progress on this big infrastructure project is proceeding exactly as planned. Furthermore, I am delighted to share that this division had witnessed a notable surge in tender awards within the sector over the past few months. This uptick in activity is a promising sign of growing confidence and investment in infrastructure development. Noteworthy of the Ceres, Van Rhyns pass, Franschhoek and Theewaterskloof projects for Western Cape Provincial Government of ZAR 1.02 billion as well as the Bakwena N4 Rustenburg project of ZAR 1.3 billion. Moreover, it is worth noting that a substantial number of contract awards are still pending, which has the potential to further bolster our secured order book. With the general increase in project awards as well as advertisements in the road and infrastructure sector, we do have the luxury to tender new opportunities at slightly better margins. This presents exciting prospects for the future growth and sustainability of this division. In addition to our operational successes. I am pleased to announce that during the reporting year, the group successfully recovered ZAR 67.8 million from the Zambia Road Development Agency for the long outstanding debt. This is a picture of Raubex construction upgrade of the Moloto road, a picture at the N1 Beaufort West through done by -- done by Roadmac Surfacing Cape, also Roadmac Surfacing, re-sufacing the N12 at Delmas. This is a picture of our flagship project in KwaZulu-Natal into KwaMashu. It's between which longer and durable. Next up, we look at the Infrastructure division. Revenue, excluding the Beitbridge Border Post project from FY '23 increased by 42.7%. Operating profit, excluding Beitbridge, increased by 120.4%. Operating profit margin decreased to 9.5% due to the conclusion of the Beitbridge project in the previous financial year. The exceptional growth in revenue for this division can be primarily attributed to the outstanding performance of our companies in Western Australia. Their exceptional work ethic, commitment to excellence and innovative approaches have significantly contributed to this division's overall success. The repairs to storm water drainage due to flood in KZN as well as the Western and Eastern Cape has positively contributed to the increase in order book of infrastructures. In addition to our infrastructure projects, our focus remains steadfast on residential development projects in the Western Cape with a particular emphasis on affordable housing. Moreover, I'm excited to announce our heightened focus on increased activity in the private renewable energy sector. The signing of the contract for the private wind farm project near Murraysburg in the Western Cape marks a significant milestone for this division. Construction on this wind farm is set to commence midyear. Additionally, I'm proud to share that EMPA secured its first Keystone manufacturing contract for wind towers in the Eastern Cape. This achievement not only demonstrate the division's capabilities and expertise, but also positions us as a key player in the renewable energy sector, paving the way for future growth and success. This is a picture of the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Plant Project that's been done with -- by Empa Structures. This is a project in Stellenbosch, it's Newinbosch development by Raubex Building. There's another project by Raubex Building, it's Urban Development close to Orlando towers in Soweto. Next up, we look at international portion, specifically the Rest of Africa. Revenue, excluding the Beitbridge Bridge project, increased by 142.6% from the previous year. Operating profit, excluding Beitbridge, from FY '23 increased by more than 800%. Operating profit margin, excluding the Beitbridge protect increased to 19%. First and foremost, the sharp decline in revenue and operating profit can be attributed to the completion of the Beitbridge Border Post Project in the previous financial year. This landmark project not only contributed significantly to our revenue stream, but also bolstered our operating profit. Its completion marks the end of a successful chapter, but it also presents us with new challenges and opportunities for growth. Moving forward, Raubex will still be responsible for the operations and maintenance of the Border Post for the next 17 years. This underscores our dedication to provide sustainable solutions in maintaining the infrastructure we built for the benefit of the concession there. It also highlights our confidence in our capabilities to deliver excellence in operations and maintenance services. As reported earlier, the Senqu River Bridge project in Lesotho is progressing well. It's on time and it's within budget. Furthermore, the Namdeb project in Namibia for the provision of mining services to Southern Coastal mines is surpassing expectations. This project exemplifies our ability to come up with tailor-made solutions to fulfill our clients' needs. Additionally, the performance from our quarry operations in Botswana received a significant boost from water-related infrastructure projects in the surrounding area of Gaborone. This is a picture showing our operations in Namibia, B&E busy doing the mining at Namdeb. This is a picture of the Senqu Bridge that Raubex Construction is busy building in Lesotho. Next up, we look at international and in specific, the Australia operations. Revenue increased by 31.5%. Operating profit increased by 12.6%. Operating profit margin decreased to 8.4% from a previous 9.8% FY '23. I'm proud to announce that our operations in Western Australia have continued to excel with the group gaining further market share through the establishment of ROADMAC Australia. This strategic move has not only solidified our presence in the region but has also enabled us to capture new opportunities and expand our footprint in the market. Furthermore, Westforce, one of our flagship companies is capitalizing on the momentum gained from the successful completion of the latest wind farm project by securing additional contracts for wind farm and battery storage facilities. Moreover, construction activity in the Pilbara region remains buoyant, presenting lucrative opportunities for the group. With all three Raubex's companies well positioned to capitalize on this market. We are poised to for sustainable growth and success in the region. Our track record of delivering high-quality projects on time and within budget has earned us the trust and confidence of clients and stakeholders alike. Further solidifying our position as a market leader. In addition to our construction endeavors, we are excited to announce further expansion of our service offering in the mining environment. Recognizing the growing demand for water pipeline installation in pit dewatering operations, we are increasing our capacity to cater to these expanding opportunities. This is a picture of the Tropicana Wind Farm recently completed by Westforce Construction. And this is a picture of Thomas Road, a project that has also recently been completed by Raubex Construction in Australia. This concludes my portion of the presentation. I will now be handing you back to Felicia. Thank you.

Thank you, [indiscernible]. Okay. Looking at our order book comparatively with the previous year. It is evident that our efforts are reflected in the private sector work, which increased from 26.8% last year to 34.9% this year. This is followed by SANRAL at 25.5% versus 80% last year. Rest of Africa is at 13.7% this year compared to 28.95% (sic) 18.9% last year. Provincial has increased to 9.9% from 3.4%. Australia at 6.2% versus 11.8% in the previous year. We have also increased our concessionaires order book to 5.7% from 3.3%, while municipalities have declined to 4.1% versus 5.8% last year. This graph shows the order book time line over the next 3 years, which indicates that the pipeline of work over this period remains strong and consistent. Moving on, you can see the history of our order book. It shows how the group has grown over the past years. Concessionaires order book value was included under the Other Parastatal status in the previous years, for FY '23 and '24, we stripped out the concessionaires order book value to further disaggregate the clients. Pleasing to note is that the compound annual growth rate of our order book over a 5-year period is a healthy 26.1%. We are pleased to report that each division has reported an increase in their order books. The increases in the order books per division were as follows: Materials Handling & Mining division, 8.2%; Construction Materials division at 71.7%, Roads and Earthworks division at 30.2% and lastly, Infrastructure Division at 18.8%. This current slide illustrates what each division's contribution to the group's order book is; you will note that the Roads and Earthworks division remains the largest contributor to the order book at 40%. Infrastructure Division at 33% and Materials Handling and Mining 20% and the Construction Materials division at 7%. Important to note, our core message remains the same. We continue to build the business to ensure that we have a sustainable business over the long term whilst creating shareholder value for all our employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers. Moving on to the nonfinancial aspects of the business, which are equally important to us. The focus into our ESG initiatives continued over the past year. Our commitment to value creation is intrinsically tied to enhancing the quality of life and well-being through the communities where we operate. Raubex across the both its African and International endeavors prioritizes investment in people and communities while also acting responsibly to minimize its environmental impacts. Our training and development spend of our workforce has increased by 11.7% as we encourage our employees to upscale themselves. Our diversification policy is robust. And this year, we managed to increase our women-to-men ratio by 70 basis points and our historically disadvantaged people ratio by 170 basis points. We are pleased to announce that our carbon emissions declined by 1.2%. This is mainly as a result of lower electricity consumed. This is the first year that we have recorded water consumption at all our operations. Thus, the increase is not a fair reflection of our water usage. Moving on, although we increased our direct workforce by 8.1% it must be noted that Raubex, including indirect job creation has increased our total workforce by an impressive 23.3% to 17,596 people. Jobs classified as indirect refers to people in communities being used for part time or [ one-off ] jobs. This slide showcases some of the CSI projects we are involved in. A project close to my heart is the Esther program. Esther focuses on creating dignity and hope for girls and women in South Africa. It is a well-known fact that thousands of girls between the ages of 13 and 18 years old, do not have direct access to sanitary way due to financial restraints. The lack of access to sanitary products is a significant barrier to education for many girls. With most missing at least 1 week of school each month. This has a direct influence on the academic success and the welfare of the community. An initiative like Esther aims to make a real difference in those girl's life. By providing them with such products, which it also manufactures. In addition, the project provides training and employment opportunities for women who have suffered from abuse and in this way, contributes to the empowerment and economic independence of these women. In total, Raubex has spent ZAR 5.4 million on various CSI projects. Looking at our 5-year strategy, it has been steadfast throughout our 50 years of existence. We have seven key pillars. We continue to focus on increasing our profitability and grow a quality order book. We expect to grow organically as well as through strategic acquisitions like our investment in Bauba. Our aim is to grow our market share both locally and internationally and also remain at the forefront of new technologies and products. Our people are key to the success of Raubex, and therefore, we invest in our people to ensure that we develop and retain skilled employees where as far as possible, create a safe environment for them to work in. Lastly on this slide, I would like to pause on the graph on the right-hand side, when you look at the impact of the group's growth, particularly our headline earnings per share, you will realize that our decision to diversify into other geographies, like Australia and niche commodities is our competitive edge. This strategy has allowed us to diversify our income streams to enable the group to weather uncertain macroeconomic conditions. As can be seen from the graph, without our diversification strategy, our growth would have been lackluster. Moving to the outlook for the group. We remain cautiously optimistic about the 2025 financial year as social and political instability is a high risk for any organization with a large workforce. The Materials Handling & Mining division will continue to focus on their strategic partnerships as well as continued improved production efficiencies. The Bauba acquisition of the 74% ownership of Naboom Mining Company will increase the life of mine of our chrome and PGM operations. The Construction Materials division is expecting a solid performance for 2025 financial year on the back of a strong pipeline of work due to recently awarded tenders and current tender activity. The Roads and Earthworks division is positive regarding the outlook for the next year giving SANRAL's commitment to upgrade South Africa's road infrastructure as well as the concessioners, contractual obligation to maintain the existing SANRAL roads. The Infrastructure Division remains well positioned to participate in development of affordable housing as well as private renewable energy projects. We still believe that renewable energy projects are the future as the electricity grid infrastructure remains fragile. The outlook for Western Australia remains positive. We are well positioned to capitalize on the infrastructure market in this region, and we continue to do. Based on our successful South African model, we are expanding our operations in Western Australia into [ Surface ] dressing. We are also exploring other opportunities in the mining space, specifically pit dewatering. Our growth strategy is underpinned by our diversified business model, committed workforce, strength in leadership and healthy balance sheet. Raubex continues to be well positioned to take advantage of the various opportunities across the sectors, in services and build on its positive performance. As I close, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank all our employees for delivering these impeccable set of results. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Without you, these results would have not been possible. So the senior management and my executive team. Thank you for driving the execution of our strategy. As we mark the significant milestone of our 50 years in operational excellence. I would like to pay homeage to the founder of Raubex, Mr. Koos Raubenheimer, for the values he instilled in us to create a special workplace where our people could work safely, tolerate each other and be inspired to deliver quality work. These are the values we still preserve today. And to my predecessor, Rudolph Ori. Thank you for the solid foundation for growth and your contribution to where Raubex is today. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's webinar, and we open the floor for questions.

Our next question is from Tobu [indiscernible] from Capital One Partners. What is Bauba's average mass yield of chrome concentrate after washing and processing? And then you also ask the information will help contextualize the quoted production figures from the mines.

Yes. So the post chrome expansion average mass yield for both Kookfontein and Moeijelijk Mines is plus/minus 40,000 tonnes for Kook and about 20,000 tonnes from Moeijelijk, which gives us a combined of about 60,000 tonnes. Thank you.

There's another question. I'm not sure if it's the same from [ Tobu ] also asking post chrome or expansion activities at Bauba? What is the expected chrome concentrate production at full capacity?

Thanks, [ Tobu ], the anticipated chrome concentrate production at full capacity is plus/minus an average of 45%.

Then we have another question from Mark [ Demos ]. Could you please comment on the total invested capital in Bauba after the recent committed CapEx? And what is current ROIC versus expected financial year '25 and '26 ROIC potential?

Thanks, Mark. At the current moment, Bauba's total capital employed is about ZAR 1.2 billion. And the return on that -- return on those debt capital is currently at around 29%. We do expect it to increase as we start processing the chrome and it could add another 10% to 20% to that 29% return on capital employed currently.

Thank you, Sam. Then we have a question from Rowan Goeller from Chronux Research. Can you comment on the order book risk exposure? Have you taken more price or execution risk on new projects? Or is the opportunity for your contracting just growing? Following on, the potential margin uplift, is this due to a capacity squeeze or a higher risk in contracting projects?

Thanks, Rowan. No. So definitely, we're not taking on additional risk with regards to the increase in order book and all the increase in tender activity. It gives us -- rather, it gives us the opportunity to tender much more selectively in not taking on more risk, higher risk and/or tender for high-risk contracting projects. So no. So our -- the short answer is no. Actually, our risk has gone down, and we've got the opportunity to tender selectively on more derisk projects.

Then we have another question from Mark Demos. And he asks working capital investment as required investment, partly due to bitumen importation and storage. Is the market in pricing adjusting to these higher costs? And can bitumen and asphalt profitability be raised to protect returns?

Thank you, Mark. As -- look, it is a bit difficult as bitumen -- the base price for bitumen is regulated. So you -- it's not that easy to recover increases in the price of bitumen. However, what have a big impact on the profitability of bitumen is the increase in volumes. So we will definitely see towards the end of this financial year or more to [ H2 ] FY '25, we believe we will see a significant increase in the margins in both bitumen for Tosas as well as an increase in the asphalt side.

Then we have a question from Matthew Roberts from Blue Quadrant Capital Management. Given the impairment of the asphalt-related PPP in KZN, what is your outlook on the asphalt market there and in South Africa? Is there increased competition or a reduction in the market available?

Thank you, Matthew. So we are still -- very excited about the KZN market, especially on the N2, N3 corridor, where the main focus for expansion for SANRAL is currently. So we do see some growth in potential volumes, specifically in that area. However, we did reduce our exposure to the rest of KZN's market, which will definitely start to pay dividends in the new financial year. If you look at the rest of Africa, there's definitely an uptick in volumes. But as I've mentioned on the bitumen side, we will only see the real volumes coming through towards H2 this year and I think H1in the '26 financial year. As we all know, the projects from a SANRAL perspective, that's been ordered now, the surfacing only happens right at the end. So we do foresee still a bit of a delay, but definitely uptick towards the end of the year.

Thank you, Dirk. We have another question from [indiscernible] from Capital One Partners. What is the expected production in contained PGMs for the PGM plant? And when is the plant expected to reach full capacity?

Thanks. So I assume you referred to the PGM plant at Kookfontein Mine -- that we're busy -- going to start with installation towards the end of this year. So we don't foresee it to be in operation in this financial year. The '25, we think it will only be late '25, but early in '26. And at this point in time, our estimate is about the 3-gram per tonne of contained PGMs that we will take out.

Our next question is from [indiscernible], from Marzi Asset Management. He says congratulations to Felicia and the team. Could you please elaborate on the Australian expansion? Will this be done through an acquisition or organically? What would be the amount of investment going into Australia?

Thank you, [indiscernible], for that question. So in terms of the Western Australian expansion, yes, we are expanding. You will recall that during H2 of the financial year, we actually started a ROADMAC in Australia. So we are actually growing organically. But obviously, if there are acquisitions, which are in line with our strategy, we will consider looking at those acquisitions. In terms of the current investment going into Australia, as I said, in terms of other opportunities, we will look at that. But we are actually duplicating our success in South Africa. We are implementing that in Western Australia.

Thank you, Felicia. Our next question is from Wilson Decobo from Nedbank CIB. He says congratulations on the great results and continued strong order book. What risk does the diversification into mining bring for the group? And is the intention to continue to grow mining?

Wilson, yes, definitely, it will add commodity price risk, definitely, and then also exchange rate risk. But we believe that we are well diversified. We're also looking at mining ore diamond opportunities at Namdeb. So we try to diversify the operations. And we remain a construction and infrastructure business. So we will definitely grow the mining side of things, but not at a cost to the rest of the business. So we believe that where we are now with Bauba, I think that's a good profile for now.

And then what seems to be our last question is from [indiscernible] from Nedbank CIB. With the pressure at [ Natref ] and bitumen production, thus meaning you are to continue to import the bitumen, what is the impact of this on your foreign exchange? What will be the impact of importing 100% of the bitumen in the business, which includes rate costs, supplier terms, et cetera?

Thanks, [indiscernible]. Yes. So as I've mentioned, so with regards to the import of bitumen, currently, we're importing about 75%. If we have to import 100%, it's not going to be a problem we've already geared up to have enough storage facilities to be able to handle that and to be still providing to the rest of the market without having an impact on production. As I've mentioned, the base price for bitumen is listed. It's a listed price. And it is a listed SA price. So although we do import and it is a dollar-based payment, the effect of the importation or the freight cost and supplier terms has already been captured within the base price landed in SA. So that should not have an impact on the profitability on our side.

Thank you. Dirk there are no further questions. Thank you very much for joining our results presentation.