Rotork plc ($ROR)

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our 2025 full year results presentation. Alongside me is Ben Peacock, our CFO. We're pleased to have the opportunity to walk you through our performance for the year and we will follow our normal format with time for Q&A at the end. I'm pleased with the progress made in 2025 as we continue to execute on the Growth+ strategy and would like to thank all our staff at Rotork. Growth+ continues to deliver because of their hard work, dedication and commitment. I'd also like to take a moment to acknowledge our staff and their families in the Middle East given the current conflict in the region. Our priority has been their safety, and I'm pleased to say all are safe and well, and we will continue to monitor the ongoing developments closely. Moving now to the key financial highlights. Order growth of 6% on an OCC basis was particularly pleasing with each division driving mid-single-digit OCC growth despite mixed end markets. Sales grew 3.7% OCC. And when including the contribution of Noah, this increases to 5.3% on a constant currency basis. CPI had a very strong second half with target segment revenues accelerating, while Oil & Gas saw some customer-driven project delays at the end of the year, which we'll talk about in later slides. Adjusted operating profits were very encouraging, up 100 basis points year-on-year to 24.6%. Margins were helped by mix and operational efficiencies. Combined with sales growth, this resulted in a 10% OCC adjusted operating profit growth for the full year. Return on capital employed remained at a high level at 38.4%, helped by margins and disciplined capital deployment. Our balance sheet remains strong and cash conversion was good. As expected, net cash ended the year lower, reflecting the GBP 40 million acquisition of Noah and the GBP 60 million of share buybacks. As part of our focus, our ongoing strategic priorities and capital allocation, today, we have announced 2 small noncore disposals for GBP 24 million, which we will talk about in later slides. Safety performance was broadly in line with 2024, and we continue to make good progress on our safety initiatives as well as employee health and well-being. We're also making strong progress on our sustainability agenda and have achieved our Scope 1 and 2 emissions targets ahead of plan. Sustainability remains central to our strategy, and we have now raised our 2030 ambition to a 60% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions versus our 2020 baseline. This slide highlights the key strategic initiatives driving growth ahead of our end markets, target segments and Rotork Service. In 2025, we continue to see good sales growth in our target segments, up 8% OCC. Highlights included strong growth in upstream electrification, allowing us to outperform a weaker underlying market and good growth in LNG. In CPI, we outgrew subdued core markets with good performance across the main target segments, including specialty chemicals, critical HVAC, marine and mining. Water & Power continues to perform well with good growth in the water infrastructure and treatment markets as well as the alternative energy markets. Service is another strategic growth area for Rotork, which delivered continued good momentum and now represents 24% of group sales. Here, we are expanding our product offering and increasing wallet share with existing customers. During the period, we saw particularly strong growth in Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. Overall, I'm proud of our performance in 2025. Continued strategic momentum across all divisions, but particularly in CPI and Water & Power led us to outperform mixed underlying end markets and helped offset the customer-driven project delays seen in Oil & Gas at the end of the year. Now over to Ben, who will take you through the financial details.

Thank you, Kiet, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that Growth+ delivered another year of good order growth and margin progression, together with continued high return on capital and return to shareholders. In the following slides, I'll walk you through the highlights of our performance, but please note that the appendix contains some more specific details on our 2025 full year results. If we now turn to the numbers. Orders received at GBP 783 million were up 6% versus prior year on an organic constant currency or OCC basis, with all divisions delivering growth. Revenue at GBP 777 million is 3.7% higher than prior year on an OCC basis and 3% ahead on a reported basis, impacted by a foreign exchange translation headwind of GBP 15.9 million. From a divisional perspective, both CPI and Water & Power performed strongly with mid- to high single-digit revenue growth on an OCC basis. This was offset by Oil & Gas, which saw some customer-driven project delays at the end of the year. We are pleased with the integration of Noah, which contributed GBP 11.2 million of the revenue in the period. Rotork Service performed well with revenue continuing to grow faster than the group and its contribution to group sales increased to 24% versus 23% in the prior year. Adjusted operating profit of GBP 191.5 million is 10% higher versus prior year on an OCC basis and margins at 24.6% were up 140 basis points. Including the foreign currency headwind of GBP 6.1 million, reported operating margins are up 100 basis points. The group continues to be cash generative with cash conversion at 101%. This is down from prior year, reflecting increased working capital due to delivery phasing in the second half, and we closed the period with net cash of GBP 65 million. Our increased profitability resulted in adjusted earnings per share of 17p, which is an increase of 6.9% on a reported basis and our high return on capital increased further to 38.4%. Finally, the proposed full year dividend of 8.3p per share is 7.1% higher than the prior year. If we now turn to the divisions and starting with Oil & Gas, divisional sales grew 0.6% on an OCC basis with good target segment growth, particularly in upstream electrification and LNG. From a sector perspective, despite challenging underlying market conditions, upstream revenues grew supported by strong electrification-related revenues. Despite good growth in LNG, midstream revenues were softer in the second half, impacted by customer-driven project deferrals at the end of the year. Downstream markets were stable year-on-year, supported by service and brownfield-related activity. From a regional perspective, the division experienced strong growth in EMEA, offset by subdued performance in the Americas and APAC. Adjusted operating profit at GBP 97.6 million was up 9.1% on an OCC basis. The 220 basis points adjusted operating margin improvement reflects strong target segment sales growth, a favorable product mix and operational efficiencies. Turning to CPI. Revenues were 7% higher year-on-year on an OCC basis, with underlying momentum improving as the year progressed. On a reported basis, Noah made a good first contribution post acquisition, adding 4% to divisional sales in the period. By destination, Americas sales were particularly strong with good growth in the U.S., Mexico, Chile and Brazil. EMEA and APAC both saw modest growth. Adjusted operating profit of GBP 58.2 million was up 9.9% on an OCC basis, with adjusted operating margins up 70 basis points to 26.1% on higher volumes. Moving to Water & Power. Sales were up 6.1% on an OCC basis, with both sectors growing strongly, but consistent with half year, Power growing slightly faster than Water. In target segments, we saw solid growth in water infrastructure and wastewater treatment. The Americas and APAC both delivered strong growth in the year with EMEA performance more muted, particularly in the second half. Adjusted operating profit for the division was GBP 58 million. Excluding foreign exchange headwinds, adjusted operating profit was up 6% on an OCC basis. Consistent with the position at half year, despite higher volumes, mix effects and higher investment resulted in adjusted operating margins being slightly lower at 28.6%. If we now move to the adjusted operating profit bridge. This bridge shows solid profit growth of 10% OCC versus prior year, driven by increased organic revenues and positive operating leverage. Price increases more than offset salary inflation and following increased investment in 2024 to support the Growth+ strategy, current period OpEx investments have been more limited. Reflecting our operating leverage and mix, adjusted operating margins grew 140 basis points to 24.6% on an OCC basis. The currency headwind to adjusted operating profit of GBP 6.1 million I mentioned earlier, reduced the reported margin progression by 30 basis points. If we now turn to the items below operating profit. Similar to last year, the majority of the adjusted items relate to our business transformation program. A further GBP 25.6 million was incurred in implementing a new ERP system and the associated systems and processes throughout the group. This is slightly lower than our previous guidance of GBP 30 million for the full year. The program remains on track and the total program cost unchanged, but we have adjusted phasing between 2025 and 2026. Additional adjusted items include GBP 3.1 million of disposal and restructuring-related costs for the divestment of 2 noncore businesses. Other costs include GBP 1.5 million of acquisition and integration costs for Noah and GBP 1 million for a new facility in Changshu, China, which in total are GBP 0.6 million incremental to the half year reported results. Finally, tax. The reported effective tax rate has increased 50 basis points, while the adjusted effective tax rate at 25.3% has increased 10 basis points on last year. Turning to cash flow. We continue to be cash generative, providing the funding for organic growth, strategic investments and returns to shareholders. Operating cash conversion for the period was 101% with working capital to sales of 26.8%. We made good progress on our initiatives on payables, but saw an outflow in receivables due to sales phasing at the end of the year. Positive free cash flow of GBP 106.8 million is down on the prior year, reflecting the working capital investment and higher business transformation costs versus prior year. Free cash flow also includes overall R&D spend of GBP 13.5 million as we continue to invest in new product development. If we now move to capital allocation. During the year, we returned to shareholders dividends of GBP 67 million and GBP 60 million in relation to the previously announced share buybacks. Additionally, we completed the acquisition of Noah for GBP 40 million, bringing total capital deployed to approximately GBP 167 million. In relation to Noah, the group has also recorded GBP 2 million of contingent consideration during future years, bringing the total cost of the acquisition to GBP 42 million. We finished the year with GBP 65 million, comprising total cash and cash equivalents of GBP 110 million, lease liabilities of GBP 23 million and GBP 22 million of borrowings under the group's GBP 75 million revolving credit facility. The group's balance sheet continues to remain strong and provide us with strategic and financial flexibility. And finally, on guidance for 2026. Based on current exchange rates, we currently estimate a neutral year-on-year impact to sales from FX. We expect full year capital expenditure of GBP 15 million and investment in our business transformation program of GBP 25 million, reflecting the change in phasing between 2025 and 2026. In summary, the balance sheet and cash generation of the business continue to give us strategic and financial flexibility for 2026, and we expect further progress on an OCC basis, which Kiet will now cover in more detail.

Thanks, Ben. In this section, I'd like to update you on how we are advancing the Growth+ strategy, provide an update on capital allocation and finish with our outlook. We launched the Growth+ strategy in 2022 and with performance now at all-time highs, we're seeing the clear impact of the work done over the past 4 years. OCC order intake growth has consistently been above 6%, driven by strong momentum in our target segments and the expansion of Rotork Service. Revenues are at record levels with an 8% compound annual growth rate since launch and good growth across all 3 divisions. Operating margins have continued to strengthen, and we don't see mid-20s as our ceiling in the medium to long term. Over the past 4 years, positive operating leverage, improving mix with a shift towards electric actuators and operational efficiencies have more than offset increased investment in the business, delivering a 230 basis points improvement in adjusted operating profit margins. Cash conversion has remained consistently high and return on capital employed has increased strongly despite bolt-on M&A, reflecting disciplined capital management and margin progression. At the same time, we've accelerated capital deployment, combining targeted acquisitions, share buybacks and a progressive dividend policy. Turning on to the next slide. Our Growth+ strategy is set up to leverage Rotork's attractive business model and the structural tailwinds in our industry. Combined, we believe they will drive our long-term performance, helping us to grow ahead of our end markets and to achieve our financial ambitions of mid- to high single-digit revenue growth and mid-20s adjusted operating margins over time. The Growth+ strategy itself consists of 3 pillars. Target Segments is focused on identifying key markets in each division with structural tailwinds that offer significant profitable growth opportunities. Customer Value are initiatives aimed at strengthening our internal processes to deliver an industry-leading customer experience. And Innovative Products & Service centers on extending our competitive advantage and capturing new product opportunities. Our strategy is underpinned by our highly attractive business model and strong balance sheet. We have leading technology in key markets with products that are embedded in critical applications. Our differentiated route to market is built around end user requirements and a deep understanding of their processes. Combined with our lean manufacturing setup, this creates a strong business model that delivers high margins and strong returns. The Growth+ strategy also capitalizes on the structural trends within our end markets. Automation continues to be a significant growth driver as customers upgrade existing systems and automate new projects to enhance performance, efficiency and reliability. Only 1/4 of industrial valves are estimated to be currently automated, providing a long-term tailwind to growth. Electrification remains a broad industry trend with electric actuators typically providing more precise control and lower total cost of ownership. Electric actuators now represent around 55% of our sales and have steadily grown in our mix, positioning us well to benefit from this shift. Digitalization is another key tailwind, giving customers real-time insights into asset performance, helping them to make the right decisions earlier to optimize performance and efficiencies whilst protecting against unplanned downtime. We have a long track record here, having offered connected products since 1986. This slide highlights some of the enhancements we've made under the hood since introducing Growth+ to strengthen delivery and resilience in the business. Following the organizational shift from product to end markets, there has been substantial change within Rotork to maximize the opportunities across the group. We have increased commercial investment by close to 60% across sales, strategy and business development, which has enabled the target segment growth. Alongside this and to maximize potential, we invested in enhanced leadership training as well as strengthening our go-to-market approach. These changes have helped meaningfully increase our Net Promoter Score to ensure a consistently strong customer experience, a key differentiator in gaining market share and accessing new markets and customers. In addition, our product initiatives have gained momentum. New product development has accelerated with a greater emphasis on voice of customer insights and continued success in expanding both connected and service offerings. We are seeing good growth in new product launches, and it's encouraging to see the success of our digital service offerings, including iAM revenues up 40% in 2025. Whilst investing to deliver sustained growth, these investments have been funded through ongoing operational efficiency and disciplined cost management across the business, enabling us to reinvest while increasing profitability. All of these initiatives have made a tangible difference across the business. With stronger capabilities and clearer focus, we are well set to build on this momentum and continue our growth journey to deliver our mid- to high single-digit revenue growth over time. This slide dives deeper into CPI and highlights the division's performance, which has benefited from the initiatives previously mentioned. Since launching Growth+, CPI's average growth has been 9% with 2025 delivering 7% OCC growth, driven by strong momentum in its target segments, particularly in the second half. Despite industry forecast pointing to double-digit falls in areas such as chemicals, the division has continued to grow. This reflects its focus on 4 end markets where automation, electrification and digitalization are meaningful tailwinds. We see a GBP 1 billion serviceable addressable market for our main CPI target segments, providing us an attractive runway for future growth. From a low base, we have grown very strongly in marine markets, supported by increasing electrification of valve control on ships as well as the adoption of sustainable fuels in both new build and retrofit markets, also requiring the use of electric actuators. Critical HVAC has been another standout area, delivering growth well ahead of its underlying markets. Here, we have successfully taken our high-end premium electric products into new mission-critical applications, supported by electrification tailwinds in sectors such as semiconductor, data centers and battery production. The broader chemicals environment has been challenging, but we've grown in specialty chemicals due to success in automation and digitalization upgrade projects, offsetting the recent pressure in the bulk chemicals market. Mining has appeared volatile due to large nickel mining projects in 2023, which were not repeated in 2024 due to an oversupply in the market. However, we've seen considerable success in this end market with a focus on automation and digitalization opportunities in copper, gold and other critical minerals markets in local processing applications. Overall, CPI's performance highlights the benefits of the changes made under Growth+, a more focused commercial approach, a clearer emphasis on target segments and a strong alignment with long-term structural growth drivers. Turning to the next slide. We are excited about the data center opportunity within CPI, which is in the critical HVAC target segment. Our current exposure is mainly in the primary cooling circuit outside of the server room. While revenues today are still relatively small, they are growing quickly, doubling in 2025. We see attractive medium-term potential as automation and electrification drive higher adoption of our products across the roughly 1,000 valves in the primary HVAC circuit outside the server room. We currently sell electric actuators and gear products into this part of the market, and our portfolio is well suited, especially with the addition of Noah to the increasing need for precision, reliability and efficiency. As the market shifts towards liquid-based cooling inside the server room, we see additional opportunities in this high-growth segment. Fluid control in these systems is mission-critical for thermal efficiency, and we believe our Noah and Hanbay products are well positioned given their accuracy, reliability, size and speed compared to existing solutions. Having been on test with a number of customers in January, we secured a number of production orders for applications in CDUs and the technology cooling systems inside the server room with encouraging feedback. These wins reinforce our confidence in the long-term potential for this market, and we see opportunities in other parts of the data center for our products. Turning to the next slide. In the Water & Power division, we see near-term opportunities in our traditional power markets and longer-term opportunities in nuclear. We generate just under 10% of revenues from global power markets. Around 2.5% of this goes into alternative energy, which is mainly renewables. The remaining is in traditional power generation, including combined cycle gas turbines. Our power business has a high exposure to Asia and low exposure to the Americas. After experiencing declines through to 2024, our power business returned to mid- to high single-digit revenue growth in 2025, supported by improving demand in the U.S., the Middle East and APAC. Looking ahead, we expect the market to continue to recover as rising electricity demand drives investment in the installed base. Nuclear is within our alternative energy target segment. We have a long track record in this market and have invested to reestablish our supply chains and capacity to reenter the market. In the near term, we expect refurbishment-related demand to be the main driver and see a potential total actuator spend of circa GBP 3 million per reactor refurbishment project. Longer term, small modular reactors represent a significant opportunity given the high number of valves and the criticality of the application. The potential actuator spend per reactor is around GBP 10 million. We are already laying the groundwork to participate in this market as it develops, although we don't expect this to turn into orders until the 2030s. Taken together, we see nuclear as a sizable long-term opportunity for Rotork with the total greenfield nuclear actuator market expected to be worth GBP 5 billion between now and 2050. Oil & Gas had a slower end of year as we saw some customer-driven project delays in midstream markets. However, target segment initiatives continued to deliver good growth in the year. Upstream electrification continues to grow strongly as operators look to improve process control, reduce emissions and lower total cost of ownership. Broader upstream markets were weak in the year with our own core upstream revenues and broader industry statistics pointing to double-digit declines. In midstream markets, we saw good growth in LNG and have a supportive book-to-bill, while broader midstream trends were more challenging due to the customer delays mentioned. Downstream markets were relatively stable in 2025. Here, we focus on Rotork Service to provide predictive maintenance, upgrade and efficiency projects in brownfield markets. Following on from Ben's comments on the balance sheet, this slide provides an update on capital allocation. Our priorities remain unchanged, investing organically in the business to support our leadership in intelligent flow control, maintaining a progressive dividend, pursuing value-creating M&A and returning excess capital to shareholders. We made good progress in the year. And as shown on the previous slide, we have continued to increase the amount of capital deployed. We acquired Noah in March and are pleased with the integration and early performance. We completed our initial GBP 50 million buyback in October and subsequently announced another buyback at the Q3 trading update, reinforcing our commitment to achieving a net neutral balance sheet in the absence of M&A. Alongside today's results, we've also announced the disposal of 2 noncore businesses to support a clearer focus on our strategic priorities for a combined total of GBP 24 million with sales of GBP 15 million in 2025. Looking ahead, our preference is to deploy capital into M&A. However, we remain focused on strategic and financial discipline. And given the nature of the typical bolt-on opportunities we target, it makes the timing difficult to predict. As a result, we will continue to use share buybacks to achieve a net neutral balance sheet position on an ongoing basis. At year-end, we had GBP 40 million remaining of the current buyback, which we expect to complete by the end of the first half. As Ben highlighted, our balance sheet remains strong and the underlying cash generation of the business means there is scope to continue to do both bolt-ons and buybacks. As we said at the half year, we currently don't see this as an either/or decision. Turning now to the market outlook. Our commentary here does not consider the potential direct and indirect impacts related to recent events in the Middle East. The region as a whole is around 10% of sales for Rotork, and we are carefully monitoring the evolving situation. However, it is too early to provide an update. For the group, in 2026, we expect continued momentum in our target segments and in Rotork Service, while underlying end markets are anticipated to be mixed. At the divisional level, in Oil & Gas, we expect a stable performance with a higher H2 weighting. Our target segment and Rotork Service initiatives continue to ensure we outperform the wider Oil & Gas markets, where downstream markets are expected to remain stable and upstream and midstream are anticipated to remain subdued. For CPI, we see continued growth momentum. CPI builds on the structural trends of automation, electrification and digitalization and remains focused on driving target segment growth in specialty chemicals, mining, critical HVAC and marine markets, whilst broader process markets are likely to remain subdued. The outlook for Water & Power is also good. Global investment in water infrastructure continues to grow, supported by rising water scarcity, climate change and aging infrastructure. Modernization and resilience programs are driving activity across most markets, and we expect this demand to remain robust. In Power, we expect to see continued recovery in end markets. In summary, I'm pleased with the progress advancing the Growth+ strategy in 2025. Growth+ has driven strong performance in the year with good order growth, 140 basis points OCC increase in margins and a 10% increase in adjusted operating profit. Our strategic initiatives are driving growth above underlying end market trends. Target segment growth was 8% OCC with good performance in areas such as upstream electrification and specialty chemicals, where underlying markets have seen double-digit declines. Rotork Service is now 24% of group sales as we continue to drive increased wallet share and broaden our product offering. The Growth+ strategy is delivering strong financial performance. It's leveraging our attractive business model and structural tailwinds in our markets. There have been significant changes to the business since the introduction of Growth+, driving performance and resilience with CPI and Water & Power seeing good growth from the strategic initiatives, offsetting customer-driven project delays in midstream Oil & Gas markets and resulting in good profit growth in the year. CPI has also been a clear example of the benefits delivering growth despite subdued end markets and offering exciting opportunities such as in data centers. Return on capital employed increased in the year to 38.4%, and we accelerated capital deployment with the acquisition of Noah and 2 buyback programs announced. We expect the remaining buyback to complete by the end of the first half. And given our financial strength and strong cash generation, we currently see the combination of bolt-on M&A and buybacks as sustainable. Looking ahead, we expect target segments and service to continue to drive performance in mixed end markets. While we are mindful of the recent geopolitical uncertainty, we expect to see further progress in 2026. Thank you for your interest today. We'll now open the floor to Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question this morning comes from Andrew Douglas at Jefferies.

Three questions, please, if I may. Can we start with Target Segments? It looks like that's grown nicely. I think it was 8%, again, outperforming the core underlying markets. Can you just walk through areas that are kind of maybe underperforming relative to your kind of previous guidance? It looks like everything is going well on Target Segments. I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything or maybe I am missing nothing and everything is going well. So just give me an update on Target Segments. And has there been any change versus the Capital Markets Day of '21? Have any of those target market opportunities dropped out or have any kind of moved in? The second question is on M&A and the pipeline. I guess, could you just walk through kind of things that you're seeing. And I know that you walked away from a few deals last year. I'm assuming that was largely a price thing? Or was it kind of a quality of assets thing? And then finally, the third question is more of a kind of an operational question. I just want to make sure from an energy cost perspective, raw material perspective, supply chains that we're not expecting anything untoward this year. I know you guys don't have heavy manufacturing, so energy shouldn't be a problem. But I just want to make sure the things like energy, costs and raw materials and supply chains aren't a problem.

Yes. Andy, I got all of those. So let's start with the first question. Yes, Target Segments performed really strongly, 8% OCC, really good to see, fantastic work from the team back at base. Actually, all end markets performed well. And you can see in the presentation today, the CPI main target segments, you've got specialty chems, which actually helped to outgrow a very weak chemicals market. So we saw growth overall. You've got the marine markets, mining and critical HVAC, they've all performed well. And you can see, actually over the 4 years, they have performed extremely well. So going to your second part of that question, nothing's changed in terms of the end markets since the Capital Markets Day. The only thing that's changed is they've got a lot bigger within the CPI segment. Within Water & Power, water, really good structural growth drivers down to water scarcity, water quality. So that keeps on going through. As we've announced, we've also reinvested to reenter the nuclear market. So that should be a good near-term opportunity for us. And as I said in the presentation, we've got the near-term opportunities with our large installed base and then the longer-term opportunities in SMR. And then in Oil & Gas, we've got the upstream electrification, which is working extremely well. And actually, we grew upstream on the whole in 2025 when there was a market that was actually in decline. So that shows really strong growth in upstream electrification. LNG has also grown well. I guess the 1 or 2 that haven't grown as well as what we had thought from the original were the carbon capture, hydrogen markets, the alternative energies. But actually, the majority have grown really, really well. So we're really pleased with that. So that's the first question. Second question, in terms of the pipeline, we've got a really good pipeline. We're really happy with our pipeline. However, we do need to stay financially disciplined. And yes, we have walked away from a number of deals in 2025. That's all down to price. In terms of the quality of the assets that we're looking at, we are a quality business, and therefore, the assets that we go after are top of their game in terms of the technology that they have. But unfortunately, in some of those cases, the prices were too high, and we walked away. What we want to be able to do and what we have got in the pipeline are more private owned businesses like Hanbay, like Noah, where we're looking to cultivate the relationships and then do bilateral deals, which actually gives good financial return. So that's where we're looking. But that is an area where Ben and I spend a lot of our time. So that's high on the agenda. And then lastly, in terms of the operation, as you know, we're an asset-light company. So all of our manufacturing is assembly and test. So our energy usage is actually quite low. So we don't see any issues there. And in terms of raw material prices, we haven't seen any increases. However, as you also know, we've got really strong pricing power. So whatever material increases that we do see, we are quite effective at passing that through.

The next question this morning comes from Lush Mahendrarajah at JPMorgan.

I've got two, if that's okay. The first is on just Oil & Gas and some of the delays you've seen in midstream. I guess, should we be thinking about some of that coming in, in 2026? Because I guess just sort of comparing to the guidance, which also sounds maybe a bit softer. I guess what are you seeing? Is it sort of just push out? Or are you seeing some hesitation? And do you think some of that is related to the Middle East or is it independent? And then I guess, how -- tied to that how is your thinking about what's happening in the Middle East could play out? I know it's early days, but do you sort of see a similar situation to maybe sort of post Russia-Ukraine? And then the second question is just on Oil & Gas margins. The really strong, particularly in the second half despite that slower volume growth. I mean, is there anything to think about in there in terms of mix or operational efficiency that you've done? And I guess, how should we think about that into 2026 as well?

Thanks, Lush. I'll take the first question. I'll hand over to Ben for the second. If I start with the Middle East in terms of the first question, look, it's a little bit too soon to predict what's going to happen in the Middle East. So our outlook doesn't include the Middle East. At the moment, our first priority has been our people. We've got 70 people in the Middle East. I'm pleased to say all of our 70 staff and their families are safe and well. We are in regular contact with them every single day to understand what's happening on the ground. So we monitor the situation really closely. But as I said, at the moment, it's a little too soon to tell. Look, we're mindful though that there could be some short-term disruptions in supply chains, for example. And then longer term, as you said, look, if this lasts for a longer time, I think people's attention will turn to energy security. And what we've seen in the past is if demand is there and supply is choked from one region, investment does go into other regions to satisfy that demand. But that's all potential at the minute. No one really knows how long this is going to go on for. So at the minute, it's a little bit too early to tell. In terms of the wider Oil & Gas markets for us, yes, we saw some project or customer-driven project delays late in December. So for example, we had 2 projects that were circa GBP 6 million. We were ready to ship and our customers have just asked us to postpone them because their projects had been delayed. Those are looking to convert into the first half of this year. However, we do see that those deferrals are a symptom of a weaker market, especially in upstream and the midstream. We've done incredibly well actually with our target segment strategy to actually outperform the weaker underlying markets. And as I said to Andy, we actually grew in the upstream despite having weak markets. In the midstream, LNG has grown strongly, but it wasn't enough in '25 to offset the late on deferrals. So we see conditions going through to '26, which is why we're saying Oil & Gas is stable. But we're confident in our target segment strategy. We're confident in Rotork Service that we can outperform those markets. Ben, do you want to cover the margin?

Just on the margins for Oil & Gas, very consistent with what we said at H1. There was a big mix benefit in terms of electric coming through. Also, we had good Rotork service in Oil & Gas, which helps. And then operational efficiencies, again, we're always trying to get more volume out of our operational footprint. And again, we did some good work around that. In terms of margins, just from a group perspective going into 2026, I think you just need to assume sort of normal operating leverage coming through on the volumes, which is around 30% to 40% drop-through.

The next question this morning comes from Harry Philips at Peel Hunt. We will continue with Stephan Klepp from BNP Paribas Exane.

I have actually two. And let's start with Water & Power, please. So if you look at first half to second half, there was a deceleration in organic growth. And I would like to unpick that a little bit or you to unpick it for us because Water should have been very strong, and it was very strong historically in the last 2 years. If I now assume that Power is coming back and look at some of your growth rates of your competitors, this is a pretty disappointing print. So I just rather want to understand, is it a timing issue? Or is it a structural issue? Because I mean, I see a long-term opportunity, but I don't understand why it's not coming through right now. And the -- what is it, 4% growth you showed in H2, just a bit low, isn't it? And then on organic -- sorry, on Oil & Gas again, sorry for nagging you there, but there was a deceleration in execution in organic. All the good things you say about your target strategy, innovation and obviously, after service, I totally get that. But I'm rather interested in the long-term picture of what's happening in your clients? Is it the oil side not performing? Is it the gas side not performing? Is it the mood of the industry? Have the -- was it an overinvestment? Or why is the growth not coming through anymore? Because that is obviously a factor that we have seen as a disappointment in H1 and obviously, it's not great today.

Stephan, thanks for the questions. Let me try and unpick some of this and Ben, you chip in when it's right. So I think the number one is Rotork, in the way we do business, we're not really a run rate business. So you can't really look from quarter-to-quarter and look at the run rates because you also have to look at the orders. So actually in Water & Power, Q4 orders were really strong and Power grew really strongly. So the Q4 orders were strong, meaning that's why we're saying the outlook into '26 is good. And overall, for the full year in 2026, we're expecting good Water & Power growth. So it really does depend on the comps. And so H2 had tougher comps, and therefore, it appears that the growth is slower. However, if you look at it in the whole over the year, Water & Power did deliver good growth. Do you want to add anything to that?

Yes. I'll just build on Kiet. So I think if you look at the order profile of the group, I mean, in the first half, we grew 6%, and that was across all of the divisions. When we did our IMS, the 4 months trading period, again, we grew 6%, and it was strong across all divisions. We started to see some acceleration in CPI. And then in the final 2 months, you really start to see CPI and Water & Power take off. So again, I think if you look at overall 6% growth in revenue year-over-year, I think it's good. And obviously, we had a good first half. So I think overall, for the full year, we feel really good. And like Kiet said, I think given the acceleration in orders we got towards the final 2 months, we feel good about FY '26 as well.

So that's the Water & Power piece. I guess the Oil & Gas piece, again, same kind of context. It's not really a run rate business. And what we are seeing our customer projects taking longer than expected. There's been a lot of investment into the oil and gas industry. So some of these projects haven't come through or are not coming through as quickly as anticipated by our customers. And therefore, you see some deferrals or some pausing of projects coming through. But we talk to our customers regularly. We know what's in the pipeline. So we anticipate projects coming through into first and second half of next year. So that's really the dynamics. Underlyingly, though, upstream has been quite weak. Midstream has also been quite weak. But I think that for Rotork, we are a far, far more resilient business. And so in the past, we may not have been able to post the numbers or keep things flat. But with our target segment strategy and with Rotork Service, we have been able to outperform these underlying weaker markets.

Yes. But still, my detailed question was more or less, is it oil or is it gas? So if you can give color on that, that would be great.

So obviously, the upstream is more oil, but it's really a mixture of oil and gas because a lot of the projects, they are, let's say, taking a bit longer, and there is a mixture of oil and gas in there, but it's probably skewed more towards the oil piece. LNG also grew really strongly. So that piece of it did come through and grew well.

The next question this morning comes from Mark Fielding at Royal Bank of Canada.

A couple of follow-ups, actually, really, in terms of things that you've already touched on. Firstly, can we talk about the strength in CPI that obviously, Ben was just talking about the second half, very good momentum. I suppose your market -- your end market comments still sound relatively subdued there, and it's more about you driving through your project wins, et cetera. I suppose just some sense of -- you're looking for a good year, but the visibility around that in the context of you're still thinking those markets are subdued probably. And does that just bring a bit more lumpiness? I mean it was a much bigger growth in the second half than the first. Is there any timing factors to think about on that CPI side of things? And then could I just follow up a little bit more detail on LNG. You mentioned it a couple of times, particularly in the Q&A and the strength in it, but maybe just a little bit more detail about how you see the -- well, pipeline isn't quite the right word for LNG is it, you know what I mean there. But how you see the sort of outlook? And maybe just how big is -- give us some sense of how big LNG is in the group now? And maybe how does that compare to when it was previously very strong like 12, 13 years ago? Just is it a much bigger business now or not?

Yes, good questions. If I start on the CPI one, the general -- we all know the general chemical market is down. Bulk chem, petrochem has been a tough market. But we are playing and we have focused on what we call specialty chem. So low batch run, specific chemicals in kind of photovoltaic materials for solar panels, critical kind of ingredients for specialty plastics and things like that. So those sectors are still doing really, really well. And it's a testament to the Target Segments strategy. And so the team are focused on those types of processes where you do need critical control, really high-end products. And we've been able to drive that segment, whereby the critical chems or the specialty chems have outgrown a very weak underlying chemicals market. And that's the testament to the Target Segments strategy. In terms of process, process markets, again, have not been great, but we have really focused on critical HVAC and included in that is our data center work that whilst small, has doubled last year. So that adds towards the growth. You've got marine and you've got mining. And you can see on the slide this morning from where they started 4 years ago, they've actually grown quite phenomenally. So they're of a size now where the momentum and the growth within those segments can carry through and outweigh weaker underlying markets. And that was the whole ethos of our Growth+ strategy and the Target Segments strategy. You will have lumpiness in a way. And as I said, we're not a run rate business. You can't really run rate month-on-month or quarter-on-quarter. But if you take the year as a whole, you can have a look at the trends, and the trends have been positive. So that's CPI. And then LNG, I think LNG was quite big for us before. It went down to very, very low, and it's getting there. I think it will be bigger than what it was 13 years ago at its high, but it's still coming through. It's grown really, really strongly, and it continues to grow.

And can you just clarify on the LNG bit? What are your lead times? How far ahead are you seeing stuff? Because obviously, some of your sort of peers on the valve side can sort of got orders in for the next few years. But it's still the case that for you, it's coming in a bit later, but you can sort of see it in discussions.

Yes, absolutely. So we measure our pipeline, and it takes 4 to 5 years to get an LNG plant up and running. And so we will typically lag our customers, which are the valve makers by around 6 to 9 months, just given the lead times of our products. So it's actually quite a good leading indicator for our valve maker customers. If they're seeing the orders, we will expect those 6 to 9 months later.

We have time for one last question this morning, which comes from Thomas Elgar at Deutsche Numis.

Just one for me. Could we dig a little bit more into Rotork Service? Just how has the growth evolved through the year? Where do you see 2026, being better or perhaps weaker within service? Obviously, the overall upgrade push across your markets is pretty clear. Just trying to get a sense of where you are most excited within service? And I guess also maybe extending that, perhaps if you could guide to the rough size of the service now within Oil & Gas within that, please?

Yes. If I answer some of these, Ben can fill you in on some of the specific numbers. But look, we're really excited about service. It's a brilliant initiative for us within the business, and it gives real good resilience to our business. The key things in the service for us are we're really pushing our digitalization. So iAM, while still relatively small, grew 40% last year. So we are providing our customers more data, more useful data in terms of what the actuator and valve packages are doing so that we can better help them with their predictive maintenance and planned shutdowns. And that's something that has been a real good driver over the last 18 months. With that, we are trying to drive more business through more predictive maintenance and more service contracts. So they're the key kind of growth elements of Rotork Service. We obviously have a really good installed base and it's a resilient business. But the way we measure service is spare parts and labor. So it's very pure in that way. Service is now around 24% of group revenues. Again, it's grown ahead of the group. And what we want to do is keep focusing on it to grow ahead of the group.

So in terms of growth rates, this year, it grew sort of mid- to high single digits in the year. I think the way we think about Rotork Service is, well, I think from a margin progression perspective as well, as we move to more electric and as our customers move to more electric, we get more pull-through on Rotork Service, which is also accretive to group margins. So Rotork Service is a big catalyst as you think about margin progression going forward as well.

This concludes the Q&A session, and I would now like to hand back to Kiet for any closing remarks.

Yes. Thank you very much. So first of all, thank you, everyone, for your interest in Rotork today. In conclusion, we've had another good year, and I'm really pleased with the progress made in 2025. Our Growth+ initiatives are working. The Target Segments and Rotork Service are really delivering good growth and helping us to outperform weaker underlying markets. In the year, we delivered good order growth, strong margin progression and a 10% increase in adjusted operating profit. So we're really pleased with that. On a capital allocation point, that's accelerated during the year, and we look forward to having considerable financial flexibility to pursue opportunities for value-creative opportunities for our shareholder. So with that, thank you very much for your interest today. Have a good day, everyone.