SRG Global Limited (SRG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary
August 18, 2026
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Operator
operatorThank you for standing by, and welcome to the SRG Global Full Year Results Investor Briefing. [Operator Instructions] I'd like to introduce today's presenters, Mr. David Macgeorge, Managing Director; and Mr. Roger Lee, CFO. I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. David Macgeorge. Please go ahead.
David Macgeorge
executiveThanks, Darcy. First, I'd like to welcome everyone to the full year results call for SRG Global for FY '26. And look, before I start, I'd really like to acknowledge our people. There will be many of you ringing in today, and I really want to acknowledge your efforts in delivering FY '26. You continue to step up, you continue to live and breathe what we stand for, live for the challenge, smarter together, never give up and have each other's backs. And these results today are a testament to your hard work over the last 12 months. So thank you. I always like to start with a little bit about us on Slide 2, who we are, what we do and what we're trying to be. And who we are, we're a diversified infrastructure services company. And the key word there is the diversified nature of what we do in the infrastructure space. And what we do is bring an engineering mindset to deliver critical services for major industry. And when I talk about engineering mindset, what I'm referring to is being smart, technical, innovative, specialist in delivering what are critical services for our clients. It's not about doing the laundry, the landscaping, the catering. It's about delivering critical services for our clients, which makes us critical for them. And we do that across the entire asset life cycle of engineer, construct and sustain. And what we want to be, our vision is the most sought after in what we do. Some might say #1, market leader. For us, when our clients have a challenge, a problem or an opportunity. I want the first people they think of when they pick up the phone is SRG Global and us making the complex simple for them. As we move to Slide 3, you can see we have 2 key operating segments, Maintenance & Industrial Services and Engineering & Construction. And you can see the diversity of the sectors on which we play in water, energy, resources, defense, transport, ports and marine, data centers and health and education. So we're in a very diverse range of sectors, all with strong growth thematics in front of them. As we move to Slide 4, you can see the profile that we have today. We are a very different business and more than 5,000 people across more than 20 industries, revenues of circa $1.7 billion and growing at a market cap of roughly $2.5 billion. We're now an ASX 200 company. You can kind of see the geographic split, pretty evenly split between the East Coast and the West Coast of Australia with about 5% in New Zealand, but that sort of geographic presence and footprint creates significant opportunity. So we move to Slide 5, which is the key slide of the whole deck, it's the executive summary of the results. And what you're really seeing today is evidence, evidence of us continuing to deliver and evidence of us doing everything that we said we would do. It's a record result, EBITDA of $170.1 million, which is up 34% on FY '25, EBIT(A) of $131.8 million, up 41%. And we've actually exceeded our upgraded guidance that we provided in June. It's an excellent result. It's a record result, and it translates into terrific returns for shareholders with EPS of $0.138 per share, which is up 34% on FY '25. We increased the dividend in the second half to $0.04 fully franked, which is up 33% on the second half of last year. And I think that's something we've done really well over the journey of really driving and funding the growth of the business, but also delivering good yield and dividends for shareholders. Another really strong cash generation year, it continues our really strong track record over a long period of time. EBITDA to cash conversion of 101%, really high free cash flow of just under $93 million, and it really continues that strong trajectory of cash generation over a long, long period of time. Really pleased that we're back in a net cash position of $6.2 million, which is from a net debt position post TAMS of $52.5 million, and it really does position us well for the future to keep sort of funding the growth of the business as we move into the future. We continue our really strong track record of M&A. TAMS, which was an acquisition we made during the last 12 months. It's a very strategic acquisition of a marine infrastructure services provider, very much that full self-performing end-to-end capability. I'm really pleased to report that they've delivered above business case of just over 10% in the first 8 months. And that really continues that strong inorganic delivery that we've delivered over the journey, which is overlaid to the strong organic growth of the group, where organically in the last 12 months, earnings have grown close to 17% at EBIT(A) level and just under 14% at EBITDA level. So I think for us, that really key evidence over a long period of time of growing strongly organically and overlaying that with good inorganic growth where it makes sense and makes us a better business. One thing we've done really well over the journey is winning and executing. It's something that I've been asked a lot over our journey as we've grown. Are we buying work? But you can really see that a really strong growth and track record of not only winning work but also delivering. We have now more than $5 billion work in hand, which is up 42% on this time 12 months ago. That's sort of 80% plus of annuity recurring earnings. And what that gives us is great platform, but also visibility into the future and with a pipeline of in excess of $11 billion, which is a high-quality pipeline as well. I think one of the important messages out of today is we've delivered a record result. You've seen the evidence today of what we're doing, but we're not stopping here. And today, we're upgrading our FY '27 guidance to $195 million to $205 million EBITDA and $150 million to $160 million EBIT, which is up from about $190 million to $200 million guidance that we gave in June of this year. What that really shows is the growth profile of the group, the confidence we have in our future, but also that forward visibility of what we see in front of us. So I think that's a really, really positive message out of today, an exceptionally strong result, but a very, very bright future in front of us about how we're going to grow, not only over the next 12 months, but over the next 3 to 5 years. We'll now delve a little bit more into the financial details. So I'll move over to Slide 7, which cuts a bit of the financial detail of the group. Look, as you can see, really on Slide 7, really strong on every line, particularly pleased with the margin percentage performance. And you're really seeing the benefits of us being very capital-light business and how sort of top line growth is translating into bottom line earnings. Really pleased with the EBITDA percentage margin now above 10%, which I think some further incremental opportunities to improve from there. EBIT margins of just under 8%. And you can see from a dividends per share perspective, up 27%, which continues our long track record of continuing to grow the dividend that we're providing to shareholders and EPS growth, as I touched on earlier, of 34%. So a really strong above-market performance, transition back to net cash, which I touched on before. But I think most importantly here, it's just the fundamentals of the group really provide that platform for sustainable growth as we move into the future. In some ways, I don't feel the numbers do justice to the quality of the business we have today. This is very much a quality result, quality earnings, but the quality of the business that we're delivering and servicing our clients is high quality with blue-chip clients. And I really link that back to strategy and us delivering and doing everything that we said we would do. We've had a very clear strategy for a long period of time. And today, you're seeing further evidence of us delivering against that strategy. I think the most important message from here is, as we move to Slide 8, it's not just another record year for the group. It continues a very strong and long-term track record of delivery. And as you can see on Slide 8, a very positive trend from a visual perspective. It's just not 1 year. And if you look at profit, EPS, dividend, very, very positive trends. Slide 8 is very much a visual view. For those more numerically minded, as we move to Slide 9, which is probably most of the people on this call, you can really see the track record and the quality of what we've delivered over a long period of time. And there is not a metric that we haven't absolutely delivered on over the last 5 to 6 years. And really what you're seeing today is further evidence of the transformation of the company that we are today. EPS growth of circa 320% over the past 5 years, which is a terrific result for shareholders, terrific shareholder return over that period as well. We've very much transitioned the business to that 80% annuity recurring. It's probably a little bit higher than that now. You can see that clear evidence of us winning but also executing well. And you can see the uplift in margin percentage performance over the long term has continued to improve and the quality with it along with a really strong track record of cash generation over the long term, which I think cash you can never look in halves or years, but you can see over a long, long period of time, we've delivered really strong cash-backed profit. So again, I think Slide 9 is just further evidence of us executing the strategy and doing everything that we said we would do. If we go into a bit more of the financial detail on Slide 10, you can really see that positive cash, which is really funding our growth. As I mentioned earlier, EBITDA to cash conversion of 101%. I'd say use 80% as a good proxy for us as you're also balancing the growth of the company, but a really strong track record of delivery and again, really another positive year from EBITDA to cash conversion. Really high free cash flow, which I've touched on earlier of just under $93 million. CapEx at $33 million, which is roughly 2% of revenue, which is very much our profile. From a maintenance capital perspective, it's roughly 2% of revenue, so very much in line with historicals, and you can really see that continued strong track record of cash generation. Which really translates on Slide 11 to the robust financial position that we have today. We've got an exceptionally strong balance sheet, available liquidity of nearly $300 million back to net cash, which is really positive from our perspective. You can see we've got a lot of facilities available to keep funding the growth of the business moving forward. And with the balance sheet that we have today, it gives us enormous strength, but also a lot of flexibility to really drive the growth of the business, not only organically, but also inorganically into the future, which is certainly part of the strategy. I think that's the financial piece. If we move to Slide 12, there's financials, but there's also the strong foundation of the group. And I would say in business, it's not the best widget, it's not the smartest strategy that drives performance. It's people and it's culture, and it's us living and breathing what we stand for. Live for the challenge, smarter together, never give up and have each other's backs. That's what's driving our performance. I always say to investors, that is what you're investing in. You're investing in what we live and breathe and stand for as a business. In Slide 13, we touch on some of the things around sort of ESG. And for us, it's about being very pragmatic, being very real and how we can make a difference. And certainly, from an environmental perspective, we've established now a committee at executive level for sustainability, which is really to strengthen the governance and oversight from an environmental perspective. We are ISO 14001 certified, which really is the framework on which we govern the environmental management of the group. We fully deployed carbon platform software to enable consistent auditable climate reporting. And we really see climate change is not a risk for the group, but an absolute opportunity. There's also a lot of great things we're doing around materials, facilities and smarter designs around how do we make our clients' business better. The reality is SRG, we operate on our client sites. It's about us working with our clients to improve not only their business, but the sustainable way that they do it. From a social perspective, really proud of the work that's been done with the Bugarrba Aboriginal Joint Venture. It's progressing very, very strongly, very well led by Angela Bennett and Jess and Gloria Wilson. We are building a special business there. I'm really proud of what's been done to date and it's got a very exciting future in front of it. We've now launched our Innovate RAP, which is really moving from the what to more sort of the pathways and the how as we move into the future. We've increased our investment from a graduate perspective to now nearly 30 people, which is all around sort of preparing ourselves for the future growth and the next level of talent coming through the group. And from a social perspective, it's about how we operate in the local communities. The reality is we operate in a lot of remote regional communities about how we're a good corporate citizen and being very much a part of that local community. From a governance perspective, we've got a Zero Harm Committee operating at both Board, Executive and Business Unit and Site level, which really drives the safety performance. Our TRIFR improved to 1.77. I think anything below 5 is a really good performance from a business. Below 2 is absolute industry-leading. And I always say safety is a glass ball in business. You bounce a lot of -- you juggle a lot of balls in business. They're all rubber, but really safety is a glass one. It's the one that you can't afford to drop. I don't like to celebrate it because every day is a new day, but really pleased at the performance. But for me, it's about focusing on the critical risks about what really matters. And we've very much got a reporting culture about how we learn. As I've said at the start, every day is a new day. It is the glass ball, and we have to start at ground zero and focus afresh every single day. We put a lot of effort into sort of the frontline leadership. We've had more than 350 leaders through our frontline leadership program from a safety perspective in the last 12 months. Really proud of some of the work we're doing in the psychosocial space, which is not only an issue in business, but also an issue in society. And from a group systems perspective as a whole, Project Evolve is really well embedded from a rollout perspective, very, very well led by Andrew Bell and the team. It's all around having one platform, standardized business systems to really provide that data and insight to give good decision-making for our frontline leaders in real time. So a lot of really good work we're doing in the ESG space. And I think what you're really seeing today is some really pragmatic practical evidence of what we do in this space. We might switch gears a little bit now and move over a couple of lines to the operating segment update. And I think you can see there really strong performance across both segments and really underpinned by excellent operational execution with really consistent margins. At group level, and I think I might have touched on this at the start, but really strong performance as a group. Organically, we sort of grew EBIT by close to 17% organically and EBITDA of just under 14%. And then you overlay that with the contribution from TAMS from an 8-month period, which was circa 10% above business case. That's at group level. If we look at sort of the Maintenance & Industrial Services segment, which is the largest part of the group, again, continuing evidence of delivering step change growth with really consistent industry-leading margins. I touched on the sort of TAMS performance above business case and now fully integrated into the group, and I'll talk to that a bit more later on in the presentation. For Engineering & Construction of this business, again, a really strong performance, really, really excellent execution and really underpinned by the early contractor engagement model, which gives us that upfront insight, visibility, input and contribution to enable us to execute with certainty. From a corporate perspective, very much aligned with historicals of low 2%. We continue to invest in the things that matter to keep scaling the business to be able to deliver into the future, but run at a very, very prudent level where we value where we spend our money. So we delve into each of the segments, firstly, starting with Maintenance & Industrial Services on Slide 16. You can see the diverse range of services on which we provide. And I think if there's a key -- a couple of key takeaways on Slide 16. It's the quality of the client base. You can see a very, very blue-chip client base on which we service. It's also the diversity of the sectors and the industries on which we play in. As we move to Slide 17, the operating segment update for the year-end review. Again, excellent performance and that continued track record of step change growth. We've secured a number of long-term contracts in the last 12 months, which really does position us for the future. I won't call out each individual contract or client, but you can really see the quality of the client base that we're dealing with and value what we provide. Very, very well now spread out geographically across all of Australia and New Zealand, across a diverse range of sectors where we can apply our skills. The successful acquisition of TAMS integration, I'll touch on that a bit more. And a lot of really strong growth opportunities as we move into the future, particularly in water, transport, resources, ports and marine and the energy space, which are all good, strong growth thematics for SRG Global. On Slide 18, which is the Engineering & Construction segment, I think, again, you can see the core services that we provide. It's very much that sort of specialist model, early contractor engagement. Again, a couple of key takeaways is, again, the quality of clients that we have, both in public and private land, and absolute blue-chip client base. And most important message, these are all repeat clients. We don't call this recurring earnings, but the reality is all the clients we're dealing with are repeat clients where the commercial model is well established. We're providing early contractor engagement and input and they're valuing the services on which we provide. So we move to Slide 19, which is the year-end review. Again, really strong evidence of strong performance and excellent execution. Really good evidence of execution and delivery in the specialist water infrastructure space, particularly in the dam anchoring, mega tank and water infrastructure space across Australia, really good evidence of winning and executing in transport, defense and renewables, which are all good growth thematics. Now a specialist facades business, an absolute market leader in the space across Australia and New Zealand, primarily playing in health, education and data centers with key clients, all good strong growth thematics, particularly in the health and data center areas. And the most important piece, which I've really touched on already is that robust commercial framework, that early contractor engagement model with blue-chip clients, commercial model well established, early engagement and input around designs, pricing, execution and you can then lock in the work early and then execute with certainty, which is something that we highly value. And basically, all our work in this space is that early contractor engagement model. I'll touch on now TAMS as we move a couple of slides to Slide 21. It does feel like TAMS has been in the family for 4 or 5 years. The reality is it's only been since November. This was a very, very strategic acquisition of a market leader in the specialist marine infrastructure space. We completed it at the start of November. It's now fully integrated into the group from a business systems and process perspective. I think most pleasingly for me, that's exceeded business case in the first 8 months, about 11% above business case. But the most important piece for me, it's been an excellent start culturally. These things generally succeed or fail based on culture, and I spent all my first 12 months very much on the cultural integration of the group. It's exceptionally well led by Abe Faulkner and the team, and that cultural alignment is very, very strong. There's a lot of really positive opportunities, both in the near term but also the medium term, not just for TAMS as a stand-alone business, but as part of the broader group, and it's been an excellent acquisition for us and really proud and pleased to have TAMS as part of the SRG Global family, which is a great segue into the way forward and the future as we move a couple of slides further to Slide 23. And you can see we've had a very, very clear strategy for a long period of time. And today, you're seeing further evidence of us continuing to deliver and execute against that strategy. I almost feel boring putting up this slide. I think I've been putting up this slide now for more than 8 years, but it's probably one of the real strengths of us as a company. We've had a very, very clear strategy for a long period of time. We've been very, very disciplined and focused in delivering against that strategy. We're very clear on what we want to be, but also very, very clear on what we don't want to be. And I think that keeping that strategy simple and executing against that with absolute discipline and focus has been the hallmark of our success. The growth phase is now very much morphing into the leadership phase. We want to be a zero-harm leader and a place that people want to work and clients want to partner with us. We continue to enhance both innovation and technology to drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage. The reality is we have a lot of in-house software and capability in SRG Global. I very much see innovation and technology as the enabler to execute work and give ourselves a point of difference with our clients that they value. But we have a lot of technology and software within the group, a lot of smart things we're doing around AI, which is really about driving productivity, giving us good insight, data and reporting to make good decisions. And the reality is leaders, particularly on the front line, having that data and insight to make good decisions is where really I see AI will continue to make a very, very strong difference for us as a group. We'll continue to make selective strategic acquisitions that either complement our capability or our footprint. The reality is we've got very strong organic growth profile in front of it, and we will overlay that with inorganic opportunities where they make sense. And we've got a very good track record of not only buying really good companies with high value for shareholders, but also integrating and enhancing those companies, but also those companies enhancing us. And that trend will continue. We'll keep delivering consistent above-market returns for shareholders. I touched on at the start, EPS growth of over 320% in the last 5 years with extremely high total shareholder return over the same period. And underpinning that kind of 80% annuity/recurring profile. The reality is it's probably a little bit higher than that at this point in time. It's not meant to be an exact figure, but what it's all about is having that underpinning foundational earnings visibility and platform to be very selective and targeted on all that win and do elements where we have really strong points of difference. So the strategy is clear. The strategy is not changing. You're seeing a very, very clear evidence of executing against that strategy, and that will continue, which really provides that platform for sustainable growth. And you can really see evidence today, again of that strategic transformation. We have a terrific platform into the future, and it's about now continuing to leverage the footprint that we now have with the diverse services that we can offer to clients that we play with today. We've got more than $5 billion work in hand, more than $11 billion from an opportunity pipeline perspective. And again, today, we're upgrading our guidance for '27. You can really see that kind of what that means for the business and that track record of continuing to grow the business into the future. It is a good segue on Slide 25 to the positive momentum of the group. Today, we're upgrading our FY '27 guidance, which should provide confidence of the visibility and the momentum in the group. We got more than $5 billion work in hand and an $11 billion plus pipeline of opportunities. Positive exposure to a lot of good growth sectors, including water, energy, resources, transport, defense, health, education, data centers and ports and marine, which really show the diverse sectors on which we play, all have really strong growth tailwinds in front of them. That earnings profile of sort of 80% annuity/recurring, which gives that sort of visibility, confidence and certainty into the future. And that strategic transformation to a diversified infrastructure services company will continue to deliver really consistent growth, but I think most importantly, high-quality returns. And one of the key messages out of today, yes, it's a record result. It's an exceptionally strong result on all metrics. But it's the quality that sits behind it, the quality of the numbers, the quality of the services we provide, the quality of the sectors that we play in and most importantly, the quality of the people that are delivering the services that SRG provides, which is a great segue into the investment proposition on Slide 26 of SRG Global, which is basically the reason we're all here. We have full end-to-end asset life cycle capability where we self-perform everything that we do. We play across diverse market sectors and geographies. And I would say that gives us a natural hedge. They're not relying on one client, one sector, one geography on which to apply our skills. We have a very, very broad platform on where we can play and where we can grow. We have a highly scalable business model from an experience, a systems and a structure perspective. And you're really seeing today, again, further evidence of us scaling the business, improving the business, driving the quality of the business. A high level of annuity earnings profile, which really brings that not only predictability and consistency, but also the forward visibility of how we'll continue to grow the business into the future. A very, very capital-light investment profile of CapEx circa 2% of revenue and a really high-growth dividend paying stock. And I think that's something we've done very, very well over the journey in terms of balancing not only the growth of the business, but also the dividends and returns to shareholders. I really want to thank the shareholders today for your support over the last 12 months. I want to give you reassurance, we're not patting ourselves on the back today. It's a really strong result. It's a result that our people are very, very proud of, but we're back to work now. It's about delivering a really high-quality result in FY '27 and beyond. And finally, I again want to thank our people. You keep stepping up. You keep living for the challenge. You keep being smarter together. You never give up and you have each other's backs. I can't thank you enough for your performance and the result that I've got the privilege to deliver today, and we're well on the way to being the company that I know we can be. So thank you.
Roger Lee
executiveThat's awesome, David. Thank you for that presentation. We'll now go into Q&A.
Roger Lee
executiveAnd again, for those of you that haven't put in questions as you wish to, please feel free to do so, and I'll just start from the very top. So the first one is from Max Andrews, United Capital. Max Andrews, well done guys. Can you talk to the organic growth in the second half looking like that has picked up materially and unpack some of the drivers behind this? And second part, expectations on the TAMS for FY '27 and expectations on earn-outs.
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think Max, really strong performance organically over the second half, but generally a 45-55 split business and some of the work we pick up really translates into the second half of the year. So I think that's something that -- it's really across the board from an organic perspective, pretty consistent between both Engineering & Construction and Maintenance & Industrial Services, and we expect that to continue from a TAMS perspective, certainly coming into FY '27, it will grow at least in line with the profile of the rest of the group. The reality is they do have some good near-term and medium-term opportunities. So we'll see how those play out over the sort of next 12 to 15 months from an earn-out perspective, but it will grow strongly into '27.
Roger Lee
executiveOkay. Yes. Excellent. Next one is from Brett Westbury. Thanks for your outstanding work. I understand it must be immaterial, but could you please comment on the EQ West receivable? I'll take this one, David. So yes, no, it is clearly immaterial. I can comment to say that the matter has been settled with no financial impact to the group. So it is now dealt with in the past. The next one is from Joseph House. Congrats on a solid financial update. Are you able to give us a sense of how the Diona business performed in the second half and how your thinking is about its growth rate in FY '27 relative to '26? Understandably, we've seen a lot of new contracts for Diona. Is it reasonable to assume the run rate is higher in FY '27?
David Macgeorge
executiveWe'll have to wash your mouth out with soap, Joseph, in terms of very much our utilities business today, not Diona. But look, it's had a really strong '26. I mean the reality is SRG Global's historical business has been very, very strong in water. Diona certainly added to the water thematic for us. It is now the largest sector within the group. It's had a very, very strong FY '26, and we'll continue to see that translate into FY '27, particularly some of the things that we picked up in government land about those long-term programs and how we execute against those. So it will be a strong performance in '27, but very much in line with how the rest of the group performs. I mean the reality is the growth profile across the entire group in the different sectors we play in, it will all grow pretty consistently.
Roger Lee
executiveAnd, just to add on that, too, the commercial framework that utilities brings into the SRG Group, which is through the long-term government contracts is significant for us, again, speaks to the quality of the business as well. Next one, again from Joseph. Can you provide any color on your M&A pipeline? Any advanced discussions?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think from an M&A perspective, there are certainly things that we continue to assess. My largest focus is primarily on driving the organic growth of the group and then inorganic where it makes sense. So there's certainly things that we continue to assess. And I think one of the positive pieces of our business, we've got a really strong track record of M&A, but we have a very strong track record of organic growth within the group. And the best M&A happens generally when you don't need it. There's certainly things that may enhance our group as a whole, but there's nothing sort of that we want to sort of call out today.
Roger Lee
executiveYes. Next one is from Amanda Kelly from Barrenjoey. Wondering if you could help us understand how you're thinking about the visibility of E&C pipeline for '27 and how you might see the phasing of that playing out across the year? And any sector mix changes or trends you're seeing in your book?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think as a group, it's generally a 45-55 split sort of first half, second half holistically. It might be a smidge higher than that sort of in the FY '27 year. I think from an E&C perspective, really positive opportunities across the board, primarily in sort of water, transport, defense, resources, health and data centers are probably the primary areas where we see good opportunity across the board. And I certainly think one of the great things that I touched on earlier that we kind of got a natural hedge, is we're not relying on any one individual sector. We can grow a lot of different ways, which is pretty powerful from an E&C perspective, where it's very much a win and do piece. So there's a lot of different diverse opportunities we have in front of us, but we're not relying on any one individual project or sector to sort of deliver the earnings growth profile into the future.
Roger Lee
executiveYes. No, I fully agree with that one. Next one also from Amanda Kelly. Some of these might have covered off there, but I'll go through it anyway. Just on TAMS, interested to understand the opportunities that might play out for the business this year and the potential you see for margin expansion.
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, there's some good near-term opportunities and some medium-term ones for TAMS. I mean, Abe and the team have delivered a really strong first 8 months. And we see that opportunity in FY '27 only increasing from here. I won't sort of call out individual opportunities. From a commercial perspective, I view that as slightly sensitive. But there are some good opportunities. And I think margin expansion, probably -- I think TAMS' margin performance will be very consistent with where it's historically been. Probably from a group perspective, we see some opportunities for some incremental margin improvement at EBITDA and EBIT(A) level over the course of FY '27.
Roger Lee
executiveAnd clearly, TAMS' margins are industry-leading.
David Macgeorge
executiveYes, absolutely.
Roger Lee
executiveFor sure. One from Joseph, again, your Engineering & Construction segment EBITDA margins were a lot stronger in the second half than first half. Shall we attribute this relative performance to mix of projects delivered or contingencies or...
David Macgeorge
executiveI think we're generally at 45-55 first half, second half. It's probably more just the timing of different projects and sort of nothing out of the ordinary from an E&C perspective. I can't quite recall. I'm pretty sure I might have mentioned in the first half that E&C would be stronger in the second half, and you've really seen that play out.
Roger Lee
executivePerfect. Next one is from Nick Rollinson from Morgans. Organic EBIT(A) growth was up nearly 20% in the second half. I don't have the numbers on hand, but does it feel the company is in the strongest position from an organic growth position as you head into '27 and beyond? And then the next one is TAMS won its first E&C award in June. Have you won any further E&C awards in TAMS? And what's the tender pipeline look like generally?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think if we touch on the first question about sort of the strength of the company, the company is in exceptionally strong position. And the reality is organically, we'll continue to grow into '27, and you've sort of seen that through the guidance that I've provided. I think for others to decide, is it the strongest position we've been in certainly from my personal perspective, I believe that is the case. And the reality is we're growing and we're compounding. So we're growing from a higher base again and again, and you're seeing further evidence of us of that in '26, but also coming forward into '27. And from a TAMS perspective, we did have its first E&C win in June with BCI. There are some reasonably positive sort of near and medium-term opportunities in the space. And I think the TAMS business has got some positive things in front of it, but also is executing what is a high-quality scale business from a maintenance perspective as well.
Roger Lee
executiveSure. Next one is from Gavin Allen from Euroz Hartleys. A quick one from me, team, TAMS circa 10% above budget. Was this by stronger-than-expected maintenance works? Or did you see an increase in project works of both?
David Macgeorge
executiveIt's really more from a maintenance perspective. The sort of translation of E&C will most probably kick in a little bit more in FY '27.
Roger Lee
executiveNext one is from Nick Rollinson. Again, organic EBIT(A) growth.
David Macgeorge
executiveI think we've touched on that one.
Roger Lee
executiveOkay. That one's done. One from John Anderson, long-term shareholder, great result and great future. Thank you very much to the SRG team from a long-term investor. Yes, I very much appreciate that comment, John. Thank you. One from Phil Pepe, great -- from Shaw. Great result, guys. Second half '26 EBITDA of $99 million makes your FY '27 EBITDA guidance look conservative given the usual 1 half, second half split. Can you elaborate on the factors affecting the guidance range, please?
David Macgeorge
executiveYes. Look, we're generally a 45-55 first half, second half split. So it doesn't -- the second half result is generally not always the way to sort of think about coming into the following year. The reality is we're in a great position, guidance of $195 million to $205 million. And look, really, I think the key swing factor is kind of going to be less around what's locked in and what's visible. It's more about timing of when certain things are spent.
Roger Lee
executiveYes. And one from Matt Chen from Moelis. Well done. Just on the cash conversion, anything to call out on the strong FY '26 cash conversion?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, nothing out of the ordinary. Look, I always say use 80% as a good proxy from a cash perspective. We've got a really, really good track record of delivering cash back profit, and we expect that to continue. The reality is not going to be 100% every single year. I think 80% is a very, very good proxy to hold against us.
Roger Lee
executiveThis one is for you, too, David. The one from Albert Landman is obviously a private investor. Having been invested with the client and managed -- having been invested with client and managed accounts since 2020 and start of turnaround when $0.05 dividend kicked in, you have not failed to deliver sustainable growth through every reporting period. Curious how you maintain the rage and the discipline when the potential for hubris and resting on laurels is a human nature default after such a successful period.
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think to me, it's -- Albert, it's a really good point and one that when I talk about what we stand for, live for the challenge, smarter together, never give up and have each other's backs. So these are not words on a wall or on a page. That's how we live and drive our performance. And I think that's something that I'm really conscious of as we've got bigger to really focus on what matters. And the reality is you get bigger, there can be some -- a lot of peripheral initiatives that you can focus on. And for us, it's about maintaining that discipline about really focusing on what matters. And for us, this is not a 1, 2 sort of 3-year horizon. We've sort of seen evidence over 6 or 7 years. The reality, Roger and I started in 2014 with a $30 million market cap with a few hundred people. I can assure you that we'll be disciplined and focused as we deliver into the future, and you'll keep seeing evidence of that. And it's really about us living and breathing our culture. We take it seriously. And I'm very real when I say that's what's driving our performance because it is.
Roger Lee
executiveAll right. Thanks, everyone, for your questions. That's the -- sorry, one more just popped in. From DFDSF, what are the barriers to entry and winning more defense work? Do you expect this to drive organic growth higher in '27 and beyond?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, it's interesting in defense. I mean it's one that's very much a medium-term play for us. My sort of experience tends to be that just tends to get pushed to the right. It's probably one of a number of different sectors we play in which we can continue to grow from. So the reality is that probably near-term opportunities are in other spaces. We play well in defense. I don't see a material uplift in FY '27. I sort of see it more as probably an FY '29, FY '30 story. But the reality is we're ready. We've got the footprint. And when the real spends come, we've hopefully got a position that we've got a point of difference where we can play.
Roger Lee
executiveAnd one more has popped in as well from Dave Funaro. SRG has achieved impressive growth while improving margins. As the business continues to scale, what do you see the biggest challenges to maintain that performance? And how can people and projects like this help address it?
David Macgeorge
executiveLook, I think from our perspective, from a margin, you've really seen over the journey, we've got industry-leading margins, but they've continued to expand from a quality and a financial perspective. Certainly, some of the great work we're doing in terms of insights and data to provide sort of real-time data to make good decisions, I think through AI and other things will only help the decision-making moving forward. But it then comes down to people and leadership. You can have all the information, all the data, all the metrics, but it's really driven by leadership. And we put a lot of effort into our leadership, particularly at the front line. And to me, it's about culture. And that's really how it's going to keep driving the performance. And the reality is I spend most of my time in thinking on how do we keep enhancing, maintaining and improving the culture that we have and we take it seriously because that's what drives the performance.
Roger Lee
executiveAnd clearly, someone like yourself, Dave, who works on a project for us, you care for us, you care for the project. You own your stuff. So all I can say as well, reiterate what David is saying is that keep doing what you're doing, which is keep owning your stuff and through that ownership is where the company improves and performs. And that's the end of our questions. So thank you, everyone, for joining the call, and we'll call it at an end.
David Macgeorge
executiveThank you.
Operator
operatorThat does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
Read the full transcript via the API
You're viewing the first half of this call. Get the complete SRG Global Limited transcript — plus 256,000+ transcripts from 12,000+ companies, speaker segments, AI summaries and full-text search — through the EarningsCalls.dev API.
Get the API View API docs →This call discussed
For developers and AI pipelines
Programmatic access to SRG Global Limited earnings transcripts and 256,000+ others is available through the
EarningsCalls.dev REST API. Plans from $24.99/month — full transcripts, speaker segments,
full-text search, and the recently-added /api/v1/transcripts/recent polling endpoint for ETL pipelines.
More tools for stock research
OptionsBell: an unusual options activity scanner that tracks options flow across all US stocks and emails you when large trades appear in SRG Global Limited or any ticker on your watchlist.
StockMarketScan: a stock screener with alerts: 24 pre-built screens refreshed every 5 minutes, watchlists and email notifications. Both offer API and MCP access and fair monthly pricing.