Volex plc (VLX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Volex plc Annual General Meeting. [Operator Instructions] I'd now like to hand over, if I may, to John Boaden. Good afternoon, sir.

Thank you, Mark. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Volex plc's 2022 Annual General Meeting. My name is John Boaden, Chief Financial Officer of the company. As I am present in the physical location of the meeting in Basingstoke today, and Nat Rothschild, Executive Chairman of Volex is joining remotely, I will be acting as Chair of the Annual General Meeting, which I confirm is core. I will now hand over to Nat to bring shareholders up-to-date on current developments.

Good afternoon all, and welcome. Before we move to the item of business, I'm pleased to provide a brief update on trading in the first quarter of FY '23 as announced this morning, which has seen continued momentum across the group in line with management's expectations and our new 5-year plan. I'm pleased to report a continuation on the outlook stated in the company's full year results in June, with revenues growing organically by 4.9%, reflecting positive customer demand and our ability to deliver against the backdrop of a challenging supply chain environment. High levels of utilization have also been maintained across each region with higher inventory levels in the previous year in order to support the timely delivery of complex products to customers. Our acquisitions made during FY 2022 are integrating well, and Volex continues to develop a strong acquisition pipeline to drive growth. In parallel, Volex's diverse end markets continue to support its long-term strategic plans and affords the group a high degree of resilience. Revenues continue to grow in electric vehicles, resulting from the investment we have made to enhance our capabilities and enable us to support a range of products for our EV customers. Revenues in consumer electricals continue to grow, reflecting increasing market share through selling activity as well as the delivery of new customer projects. In medical, demand from customers remains robust and revenues are ahead of the previous year despite challenges due to the limited availability of components. Demand in our core complex industrial technology [indiscernible] periods as customers accelerate their technology replacement programs. To maintain momentum and deliver sustainable organic and acquisitive growth, we continue to focus on diversification, vertical integration and realizing cross-selling opportunities across the business. Overall, while it is still early in the year, the encouraging trends in the first quarter leaves the Board to expect delivery of full year underlying operating profit in line with current market expectations. I would now like to move on to introducing the directors and officers of the company joining us today. John Boaden, Chief Financial Officer, who, as he mentioned, is sharing the meeting today from Basingstoke. Dean Moore, [indiscernible] nonexecutive directors and Christian Bedford, our Group General Counsel and Company Secretary. Today's AGM is an opportunity for shareholders to express their views and to ask questions of the Board. We, as your board, are committed to open dialogue with our shareholders and are pleased to have the opportunity during the meeting to engage with you. As mentioned in the notice of meeting, shareholders can submit written questions during the meeting, which the Board will endeavor to answer. We ask that your questions relate solely to the items of business before the meeting. I now hand back to John Boaden for the formal business of this Annual General Meeting.

Thank you, Nat. So the notice of AGM was sent to you on the 11th of July 22. I propose to take the notice of Annual General Meeting as read. I will move on to the items of business before the Annual General Meeting, considering and, if thought fit, passing the resolutions, details of which are set out in the notice of meeting. Resolutions 1 to 10 are ordinary resolutions and require simple majority of the votes to be cast in that favor. Resolutions 11 to 13 are special resolutions and require at least 3/4 of the votes to be cast in favor. To date, all of the resolutions set out in the notice of AGM will be taken on a poll. This is in line with current corporate guidance -- current corporate governance guidelines. On a poll, votes may be given by members present in person by representatives of corporate shareholders who are present and by persons present as proxy for a shareholder. On a poll, each member present in person, by corporate representative or by proxy is entitled to one vote for every share held by them or the shareholder who they represent as the case may be. A person entitled to more than one vote need not use all of their votes or cast all votes they use in the same way. Many shareholders have already sent in a proxy appointing me as Chair of the meeting to vote on their behalf. I will vote as they have instructed me. If they have given me discretion as to how to vote, I shall be voting in favor of the resolution concerned on their behalf. All shareholders, proxies and corporate representatives here today have received a poll card. I now propose the resolution as set out in the notice of meeting, which, together with the proxy results received as shown on the slides, I declare the poll open. The poll count for the resolutions put to the meeting today will be conducted by Link, our registrars, and will be combined with the proxy votes already submitted. When those present in person have completed their poll card, they will find a ballot box at the exit of the room into which they can deposit their completed poll card. The ballot box will remain in place for 5 minutes only after the close of the meeting, upon which the ballot box will be closed in order for the poll count to commence. The final results will be announced at the London Stock Exchange as soon as practical following the conclusion of this meeting and will also appear on our website. That concludes the formal business of the meeting. We will now take any questions from those joining us today.

I have a considerable number of questions. They don't apply to the actual vote on the directors. I'm not questioning any of the members of Board regarding their [indiscernible]. As Chief Financial Officer, you know [indiscernible] results of the meeting.

So I'd be more than happy to do that that's...

Because that's what our actions [indiscernible].