Austin Engineering Limited

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining Austin Engineering's investor briefing for the full year results for financial year 2026. Together with me is Austin's Chief Financial Officer, David Bonamini. We will take you through the presentation released in ASX this morning and then open for questions at the end. Turning to slide 3, I will begin with an overview of the results. David will then run through the financials. and I will return to discuss regional performance, operational priorities and outlook and guidance for 2027. Then we will move into the Q&A at the end. Unless otherwise stated, financial year 26 and 25 financial performance measures exclude foreign exchange movements and relate to continuing operations. Cash flow measures include both continuing and discontinuing operations. If I then could move on to slide 7 for the results overview. FY26 was a challenging and disappointing year for Austin. Operational issues across North America, South America and Indonesia weighed on earnings. Importantly, these issues were operational in nature and within our control. During FY26, we took decisive action to address them. strengthening operational discipline and positioning the business for improved performance. Group revenue for the full year was $329 million, down 12.7% on the prior year. This reflected softer trade volumes across North America and APAC, together with the impact of the loss-making legacy OEM contract in South America. These pressures were partly offset by continued growth in Australian buckets and spare parts. Group EBITDA was $20.4 million, down from $43 million in FY25. The decline was driven by a $9.3 million loss in Chile, mostly from the legacy OEM contract, margin declines in the U.S., from productivity and outsourcing issues and lower trade volumes in APAC, which was partly offset by strong bucket growth in Australia. Group EBIT was $10.8 million. Despite the earnings decline, operating cash flow was a clear strength. It increased by $24.1 million to $26.7 million, supported by disciplined working capital management and a $32.2 million reduction in inventory. Net debt reduced to $5.8 million. From $5.8 million, strengthening our financial flexibility as we execute the operational improvement plan. Earlier this year, the Board declared an interim dividend of 0.3 cents per share, fully frank, which was paid in April. Given the full year results, and the importance of preserving capital to support the operational reset of the business, the Board has determined not to declare a final dividend in FY26. Importantly, the issues we face are well operational and within our control, and the corrective actions are beginning to deliver visible progress. Customer activity remains robust with the exception of North America. with closed FY26 of an order book of $132.9 million and has secured a further $32 million of orders since 1 July 26. That activity, together with stronger cash generation and reduced net debt, provides a firmer platform for financial year 27. I can move on to slide 9. Slide 9 sets out both the financial year 26 performance across our three segments and management's response. The important point is that we understand the issues, have acted on them and are seeing early evidence of improvement. In South America, the commercial and operational reset is underway. In North America, productivity, outsourcing and second half margins improve. In South America, our EBITDA loss increased to $9.3 million, primarily driven by the legacy OEM contract and operational inefficiencies. To address this, we have reset that commercial arrangement, put new management in place and are implementing labour and production controls. In North America, EBITDA came in at $9.5 million, impacted by product mix, productivity and high outsourcing costs. Our actions here include running a targeted productivity program, reducing contractor reliance, and adopting welding technology. Looking at APAC, input dial was $24.9 million, with lower trade volumes, far too offset by growth in buckets and spare parts. Our focus is on accelerating bucket growth, diversifying our product and geographic mix, and improving margin discipline. Whilst the FY26 earnings recess was disappointing, the stronger cash outcome in reduced net debt gives us the capacity to execute the recovery plan. The focus now is discipline delivery and converting the actions already taken into improved earnings. If I turn to slide 10, I will briefly explain the causes of the South American result, then focus on the actions taken and why we believe the business is positioned for improvement in FY27. As previously communicated, the Chilean business took on a large OEM contract in financial year 2024. The operations was not adequately prepared for the required volume increases or the different manufacturing requirements of the OEM specifications. This affected labour productivity, steel utilisation and facility efficiency. To meet delivery requirements, some production was shifted to buy-car. Whilst this addressed an immediate capacity constraint, it also extended the margin impact beyond Chile. The financial impact has been significant. The OEM contract generated $21 million in revenue, for financial year 26 but delivered a negative EBITDA of $5.7 million, translating into a negative 27% margin. The total regional EBITDA loss for South America was $1.7 million for the full year, compared to a loss of $1.7 million in financial year 25. We have taken decisive action. The OEM contract was renegotiated in March 2026 with improved writing and payment terms and delivery under this revised terms commenced in late June. These terms are expected to improve the contract economics. Other key actions taken include a new management team is in place supported by the North American team to improve labour utilisation and production consistency. The workforce has been right-sized and tighter production governance has been established. We have gained control over our steel yard and processes to manage steel utilization. Chile is firmly in recovery mode. The order book extends to the end of the current calendar year with further demand expected. There is more work to do but the revised commercial terms, new management structure and stronger operating controls position the business for improved performance in financial year 27. Turning now to slide 11. I want to spend a moment on North America because this is where we have seen some of the most tangible early progress from our operational improvement program. North America provides a key example of the early benefits from our operational improvement initiatives. Productivity improved from 62% in July 2025 to approximately 80% in the final quarter of financial year 26. This reflected workstation KPIs, improved planning and scheduling, standard work instructions, and a deliberate shift away from contractors towards permanent workforce capability, supported by our internal wealth school and training programs. Outsourcing also reduced materially. All trade bulls outsourced fell from 33 units in financial year 25 to 17 in the first half and just 3 in the second half of financial year 20. Outsourcing has improved production control, supports capability and provides a stronger platform for margin recovery. North American margins improved to 9.5% in the second half from 5.8% in the first half. While further progress is required, this is measurable early evidence that the initiatives are taking hold. North America enters FY27 with further efficiency gains targeted and a stronger operational foundation from which to rebuild earnings. I'll now hand over to our CFO, David Bonamini, to go over the financial results in more detail.

Thanks, Si. Good morning, everyone. I'll start with the group's profit and loss performance, and I'll cover results by region before moving to the cash flow and balance sheet. Turning to slide 13, group performance, group revenue for the full year was $329 million, down 12.7%, reflecting lower activity across all regions. APAC was impacted by softer trade volumes, North America by lower trade sales and product mix, and South America by the capping of the OEM production. EBITDA declined by 52.5% to $20.4 million. This was driven by a $9.3 million loss in Chile, as I referred to, an $8.8 million reduction in North America profit from productivity and operating issues, and an $8.3 million decline in APAC from lower trade loans, partly offset by Australia's margin improvement from the bucket growth. Even if the margin was 6.2% from 11.4% in the prior year, depreciation and amortisation was broadly stable at $9.7 million compared to 9.9 million in the prior year. EBIT was 10.8 million, down 67.5% from 33.2 million, with EBIT margin at 3.3%. The effective tax rate across the group was 18%, with tax expense recognised primarily in the US and Indonesia. Net profit was 7.6 million, down from 27.7 million in the prior year, The decline reflects lower EBITDA, partly offset by lower depreciation interest and tax expense. I would note that the statutory profit numbers include net material items of $4.2 million compared to $14.2 million in FY25. Turning to slide 14 and the revenue and EBITDA charts, you can see the group's revenue growth trajectory from 2003 from $203 million in FY22 through to $377 million in FY25, and then reaching $329 million in FY26. Looking at the revenue by region, APAC revenue fell 15% to $147 million, largely due to the timing of the major trade orders, which were partially offset by the growth in the Australian bucket sales. North America revenue declined $13.5 South American revenue was down 3% to $54.9 million, impacted by the cap on the OEM production and offset by an increase in service revenue. Turning to the EBITDA chart, APAC EBITDA was $24.9 million at 16.9% margin. The climb was driven by lower trade volumes, partially offset by stronger Australian bucket performance and spare parts growth. North America EBITDA was $9.5 million, impacted by the decline in trade volumes and product mix, product inefficiencies, facility bottlenecks and the cost of the contract labour and third party contractors. South America's loss widened to $9.3 million from $1.7 million in FY25, impacted by the loss making OEM contracts, high labour, contractor and steel costs. While the full year performance was weaker year on year, APAC remains the largest and improved in the second half. North American margins are recovering and Chile is positioned to improve materially in FY27 with the contract reset and the new operational controls in place. Turning to slide 15, cash flow. Cash flow was a highlight for the year and demonstrates the discipline we have embedded an improvement of $24.1 million on the previous year's $22.6 million. This was driven mainly by the unwind of working capital, particularly the $32 million reduction in inventory. Evidence of free cash flow conversion improved materially to 99% for the full year, a significant achievement given the earnings decline. Capital expenditure was $6.8 million, down from $9.9 million in FY25, supporting upgrades to US facilities and operational equipment across the business. Pre-cash flow after interest tax and capital expenditure was $19.9 million compared to a negative $5.7 million in the prior year, which is an improvement of $25.6 million. The cash position was used to fund dividend payments of $7.1 million and $1.2 million shared buyback during the year. The group closed the year with $17.1 million in cash, with a reduction reflecting the return of capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Despite the lower EBITDA, the group delivered significant improved cash performance, demonstrating that the working capital discipline and the financial controls we have embedded are delivering tangible benefits. Turning to slide 16, financial position. The balance sheet remains strong. with total assets of $251 million and net assets of $134 million. Net debt was reduced to $5.8 million from $12.8 million at the end of FY25 and the net debt to equity ratio is now at 4.1% down from 8.2% in June 2025. Working capital movements included. Inventories increased by $32.2 million or 37% to $55.7 million This reflects the improvement in inventory management and the deliberate unwind of elevator stock levels. Receivables and contract assets decreased by $10.3 million, or 14% to $61.7 million. Payables and provisions decreased by $21.9 million from the off-buy steel and US supply payments, while customer advance payments decreased by $4 million, with US advance payments down $10 million during working capital decreased by 26.1% to $50.6 million. I'll now hand you back to Si.

Thanks David, and I'll move on to provide an update on the performance of our regions. So first looking at Asia Pacific on slide 18. APAC was our largest revenue generating region, contributing 44.7% of group revenue and continued to be the cornerstone of profitability for the group. The Australian bucket business was a real standout, delivering a $17.4 million revenue uplift and growing from 10% of APAC's product revenue in FY25 to 26% in FY26. We also continued to diversify our customer revenue mix, with 51% of work now sourced from outside single customer relationships. This is an important strategic milestone. Pleasingly, profitability improved in the second half to 18.7%, up from 15% in the first half, reflecting operational improvements and disciplined execution. The order will strengthen through the year, with demand increasing in the second half. together with continued bucket growth, broader customer exposure and stronger demand conversion that supports our confidence in the APAC outlook for FY27. Onto slide 19 and North America. Despite the revenue decline this year to $127 million, North America remains a significant contributor at 38.6% of group revenue. The revenue decline of 13.5% was driven by customer replacement cycles, deferrals and product meets, with all the levels softer than expected. I have covered already the operational improvement plan we are executing, improving workshop productivity, increasing production flow and reducing dependency on external contractors. The results are showing productivity improved from 62% to 80%, while outsourced assemblies dropped from 33 units in FY25 to just 3 in the second half, and margins improved from 5.8% in the first half to 9.5% in the second half. Underlying customer activity is currently soft, with our order book down year on year. With productivity improving, outsourcing materially reduced and more work being bought in-house, and North America is better positioned to convert the mine into improved margins and earnings. Looking at South America on slide 20, revenue was $54.9 million, broadly in line with the prior year, but the financial performance was significantly impacted by the challenges with the OEM contract outlined earlier. As I mentioned, the OEM contract was renegotiated earlier in March with improved pricing and payment terms and deliveries under the new terms commencing in late June. A new operational improvement plan has been implemented with the new management team supported by the North American team rolling out CASPA's operational improvement processes and practices. The order book extends to the end of the current calendar year were further than line expected. Our focus is now on disciplined execution under the revised contract terms and converting stronger operating controls into improved financial year 27 performance. Turning to slide 22, our strategy on the page. Our strategy remains focused on margin recovery, customer growth and product differentiation. We will continue to advance our strategic priorities which are anchored by three operational pillars, manufacturing leadership, product leadership and customer care. Under product leadership, we continue to design and engineer products that meet the changing needs of our customers for productivity and efficiency gains. Mining bucket sales are growing across the group, including for dippers. digital product has been launched and we continue to develop our digital systems capability. On the customer focus, we have invested in our sales teams, increasing marketing activity and expanded customer support personnel in Australia and Chile. And in manufacturing leadership, we are introducing common operating systems across the business. implementing standard work instructions and embedding disciplined API management. An important proof point is the traction with new customers. During FY26, new customers across Africa, the Middle East, India and North America contributed $12 million in sales and established a further $40 million sales pipeline. This demonstrated the opportunity to broaden our customer base and convert our global footprint and product capability into growth. Turning to slide 23. This gives you a good picture of the breadth of our revenue base, and I think it's an important slide in the context of the full year results. Looking at the commodity mix. Copper and iron ore each stood at about 25%, and met coal exposure has grown from 9% to 15%, while gold has come back from 15% to 8%. On the product side, bodies remain our largest category at 62%, and I'm pleased to see buckets growing from 6% to 10%, and other products and parts moving from 4% to 10%. And on the customer side, miners represent 83% of our revenue, broadly consistent with last year, and reflects the depth of our relationship with our major operators. Our OEM channel holds steady at 8% and remains an area of ongoing opportunity for us. The key takeaway is that Austin has diversified revenue across commodities, product and customer type. Combined with the growth in buckets, other products and parts, this provides resilience and creates multiple avenues for growth. Now turning to our final slide, slide 25, which also provides guidance for FY27. Austin's strategic fundamentals remain strong. Our global footprint, diversified commodity exposure and design-based solutions position us well The operational improvements undertaken in financial year 26 provide a clear pathway to improve earnings. Each region has specific measurable improvement drivers for financial year 27. In Chile, the OEM contract reset with improved commercial terms and stronger operating controls is expected to drive margin recovery. In the U.S., It is about productivity, recovery and lower outsourcing, with the order board expected to strengthen across financial year 27. In APAC, we are looking at continued bucket growth, diversified revenue and a stronger demand conversion. Meanwhile, at a group level, working capital discipline, cost control and embedded operating KPIs will continue to support cash generation and financial flexibility. Looking at our guidance, we expect FY27 underlying EBITDA from continued operations excluding foreign exchange movements to be between $17 and $21 million. We expect the improvement in EBITDA to come from actions already underway, revised contract economics and stronger controls in Chile. and bucket growth diversification and demand converters in OPEC. As we wrap up, I want to reiterate the key messages from today. FY26 was a disappointing earnings year and we are understating the workflow required. However, the causes are understood The issues are within our control and the science of correction action has already been taken. Austin's strategic fundamentals remain strong. Our global footprint, diversified commodity exposure, design-led products and growing customer pipeline position as well support customers seeking productivity and efficiency gains. We enter FY27 as a leaner and more disciplined business with stronger cash generation, reduced net debt and Matera Operational Foundation. Our focus is to convert this platform into improved earnings and sustainable long-term growth. With that, David and I are happy to take any questions you might have.