Zotefoams (LSE:ZTF) — Post AGM Investor Presentation

0:00 Good afternoon, and welcome to the ZOTEFOAMS PLC investor presentation. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and could be submitted at any time via the q and a tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today and publish responses when it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I'd like to submit the following poll. I'd now like to hand you over to Ronan Cox, CEO. Good afternoon, sir. Thank you very much, and good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to, the ZOTEFOAMS group year to date trading update. I'm joined this afternoon by my colleague, Nick Wright, the group CFO. So let's get into the presentation.

0:49 Usual disclaimers, you're all used to these. Okay. So introduction. I just want to to come back to to some to a slide that I've shared quite a few times now over the last two years that I've been in position at at ZOTEFOAMS, and this is the the strategy reminder. So nothing has changed in our strategy. So so that's the that's the really good news. And I think that the the highlights that we're gonna touch on today are really gonna dig into into where we've made really significant progress against the real strategic imperatives of the business. So from that move from industry to customer focus, the the development work that we're doing around getting closer to customer in the likes of of Vietnam, innovation, investment, to acquisitions, and indeed to driving productivity and becoming a higher performing team. So our strategy remains unchanged, and everything that we do and everything that we talk about within the business and indeed as we present to you today, I believe you will be able to attach everything back to this strategy.

2:02 And, therefore, as we come to look at twenty twenty six and we we pause for this trading update, the real highlights in the business are, number one, I would say, the the growth that we've seen beyond consumer and lifestyle. So in our trading update, you'll have read about the moderation of footwear, which is exactly what we expected to see as as a business. And what was imperative for us as a business in over the last year is that we prepare for moderation and therefore drive organic growth in particularly in EMEA, but also in North America. And I've been very, very pleased with what we have seen in that regard in in in both of those regions. So that's a real highlight.

2:48 We transacted and and acquired Okay Company at the end of of twenty twenty five, and I've been delighted with the integration work and the and the successes that we are having in joining up our businesses in the first four months of the year. So another really strong highlight. The investment case is is absolutely paying off, and and we're already seeing some real synergies between the organizations and some really strong cross selling opportunities. Not just opportunities, but but wins that have have helped us actually with with organic sales growth as well in in the in the legacy ZOTEFOAMS business. So really good progress there. Our investment in Asia, which we announced last year, is really, taking hold.

3:38 We've taken possession of the of the keys of both our innovation center in South Korea. I was there a number of weeks ago with our large footwear customer who had visited it. So that's that's making great progress. We've now got seven people, and the majority of whom are have come from the footwear industry that are now working in that innovation, in that innovation center. So that's really exciting to see that come on track. And then in Vietnam, we've properly broken ground, and and we're actually started to receive some of the larger pieces of kit to come into that facility, and that's that's happened in the last in the last few weeks. And, you know, we're still confident that we're gonna be ready to to actually have first test production by by the end of twenty twenty six.

4:25 Also, in the first four four months, we've launched our global approved partner program. And this this really is is about looking at those seven key industries and the key partners in those industries that we believe are gonna help us grow fastest and in the most profitable way. And we've we've, that partner program has now been, properly introduced, multiregional, multi industry, and we've got, you know, really good partners already signed up into that. And that's really helping us as we continue to to drive growth in the organic business. And then finally is our investment in AI. And I know there's a lot of hype around AI and and maybe a lot of hot air around it, but I would say that we as a business have made tremendous impact or have had tremendous progress, I would say, in the in the last four months with a with a pretty modest investment to connect the business. And I'll touch on on on that point a little bit later as we delve into into a bit more detail. But before we do that and go in in more detail in some of these strategic highlights, I'm going to pass over to Nick Wright, our group CFO, who's going to talk to us about business performance. So over to you, Nick. Thank you, Ronan, and good afternoon, everyone.

5:42 If we turn to the next slide and go through the the results in the first four months of the year, we are pleased with group revenue up 26% to 64,100,000, which reflects the initial contribution from OKC but also solid organic growth in other markets. Looking at by region, EMEA, up 24% to 50,100,000. This is where we see the 9,800,000 contribution from OKC, slightly ahead of our expectations for that business.

6:28 Also within EMEA is where the moderation that we anticipated from footwear has been largely offset by growth in other markets, largely transport and other and other sorry, transport and smart technologies. When we move through to North America, up strongly 30% to 12,100,000. This really reflects the benefit of the additional capacity that came on stream at the end of q four in 2025. Robust demand in consumer life cycle transport smart technologies, but also reflecting the fact that in the the similar period last year, we had lower demand in our industrial in industrial business.

7:17 And then last but not least, Asia, where the revenue in the first four months of the year had almost doubled up to 1,900,000, a small part of our business at the moment, but also is clearly, as we've said, as Ron highlighted earlier, will be really important for the business going forward as our investments in Vienna kind of spring towards the end of the year. And then so we trans transition the footwear business from The UK over the course of 2027, 2028 into that region. Really important, though, to see that the non footwear businesses in EMEA and North America are stepping up and and and filling the filling the moderation that was anticipated before.

8:06 Outside of that, we're seeing good performance in terms of margins. We've responded proactively to the challenges in the Middle East crisis and therefore have increased prices where necessary to cover the costs of raw materials, to cover the cost of increased transport costs, and cover the costs of increased energy, and that's maintained margins. And our focus on working capital has meant that we are in a good position and remain with a strong balance sheet, which will support our investments over the remainder of the year. So on the next slide, a reminder of the results from FY '25.

8:53 I'm not proposing to go through this in any detail as we covered this extensively at the year end, but it really just highlights that we're that 2026 is we're building on a strong foundation and continuing the progress that we saw in 2025 into the first half of twenty twenty six. Perfect. Thank you, Nick. And so coming back to strategic progress, really, main purpose of today is just to give you all an update and a bit more detail on those few items that that I touched on earlier. So starting with the with the global approved partner program, You know, this has been quite some time in the making, actually, and and and it's extremely important part of our strategy, as we say, getting closer to our customers, bringing those partners that we believe have got the greatest capabilities in the industries that they serve to bring them closer to ZOTEFOAMS to help us in areas of innovation, but also taking innovation and taking our existing products and ensuring that we've got the the the deepest and and best penetration in the markets that we see as having the greatest long term growth opportunity.

10:13 So I think the Technifiab, the the team that you see pictured here, you know, an amazing business, based in in North America. They do a lot of work in the aviation sector. They work with some of our most technical products, and they do some really amazing stuff with those products in terms of the, design, the thermoforming, the manipulation, the the the work that they do with our with our products. You know, it it it creates some incredible components that are used in in this fantastic industry. And and these are just sort of epitomize the way that we want to operate with with key partners and key industries. You know, they understand our product through and through. They can help us enhance our products, and they can help look and identify industries, you know, other industry opportunities and clear adjacencies.

11:07 So it's been really great to get this program off the ground. We have partners that are now, I think, in in all of our seven key key industries, and and we plan to to actually add more and more over the coming over the coming months and years. This is all about bringing structure and deep technical expertise, and and I'll touch on AI later. We've got such an incredible knowledge base within this business, and now we're we're we're being able to actually organize it in such an incredible way with with things like AI that genuinely with partners like Technifile and others that are in this program, we believe that our our approach to application engineering and market penetration is it it is second to none.

11:52 So it's a it's a phenomenal initiative. You know, our partners that that we sign up to this are highly motivated and and, you know, incredible businesses, well invested, and and we think this is certainly, you know, a key component for the ongoing organic growth story of the business. The next point I just wanted to touch on is that strategic project that strategic progress in in Asia. So yeah, a really big investment for us. The manufacturing facility in Vietnam, as I mentioned, the construction is is underway. We had a we had a really impressive groundbreaking ceremony a couple of months ago. As I mentioned at the beginning, we're starting to receive some large pieces of kit. If you look at this slide, the rendering in the bottom right hand corner is is our facility.

12:46 So so that's the facility that we're that we're preparing at the moment. The rendering in the in the bottom left is an actual picture of our innovation center in in South Korea. As I mentioned again at the beginning, I was there a couple of weeks ago, and we hosted Nike for the first time in in in that innovation center. What was for me just fantastic is the our ability to hire fantastic talent into that. So it's the facility itself is amazing, but the talent that we're able to attract there coming from that footwear industry is is incredibly impressive. And what's more is is that the location is is within a driving distance of the headquarters of the main tier one suppliers into into Nike. So, you know, our ability to collaborate close to our customer is just is just phenomenal here. And and and put together, you know, that that local footprint in in Asia for footwear manufacturing combined with innovation and proximity to to to that all of that sort of development in that footwear ecosystem is really going to, I genuinely believe, continue to to spur the growth of of of this both of this company. So an incredible foundations that have been laid laid in those first four months of this year.

14:05 Super exciting, and I'll be excited to get further updates as we progress to initial trials at at the end of this year out of the Vietnamese facility. So great progress there. Great team. As I said, we've recruited talented people in in Korea. We're also starting to form a a really good team in in the Vietnam facility as well. So so amazing progress. The next initiative that I want to touch on, again, I I I mentioned it before, is the investment in AI, and I want to be really clear about it when when we talk about investment in AI. You know, we we've we've had a few look at few different approaches to AI, certainly, since I've been in the business for over the last two years. At the beginning of the year, we've just hired relatively a young, super talented AI expert to come into the business and and actually help us navigate around AI, the opportunities that that we have in the business with this. And and, actually, what we've done in the first four months is is plumb in roughly 2,000,000 articles and artifacts and and and data files into our protected AI system within within ZOTEFOAMS.

15:25 On on top of that, we've been able to pull in over 6,000,000 academic papers. And then on top of that, we've been able to take a whole bunch of other external data, a market data, etcetera, that has helped us validate, not only market opportunities, but then to use AI to help us with recipe predictions. And then we have another arm to this, which which then helps our salespeople and our application engineers with actually bringing those solutions and help them land within the industries that we're that we're targeting here. And we've done all of this in a very controlled way. So so this is all of our AI is done within our environment, very safe. We've created a what we call a black wall protection around this to make sure that we are completely secure and compliant.

16:16 And we don't have any any free AI tools anywhere in the organization. All of that has been locked out of out of our business. This is one closed protected system where we're putting all of that corporate memory, feeding it into it, and that is feeding back to the business and allowing us to accelerate, as I say, in areas of innovation. But, also, we're seeing some real productivity improvements, you know, just automating basic transactions, building simple agents that take away a few minutes of every day, and these things are are adding up and stacking up across the across the organization. I have to say, I am incredibly excited in what we've been able to do in the last four months and that what we've done in the last four months is is probably a 100 times greater than than what I managed to achieve in in the previous twenty months. So, it's it's I'm really excited for for the potential of AI within ZOTEFOAMS.

17:15 As you see here on the right, we've got ZOTE Labs. We did a trial for for some people yesterday, actually, and and gave them a demo of this, and I think they were they were blown away, at what we'd achieved here. So AI will have an amazing impact on this business in innovation and speeding up innovation in helping our customer facing folk engage with with our clients and and how best to use our products, but it's also helping us become a lot more efficient internally in in in our day to day, actions as a business. So really great progress there and a key highlight for the first day, four months of the year. And I think the next update we're gonna talk about is OKcompany, but I'm gonna let Nick talk to that. Yeah.

18:05 Thank you. So just as a reminder, OKC, our first significant acquisition acquired in November last year, which was entirely in line with our strategy. It brought some fantastic customers, two good facilities and and and some complementary products to ZOTEFOAMS. Earnings accretive and sensibly priced, and we are really pleased with how the integration is progressing. Well, we said we were gonna do the integration properly. We started with the commercial teams. They are working well together, and we were already seeing that come through with additional opportunities for the business. Though the deal rationale wasn't dependent on synergistic sales, but it's really pleasing to see new opportunities coming through.

18:57 The business is performing ahead of our plans after the first four months, which is really good to see. It it's been really encouraging to see how the two teams are coming together and working and the cultural alignment is coming together with we've had the board and the exec team visit, but we're learning from them. They're learning from us. We we we highlighted that this is a business that's got the heart of the customer, really customer centric approach, and that's feeding into ZOTEFOAMS as well. We are we've we've completed the initial integration of the finance into sort of processes in terms of being able to obtain information, and we're focusing now into the the more detailed IT integrations.

19:43 The initial brand refresh is underway, and OKC is is positioning itself as a ZOTEFOAMS company. So overall, the as a first acquisition, it's really demonstrated that this business can and and has done a good job of of making acquisitions and bringing them into the business, and we're really pleased with how this first one has gone. And we are using this. We're capturing the learnings, and this will provide a a blueprint for future integrations. Perfect. Thank you, Nick. And I think with that, we'll just go quickly to to Outlook. So we've had a really solid start to the year. As we have said in our our our trading update, we our full year expectations remain unchanged.

20:33 Demand has been has been pretty robust. The and indeed, the moderation that we had expected in footwear has happened, and we've been really pleased that we've been able to take the ban from from other industries to offset the the moderation. So so very much as as as expected, and and that has been that has been very pleasing. As Nick touched on the okay company contribution, the business is performing, I would say, on or slightly ahead of the original investment case, and that's brilliant. It's the it's the nonfinancial stuff that's really great, which is the cultural integration, the spirit of customer centricity, the attention to service, which I think is is really helping us as an organization as well. And and and there are there are various learnings and passings of knowledge from from one business to the other. That's great. But but the fact that the commercial integration has happened so quickly is is tremendous, and the successes there are really, really encouraging.

21:34 I touched on that global approved partner program. We will be adding more partners, by the end of h '1. This is an ongoing process. You know, we believe that there's a lot of opportunities for partners in in our target industries to come in and work closer with us. And the more we can give them the tools and the products and the innovations and the excitement, the more people we see coming in that want to to come into this program. So so it is it's a fantastic program for for our partners. Obviously, The Middle East continues to to create uncertainty, particularly around things like raw material pricing and energy costs. The first few months of the year have seen us, mobilize ourselves in a way that I've I've been really pleased with and impressed with the way that we've been able to get our finger on the pulse, understand the impacts on the business, and make sure that we are able to pull the relevant levers that would ensure that we protect the ongoing profitability of of of the business. So the business has responded really well there. At this point, we haven't seen any particular headwinds in terms of in terms of demand, but, of course, one never knows what the secondary impact of of a prolonged, issue there could be. But so far in in the stuff we control, we've controlled it really, really well.

22:55 And I think all of that sets us up with confidence in our medium term growth strategy. You know, nothing has a saying to us that we're that we're anything other than continuing on the course that we set and that we're confident to to continue on that course, that it's the right course. It's yielding benefits. We can already see a lot of the strategic levers that we've been poly pulling to to actually come through and and deliver meaningful results that, you know, give us the confidence that that that long term strategy or that medium to long term growth strategy is entirely achievable. So with that, I'm gonna hold the presentation, and I am going to go to the q and a.

23:45 Perfect. Okay. So I we may as well jump straight in. I and I'm just gonna go from top to bottom. So I think it's first first in, first answered. Okay. So the first question is what is the actual range of equipment being installed in Vietnam? We're installing all equipment required to go from polymer to a to to a three d part. So so everything from injection molding through to gassing high pressure vessels and then low pressure vessels is is what we're installing in Vietnam. So it's a fully integrated manufacturing facility.

24:31 Are we benefiting from the increased military spending in Europe and, The US? I would say that we're seeing, some benefit, but I would see it as a bigger opportunity for us. Somewhat ironically, we're probably stronger when it comes to The US than it is to European or or UK military spending. It's one of our target industries. It's clearly something where there should be some tailwinds, And they you know, it's a it's an area where where where we're looking to continue to drive commercial, focus. And so we're seeing a bit, but we'd like to see more. Okay.

25:17 Why is t fit not as successful in The USA and Europe, whereas it seems to be doing well in China and and India? It's more I think this is more a case of of the projects. A we have we've got first of all, we've got a bigger team in in in China and and in and in India. The projects tend to be bigger there. It's a it's a case of where's the greatest opportunity for growth, and they're they're probably sitting with more bills having went on in in China and India. But we've got a decent business in Europe, and we've you know, the the T FIT business in The US is not doing bad either. It you know, we are I would say the T FIT business itself is is performing much better this year than it has done in the last few years.

26:08 We've brought new leadership in. So it's got a new general manager. We've got someone else who's helping us lead all of the logistics and coordinate our our service across the different territories. So I think market opportunities are our biggest and and quickest in in China and India at the moment, but that is not to say that we're deprioritized in The US and Europe. I think there's still plenty of opportunities there. Nick, I am gonna get to a few questions for you. Don't worry. But, I like these ones. Yeah. Okay. So, Adi's Adidas oh, I knew this one was gonna come. Adidas seem to have a better running shoe than Nike as evidently by their London Marathon wins. Was a foam, they use, and it's well, I suppose the the athlete came into it.

26:55 So so, the the guy that that was wearing the shoes had something to do at the time. But listen. You know, I think they've got they've got very good roster of athletes, and that's not let's not underplay the the the importance of them. I think that it is not lost on us, Adidas' recent successes. We are very confident that we can offer a phone that is better than on those shoes. And they you know, we are engaging with our footwear partners to see how how we could actually, you know, ensure that that gets onto onto elite athletes' shoes. So, listen, these things these come in in cycles.

27:42 I I think that Nike as our partner are not gonna take this lying down. I'd say, watch this space. I'm I'm pretty sure that they that Nike will have new running systems in place that will be out there on on and winning gold medals in the near future. But there's nothing like a bit of good competition out there to keep us innovating and advancing. So if everything just stood still in 2016, it wouldn't be good. So so you know what? We're up for it. Nike's up for it, and they and it's important that we keep innovating. Right. How are you improving your sustainability as a business? Well, you know, there are various aspects to improving your sustainability. We talk about our our lengthy supply chain from The UK to Vietnam. So that localization in itself is a dramatic improvement in in in sustainability.

28:36 So we're not shipping product around the world. So when we have that facility closer to customer, that will that will very much help our carbon footprint. And our product, I would remind anyone that doesn't know our product so well, our product, we we do not use any chemical blowing agents in the vast majority of our of of our of our manufactured products. And where we do in some of the products, for example, from from okay company, then there's a high level of very high level of a of recycled content. So we're very focused on productivity, reducing the the electricity consumption, trying to shorten the length of supply chains of products coming to us and our materials going to our customers, and we're very much leaning into recycled content as a as a business.

29:26 Okay. Alright. Ronan, two years on from becoming CEO. Honestly, are you ahead, in line, or behind where you thought the group would be? I think it's a combination of of stuff. I I think that we've made really tremendous progress in in certain areas. I think this the this strategic direction and alignment has been fantastic. There are other areas always, I think, operationally and execution wise where I I wish that we were we were further that where we were further ahead. So I think it's a bit of a it's a bit of a mixed bag. I'm very happy with where we are, but I'm I'm never that happy because that's just the nature of me.

30:14 So I think that, where I thought the group would be, I think that we're making really good really good progress. But, hey, I'm I'm just super demanding. I'd always like us to be further ahead than than we really are. This is definitely one for you, Nick, I think. Okay. AI is driving gigantic CapEx commitments into areas like data centers, power systems, the center. Are there opportunities for ZOTEFOAMS to have its products designated? Okay. Equally, the likely hyper and SpaceX IPO will shine spotlight on the aerospace sector. Again, does ZOTEFOAMS have potential exposure there? I tell you, go to the to the latter part of that, the SpaceX one, maybe. So we we we do have opportunities in in the aerospace and space sector.

31:03 We've already got our product on a number of a number of applications there. And I think as that sector continues to grow, that will create opportunities for our products where it has those unique properties that are just aligned with that kind of demanding application where you need super lightweight insulation, thermal properties that our product has. So our property really does help in those applications, and there's lots of opportunity there, and it's an area of focus. And as we bring in those industry specialists that know those markets well, we're seeing more opportunities open up for us. Very good. Given the speed of progress, is a question here, it's really about grants from innovation funds in The UK, the European Union, US, or or or or Asia. Do you wanna talk about the about r and d tax credits in The UK, perhaps? Yes. So we yeah. I mean, we we do take advantage of the opportunities to get tax credits for our r and d spend.

32:12 And where we have patents, we look to utilize those in the most effective way. I think that, you know, there's always possibility of looking for government support, but government support normally comes with strings attached. So it's not something that, at the moment, that we feel that we've we're we're actively exploring, but if there are specific opportunities that we think would be too much of a risk for us as a business and potentially government would want to share some of that risk, then we would look at it. But at the moment, our focus is really on investing in our core business in the areas that we understand where we see that our investment will deliver appropriate returns for our shareholders, and that's really where we're focusing our capital allocation.

33:01 K. Very good. Oil shock impact on inputs. Do wanna mention that? We have touched on it, but Yes. I'll touch on that. So we we've responded to that. Our our aim is to recover that increased costs. We're currently applying surcharges to where appropriate to make sure that we recover those costs, and our customers understand the need for us to do it. They don't like price increases, but they understand why it'd be necessary for us to do that. And at the moment, our customers are customers are more concerned about security of supply than the short term surcharges. As as Ronan said, if the situation continues long term, then that may have impact on demand. But at the moment, the real focus is on from our customers is making sure that they have the product that they need. Okay. Very good.

33:49 From Richard, can you give an update on the pipeline of acquisitions? So we have got well, what I would say is that we we've got a healthy pipeline of acquisitions today. I've been I think that that many of you that have been that were at our Capital Markets Day will have heard from our corporate development director who's doing a tremendous job in in in filling that pipeline. At the moment in time, I think that, you know, we've we've got quite a number of very interesting opportunities, that we've got a line of sight of. So we can't go into any more detail than that, but I think that what we are what we would say is that there is a there's a healthy pipeline there, and that certainly didn't exist, you know, just over over a year ago.

34:40 So we're in a good place. We're very focused. We've got our corporate development director who is 100% focused on this. This is all he does day in, day out. I have to say he's exceptional at identifying the opportunities, but then starting the engagements and and and those conversations and and looking at the the details of the opportunity. So it is it's a muscle that we started to build just a year and a half ago, and I think that it's developing really well. As you push for new partners, are you displacing others or allowing for their innovation? As you push for new partners, are you displacing others, or are you allowing for for their innovation? I'm not quite sure that I understand the question, but, you know, we we will we have got scope to partner with many, many, many, many businesses.

35:35 What we want are are like minded businesses that are driven by by value creation and growth. You know, there's a our material, I genuinely believe, can reach way beyond its traditional applications. And and for those partners that understand their industries and then understand the the physical attributes of the materials that we make and that that can bring that together, I think there's there's many opportunities to innovate and to grow partners together. So a you know, we're not having to you know, I I I I don't necessarily like displacing anyone. It's it's about really who do we lean into closest for for those partners that we can really share those same philosophy around growth and co innovation?

36:24 So so there's a lot of room. It's not that we're we're pushing people out. It's it's it's just that where we focus our efforts, where we where we see the greatest runway for growth. Okay. A here's a good one. Out of curiosity, I have seen novelty items that expand into dinosaurs or whatever. Is that how some of your ZOTEFOAMS does work? I've got no idea. I think that, hey, ZOTEFOAMS is a business. We're just gonna expand. Whether we can expand our products into dinosaurs, I I don't think so, but they there you go. What room for growth should we expect in margins? They seem to be stuck around 15%. Okay. So, you know, as a as a medium term objective, so so out to the to the end of our sort of five year strategy period, we're targeting to get to PBT margins of around 20%.

37:23 Okay? But we're also incredibly open about the you know, as we see that transfer of quite a lot of business from from our UK facility out to Asia as we, you know, move stuff around and and get it manufactured closer to where the customers are, whether that's in Asia or The US or in in in Mainland Europe, that margins will will move around a bit. But but longer term, our objective for the business, as I say, in our in our strategy period is is to get our PBT up to to 20%. Okay. A three years ago, this was UK business with US and Polish manufacturing.

38:09 Now it's okay. So three years ago, this was a UK business with US and Polish manufacturing. Now it's a global business with Asia. How are you managing the risk that comes, with going global? Plenty of companies have come to grief often because management was overstressed. That's, you know, very, you know, key key point where where it's not lost on us. I think the first of all, if we look at our our our Asian investments, so so the investment in Korea and and in Vietnam. In Vietnam, we we've entered into a partnership with a with a business that has been in in Vietnam. So a South Korean business that's been in Vietnam for for over thirty years. We are hiring people with regional and industry, expertise, so so they they know the country and the industry that that we're operating in. We're not trying to do this, this expansion in that part of the world with, by remote control from from London. Absolutely not.

39:12 Yeah. So so we're hiring knowledgeable talent from the industries that know the country to to drive this for this this for us. I think the the other thing and and, actually, I can say on the other side in in in other instances. So if we look at our US business, actually, we've taken one of our most talented, UK leaders, and he's over there now in The US. Actually, he's driving a lot of the real improvements that we're seeing there. So, yes, we are becoming more international. We're becoming more global. I think that the leadership team that I have assembled now are all experienced in operating in global businesses. I, myself, have lived in in various countries, have set up businesses earlier in my career in different different parts of the world.

40:03 We're all experiencing the sort of risks that come along with this. As we look at the governance models in the business, we're really upgrading them. And, this year, you know, we've we've had our looking at all of the risks sort of management profiles across the business, and we're ensuring that they are where they were probably much more UK centric in the past that they're that they're globally fit. So great point. It's it's that's part of the business that we have to to keep ourselves effectively managed and run and governed as we expand. It's it's one of our principal risks and one that we don't take lightly. Okay. I think we've got a final question from Gavin.

40:51 How is the new US pressure system performing the utilization so far? I almost touched on that. It's going really well. As a you know, we've we've now got one of our UK leaders who is now across in The US. He had been actually very active in in the in the commissioning on a well, on a on a sort of fly in, fly out basis. I'm so delighted he's now based in The US, and he's making sure that that asset is is up and singing. So really, really, really, really good progress there. So it's fantastic. Okay. When will you need a third pressure vessel in The US? When we get to over $100,000,000 of sales in The US? Alright. So we're we've got a good a good bit of growth to go till we get there. And I think that if we ever do come back to that, maybe in a different format, but I think we'll all be quite happy because it'll have meant that that US business will have doubled in size.

41:51 You know, we've got a lot of a lot of growth opportunities there without having to invest a truckload more money into into The US or putting in another, hey, low pressure vessel. But there we go. I think that we've managed to do all of the questions. That's great. Thank you for answering all those questions you have from investors. And, of course, the company can review all questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses on the Investor Meet company platform. Just before redirecting investors to provide you with their feedback, which you know is particularly important to the company, Ronan, could I please just ask you for a few closing comments? Hey. Well, thank you everyone for joining this afternoon. Thank you for for staying tuned for for the update. As we said, you know, momentum really started in in 2025. That momentum has continued in 2026.

42:39 Yes. There are challenges out there, but but we as a as a management team, remain confident that we will be able to face into those challenges. And as we say, guidance remains unchanged for the rest of the year. So we're making great progress on many fronts, not just the financial fronts, but also on the quality of business front. So, yeah, we're excited for the future, and they thank you all, all shareholders of the business. We appreciate your interest in the business, and they thank you for your time today. That's great. Thank you for updating investors today. Now please ask investors not to close the session as you'll now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations. This may take a few moments to complete, and I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.