Spirax Group Plc (SPXSF) Q4 2024 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Hello, and thanks for joining us for this presentation of Spirax Group's 2024 results. So I'm joined by Louisa Burdett today, and by now you all know her well. Actually, this is the first set of results that Louisa is presenting as our CFO. And I'd like to start by acknowledging the hugely positive impact she's had on our group since she joined us last July. So let me now summarize our 2024 performance. All three businesses delivered organic growth as well as margins in line with our expectations. And full year group organic sales growth of 4% was well ahead of global IP of 1.7%. Growth was delivered against the backdrop of a challenging trading environment characterized by, firstly, third-party IP forecasts that were revised downwards throughout the year in light of shifting macroeconomic risks. In particular, the second half recovery that was forecast for IP did not materialize. Secondly, a significant headwind to our STS business in China, which I highlighted at this time last year. Thirdly, a slower and more gradual recovery in biopharm orders than we had expected at the beginning of the year. And finally, material currency headwinds to growth and margins. Against this backdrop, we focused our efforts on delivering against the operational priorities that are within our control and advancing the execution of our strategy. I'm really pleased with the strong positive trajectory in ETS. Our priority for this business is to improve the margin to 20% and deliver on its high growth potential. Supported by improving manufacturing throughput, we delivered organic sales growth of 10% and a margin improvement to 16%. And we are seeing a significant pipeline of customer inquiries for our decarbonization-related electrification solutions. So we're on the right path to deliver...