Zotefoams (LSE:ZTF) — 2025 Preliminary Results

0:00 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ZOTEFOAMS PLC twenty twenty five Preliminary Results Investor Presentation. Throughout this recorded meeting, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged. They can be submitted at any time. Just use the Q and A tab on the right hand corner of your screen. Just type in your question and press send. Due to significant attendance on today's call, the company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company can review your questions submitted today, we'll publish those where it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, we'd like to submit the following poll, and I'm sure that the team be most grateful for your participation. It's a great pleasure to hand over to

0:32 CEO, Ronan Cox. Ronan, good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mark, and good after noon, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Ronan Cox, group CEO of ZOTEFOAMS. With me is Nick Wright, our group CFO, who will take us through the financial details shortly. I'll start with an overview of our performance and strategic progress. Nick will then cover the financials in more depth, particularly margins, cash, capital allocation before I return to to wrap up and lead on q and a. Before we do that, quick disclaimer. You've you've all read through this before. As always, today's discussions may include forward looking terminology. Actual outcomes might differ. So let's go to the first slide, please, Nick. Thank you. And before we delve into the detail, you know, really, in summary, 2025 was a was a really strong year for ZOTEFOAMS financially, operationally, and, indeed, strategically.

1:28 Importantly, the strategy that we launched at our Capital Markets Day, back almost one year year ago, I think, 03/20/2025, that strategy is gaining momentum. I wanna be very clear from the outset that the strategy is not moving one bit. What you're seeing from the results that we present today is the execution of a plan that we are already committed to. There is no change in direction. And a really critical enabler of that execution is has been a fundamental renewal of the leadership team. And over the last two years, we've built an entirely new group of leaders across the business, bringing in specialists from the industries that we are now focused on. So people from footwear, people from the likes of automotive, aviation, advanced transport, and industrial applications.

2:19 And these are leaders that understand our customers. These are in a leaders that understand the applications and the operating realities of the markets that we see as are the most attractive for our product. And, you know, we are starting to move at pace. So with that, we'll dive into into some of the detail. So in summary, 2025 saw strong revenue growth and record profitability. The slide captures both the outcome and and, I guess, the quality of the year. Group revenue was up 7% with really strong growth in in EMEA. We had a a more importantly, we translated that growth into record earnings. So our adjusted operating profit increased by 26% to 22,800,000, and our margins expanded by 220 basis points.

3:20 And cash generation was super strong, and our leverage reduced to 0.8 times as we refinanced the business with a £90,000,000 multi currency revolving credit facility, and that is giving us substantial headroom in the business. Nick will take you through all the main margin drivers. He will take you through cash conversion, and he will touch on the balance sheet in more detail. But the headline is is pretty simple. This was a this was a year of profitable growth, and it was supported by good cash generation and really good discipline across the organization. And if we go to the next slide, please, Nick. And this is just taking us back to the Capital Markets Day and the strategic highlights. And as I said at the outside, nothing has changed from the strategy that we laid out just one year ago.

4:14 At the CMD, the strategy was clear. It was about expanding beyond the core, and that strategy, I'm pleased to say, remains exactly the right one, in my view, for for this business. What's changed from them is is actually our ability to execute. So we now have the right leadership. We have got clear accountability, and we have an operating model that is aligned to markets rather than to products. We are materially closer to our customers. We are sharper in things like prioritization, and we are more disciplined in where we invest both organically and inorganically. And under everything that we do, I should point out, is our priority one in terms of health and safety, and we continue to make real strides in our health and safety culture across the organization.

5:06 So, Nick, if we could go to the next slide, please. And we're gonna turn to to EMEA. And, you know, this was another another record year for our for what has been always the the primary region for the business, but that is changing. But this year, our growth was again driven primarily by consumer and lifestyle and particularly footwear. Although we did see solid progress in transport and smart technologies in EMEA, it's important to call out one point, and that is that European demand outpaced our available our ability to to actually supply in 2025. So, in fact, demand was greater than our available capacity in the year. Now this is not a weakness. It's really a consequence of the strong customer pull and and really successful execution across across the business.

6:01 Margins were slightly lower year on year, and that reflects some deliberate choices. Deliberate choices like reinvesting in people and capability, embedding that industry led model, and then on top, obviously, absorbing some inflationary impacts and some forex movements, all while trying to protect and improve the service to our expanding customer base. We also saw saw an initial contribution to revenues in the in the year from Okay

6:29 Company for the for the short number of weeks that they were with the business. And and, you know, that revenue came as we look to integrate them into a unified European operating model, which we continue to to work on as part of that integration. This is a business that's being positioned for the next phase of growth, rather than a business that's being managed for short term margin optics. So those investments are really key for the long term growth of the overall group. If we go to the next slide, please, Nick, and then turning to to North America. The North America result is really, I think, a really good example of how the how our strategy translates into material results.

7:15 And revenue grew by 7%, but profit nearly doubled, and margins expanded materially. So that reflects essentially a better mix, strong execution particularly in the transport and smart technologies area, including aerospace, and indeed cost discipline. The commissioning of the second low pressure vessel, which was a major investment for The US facility, gives us capacity, and indeed it gives us optionality to support future growth there. And this is not a cyclical recovery. This really is a structural improvement in our North American business, and I continue to believe that we've got a lot of runway for growth in that particular market. If we move to the next slide, Asia. Asia, the numbers are are small, but Asia is indeed strategically important for ZOTEFOAMS long term growth, and and the execution is already underway significantly in Asia to as we have to expand our footprint and really lean into the footwear market.

8:17 In Korea, work has started on the footwear innovation center. We've taken possession of of the facility, and we're already fitting that out and getting it ready to receive initial innovation equipment. We've already got some 70 members on the ground, all coming from the footwear industry, experts in their field who will be working on the next generation of innovations for us in in that area. They are working directly with customers already on developments for future products and collaborating closely also with the newly formed Vietnamese team. And in Vietnam, we we entered in '25 into a partnership with ZOHU, a a Korean business specialist in footwear, part of the Jungjin group, and and we've already started to prepare our facility, which just flies outside Ho Chi Minh City.

9:10 Our first hires have already joined, and as I've mentioned previously in previous announcement, Brandon Thomas is is leading that business for us. He he joined us from Nike, and he has already started to build his team in Vietnam. I'm really pleased that we're starting to move from planning into execution. And if you can see the slides in front of you in the bottom right is the rendering of the new facility. Much of that already exists. The large shed at the very back, you'll see there are two two two factories effectively. The the one in the in the foreground, the large one in the foreground in the middle of the screen, I guess, is is already there, and that's being fitted out and ready to receive significant manufacturing equipment. And Vietnam is not just about unlocking growth in Asia, it also frees up constrained capacity in Europe, allowing us very much to to support the demand that we weren't really able to serve fully in 2025.

10:09 So this is disciplined, capability led expansion, and it's delivered by teams with direct experience in building operations in the region. And, you know, this is not us sending people from The UK over to to Vietnam. We are hiring sector specialists, regional specialists, specialists in Vietnam, specialists in building factories who are driving this investment forward for us. And if we go to the next slide, please, Nick. Just to zoom out and look at globally the verticals. So in 2025, we fully embedded that industry led model that we outlined in the capital at the Capital Markets Day. Consumer and Lifestyle remains our largest vertical, and I thought we're within that very, very important volumes in 2025 were exceptional, and and we've planned for a normalization of that demand in 2026.

11:03 What matters most is that strategically, you know, the relationship that we have with our key customer here is getting stronger and stronger. We with our investment within innovation, with our investment in Asia, we see that we're getting earlier involvement in design cycle engagement, and and indeed, this allows us to grow our pipeline of opportunities with our customer even greater with that proximity and with that investment in in innovation. I just add that Okay Company actually brings more customers also into this vertical, but not in the area of footwear, principally in the area of swimming, flotation, and buoyancy. It's quite a significant business that they have in Europe for those products and those markets.

11:52 In transport and smart technologies, performance is continues to be to be strong, and that's supported very much by aviation and aerospace and other very technically demanding applications. It's a vertical that's got very, very long development cycles, and we've got pretty good visibility. But this is really where ZOTEFOAMS' technical capability is a clear differentiator. We we add real technical advantages in this particular vertical. Okay. Companies profile business will also add a lot into this area. So this is out of their facility near Barcelona. It's manufacturing low cross linked phones, profiles, and with a really good presence in the auto sector in in Europe.

12:40 Construction and other industrial was mixed, and we had expected that. We were deliberately selective in the way that we addressed that market, prioritizing margin and returns over just top line sales growth. And I will also add that Okay Company here also strengthens our position further up the value chain as they're supplying into some very interesting construction end markets.

13:04 So it's clear that the structure is delivering clarity, it's delivering accountability, and it's allowing us to better allocate resources across the business. If we go to the next slide, please, then, Nick. Just touching then, I've mentioned Okay Company a few times. You know, the the acquisition of Okay Company really fits squarely within our strategy. It strengthens the European footprint. It moves us further up the value chain and adds capability, customer access, and I think gives us optionality. We've increased our numbers. You'll see for if you if you circle back to CMB numbers, you'll see that we've increased our numbers to reflect the addition of okay company.

13:50 That's not a change in our strategy. That is just a strategy being executed, which is is wonderful to see. Okay Company is earnings accretive. The integration is progressing well. We've integrated their commercial teams, and it's starting to provide a a blueprint for future acquisitions. And there will be more m and a. However, we will remain incredibly disciplined. We'll be very selective, and we'll make sure consistent with our strategy. Now with that, I'm going to hand over to Nick who will take you through the financials in more detail, including margins, cash generation, leverage, and capital allocation. Nick, over to you. Thank you, Roland, and good afternoon.

14:38 I'm very pleased to be here for the first time presenting ZOTEFOAMS full year results. I joined the group last September and have been pleasantly surprised by what I've seen. If anything, I'm now even more convinced by the potential of the business.

14:54 2025 was a year of outstanding performance across all key metrics. Group revenue increased 7% to 158,500,000 with a strong sales performance and an initial contribution from our first acquisition OKC, which completed in November. Adjusted operating profit excluding exceptional items increased 26% to 22,800,000, reflecting revenue growth supported by disciplined cost control. Adjusted margin operating margin was 14.4%, up 220 basis points, And adjusted profit before tax increased 39% to 21,200,000, driven by higher operating profit and lower net finance charges.

15:42 Adjusting items totaled 1,100,000, down from 15,200,000 in 2024 when we took an impairment charge on closing the new cell extrusion business. Statutory profit before tax was 20,000,000, a significant improvement from the prior year.

16:00 Adjusted earnings per share increased 46 of percent to 38p, and statutory earnings per share were 46.4p compared to a loss of 5.7p in the prior year.

16:13 These headlines demonstrate the quality and momentum in our business. So let me now take you through the financial performance in more detail. As I mentioned, group revenue increased 7% to a 158,500,000 or 8% in constant currency. More significantly, gross profit grew 15% to 52,900,000, demonstrating strong operational gearing. Gross margin improved 220 basis points to 33.4%. There were three key drivers. First, we benefited from more favorable product mix.

16:53 Second, we implemented selected price increases to offset cost inflation. And third, we delivered operational efficiencies, including managing inventory, improving utilization, and exercising strong cost control.

17:10 SGA expenses increased 8% to 30,300,000. Within this, distribution costs decreased 3.5% to 8,200,000 as we focused on reducing inventory and relied less on external storage. Admin costs increased 2,600,000 to 22,100,000 or 1,400,000 excluding the impact of foreign exchange. This reflects investment in our teams as well as higher wages in an inflationary environment. These increases were largely offset by stopping development spend on resource, which brought non nonrecurring operating costs down by 4,900,000, and this has been redeployed into our core innovation and commercial activities.

17:56 Looking at the breakdown by region, operating profit in EMEA increased 4% to 25,400,000 with a margin of 20.5%. While revenue growth was strong at 9.4%, the lower margin reflects investment in talent as well as cost increases due to inflation. In North America, operating profit almost doubled to 3,500,000 as did the segment margin to 11.6%. This was driven by revenue growth and the reduction in resource costs along with better cost discipline.

18:30 Operating profit in Asia of nought 200,000 reflects a reduction in revenue due to lower demand in construction in China. This demand started to improve in the second half, which has continued into the year. And we expect Asia to be a significant growth driver once our new manufacturing facility in Vietnam is fully operational.

18:52 Adjusting items of 1,100,000 comprised naught 900,000 of mail closure costs and naught 200,000 of amortization relating to the OKC acquisition. Net finance charges decreased 41% to 1,700,000 as a result of lower average net debt balances through the year, reflecting the group's strong cash generation. Adjusted PBT increased 39% to 21,200,000, and on an adjusted basis, the tax charge was 2,600,000, resulting in an effective tax rate of 12.3. This was down from 19% in 2024, reflecting the benefits of tax relief on r and d and two years of patent box claims made during 2025. Adjusted of growth adjusted profit before tax increased 50% to 18,600,000.

19:43 This translated into adjusted earnings per share of 38p, up 46%. We have proposed a final dividend of 5.35p, bringing the total dividend to 7.85p per share, up 5% on 2024. These results demonstrate a strong operational delivery and financial discipline.

20:08 Let me now turn to cash generation and our balance sheet. Cash generated from operations increased 31% to 39,700,000, demonstrating the high quality, cash generative nature of our business. A key driver of this was excellent management of working capital. We reduced net working capital by 7,400,000, which is around three times more than the prior year.

20:32 Inventory decreased by five point 4,500,000 as we reversed the buildup of stock in 2024. Trade and other payables increased by 4,500,000 as a concerted effort to agree more favorable payment terms, and trade and other receivables increased by 1,600,000, slightly lower than revenue growth, thanks to strong collections. This disciplined approach to working capital has freed up cash to support our strategic growth initiatives. Capital expenditure increased 4% to 14,200,000, and importantly, 82% of this was directed to growth opportunities rather than maintenance. The increase was mainly driven by strategic investments to expand beyond our core businesses.

21:17 46% was allocated to the ramp up of our second low pressure autoclave in North America and 34% to the footwear business in Asia, specifically in Vietnam and Korea.

21:29 Geographically, North America accounted for 60% of the total spend with footwear Asia representing 34% and EMEA accounting for the remainder. Maintenance CapEx was significantly below our depreciation charge as our established plants are well invested and require funding only to ensure operational reliability and maintain a safe working environment.

21:52 Return on capital employed increased 13.9%, up 220 basis points. Net debt, excluding the impact of IFRS 16 leases, increased 31 to 31,500,000 due to the acquisition of OKC, which was funded from existing financial resources. The initial cash consideration was €27,600,000 with up to four point €8,400,000 of deferred and contingent payments linked to future performance. Despite the acquisition, our leverage ratio improved to 0.8 times, down from 0.9 times at the end of twenty twenty four. So strong cash generation has enabled us to complete an earnings accretive acquisition whilst maintaining a robust balance sheet.

22:40 In January this year, we successfully renewed our revolving credit facility with Handelsbanking and NatWest on improved terms and added HSBC to the syndicate. Our new 90,000,000 multicurrency facility has a 30,000,000 accordion and a renewal date of January 2029. Turning now to the movement on net debt. We started the year with net debt of 24,100,000. During the year, we generated 39,700,000 of cash from operations. This strong cash flow more than covered our capital expenditure, financing costs, taxes, and dividend.

23:18 As I just mentioned, we invested 14,200,000 in capital expenditure, and the acquisition of OKC represented a cash outflow of 23,400,000.

23:29 Importantly, the acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in 2026, its first full year within the group. We paid 3,700,000 in dividends during the year, and there was a net outflow of 1,600,000 from other items, mainly comprising lease payments under the agreement. This brings our closing net debt position to 31,500,000, 7,400,000 higher than the start of the year as we deploy cash to fund the OKC acquisition. And I'd like to close by summarizing our approach to capital allocation. We deploy capital to drive long term sustainable growth and create value for our shareholders, and this slide sets out our priorities. First, we are investing in geographic expansion and innovation both in The UK and Asia. We're building a scalable platform using technology to drive efficiency and improve return on capital employed.

24:26 Second, we intend to maintain our progressive dividend policy. Third, we have a disciplined approach with high hurdles for m and a in line with our strategy. And fourth, we will return any surplus capital if this represents greater value for our shareholders. So in summary, we delivered strong revenue growth and record profits as we managed costs well despite

24:51 We are pleased with our strong cash generation, improved working capital, and higher return on capital employed. We made our first acquisition, which will be earnings accretive in 2026, and we have done that while maintaining a strong balance sheet. Our leverage ratio remains low at 0.8 times.

25:10 Finally, we have refinanced our revolving credit facility, giving us financial flexibility to invest in future growth. Thank you very much, and I will now hand back to Roland. Perfect, Nick. Thank thank you for that. Jose, as we move into summary and outlook, just to to summarize 2025, it was a it was a year of delivery and of getting momentum. We executed the strategy that we set out. We delivered record results. We strengthened the platform for long term growth. It it has been a really key year. So if we go to to the next slide, please. So we delivered record revenue profit. We managed through the capacity constraints while also investing for growth. We strengthened Europe, a, through Okay Company.

26:01 We've moved Asia, our footwear business, to Asia from concept and into into execution, and we have built a stronger and a more specialist leadership team. So this is a materially stronger business than it was twelve months ago. If we go to the next slide and we just look at Outlook, we've entered 2026 with good momentum. Our footwear volumes will normalize, and we've planned for that. We've discussed it before, and and we have planned for it. What matters is that the business is now more diversified by market, it's more diversified by geography, and it's more diversified by application. And we have got improving balance across the portfolio.

26:50 The integration of Okay Company and the freeing of European capacity through the investment in Vietnam and the continued disciplined investment also give us confidence at our medium term targets. So in summary, the strategy is unchanged. The capability to execute it indeed is stronger, and the pace across the business is increasing. And with that, that's the end of our slides. And thank you, and I'm happy Nick and I will be happy to take any questions. Great. Thank you very much, indeed, Ron. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the q and a tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. I'd just like to remind you, a recording will be available post today's meeting. Ronan, Nick, you've had a number of questions from investors throughout today's presentation. Thank you to everybody for your engagement. Ronan, if I may hand back to you and ask you to read out the questions I'll pick up from you at the end. Thank you. Yeah. Very good.

27:44 Okay. First question. We'll go we'll try and go top to bottom as much as we can. What percentage of your revenue came from Nike in 2025? Nick, do you have that? Yeah. So in 2025, it's around 40% of revenue. Okay. And then we have you mentioned footwear volumes will moderate in 2026 as customer a normalized inventory. It's not just necessarily about inventory, but a what is expected magnitude of this transition, and will the OKC contribution be enough to offset it? Yeah. So so work backwards in that. Oh, yes. Okay. Company will will absolutely more than offset it, but it's not about okay company offsetting it. Actually, we've got growth opportunities in other parts of the business. So net net, without OKC, we would offset any moderation or normalization of the demand in footwear.

28:43 Adjusted operating margins rose to 14.4 aside from the resource exit. One of the primary drivers required to reach your medium term ambition of more than 18%. There you go, Nick. How do we get to 18%? Okay. So there's a few things. Utilizing the additional capacity that we have in North America, make sure that we've got that up to full capacity. There's a quite a bit of self help that we are doing. So I talked about use of systems and technology and building a scalable platform. There's a lot we can do to be more effective, efficient, improve our planning and how we operate. And seeing the benefits of the the the growth coming through both outside of footwear in EMEA and US really drives that operational leverage and improves margins over time.

29:40 K. Good. You've set a clear target of reaching more than 300,000,000 in revenue longer term ambition. Given the current 7% growth targets plus, say, you had set two thirty by 2029, what is your expected split between organic growth and m and a to bridge that 70,000,000 gap in which geographic regions do you see as the primary engine for that extra growth? Okay. So just a slight qualification on that. We so we had originally had a capital markets. They set our organic target for 2029 at 200 to $220,000,000. The 300,000,000 was with, inorganic, so with m and a, on top of that. And we are remaining consistent with the with the organic growth, and and we can see that continuing.

30:28 So yes. Essentially, to take us from a $230,000,000, let's say, an upside of organic to $2.20 to 300, then that's around about 80,000,000 would come from inorganic for us, so therefore, from m and a. I think that that answers it. There are quite a few questions at the moment about the about the impact on raw material prices on chemical export risk, on polyethylene prices, on energy costs. Hey. Nick, you're heading up a working party that's ensuring that we're we're completely fit for that. Do do you wanna just talk about the exposure immediate and then how we are how we're setting ourselves up? Yeah. Of course. So in the short term, we have we're pretty well hedged in terms of energy usage for for the next six months and and maybe slightly longer in in Spain.

31:27 We have all around us, and we have no goods that are currently in The Gulf. So all about all of our shipping that goes to Asia does not go through the Straits, so we don't have any immediate exposure. However, if if the the ongoing situation leads to ongoing increased input prices, we will have to reflect that in our pricing to our customers. So longer term, we could see increased transport costs. Our transport costs are relatively low, but we could see cost that which we'd have to pass on. And, obviously, the law once if the oil price feeds into feedstocks, if it remains elevated, then we will have to pass that on to our customers. And the business has demonstrated its ability to do that as always. Always never easy, but in the market, we will pass that on, and we are focusing very much on making sure that we maintain our margins over over the next few months.

32:31 Very good. Thank you. With the new 90,000,000 on credit facility, what specific capabilities or geographic gaps are now the highest priority for your next acquisition? So our focus is on North America and and Europe. And I think the you know, we are we're we're pretty open to to opportunities that are in our focused industries, and we've we've got seven focused industries. We will be attracted by technologies and also perhaps forward integration where it increases our runway for growth. So so our opportunity to increase our addressable market. But, essentially, North America and and EMEA, and and, you know, whatever we do, we'll we'll stick very closely with with our strategy.

33:25 And so complementary technologies, complementary products moving along the the value chain. And we are looking across, as I say, the the various different industries and different stages of value addition within within those supply chains. And we continue to to fill a hopper with with opportunities in there. So but geographically, it's really, really clear. Seven industries is where it will be. The precise nature is is more down to what's available, and and we're talking to people at various different parts of the of the value chain. How do you see the recent 25% increase in polyethylene? Well, I think we've addressed the point in terms of a of material price increases.

34:12 So I think back to your point, Nick, we're we're we're on it. We'll we'll lay it's very important that we protect our margins. And as well as we see things flowing through, then then we will address that. Please give the percentage of your cost of goods sold in terms of raw material costs by each major material. We we wouldn't go into that level of detail. It it clearly differs across the different substrates, but that's a level of granularity that they that we wouldn't want to go into. Can you quantify the expected revenue and profit reduction in a footwear in '26 over '25? Again, we we don't go down into those to delve down into those specific seven different industries.

35:01 What we've said is that the business will will normalize, so we see some moderation there. And following in behind that, what we also are clear on is that there's other business that can make up for any normalization in that demand. And we actually anticipate that that demand to remain fairly stable as we go through the sort of strategy period as we move more and more volumes from from Europe across to, across to Asia. Obviously, huge growth potential in Asia, North America, but profit margins are substantially below 20%. Can you drive The US and Asian margins towards European levels? I would say yes. There's a lot of operational gearing.

35:46 So, you know, as we fill facilities and particularly as we fill, North America, we can see that there's a very significant flow from top line down to to profit, and that's because of the operational gearing. Asia, we would have similar ambitions in terms of as we as we scale up our facility there around footwear. And it's it's it's essentially about driving the utilization of of our facilities. That's that's hyper important. And indeed, as we take capacity out of Europe and transfer that demand across to Asia, that's why we're looking to back from the demand as well in from from business that perhaps we haven't satisfied as well as we as we would have liked to have in the past. What are the three key messages you'd stress to new institutional investors taking, taking a stake?

36:41 What what I would say I suppose it depends on on those that are their stage of knowing the business. But, I think the first thing I would say is that, you know, our technology is is expanding, and our addressable market is is expanding. So, you know, once upon a time, we had a particular way of manufacturing our products, and and that has evolved significantly over the last ten years. The the likes of the sort of technical collaboration that we've had with Shinseo has allowed us to open up many more opportunities for the market. So the addressable market has has increased. I think I think that's that's that's the first thing. I think that too is, you know, we lean into many of the big megatrends of the moment, particularly around sustainability, everything that we do goes into essentially protecting products.

37:32 It goes to protect people, and in many ways, it goes to protect planet because its carbon intensity is much less than than many of the of the competing substrates. And I think the the third thing is that, you know, we are building a really great team here. You know, we have had a great team. This is a fantastic business. It's been operating for over one hundred years, and there's a lot of talent in the business. I inherited a lot of great talent. There are great people across the organization, a very, very clever people. And, you know, they have been honing their skills, and and we're entering a new era actually where the the data that we have accumulated over a hundred years, we're now able to actually harness it and use it with the likes of AI, which we're deploying across the business in in very material ways. And I think that it's it's of our moments as we're able to tap into that wonderful heritage and technical ability and skills across the business.

38:26 I think the final one, without a fourth one, is that we're not a one trick pony. Actually, I'm gonna add two. We're not a one trick pony. So we're we're we're diversifying our our our our portfolio, so so our customer base. I think the the next one is and it was tied in, Bobby, with an earlier point, that our return on capital is is improving. So, you know, this has been a very capital hungry business for a long time. The advances in technology around what we do are are are really attractive, and we're leaning into those, particularly in in the Vietnamese investment. We can see that happening and how that allows us to improve the returns on invested cash in the business. Oh, what will your tax rate be going forward, Nick? Yeah. So as as I explained, our tax rate on an adjusted basis this year was significantly lower than before.

39:17 We would expect it to, return back to a much more normal rate of 24 to 25%, in in going forward. Very good. Has there been any progress in the alliance with that has that was announced in May 2024? Lots of. In fact, I think the the the the alliance with has allowed us to take a much more nimble capital light, flexible approach to building the facility in Vietnam. And that's that's always they've they've they've given us knowledge and access to new emerging technologies and variants of technology. We we we don't copy what they do, but we've learned a lot from what what they do. And we've been able to layer that on top of our hundred years worth of knowledge, and that's catapulted us forward. So I think it's been massively productive.

40:09 We would have spent many years trying to, to to replicate some of the development work that's happened in that particular area. So I think it's been incredibly valuable, and I'm delighted with the progress that we continue to make around that. Okay. Has OKcompany opened up many cross selling opportunities? It has. We we've we've integrated the commercial teams. You know, the acquisition was at the end of last year. We integrated commercial teams in February. We've already seen some very early cross selling successes. So yeah. Absolutely. 100%. Hey. How much of the cost base is committed to innovation versus SG and A, etcetera? Nick, can you do you have the the details at hand for that?

40:59 I don't have the the the specific details, but we are increasing our investment, as we said, in in in in Korea, and we are also building our new innovation center in in Croydon. So those two are gonna account for quite a bit of investment in in the coming year. As as Ron said, we have a number of talented people already that are working in innovation, but we're adding to that team both in Korea and in The UK. Very good. I love this next question. There's a lot of publicity around the recent introduction of little carbon running shoes for $50.50 euros. How do you see that affecting sales of Nike products and consequently your supply for that?

41:44 You know, I don't I don't think that that's gonna have a material impact. I don't think that we're gonna see necessarily a world record beating athletes wearing Lidl shoes any anytime soon. However, what it does highlight and and one of the reasons that Lidl have done it, because they're also looking at using supercritical foam in in in those shoes, is absolutely for the environmental credentials. Yeah. A little is incredibly driven by by using recycled and sustainable materials, and I would say that that's very much at the heart of what they're doing versus necessarily thinking that they're gonna win the London or Boston or New York marathons. They're recognizing that the old way of making shoes ain't good.

42:31 So if anything, I think it's it's really cool because it highlights the fact that supercritical foaming is a much more sustainable way to achieve, a really top class shoe. But the the foam that's in their shoe, I don't think it's gonna be, I don't think it's gonna be set in records, but fair play to them for recognizing the, the environmental credentials of of what we do. Alright. How confident are you that Vietnam commissioning will be relatively trouble free? I've I've been around the the the block a few times. I've been involved in quite a few factory setups. I've learned many mistakes. I've been in the middle of them. There'll be surprises for sure.

43:18 But I am very confident in the team that we have assembled. And in fact, you know, as we commission this, we don't just commission it and then start putting product out. Our customer is with us every step of the way. They are helping review the manufacturing processes. They are willing us on to success. We've got incredible teams both inside the business from our also from our customer, but also from our partner, ZOHong, which is incredibly important. They have got forty years experience in making shoes. They've got thirty years experience in Vietnam, and and that's why we're involving all the people that we're involving. Will it be without trouble? Definitely not. Will it will it go well? I absolutely believe so. You know, it's these things are challenging, but but we've got a wonderful team assembled of both ZOTEFOAMS folks, but also our partners in form of customers and and, obviously, our our partner form of Zoho.

44:18 Gonna leave that one to the end. That's a good one to finish with. Hey. How is the how is the company dealing with the ever changing landscape? Could trade tariffs affecting Vietnamese exports to The US disrupt the new hub? K. Basically, no. So if you look at the FOB value of a pair of shoes, and I'm not I'm not going to it, but labor probably accounts for roughly roughly one third of that, and labor costs in Vietnam versus The US, you can imagine, are significantly are significantly lower, probably a tenth, if if not a little bit lower again. So the any tariff on the FOB export value of goods going from Vietnam to The US will not have a you know, it will never lead to the reestablishment of footwear manufacturing in The US, not at all.

45:15 It's you know, tariffs are higher in Chinese goods to to The US and Vietnamese. So if anything, what we're seeing is more migration from the likes of China to Vietnam or Indonesia. We may say see more migration to to India, but for the moment, Vietnam is is a net recipient of volumes from from China, and I expect that to continue. China continues to manufacture roughly 60% of all athletic footwear in the world. And with Vietnam at 20 and Indonesia at 10, what we'll see is more movement from from from China probably to Vietnam. This this supply chain will never be reestablished in the West, not certainly in my lifetime. Okay.

46:02 I has your house broker offered an opinion on why the stock is so lowly rated? There you go, Nick. That's one for you. I think I think what our focus is really, as as Ronan has highlighted, is on on delivering the strategy and execution. We're delivering good good results. We're really pleased with what the business has achieved in 2025. We're optimistic about the future, and I think if we can continue to deliver, then the valuation will take care of itself. Very good. Let's just see what skill sets are still missing in the management team where you focused on recruitment. I think the first thing is that we can't scale this business based on just an executive team.

46:57 So we're we're very focused on the senior leadership team. We we've assembled a new leader senior leadership team in the group, so that is group wide. And there are 40 or 45 folk in that. We will bring that team together very, very soon. And it is it is important that if we are to scale this business, that that is is much more than just seven people sitting on the executive team that that's driving this forward. So our focus is really developing the existing talent and bringing new talent into the senior leadership team. If there were two areas that get an oversized proportion of investment at the moment well, three, I think, get an oversized portion of investment. One is innovation for obvious reasons. Two is is business development, and three is around health and safety because as we expand, it's important that we really continue to to lean into that.

47:46 And we're all learning all the time. We're bringing new skills in all the time. I've we just recruited a wonderful AI expert. He's a 24 year old college graduate who's coming in, and he's transforming our world from AI. So the world moves fast, and we're we're always looking to bring in great talent into the business and and see where we can drive our growth faster. What further opportunities do you see with a with your footwear customer, different line opportunities? You know, we we running is the absolute sweet spot, but we continue to work across different sectors. Our phone is particularly adept at, you know, people running fast in a relatively straight line, but we have got on to basketball programs.

48:32 There are likes of tennis. You know, we we work across all the different categories at at at our at our client. And we will continue to innovate, and where we see opportunities and and the ability to add value and a technical performance, then then we will continue to do that. A what range of CapEx will be required to add a bolt on business to achieve the 90,000,000 of additional revenue to hit the 300,000,000 plus of turnover? So it's not really cap there. So what what range of CapEx will be required to add a bolt on business to achieve the 90,000,000 of additional revenue? So how much does it cost to buy a business with 90,000,000 of revenue, Nick? Yeah. So we we paid seven times EBITDA at OKC, and we paid around about the same. It's a one times revenue.

49:30 So Yeah. So I think you can do the math. Yeah. Okay. Can you provide a bit more information on your product and place? You know what? I'm gonna do we've got a few minutes. I'm gonna do this because I like the slide. Sorry. Everyone bear with me. I hope I haven't hit it too many times. Okay. Sorry. This will go to answer the question. Trust me. Okay? Alright. Sorry. Go back. There you go. Here here's an idea. Okay? So, you know, we're all about reducing width. We're about providing insulation. We're in a safety critical fire safety applications. So you see the, you know, use in and around Airbus.

50:19 You see in so in seating, in armrests, in some insulation installations. In Boeing, we'll see used in in business, particularly around business class seating. Those pictures on the left then are gaskets for windows, but also used in cleanings and also conducting, so stuff that you don't see. And then on the right, which is which is really cool, there's a rocket on on the right hand side, and that thing is dripped from top to bottom. It's got a it's got a nice layer of a of high performance phones around it. So quite a lot of different applications. So, you know, over the last fifteen to twenty years, the team here at ZOTEFOAMS have been developing incredible specifications. The great thing is that specification in aviation sees, it move into into into space type applications.

51:11 Okay. Are you using Kaizen or similar techniques to drive operational efficiencies? I would say that we are it's an op we're in in in a in in a sort of in a material way at this point. It is something that some of the leadership team, that have come into the business have great experience with and are absolutely jumping at the bit to get up. But, you know, we've got some some basic fundamentals that we're that we're really sorting out, which is which is also very neat. We continue to to look at the less complex areas of driving productivity. But for sure, there's a real opportunity for things like Kaizen. If we look at actually what we're doing in Vietnam and our partners are are absolute masters in, in Kaizen, and they are helping us set up those processes in Vietnam. In fact, we'll probably be taking some of that learning back into the legacy businesses.

52:11 Okay. And then the, the last question is from Bob m, and it is what is your ambition for 2030? You know what? We're we're just gonna keep our foot in the gas. We're gonna drive as hard as we can. We're gonna drive organic growth. I think that the strategy is is a good one. I think there are lots of really interesting, inorganic opportunities out there. You know, I would set our stall out at, say, being more than £300,000,000, I would say. But but, you know, the key for us is just a execute every day here. And and, you know, I've got a lot of I've got a real sense of a of of hope and ambition and confidence in in what we have here in the business and the team. And so we're just gonna keep driving hard. I I wouldn't wanna limit ourselves to any number of twenty, thirty. I know that we published some, but whatever it is, we always wanna go a bit further.

53:06 So so with that, I think we've I've managed to answer all the q and a. I I hope okay. Thanks. I think it'll okay to double my hope. I'm not allowed to comment on those things at all. You have to do your own thing. Yes. That's that's great. That's great. Wonderful. Listen. Thank you very much. Mark. Over to you to help us close out. That's great. Ronan, Nick, thank you very much indeed for updating investors. I was gonna ask you for feedback, but it looks like Bob has beat me to the chase. So thank you, Bob. Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please ask you not to close this session as we're now automatically redirect you so that can you provide your feedback in order the company can better understand your views and expectations. This might take a couple of moments to complete, but I'm sure it'll be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of ZOTEFOAMS PLC, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation and wish you all