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RICHARD UMBERS, GROUP CEO, RYMAN HEALTHCARE LIMITED: Morena. Tena kotou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Good morning, everyone. I'm Richard Umbers, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ryman Healthcare and I'm delighted to be here to present our full year results for the year ended 31st of March. Here with me in Christchurch, I have Dave Bennett, our Group CFO. As previously announced, Dave will be transitioning into the Chief Strategy Officer role and remains the CFO until a new appointment is made. We'll be happy to answer questions at the end of this presentation and we're hoping to wrap up within 60 minutes.
Today, we're announcing a solid result. We delivered this while taking a number of steps to reposition the business for future growth and for improved financial performance. This result was achieved in a challenging economic environment, compounded by significant weather events and the tail end impacts from COVID. Our result confirms healthy demand for what we offer. Our Australian business continues to go from strength to strength.
Following our recent $902.4 million equity raise, we have reset our balance sheet. Importantly, our gearing has reduced to 33.1%, which is within our new medium-term target of 30% to 35%. In line with previous communications, the Board has confirmed that there will be no final dividend for FY '23. The Board anticipates making an announcement on Board renewal, including the appointment of a new Chair in the near future. During the presentation, we'll discuss the results in detail as well as changes we've made to the business. You'll notice some new metrics and improved disclosure in specific areas.
So, starting off with the headline numbers. Underlying profit of $301.9 million increased by 18.4%, driven by strong retail margins and a growing contribution from the Australian business. Our reported or IFRS profit decreased by 62.8% to $257.8 million due to lower revaluation gains and costs associated with early USPP repayment. To help our decision-making and tracking of progress this year, we've also highlighted 2 new metrics; free cash flow and operating EBITDA. Free cash flow demonstrates the total cash generated or used by the business, including full development before any external financing from our debt or equity holders.
Ryman invested $1.04 billion in portfolio...