Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Shine Justice Ltd FY 2023 half year results teleconference. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There'll be a presentation followed by a question and answer section. If you wish to ask the question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Simon Morrison, Managing Director and CEO. Please go ahead. Thank you. Welcome everyone to the half year results FY 2023 for Shine Justice. Can I open by introducing our team? Firstly, our CFO, Ravin Raj; our Head of Investor Relations, John George; our Company Secretary and General Counsel, Annette O'Hara, and my name is Simon Morrison, the Managing Director and CEO. We can go to slide four of the deck, just to outline our business across the group. Firstly, what we call our core personal injury business, which runs across the following practice areas: motor vehicle, workplace, public liability, and abuse, that is shared across a number of brands in the group. Shine Lawyers being the largest brand, and the other brands are Sciaccas, Stephen Browne, Bradley Bayly, and Claimify. We have what we call our new practice areas, which are our specialist lines. They run in the Shine Lawyers brand. Class actions being the largest of those practice areas, superannuation and disability, head trauma, catastrophic injuries, dust disease, commercial disputes and medical negligence. Then we have two family law firms in the group, Best Wilson Buckley in Queensland and Carr & Co in Western Australia. If we can turn to slide seven of the deck, and I'll walk you through the headline results. Clearly, the H1 result has been a challenging one for us, the most challenging we've seen for many years in the company now. It has been a bit of an intersection of a couple of things that Ravin will talk through shortly. We have been investing pretty heavily in our growth journey, and we'll talk a little bit about that. We've spent some money on that. Additionally, some expected cash to land in H1 has now been deferred. There's been an effect that Ravin will talk through and explain that full bridge. Importantly, H2 is traditionally a very strong half for Shine, and this half will be no exception. To the headline numbers, revenue was up almost double digits, which we were happy with. EBITDA marginally under or flat at AUD 26.91 million. Ravin will explain some movements in the EBITDA line and what that means moving through to H2. NPAT down by a greater number that. Cash significantly down for us in the half. We're normally pretty high H1 in cash, that combination of investments and deferred cash coming in has had that impact for the first half, Rabin will talk us through the second half. The interim dividend has been declared at AUD 0.015. The position taken on the dividend was we needed to reflect the reduction in cash in, but obviously demonstrate our view in respect to H2 for the company and EPS, of course, has followed the other lines. I can talk to other matters strategically that we've been working on in the first half. We have now for FY 2023 filed three new class actions, being Sun Princess case, the Blue Sky case, and the Star Entertainment case, of course, in recent times. We added 42 new fee owners, so we have a good crop of lawyers to work on the cases. We're about midway through our new marketing platform, which we think will bring great success to incoming work. We settled a significant class action against the Commonwealth government on behalf of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations for $50 million. We are establishing some alliances with law firms in the United States to increase the number of litigation funded class actions we can bring into Australia. We opened two new offices in Victoria, in both Pakenham and Melton. We've previously spoken about opportunities in Victoria. Organically, we've been working on building the offices that we opened in the previous financial year with pretty good results. We did roll out our Shine Case Tracker, and that's already having a positive impact on the business. We've been working pretty hard on some enhancements to our class action technology platform to make that more efficient and effective. On that note, I'll hand to Ravin to talk us through financials in a bit more detail. Thanks, Simon. One of the things that we should be aware when we're looking at the financial results is that you might remember we sold our Emanate business in the June 2022 financial results. PTP does not include Emanate in the financial results. I'll repeat the results in terms of revenue, EBITDA, etc., and then I'll go through some reasons in relation to that. The revenue, as Simon said, was up at 9.29% at AUD 111 million. EBITDA was down to AUD 26.91 million. NPAT was down 18.39%. Gross Operating Cash Flow, which is probably one of our major metrics, was - AUD 8.9 compared to a PTP of AUD 6.68. I'll talk about GOCF in a minute. Going through the segment results, in terms of that revenue growth rate, 9.29%, the PI segment actually grew by 10%. It grew in Queensland PI, the new offices that we opened last year, the four new offices, plus also increased contribution from Stephen Browne and our Sciaccas businesses. In terms of the NPA segment, it only grew at 5.9% this period. That was really due to growth in our revenues contributed by our medical law and commercial disputes practice. While revenue was up 9.29%, EBITDA growth was flat and marginally below PCP. If you look at the segment, PI segment, its EBITDA margin dropped temporarily to 22.6% from 25.5%. That's really due to extra provisioning that was required because we didn't settle as many cases in the first half of our width group, and therefore we're required to provide additional provisioning in respect to those, that growth in that width. In addition, expenses were higher in the in this half compared to PCP. We believe that margin will normalize once case resolution activity increases and expenses are normalized in the near future once we're out of this growth phase. In terms of the NPA segment, its EBITDA margin dropped temporarily from 27.1% to from 30.2%. Again, we're investigating a whole bunch of new class actions. Under the revenue standard, we're required to 100% provide all our class action investigations. Again, from our point of view, we expect that margin to normalize once case resolution activity increases in class actions, and also expenses are controlled in the near future once we're out of our growth phase. In terms of expenses, there are quite a few expenses that are impacting EBITDA margin. Employee benefits expenses are significantly, as Simon indicated, we grew net AUD 42 billion more in this period compared to previous periods. That was mainly in core PI in Queensland, which was about half the growth in Queensland. Plus we also, due to competitive pressures, we increased salaries across the group around 6%. Now, marketing expenditure is up increased. We had a new credit, new marketing campaign last year, and there was increased TV, outdoor, and digital. Our HR costs are up. As our staff numbers are growing, we're spending more money on internal training and conferences. Finally, our unbilled disbursements, write-offs were also up. That's mainly due to class action investigations that we're required to write off, plus some personal injury case write-offs. Moving to slide 11, which is the dividend slide. Our EPS is down on PCP, obviously, as a result of the lower after-tax profit results. Directors decided to pay an interim dividend of AUD 0.015 compared to PCP of AUD 0.0225. That was the reduced dividend was really a consequence of the lower cash conversion in H1. While the payout ratio is low in H1, the board believes that once H2 cash conversion normalizes, they expect to increase the payout ratio in H2. Moving to slide 12, which is the balance sheet. You'll see some movement there because of the low cash conversion in the first half. Our cash reduced from AUD 51.8 million - AUD 23.4 million. The cash reduction is really funding growth initiatives plus also operations in H1. You'll see that WIP is growing in this period, and that's again due to lower case resolutions in H1. Similarly, disbursement debt as a credit has grown. Trade debt is relatively steady. Apart from other operational strategic activities, we're also going through significant leasing and re-leasing and fit-out across the group. You'll see our PP&E increased by $2.9 million. In terms of our strategic activities, you'll see intent to capitalize tangible assets growing. That's really our new marketing platform that we're working on. Our debt increased from $50.2 million - $53.3 million. That really relates to the fit-out of leased premises that I'm talking about and some capitalized items. If we go to page 13, we thought that it would be good. We reported an EBITDA of $26.9 million. There were a few mitigating factors in terms of what EBITDA we would have actually reported. There on, that's on page 13, what we're calling normalized EBITDA. There are a number of one-off items that impacted the EBITDA result. I've mentioned increased provisioning. It's AUD 5.8 million across both PI and NPA. When we recruit new staff, they are on a ramp-up in terms of they don't produce productivity straight away. The loss of productivity in terms of the staff that we've recruited is around AUD 4 million. We're expecting them to be 100% productive from December onwards. There are a couple of other smaller items there in terms of that had an impact on EBITDA in this financial period. If you look at EBITDA that we reported, we reported EBITDA of AUD 26.9, but there were a number of one-off factors that impacted EBITDA. A normalized EBITDA would have been around AUD 37.2 million. Similarly, with GOCF, which is on slide 14, we've reported a negative EBITDA of AUD 8.9 million. You'll see a number of litigated factors there that impacted that reported GOCF, and we've created a waterfall to normalize that GOCF. The first one is overdue from litigation funders. As everyone knows, we moved to litigation funding to improve our cash flow. But this financial period, we've had a couple of issues with litigation funders. One of them is short on capital at the moment, some of our invoices have been delayed, or we're on a payment plan rather than paying our full outstanding invoices. On another case, where actually the case has gone a bit longer and the litigation funder is not paying our fees until we go to mediation, which is due in March. Shine's having to carry that with. In terms of class action court approval deferred to H2, we always had the Boston class action here. We always have the Boston class action in our H1 forecast. There were two court hearings prior to 31 September, and the court has deferred it to H2. It's a bit of a timing issue from our point of view. Similarly to the overdue from the amounts that are overdue from the litigation funders. The cost of the extra new fee earners is the other item in terms of GOCF. We put the people on, they're not really productive at this point in time, or they're ramping up productivity, and they're certainly not producing any cash. Cash will be, they will produce cash down the track. The input compared to PCP, we opened four new offices previous years, and that's just the comparison against PCP in terms of new offices. Finally, the other large number is the $1.7 million. As everyone knows, we are keen to grow our class actions business. We want to move into the Victorian market, where class actions can be operated on a contingency fee. We've spent about $1.7 million in investigating class actions in Victoria. Our hope is, or the purpose of this is that to convert those investigations into real class actions in Victoria. That, that is a reflection of where we thought our GSF, the GSF would be in terms of our forecasting, compared to what we've reported. Back to you, Simon. Thanks, Ravin. We move to slide 16. Just on the topic of class actions, just a few things to update people on. We have been working very hard on building out this part of our practice. It will be a very important part of our revenue in the medium term, there are three things that we have been focusing on. The first is the number of cases. As Ravin mentioned earlier, there are 56 opportunities in total, which is a combination of cases commenced in the courts, cases that are in what we call pipeline, which means we're pending commencement in the courts or cases that are new and we're exploring those. The second thing we've been working on is broadening out the mix of cases in the class action practice. As you can see on the slide, we practice across employment, product liability, Indigenous interest, financial services, securities, travel, and there's a few bits and pieces in the other category. We think that's an important strategic move on the part of our company to have a very diverse practice. The third and very important are the reliance on litigation funding in those class actions. As Robin said, in H1, we've had a couple of issues we're managing, which are timing issues, but litigation funding's a very important part of that strategy. Turning to slide 18, which is the outlook. I'll keep this brief for both the short term and the medium term. In thought, in the short term, there are two things which we are focused intently on in the next six months. The first, of course, is our case execution to get those cases that were delayed in resolution in the first half, knocked over in the second half, converted to cash. What goes with that is the cost management strategies. In the medium term, we have invested and spent to build up both work types and geography. We now have a very good spread across Australia and New Zealand across a very diverse range of practice areas with a good complement of a workforce to run those cases. Our key focus, having done that building, of course, is execution. Finally, with guidance, we confirm EBITDA growth in FY 2023 in the order of low double-digit% increase subject, of course, to any unforeseen economic conditions. That concludes the presentation. We're happy to take questions. Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on the telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Daniel Tschirep from Q Value Research. Please go ahead. Yeah. Good day, guys. You said in the call that you expect margins in both of the divisional segment to normalize. What do you perceive those normal margin levels to be? I think you've mentioned 25% in personal injury before. Could you just give us a reminder of those levels? Daniel. I think what we've told the market on a number of occasions that ideally personal injury margins should be around the 25%-28%. If they get to 30%, that's fantastic, that's the range for personal injury. In terms of NPA, the range there is 30%-35%. Because there are typically class action, medical law, head trauma, some of the more higher value type cases happen in that segment, therefore, we get better margins as in that segment. Okay. Thank you. Should we be thinking about those in the second half, or is there still some ramp up with the new staff that have come on board? I think, you know, Daniel, you've been on the journey with the company for a while. We have been on a growth phase for the last two years, so a lot of money has been expenses, etc., new staff, new offices, a lot of money investigating class actions. A lot of money is being spent on growth initiatives. Partially, I think PI segment will improve because we'll have more resolutions in the second half. In terms of the NPA segment, it's more impacted by expenses. I think that over the next 12 post FY 2023, I think you'll see that we'll bring expenses back down again, and that will automatically improve the dividend margins for both segments. Thank you. Just one more. Could you please provide an update on the mesh case? There's been a bit of media commentary, regarding the status of that case. It'd be great if we could get some clarity there. Thank you. Yeah. Certainly. It, there are two mesh cases that are in the courts pending approval at the moment. Ravi spoke to one which is the Boston Scientific case. It had two hearing days in November and early December. A mention date a couple of weeks ago in court with a judgment is reserved, and we expect that to come down very soon. On the Ethicon case, we had the first approval hearing back in early December in federal court. The court had to consider approval of settlements and approval of costs. During that hearing, the contradictor. A contradictor is someone appointed by the judge to represent the interests specifically of group members. A submission was raised about whether there ought to be a tender for the administration work. The judge did order a tender. Our counsel, then and now has opposed the concept of a tender as being inappropriate for a case like the Ethicon mesh case. The judge has heard submissions in respect to that matter. Again, a judgment is due then, and we understood from the federal court that we'll get a decision on both those cases simultaneously. We hope to have some news pretty soon on both fronts. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from Peter Meichelboeck from Select Equities. Please go ahead. Hi, guys. Just a couple of questions. Just on the dividend, is the policy still 30%-50% payout of earnings? I know the first half you spoke about the first half being lower because of cash generation, but even if I look at the historical half years, they've been 35-ish or thereabout. In terms of like the second half, should we be thinking that 30%-50%, or would it be possibly higher in the second half to make the catch up from the first? Yeah. I think, let me come back a couple of steps, Peter. The board did deliberate on the dividend. I think our conclusion was we'd be damned if we've, we'd be damned if we do, we'd be damned if we don't in terms of paying some sort of an interim dividend. The interim dividend, the decision to pay the interim dividend was really based on how we as a board to view in terms of the cash position. As I said in that normalized GOCF, there were a number of items that should have occurred in H one which didn't occur in H one, and we're confident they're gonna occur in H two. Given the low cash balance, at 31%, it was decided to pay the lower dividend. In terms of the full year position, if once some of those things occur and also if we improve our case resolutions in the personal injury business, I think you'll see the total dividend for FY 2023 match or be slightly higher than FY22, subject to that cash coming in. If that happens, the payout ratio is somewhere between 35%-40%. Right. That's great. You know, the other question I had was just you called out the overdue from the litigation funders for AUD 5.8, and you made some comments around that. I just want to clarify. Is there any have you had to make any provision on any of that, or is it just more of a timing issue or? Yeah, it's a timing issue solely, Peter. There, there's no provision risk in either scenario. Right. Okay. Look, the last question I had was, I'm not sure if it was covered off in any of your commentary at the beginning. Just in terms of the class action business with personnel changes, you know, Jan has moved on or is moving on. Some other people. I'm not sure if you've made any comments on that. Can you, can you provide us sort of any commentary around that and what that actually means, what does that actually mean for the business in terms of. Yeah. Certainly. clients or anything like that? Jan Saddler has exited the business, along with three other lawyers. We have a team of more than 80 in the class action practice. We don't actually know what they're doing. We understand that they may be setting up their own practice as a boutique practice. If that's the case, we certainly wish them well. Vicky Antzoulatos and Craig Allsopp are the joint heads of our class action team. Both have 40-odd years of experience between them. They are both probably the most experienced trial class action lawyers we have in the practice. We've got a good contingent of people in the business. I do have to say that, you know, naturally, you don't want to lose anyone from your business, but we wish them well. It certainly has opened up a number of opportunities that previously were a bit restrained, if I could put it that way. Pete, I can add to what Simon said. You might remember, Craig Allsopp came to us through the ACA acquisition about three years ago, and he was running ACA Lawyers, which was a boutique class action firm. I was always a little bit worried that, you know, come in Shine and because we've got quite a large class actions practice, that he might leave, but he came in with Shine and it's a very easy step up for him to move from the role that he had previously into that leadership role in class actions. That's great. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Your next question comes from Lindsey Adams from Private Investor. Please go ahead. Hi, Lindsey Adams. Your line is now live. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand the conference over to Mr. Morrison for closing remarks. Thank you. Thank you all for attending. We look forward to visiting people on the roadshow next week. Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.