Good morning, everybody, and welcome to our Interim Results presentation for the Financial Year 2024. The results will be delivered this morning by our group executive team, led by Mr. Dominic Sewela, our Group CEO. The financial overview will be provided by Miss Nopasika Lila, our Group FD, and thereafter she'll be followed by results from our divisions. First up, under the industrial equipment and services pillar, is Miss Andronicca Masemola, who will deliver results for Equipment Southern Africa. Mr. Emmy Leeka will provide results for Equipment Eurasia. Mr. Chris Wierenga will take us through results for Ingrain, which is the business within our consumer industries pillar. Thereafter, Dominic will wrap it up by providing strategy update and the outlook, and we'll take time to address whatever questions, which you're welcome to post on the Q&A line. Again, a warm welcome, and thank you for joining us. Over to you, Dominic. Thank you, KG. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As you all know, Barloworld is a, is a purpose-driven and people-centric organization. We appreciate that for us to perform, we need sustainable, you know, growth and performance that's underpinned by addressing certain elements around social, environmental, and governance issues. It gives me pleasure to report our outcomes of our material ESG aspiration. I'll start with environmental stewardship. As we journey towards, you know, the consumption of lower carbon energy sources, in the last six months, we've increased our solar PV capacity by 38%. We continue to progress against our efficiency improvement targets set year on year. On the social stewardship, we continue to advance economic inclusion and delivering positive social impact through our various programs, such as Imbewu and Siyakhula. Our efforts have been recognized by being awarded Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, that we receive for Imbewu, under CSI, you know, from a legacy Best Corporate in 2024. On the ethical, you know, stewardship, our governance structures are strong and led by an independent board, which continuously engage with stakeholders. We continue our efforts in bolstering an ethical culture across the organization. On the organizational stewardship, we remain resolute in our transformation, in transforming the workplace by making sure that we continue to ensure that we have diverse talent, and we are inclusive, but more importantly, those that work for us feel that they belong. Our holistic approach to employee wellbeing includes health, safety, and wellness, and it shows that we provide a workplace in which our employees are healthy and safe, and the one that they can thrive in. Our results, I think, bears testament to the resilience of our business and the benefit of geographic diversification to our overall portfolio. In South Africa, our operations have had to contend with constrained local macroeconomic environment, with inflationary cost pressures, as well as relatively higher borrowing costs affecting both businesses and household. This slowdown was, however, mitigated by our fast-growing business in Mongolia, you know, at the back of the economy of that country. We've exercised discipline in managing our cost in light of high interest rates, and we focus on free cash generation. And as I had promised when I last saw you, in March, that we're going to address gross debt, and we've achieved gross debt, gross, gross debt reduction. Having regard to the group's capital allocation strategy and in line with the dividend policy, I'm pleased to announce that the board has declared an interim dividend of about ZAR 2.10. The ZAR 2.10 is higher, is 5% higher than the prior year period, and it results in a dividend cover of about 2.5 times of our normalized headline earnings of about ZAR 5.32. When you look at our net working capital, we're down 48%. Gross debt, as I said, 31%. What's pleasing also is to see that our focus, in terms of our strategy, you know, has delivered a hurdle rate, a ROIC above our hurdle rate. Notwithstanding these challenges at Ingrain, we are actively resolving them, and when Chris comes up later on, he'll provide further details in terms of, you know, the work that he's doing. But I'm pleased to say, you know, the company remains robust, and I'm gonna get Miss Nopasika to give us more details on the numbers side. Thanks, Nopasika. Thank you, Mr. Sewela, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Barloworld's interim results for the period ending March 2023, 2024. In a market that saw commodity slowdown, some commodities held steady. As a result, our geographic and economic diversities has yielded resilient results. Overall, our revenue is down 8%, due to the reduction in mining activities and consumer demand in South Africa. Eurasia revenue remains flat year-on-year. In line with our increase in capital expenditure over the past two years, depreciation and amortization is up 9% in this reporting period. Effective tax at 23.9% is below the statutory 27%, largely due to the positive impact of exchange rates movement on our tax line. Here, we depict revenue per segment. We demonstrate how revenue decrease in some of our divisions has been well-balanced by the magnificent performance of Mongolia, at an increase of 43% in terms of their revenue. Mongolia's impressive performance was boosted by the increase in demand in both prime products and after-sales market. As expected, VT's revenue decreased due to the reduction in machine sales. However, that was offset by the after-sales market. Ingrain's revenue is marginally down at 3% due to the reduction in export sales and domestic consumer demand. EBITDA margin remained resilient at 12.9% year-on-year. VT and Mongolia continues to achieve exceptional results because of the margin conversion and disciplined cost control measures. EBITDA for equipment, Southern Africa, is lower than the previous year. This is in line with the decrease in revenue we saw, although the margins have improved slightly due to the change in sales mix. Ingrain reported a reduced EBITDA due to the lower trading activities and higher overhead fixed cost. So when we look at segmental operating profit from core trading activities, similarly here, we see a resilient operating margin at 9.7%, compared to the 10% in the prior year, and this slight reduction is attributable to the 9% increase in depreciation and amortization, as I had previously indicated, and this is in line with our CapEx project. The increase in finance cost is due to the increase in interest rates at an average of 2%-2.5% compared to the previous year. Having said that, our gross debt is down 31% and our working capital, 48%. This is now from September 2023. Therefore, we expect that the finance costs in the second half of the year will be less and will reduce. On the tax side, the main contributor to the lower effective tax is the currency movements against the US dollar, and this is mainly in Angola as well as in Russia. We continue to see very good results from our JVs and associates, and overall, the increase in this reporting period is 23% compared to the previous year. Bartrac is up 18%, in line with the projections and business activities. NMI showing a 30% increase, and they are benefiting from the prudent cost management that they have put in place. Our balance sheet remains solid. It is strong, with assets exceeding liabilities by ZAR 17.2 billion. The total assets have reduced by ZAR 6 billion from September 2023, mainly to pay down debt as well as payables. So as a result, our gross debt has reduced by ZAR 3.3 billion, and trade and other payables reduced by ZAR 3 billion. Our business activities usually lead to a cash outflow in the first half of the year. The first half of the year, our free cash flow reduced by ZAR 1.9 billion. This is well below our previous experience in the past year of ZAR 3.3 billion outflow in the same period. As mentioned earlier, we have successfully decreased our gross debt by 30% as we embarked on decreasing our finance costs and investment in working capital. We continue to comply with our debt covenants, and this is all our covenants we complied with, as it has been in the past. Moving on to the metrics. The March and September 2023 numbers have been adjusted to exclude discontinued operations. ROIC at 14.3% is higher than our target hurdle rate of 14%. ROE at 13.9% is below the threshold of 15%. As Dominic had indicated earlier, I'm pleased to announce that our board has declared a dividend of ZAR 2.10 per share, and this is in line with our dividend policy of 2.5-3 times, and this is a 5% increase in dividend that we had declared in the similar period last year. So with that, I'd like to thank you and hand over to Andronicca Masemola, who will take us through Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa. Thank you, Nopasika. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Now, moving on to Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa. The results for the interim period ending March 2024 reflect the cyclical nature of our business. The decline in commodity prices, ailing logistics infrastructure, had a negative impact on mining activity. Revenue was down 10% at ZAR 11.8 billion, versus ZAR 13 billion reported in the previous year. Total machine sales were down 25%, partially offset by an increase of 7% in parts sales. The increase in parts sales was driven by our operations outside South Africa, which recorded an 18% increase year-on-year, while South Africa was down 3%, largely as a result of a slowdown in the mining regions. We have seen customers in South Africa parking machines as they curtail production, mainly in the coal and iron ore segments. EBITDA was down 8.5% at ZAR 1.4 billion, while EBITDA margin improved by 20 basis points to 11.6%. Bartrac JV delivered strong results, which I will unpack in the next slide. Cash flow improved by ZAR 833 million, to an outflow of ZAR 1.9 billion, versus ZAR 2.7 billion in the previous year. Return on invested capital at 18.3% is above weighted average cost of capital and has remained at these levels in the last three years. Looking at, new equipment sales by segment, sales in the energy and transportation segment increased by 40% to ZAR 491 million, mainly driven by increase in retail, industrial, and large electric power engines. Construction was up 15% at ZAR 1.4 billion on the back of private sector-led renewable power projects in South Africa, as well as road construction, mainly in Angola, Mozambique, and South Africa. Total mining machine sales, including contract mining at ZAR 2.1 billion, were down from ZAR 3.9 billion last year. Looking at revenue contribution, E&T doubled its contribution to new machine sales, ending at 12%. Construction increased by 13% to 36% contribution, while mining decreased to 52% from 71%. Our diverse geographies and wide exposure to commodities serve as a risk mitigator against business cyclicality. For the period under review, we saw zinc and uranium contributing strongly relative to prior year at 31% and 8% respectively, mainly driven by the Gamsberg Project and sales to uranium mines in Namibia. Coal contribution remained stable at 27%, while platinum and iron ore were down. After sales, if you look at the sales mix, improved to 62% from 51%, resulting in an operating profit margin before fair value adjustments, improving by 20 basis points at 9.2%. The fair value adjustments on financial instruments had a negative impact of 1% on operating margin from core trading activities, which ended at 8.2%. As mentioned earlier, Bartrac recorded a strong growth of 18%, resulting in an increase or a share of profit of ZAR 91 million. The increase in profit was driven by sustained demand for copper, as well as higher after-sales contribution at 57%, compared to 55% in the prior period. Looking forward to the remainder of the year, we expect after-sales contribution to remain strong. Our strategic focus areas remain the same. We will continue to invest in digital capabilities to grow services. Sustaining customer net loyalty score is a key imperative. We will also continue to improve our value proposition on machine segments, where we saw a regression in market share, particularly the articulated dump trucks and the off-highway trucks, the triple sevens, where we had to deal with quality issues, which we are addressing. Safety and wellness of our employees remain a priority. As such, we are continuing to increase wellness interventions at the sites where we operate, to ensure that our brand champions do get the support that they need. Outlook for the second half of the year remains cautious. Our focus is on unwinding working capital, in line with the slowdown in mining activity. We will continue to drive growth in aftermarket, while we manage our variable costs tightly. The total order book is down 20% from September 2024, and down from ZAR 5.7 billion reported at the same period last year at the peak of the replacement cycle. However, construction order book is strong at ZAR 839 million. E&T order book is down, mainly due to less order intake for the standby market in South Africa on the back of improved grid stability. And over the last three years, though, we've seen this order book trending upwards. We are optimistic about the collaboration between government and private sector, and we expect the impact of the interventions underway to be felt in 2025. In the short to medium term, we remain optimistic on mining, and we believe that mining will continue to be a significant contributor to our business. I'll now hand over to Emmy. Thank you, Andronicca Masemola. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me real pleasure to present the Eurasia results for the interim period, March 2024. Eurasia had a strong first half, supported by a robust performance in Barloworld Mongolia. The division generated ZAR 3.9 billion in revenue, which was likely, as indicated by Nopasika earlier on, lower about 1.2% than the previous year. Our business, Vostochnaya Technica, or VT, revenue was down 24%, and this was offset by great performance from Mongolia, with revenue up 43%. This driven strongly by prime product sales and aftermarket sales. With a change in product mix and a focus on margin realization, cost discipline, the overall operating profit was up 19.2% to ZAR 815 million. We've seen the opening up of our margins, with EBITDA margin improving to 22.8%. The division generated cash of ZAR 357 million, compared to an outflow prior year of ZAR 104 million, with ROIC at a record of 38.4%, compared to prior year at 30.4%. Now, turning to the equipment sales by segment. New machine sales to the mining segment contribution increased to 63%, compared to the contribution of 52% in prior year. This mainly driven by a 74% growth in machine sales in Mongolia. Construction and infrastructure decreased from a 23%-19% contribution, but just to indicate the impact of smaller machines that we've been selling in the VT territory, of that, 95% of contribution came from VT. Energy and transportation also, the contribution, about 82% came from VT. The other products that we've sold to other dealers, as well as, allied products. Turning to the sales mix, I would like to double-click in terms of the overall aftermarket, which was up 59%, compared to the first half of 57%. This was due to the VT aftermarket revenue mix, which was also up 74%, impacted, as indicated earlier on, by the shortage of prime products for VT territory. Mongolia aftermarket mix decreased from a 56% to a 44%, but pleasing, though. We've seen the parts growth 15% and also the growth in machine sales. Continued focus on double-digit services growth, cost containment, margin realization resulted in an operating margin for Eurasia at 20.8%. Now, looking at our commodity exposure, strong coal sales contribution of 43% on the back of the firm order that we've received in Mongolia. With the reduction of gold contribution to 19%, there was an increase in the construction asset class, but also copper continuing to remain resilient. Ladies and gentlemen, our strategy remained the same, with a focus on customer diversification for both territories, while we ensure compliance, optimizing headcount in line with activity, and containing costs. And lastly, to ensure that we capture opportunities for both prime and aftermarket. At the core of our execution model, we are embedding the cadence, culture of continuous improvement in our division. Now, looking forward, we expect a very strong growth to continue for Mongolia for prime product and aftermarket, but we remain cautiously optimistic as we continue to capture more opportunities and expanding our customer base. Critical to our delivery agenda is the working capital optimization and cost control. The order book continues to be strong at $112 million, predominantly from Mongolia, and post-balance sheet reporting, we've seen a firm order book increasing to $118 million, of which about 97% of that came from coal. I thank you, and now I would like to hand over to Chris. Thank you, Emmy. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to present the Ingrain results for the six months ended March. I think it's safe to say we've had a challenging six months in the business, but I think the early actions that we've taken in the business to restructure and address the lower volumes that we're seeing will bear fruit towards the back end of the second half of this year and bode well for our recovery into 2025. During the period, we've seen revenue marginally decline in sympathy with the SA consumer confidence. We've seen, you know, EBITDA margins come off from 14.1%-11.7%, and that has also been affected at both the EBITDA and operating level as a result of restructure costs, which are a one-off in this period of ZAR 37 million, which would impact margins negatively by about 1.15%. ROIC has regressed, but it's still the business is still performing well ahead of the acquisitions at the time of acquisition. So I think overall, despite the challenging six months we've had, the business remains resilient, despite the challenging macros that we've had, and we think remains a good acquisition for the portfolio of Barloworld. So let's unpack the revenue a little bit and look at some of the drivers of that. We've seen revenue off marginally. We've seen stable domestic sales volume or sales, despite the constrained demand. In this current environment, we've seen volumes come off a little, and I'll unpack that on the next slide, but overall, we've actually seen price increases being able to be pushed through, despite the lower maize costs that we've had in the six-month period. Maize prices are rising and will, you know, affect pricing into the second half of the year and into 2025. On the agri product side, we're down slightly as a result of lower production out of the plants, and it's good to see that agri products remain quite resilient, and there's high demand for those in the current environment. Pricing has also been affected 'cause it's closer to the near-term price of maize during this particular segment as well. On the export side, we have seen lower international starch and glucose prices come through, and that has affected our ability to export profitably, and we've also had some outbound constraints as a result of challenges in the Port of Durban. Just turning our attention to domestic sales, you can see the volume or the lower volumes, but I think if you look at our business overall, we remain very well exposed to the overall South African industrial and food sector as a key ingredients manufacturer. So we haven't seen a material shift in mix during this particular period. Beverages remains relatively strong, spray drying relatively stable. Confectioneries are lower in the period, and we are seeing quite a lot of pressure in the discretionary spend as consumers tighten up in that particular segment. Paper and industrial is also off marginally as a result of cheap imports coming in from Brazil during the citrus export or the export season in the fruit sector. But overall, I think we remain well exposed and are quite happy with the overall mix of customers that we have domestically. If we turn our attention to the operations in the business, we have seen a pleasing improvement in Germiston, and that has continued during this period. Our Kliprivier mill has seen a reduction in maize grind, really as a result of a slowdown in demand over the December-January break, where we were export-constrained and also we'd seen lower volumes in the brewery sector towards the end of the financial year. Bellville continues to perform well, albeit off a small base, and our operations at Meyerton have stabilized. I think as a business, you know, over the medium term, we're looking at ensuring that we get profitability right, and that value creation remains a key focus for this business. In the business, we are looking again at our safety and well-being of people. I think that's a consistent theme across Barloworld. But more importantly, at Ingrain, we had a fatality on the first of March, and it has required us to revisit all safety protocols in the business and ensure that our safety culture remains robust. Our hearts go out to the family of the colleague whose life was taken as a result of that incident. In the business, we continue to be actively, or acutely aware, shall I say, of cash, working capital management in a commodity business, and making sure that we hedge our commodity price exposures correctly in this business. We have had the organizational reorg. Costs were taken in the first half, but that will sorta settle in towards, you know, or during the second half, of this year, and we need to just settle structures and ensure that our new operating model is well embedded as we deliver on our second-half, commitments. We have made great strides in improving our supply chain efficiencies in this business. Inventory availability for packed product is increasing, every month, and that bodes well for supply locally and also, you know, addressing some of the deficiencies that this business has historically had. We're seeing much better supply rates to our packed goods customers on the smaller end as a result of the enhancements made, and we can only build on that as we get better and better at running our plants more efficiently and addressing the manufacturing piece in the business. Insofar as that, we continue to make good investments in infrastructure and are continuing to invest money in preventative maintenance of our plants. Overall, we are mindful of our impact on the environment and have also commissioned some projects to deal with the energy or energy reliance on the grid and are looking at solar as an alternative, which will come on stream at one of our factories during the second half of 2024. Turning to the outlook for the business, I think the challenging macros will remain. We are hopeful of a better environment post, post-elections later this week. But I think our outlook remains, or focused on building a business that will be resilient in a low-growth environment, and that will deal with the current macros. It will afford us the opportunity to take advantage of any upside that may come. On the maize and input cost side, we do expect to see, maize prices ease in the medium term as we work through the effects of El Niño this year and get into a more normalized rainfall pattern, which is planned for 2025. Our divisional restructure should improve costs in the business and enhance returns, going into the year ahead, and we remain focused on, on addressing those particular areas, in the business. Then lastly, the business has been plagued with quite a lot of operational efficiencies over the last 12 or 13 months. These have been well reported on, and I did say, you know, over the last few periods, that we would, give feedback on this. We have continued to have, poor operating efficiencies in the six-months period, but post, post the reporting period, we are seeing, good progress made, and we are looking forward to an improvement in those operating efficiencies, in the second half of this year. I think on that positive note, I'd like to hand back to Dominic to take us into strategy and the outlook for the rest. Thanks. Thanks, Chris. Thank you, Chris. Just as an update, you know. For those of you following Barloworld for a while, you know, there's analysts and, shareholders that have invested in Barloworld for a long time. I remember making the point that we have decided on key metrics that are focusing on value, and if you ask me, "Are these metrics right?" I wouldn't change them because I think they focus in the right area. I think the one important metric that, you know, I put up, and I said I'd put it up because, for me, it's a mirror. You know, not because it looks good. We started putting it up when it looked very bad, and I'm just gonna take you through some of the key issues, as you can see. But I wanna just point your eyes to all, you know, when you look at Equipment Southern Africa, you know, just about, you know, 2018, 2019, the trend line. And, you know, I said, "You know, this business needs to be optimized." You know, I didn't think, you know, there was something particularly wrong that we needed to fix, but there was clear issues that we needed to optimize in this business, and we rolled out a plan to do so. And you see the trend line subsequent to that. You know, I must hasten to say that these are rolling twelve, so that you can be able to understand the picture. When you look at equipment Eurasia, it's a mixed blend because I think from about the latter part of 2020, we made an acquisition of Barloworld Mongolia. You know, at about 2022, you all know the geopolitical issues that were faced. But notwithstanding, when you look at, you know, the endowment of those two businesses combined, they've been able to deliver exceptional return on investment, invested capital. Lastly, because, you know, notwithstanding that, you know, Emmy spoke about the reduction in turnover of our Russian business, you know, down to about 25% down, year-over-year, and understandably so. But we've been able to utilize the cash that was there to say, "Let's make sure that we bulk up, you know, the inventory to be able to sell those parts or some units we could sell, given the regulatory governance regime in that environment, to make sure that we can realize, you know, better, you know, our profit margins out of it, you know, in terms of, you know." But notwithstanding, incredible delivery from Mongolia, you know, and that is coming through those numbers. Then when you get to Ingrain, you know, and we did say that, you know, when we acquired that business, we paid a premium relative to the net asset value, you know, or TNAV of that business. We set the target to say, this business should turn around, you know? But we did say, even at acquisition and at the time of doing a DD, that this is a business that has got a bad luck in terms of maintenance practices and investments. And I'm pleased to say that, you know, Chris, you know, in putting the right talent in place, that is being addressed, and being also quick in actually taking actions in terms of Section 189 to address the, you know, the business. Because I think one of the key things as businesspeople, those that are employed to run businesses, it's easy to blame the external environment, but that we can't do much about. But what is more important for us is to say, what are those things that we can control, and deploy that to run the business in a manner that makes sense? I'm comfortable that, you know, come the second half, I don't think we would have reached, you know, up to a cost of capital in that business, but there'll be progression in that business. So I think when you then look at the group, you see that the strategy that we deployed, particularly over the last three years, it shows that it is the right strategy from the focus that we've actually deployed, because now when you look at the returns, they're above, you know, our hurdle rate. In my view, that as we continue to focus on that, you know, we should be able to see delivery. So, when you look at the return, I hasten to say the one on the left, it's a full year, and, you know, the one on the right obviously is a rolling six. You know, you can actually see similar trend, you know, but this really, when you look at an ROE for me, it speaks about capital allocation, you know, because, you know, it, it's how you allocate capital, you know, in the areas that I've described previously, whether you return money to shareholders. You know, I mean, if you look at 2017 and right up to 2020, you know, to be retaining shareholder capital when you have no clever ideas to turn the business, it's always good to do that. And we have returned capital to shareholders, you know, in the period where, you know, when we sold a business, we paid, paid special dividend, we paid back dividends, you know, we bought back shares, because I think those are sensible things to do. Because you're quickly likely to want to buy, you know, businesses for growth's sake, and we resisted doing that. We wanted to apply, you know, price discipline when we make acquisitions. But I'm pleased to say, at 13.9, given what we have, you know, we'll remain to focus. I think Nopasika spoke about, you know, NAV growing by 9%. And debt, you know, I guess the issue about debt, you pay it, but you see the sort of the unwinding effect of it in the second half. You're not gonna look at my balance sheet at the end of the period and says, "Okay, you know, what was the, your cost of int. your interest line?" But you'll see it in the second half. And I think we spoke about it for some of you when I met you, you know, end of March, and I think that's, that, that's demonstrably what we, we, we're looking at doing. So I think this, this graph, you'll see it as long as I'm a CEO, you know, up until I retire, because it also act as a measure for me to say, you know, am I smoking, you know, something? But, because numbers never lie, you know. But I think, you know, when we look at outlook, you know, I don't want to make light of the challenges of the macroeconomic environment that remains with us. I think, in my own opinion, I'm not a forecaster, but I think 2024 is gonna remain challenging. I think from a, you know, commodities point of view, if I look across the board of the economies, we're likely to see some of the commodity prices improve, and largely, there are certain markets like China that we need to watch, you know, in terms of, you know, the commodities. I think the continuing geopolitical tension, be it in the Middle East, be it Russia and Ukraine, remain concerning, and I think, you know, those will present risk, you know, for operations. As I've said, the board continues to meet and review its position, you know, on our Russian operation and ongoing, on an ongoing basis. We all wish, you know, that we could operate in a world where there's certainty geopolitically, but I guess we will have to work with what we have. I think Chris spoke about, you know, that sooner, many of us here in South Africa will be going for elections, and hopefully, you know, the outcome is such that, is that which will benefit this country, whether it's a coalition or whichever party wins, and really put the interests of South Africa at heart when it comes to things like infrastructure. You know, whether it's infrastructure on building new dams, you know, maintenance of new roads, building new roads, because I think the country needs it. And a business like ourselves benefits a lot from the GDFI, you know, in investments, and we are hopeful that post-elections, those will be done. But when I look at the group, you know, I think our business is inherently, by the virtue of the fact that, you know, how we're given the license by Caterpillar is per country, and that give us a moat. And the fact that over the last, you know, 97 years in those areas, we've invested in facilities, in talents, that once you've got the population of machines in there, you're able to harvest machines. I think that's gonna continue, you know, to benefit us. I think Andronicca spoke about when you see the drop in, in revenue, it was mainly the machines, but over the last two years, we've seen that huge population of machines, you know, being out there. Yes, I know that some of our customers have parked those machines temporarily, but, you know, in a cyclical environment, it's never permanent. When they start utilizing those, we'll see the benefit or we'll also see it coming through. I think I've said many a times that the benefit of running Equipment Southern Africa, in these different countries, Mongolia, Russia, is geographic diversification. You've seen when Southern Africa was down, Russia was great, you know? Now, you see Russia challenged, some portion of Southern Africa is challenged, but Mongolia is delivering results. You know, you always wish that all these countries can fire all at the same time to get the benefit, but it never happens. And, you know, we're seeing that. But more importantly, when you go through cycles, it's important to have a very strong balance sheet because it gives you optionality. You know, in that, are you able to deploy the cash? If you can, do you have enough headroom? You know, you know, and I think where we're standing, you know, it's a strong balance sheet, and we continue to address to make sure that it remains cash generative, you know, and we manage that, you know, within line. But more importantly for me, when you run an organization, people will say: "What business are you in?" I think we are in the people business. And from a cultural transformation, our deployment of Barloworld Business System sought to ensure that we have engaged employees that are continuously looking at how they can improve, you know, service delivery and reduce waste in the organization. And we do that through BBS, and we've seen it being properly embedded in our organization, and, and I'm proud to say we are now also relying less on partners. We do have, you know, people that are qualifying, that we continue to train. You know, we've got 4 gold, you know, status, you know, for, for those who understand how these lean processes work, you know? But more importantly, I think over the 7 years, demonstrably, when it comes to M&A, you know, we have delivered. We've got a track record, whether it is disposing some of the asset as quick as we have, realizing the right value, but also making acquisition. And so for me, I'm saying it is not gonna be easy over the next 18 months or so, but when it's required for us to take actions, we'll do so. I did give guidance at the beginning of the war that, you know, in Russia, we're gonna break even, you know? But I'm glad, Emmy, the team has delivered in making sure that not only just. We do better than break even, you know, because I don't know how long the war is gonna be, you know, and therefore, when we are in that environment, you've got to make sure that you're gonna be able. I think, ladies and gentlemen, that brings me to the close of this. I'm just gonna hand over to you for those of you who have questions, and I do have, you know, all the right divisional CEOs here who will help me answer the questions. KG, can you Yes, Dominic. Do you have a question online? Yes, we've got a couple of questions. Thanks for all the questions. I will start with Ingrain. This question comes from Mark Thomas. Question reads: Ingrain profitability appears sustainably weaker in March as EBIT decline, somewhat below guided for five months. Could you please comment on March trading? Thanks, Mark. Chris? Yeah, Mark, thanks for the question. I think in the five months, we'd indicated operating at around ZAR 200 million, and now we're at ZAR 232. I did indicate, though, that we had a one-off charge during the month of March of ZAR 37 million on the restructure costs, and that did have an impact on margins for the six months of about 1.15%. So that cost has come through in this half, which should not repeat into the second half. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Mark again, and this is on equipment, Southern Africa. What does the business see in the pipeline for mining machines and construction? Thanks, Mark, for that question. During half year or year end, September, we did share some projects that we believe will drive the machine sales. And those projects, some of them, we're starting to see them kicking off, particularly in Zambia. There are two mines there that were on care and maintenance, and we've seen investments going into Zambia and activities continuing. Botswana, we did speak about the coal project that is also ongoing. In Namibia, there's a gold project that we expected to kick in, in the later part of 2024. Unfortunately, that project has been delayed as the Canadian owners have sold the asset to Chinese owners, and there are regulatory matters that have to be dealt with, so that has been delayed. In South Africa, we are eyeing the expansion at Gamsberg. We were also looking at a coal greenfield project. The kickoff for that project also has been delayed as the customer is looking to secure an offtake agreement. From a construction point of view, we are tracking large construction companies in South Africa in particular, and the order books for those two large construction companies are at an all-time high. The actual execution of the project hasn't kicked in yet in a manner where we are seeing significant improvement in order books or sales. But we expect that to come. And we're still waiting really for the big infrastructure rollout program from SANRAL, where there has been some projects awarded, but it's not to an extent that we are expecting. In greater Africa, from a construction point of view, Mozambique, there is a road construction underway, and the LNG project is also about to kick off, but we expect the impact of that to be felt in 2025. Thanks. Thank you, Andronicca. The next question relates to the balance sheet, and the question comes from Rowan Goeller, and the question says: "Gross debt has declined substantially. Can you please expand on your strategy for optimal debt levels? How does this impact dividend or acquisition plans? Miss Lila? Thank you, Rowan. So we certainly do have a capital allocation philosophy or framework, where we focus on the best way or optimization of our shareholders' investment. So within that, we do focus, look at the availability of our funds, and look into where is it best to utilize. The one area we start by is looking at our mergers and acquisitions to say, are there any opportunities to grow organically or inorganically? We also then consider returning the funds to shareholders. We've done so in the past, and we look at share buyback, if it is feasible to do that, as well as special dividends that we pay back to the shareholders. We also consider paying down debt, which is an area that was of interest and focus to us in this current period, and simply because the interest rates were also quite high and we needed to have a flexible balance sheet. By reducing your gross debt or debt position, then you allow flexibility on your balance sheet and also giving it strength to take advantage of any opportunities that may arise. Thank you. The next one is on Russia. Thanks, Ms. Lila. Have you been able to service larger parts of Russia, given other dealers scaling down activities? Are there any recent changes to the sanctions list, product, and customers in Russia? Imi? Yeah, thank you. This is still early days, but we are able to capture some of the opportunities outside of the Siberia, both from the eastern side and to the western side of Russia. Now, coming to the question that you have asked, regarding the sanction, we've seen recently a new list that was developed, whereby close to about 400 personalities or entities were impacted. According to the License Number 97, where we have been just authorized then to be able to trade until the seventeenth of next month, with which is something that they give you a bit of a window. So we are monitoring this on a continuous basis to ensure that the team comply. Thank you. Yeah. I guess this is the point I was making, that, you know, when I talk about addressable market, you know, in Russia, we talk about those customers that are not impacted by sanctions, you know? But as Emmy says, you know, geographic span, Russia is a very big country. We've been able, particularly having, you know, gotten SEM, you know, which is a product that, we were allowed to distribute, you know, up until recently in Caterpillar, that we've been able to, to sell that when you look at our, you know, our sales number. But I think overall it's more of an aftermarket play, you know, because or a use, you know, you know, equipment play that are allowed in that market. But yeah, I guess, you know, you know, continuously complying, and as Emmy made the point, compliance is more important for us, you know, because I wouldn't want to be trading, you know, the fact of making money in Russia, you know, Emmy, if it compromises our compliance. Thank you. There's a couple of questions coming through on the investment thesis for Ingrain, given the current return matrix. And, I mean, in essence, I would summarise, Dominic, to say, given t here was one question, for instance, from Itumeleng EPPF, and, I think the theme follows across a couple of people, is to say, what are we, what are we missing that management is seeing in Ingrain? We don't play a short game. You know, when we make an acquisition, you know, we look at the long, long game. Because, I mean, if I was looking at this business six months to six months, we probably wouldn't even be running a, you know, Caterpillar business, you know, but it's cyclical. You know, we did say when we acquired Ingrain, we gave it a window of period in terms of, you know, a three-year, within which it should be able to, to return capital. I think Chris spoke to the challenges that were faced in that environment, but there are also other domestic issues. And I don't want to use as an excuse, because the focus here is once you stabilize those plants, which were behind in terms of maintenance plans, and they continue to produce consistently and high quality. Customers are not gonna be important. Therefore, it gives you an opportunity to actually increase your volume. And when customers are happy with it, I mean, you know, we've had several customers, Chris, coming to your facilities, and these are long-standing customers. When they look at the work that we've done in terms of BBS, when they look at the improvement and the plan that you put on that, that's confidence level. So for me, I can understand that if you're looking at this business as an analyst or a shareholder on a short-term basis, it doesn't make sense when it dips. But in the long term, I think the thesis, you know, this business, we think, is a very good business, is a very cash-generative business. If you look at the working capital cycle of this business, on average, month-to-month is far better than, you know, our working capital cycle of equipment. Because on the equipment side, the first six months, you've got to deploy a lot of capital towards acquiring inventory because of geographic location, and then wait for the second half to unwind that. But the business. And I think, you know, as Chris said, once you deploy some of these changes, it takes a while to embed change of culture, you know, integrating in this business. But I'm fairly comfortable to where it stands. You know, give it a bit, you know, another two years, you know, we will get to where we want to. As I said, by the way, earlier on, that the first figure or graph that I put up of ROIC, I've made a commitment from day one, I no longer had that. Then, yes, clearly, ask me that question again in two years' time. If the metrics keep deteriorating up, and it won't deteriorate, Chris, you know, because, you know, we're not gonna let it. But if we then get to a point where we gotta make a disciplined decision, we will make it. So that was the last questions? But and generally, because you grouped them all together. I grouped them all together. Okay, yeah. That was the theme for Ingrain. Okay. There's another question, really, mining cycle-wise, and this is for, Equipment Southern Africa as well as, Eurasia. Really, if you could comment on where we are on the mining cycle, for yourself, Andronicca, and how you see the cycle, Emmy, in the Mongolian case. Yeah. Let me take that because, you know, I think when you look at the trend line, you know, we watch the cycle, particularly in South Africa. You know, the cycle, when I started my career in this business, used to be about five years. You know, over the last period, we've seen the cycles getting shorter to between basically two to three years cycle, and we've tracked that over time. You know, and, I think if you look at 2020 to about 2023, that was a top of a cycle, and I think that was demonstrated by the order book. We're seeing that tapering down, you know? But it is not like for like in terms of commodity. You know, there are certain commodities that tend to be robust, and we've seen copper basically, you know, demonstrating that robustness in some market. But when you look at thermal coal, it's slightly different. I guess when you look at Mongolia, given the geographic locations, you know, in terms of China, you know, it defies that logic in the sense that China continues to build power stations, and it is very effective that, you know, Mongolian government has deployed a rail line, the roads are better, the borders are open. You know, but I happen to say to Emmy, you know, it is still a cyclical business, you know? So I'm saying, I don't- we'll still deliver by the end of the year, but I'm not too sure what it may look like. Probably, the cycles are gonna be longer, but because I know the owner of the business prior to us buying it, it is still a cyclical business as well, you know? And probably we've got another, you know, 18 months in that things could turn. And as you focus on diversification, and we'd like to focus on diversification in Mongolia because Mongolia is very concentrated in terms of customers. And I think your team, Emmy, has done well to make sure that they can look at other, you know, customers. And the government is also looking at putting infrastructure, and they've done so in the rail, and I think it'll just start changing the mix, you know, for you. I mean, I can't comment on Russia for the reasons that I've already mentioned. Yeah. What's the next one? The next one, which I'll take as the last one, is in relation to cash sitting in Russia. What is the size of the business shrinking, and how is that cash being utilized? Yeah, I guess, you know, as I've indicated, if you look at where the cash was end of September, we've utilized the bulk of that cash to buy inventory. And as we unwind the inventory, you know, we release cash, and we deploy that cash to buy more because I said, you know. And this was quite lucky that just before the war broke, we took out a lot of cash out of Russia, and the cash that's remaining in there is to sustain the business without them making capital call on us. You know, and I don't think it's a cash that I'd like to repatriate unless it accumulates to a certain level where I can repatriate some of the cash back to SA. But we manage it in a way that it makes sense to fund the business. You know, we are actually seeing natural attrition in terms of people, Emmy, and, you know, so fundamentally, that's how you want to look at that, cash in Russia. Thanks, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be seeing some of you shortly. You know, you all have a great day. Thank you.