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EABL H1 2025 Results · The Mwango Capital Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Mongo Species.
0:01
SPEAKER_01: This Wednesday evening, we'll get to dissect the EABL H1 results.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: We have the CFO here to help us dissect the numbers.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: So I start light.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: Rispa, how are you?
0:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm fine.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for having me.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: Karim Boussana.
0:15
So what do CFOs do after results are released for the past like three,
0:19
four weeks?
0:20
SPEAKER_00: I went on training, so I'm just back from training.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: The show goes on.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: It's already another month and we keep pushing.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: The financial year keeps going.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: It does.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: People don't stop drinking.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: We don't stop selling.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: I used to listen to the Amazon CEO and he used to say,
0:37
SPEAKER_01: if you're looking at results today,
0:38
SPEAKER_01: they were made a couple of years ago.
0:40
It's like you're always preparing for results almost three
0:43
quarters ahead of time.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Is that the case for you also?
0:46
SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: And that's why you have strategy, because it points to your true north.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: And then you're able to stay on course.
0:53
And the things you planted three,
0:55
four years ago,
0:56
you're only starting to realize them now.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: So absolutely true.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Just like farming, you don't plant and harvest on the same day.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: It takes time.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: And I should say I've met a couple of investors this week,
1:06
SPEAKER_01: especially in Europe,
1:07
SPEAKER_01: who tell me they keep an eye on your results.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: So really good job that you do.
1:11
Other than that,
1:11
I should say also that EABL is quite a well-followed company.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the biggest companies in Kenya in terms of results.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: It's paint a good picture on what is happening in the economy.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: So maybe we can start on the macro level.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: You can tell us a bit about how the results are,
1:24
SPEAKER_01: a bit of a reflection on what you're seeing on the macro,
1:26
because there was a bit of commentary on how the macro has been
1:29
progressing the
1:29
SPEAKER_01: past half year.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: I think the macros first,
1:32
SPEAKER_00: when we report them,
1:33
SPEAKER_00: and at half year,
1:34
SPEAKER_00: it's against the backdrop of a similar period last year.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: So the six months ended 31st December 2023,
1:41
SPEAKER_00: which,
1:41
SPEAKER_00: as you can all recall,
1:42
SPEAKER_00: was extremely challenging.
1:44
Whilst GDP has remained in growth across all the economies in
1:48
the range of
1:50
SPEAKER_00: 5% on average.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Inflation at that time was exceptionally high, particularly in Kenya.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: We were heading towards a 6%.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Uganda and Tanzania have broadly remained about 3% or so,
2:01
but we certainly were experiencing huge inflationary impacts on
2:05
our inputs.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: The other most challenging thing at that time was our currency.
2:10
The Kenya shilling at that time was exchanging at about 160 to
2:13
the dollar.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: going up to almost 163 by January.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: So it was at a really high level.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: And if you look at where we are now, we are at about 129, 130.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: So you do see that improvement in the environment.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: In Uganda, the Uganda shilling has remained broadly stable.
2:30
The Tanzanian shilling has had some turbulence as well in the
2:34
last six to 12 months.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: But by the end of the half,
2:36
SPEAKER_00: it had gone to a stable level,
2:38
SPEAKER_00: just about 3% depreciation as we speak.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: And last year, at the same time, it was about 2.9.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: Interest rates are a big pain for us.
2:46
We were having an interest rate of about 16% was the benchmark
2:50
T bill rate.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: A lot of our facilities are marked on the 182-day Treasury bill,
2:55
SPEAKER_00: and that was at about 16% in the same period last year.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: You all have seen that come down to about 10%.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Towards the end of December,
3:03
SPEAKER_00: we still experienced the 16% for much of the half,
3:07
SPEAKER_00: but we are very appreciative of the reduction in interest rates,
3:11
SPEAKER_00: which,
3:11
SPEAKER_00: as you could see,
3:12
SPEAKER_00: even last half really had a big impact on our performance.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: In Uganda and Tanzania, rates have broadly remained the same.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: particularly in Uganda.
3:20
Tanzania have seen a slight increase,
3:22
but broadly the same as it was last year,
3:24
still under 10%.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: The other thing, so those are the positives.
3:27
So there's a lot of positive on some of the big things that
3:30
impacted our performance last half.
3:32
On the other hand,
3:33
I think we all know we are all taking home a lot less money
3:36
SPEAKER_00: And that has shown itself as consumers have low disposable income.
3:40
We have seen higher taxes and levies and other charges which
3:43
have come to reduce
3:44
SPEAKER_00: people's disposable income.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, the spend levels have reduced.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And we've seen the alcohol share of wallet drop by about 0.2%.
3:52
We've also seen people go for value hunting for smaller and
3:55
smaller parks or
3:56
SPEAKER_00: wherever there's a sale.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: you will see that people are going for that.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Much as inflation has come down, the base has actually remained high.
4:04
So things that,
4:05
as we say,
4:06
it's now at 2%,
4:07
but it didn't go back to the previous price.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: So people are feeling the impact of that.
4:12
At the same time,
4:12
what that has meant is that the premium end of consumers tends
4:17
to hold.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: The middle gets really squeezed.
4:19
So we do see quite a bit of a shrinkage in the mainstream space
4:23
and a lot of those
4:24
SPEAKER_00: dropping into value products.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: So you are seeing the bottom grow as well.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: The macro side, obviously, as you say, a consumer has been impacted.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I think we see a bit of rapid growth on revenue side.
4:35
So maybe you can give us a bit of a breakdown in terms of how
4:38
that went organic
4:39
SPEAKER_01: versus the pricing and volume,
4:41
SPEAKER_01: how that may be on both the group level and on the regional level,
4:45
SPEAKER_01: because there's a bit of variance.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: I could tell from the numbers.
4:48
So let me just start with another big factor that has shown up
4:52
in our performance,
4:53
SPEAKER_00: which you would have seen last year as well,
4:55
SPEAKER_00: is the Kenya shilling strengthening against the regional currencies.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: So against the Uganda shilling,
4:59
SPEAKER_00: the Kenya shilling has strengthened above 13% compared to last year.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: whilst against the Tanzanian shilling, it has strengthened by about 23%.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: What that means is that in real terms,
5:11
SPEAKER_00: in local currency,
5:12
SPEAKER_00: those markets have grown,
5:13
SPEAKER_00: but when converted into shillings,
5:15
SPEAKER_00: they're showing decline.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: So if I take market by market at an organic level,
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Kenya will remain the same,
5:21
SPEAKER_00: growing at 9%,
5:22
SPEAKER_00: which is really strong.
5:24
And we see that in the premium space,
5:26
and again,
5:27
in a lot of the innovations we put in place.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: So we are seeing quite good growth in the premium space.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: as well as on the lower end of things.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: From a Uganda perspective, Uganda grew organically 3%.
5:39
Again,
5:39
premium beer doing very well and some struggle in the
5:43
mainstream segment as well.
5:45
And Tanzania growing very well across beer and spirits,
5:48
coming in at 16% organically.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, at EABL, on organic level, we have grown 8%.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: If I normalized last year,
5:56
SPEAKER_00: where in the same period we reported 16% growth,
5:59
SPEAKER_00: if I remove the effect of the decline in Kenya shilling,
6:02
SPEAKER_00: then we'd have grown 9%.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: So we have sustained our growth quite nicely.
6:06
But on a reported level,
6:07
because of the appreciation of the Kenya shilling,
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Kenya grew 9%.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: Uganda, because of that 13% appreciation, comes in at minus 9%.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: And Tanzania, because of that 23% appreciation, comes in at minus 6%.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: So you see our top line coming in at 2% because of that currency impact.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: If we normalize across the same period last year,
6:27
SPEAKER_00: you will see that our growth is actually quite well sustained.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: At category level, beer grew just about 1%.
6:34
And again,
6:34
beer,
6:35
as we have said before,
6:36
has felt the impact of increasing excise.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: It is the first year where excise has not increased.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: So we've managed to get some volume growth coming in.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: And that has been very positive for us.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: Spirits have grown 7%.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: And that is mostly on the premium side of things.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: growing in high double digits.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: And then a good thing to point out is also our innovation,
6:56
SPEAKER_00: some of the new products you're seeing on the market.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Manyata,
7:00
SPEAKER_00: we've seen Casamigos,
7:01
SPEAKER_00: for those of you who take tequila,
7:03
SPEAKER_00: we have a dry cider called Snap,
7:06
SPEAKER_00: and we have Kenya Cane,
7:07
SPEAKER_00: lemon and ginger,
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Uganda,
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Waradji,
7:09
SPEAKER_00: lemon and ginger as well,
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Serengeti lemon.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: So we've done quite a lot on the innovation space,
7:14
SPEAKER_00: largely around flavors,
7:15
SPEAKER_00: and those have done very well,
7:16
SPEAKER_00: growing at 39% year on year.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: So overall,
7:20
I think the shape of our top line from a price and volume
7:23
perspective for the first
7:25
SPEAKER_00: time this year,
7:26
SPEAKER_00: we've got volume growth at about 1%.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: We haven't had that in a while.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: And as you will rightly point out during the inflationary periods,
7:34
SPEAKER_00: we did take price and that's so volumes come down.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: So volume coming at 1%, less impact on price.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: That means we've seen volume growth coming to support our top line.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: So overall,
7:45
SPEAKER_00: a good story,
7:46
SPEAKER_00: I think,
7:47
SPEAKER_00: especially when you look at it organically,
7:49
SPEAKER_00: it means that we are doing the right things to drive the top line.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: I know you're always seeking that volume growth,
7:55
but can that also come from maybe reduced prices in the coming
7:58
year because
7:59
SPEAKER_01: inflation is down a little bit?
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Is that something you would consider?
8:03
What I said earlier that whilst inflation goes down,
8:06
the base doesn't go up.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: So if it had risen to 40 shillings and it had been going up at 5%,
8:11
SPEAKER_00: the fact that it goes up at 2% doesn't mean the 40 shillings goes to 38.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: It just goes up to whatever, 42 or whatever it is.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: So your base amount does not go down.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Your cost base is the same.
8:23
You push hard on productivity and you will see that gross
8:27
margins continue to be under pressure.
8:28
Again,
8:29
still feeling the impact of some of the inputs that are still
8:32
impacted by inflation.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: So I think nothing ever goes back downwards.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Everything, the only way is up, I think.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: But having said that,
8:39
SPEAKER_00: I think there's space for innovation in those different spaces,
8:43
bringing different options for consumers to be able to tap into
8:46
our products.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: And because the XST was in touch last year,
8:50
SPEAKER_01: you're praying hard that it's not touched again in the 2025 finance bill.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Is that the case?
8:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
8:56
we did have some tax changes impacting beer coming in December
9:00
and they were
9:01
SPEAKER_00: effective the 27th December.
9:03
And the effect of that was that the excise on beer was reduced
9:07
to about 22.5 per centiliter.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: And it was a change from an absolute excise amount per litre to an ABVB.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: So depending on the strength of alcohol, then the tax is navid.
9:19
So this is a shift from the previous excise regime whose impact
9:22
is that excise is
9:23
SPEAKER_00: down on beer while it is higher.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: own spirits.
9:27
So that means then boosting beer volumes going forward and a
9:30
bit of challenge in
9:31
SPEAKER_01: terms of spirits?
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the plan that we have is to do a lot more on the beer side.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: I think you will see that is favorable for beer.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: We have had huge excise increases, particularly in Kenya.
9:43
What this does actually is to bring our excise rates closer to
9:49
the other East African countries.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: You will see that before this change, the excise rates were
9:54
SPEAKER_00: two to three times higher than Uganda and Tanzania.
9:57
This has brought them closer,
9:58
not close enough,
9:59
but closer to our neighboring countries.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: And on the spirit side, a lot higher, just over 10, 12% higher.
10:06
So there will be some work around the spirit to see that we
10:09
continue to offer all
10:10
SPEAKER_00: of the products.
10:12
The other change that came in was around what we've really been
10:15
encouraging the
10:16
SPEAKER_00: government to look into,
10:17
SPEAKER_00: which was the daily excise payments.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: That has been changed now to monthly on the fifth day.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: It isn't exactly what we wanted.
10:24
We had benchmark with other markets and which typically pay
10:28
around the 20th,
10:29
SPEAKER_00: which allows you to close your books and fully reconcile.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: However,
10:32
the move to payment on the fifth of the subsequent month is an
10:36
improvement on what
10:36
SPEAKER_00: we were experiencing before and had a huge impact on our cash flows,
10:41
SPEAKER_00: interest costs.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Those are a few of the changes.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more in that that has come in.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: But I think with these changes having come through so soon,
10:49
SPEAKER_00: it would be unlikely that we'll see a massive change within six months.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: I remember at this exact period last year,
10:56
you were having a lot of complaints about the 24-hour excess
10:59
duty remittance rule
11:00
SPEAKER_01: and how it was impacting especially short-term cash flows.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: Is that one of the significant
11:04
SPEAKER_01: things that has boosted your liquidity.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: So cash and cash equal is around 30% up.
11:09
Is that one of the things that may have boosted in terms of it
11:12
being repealed?
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it was repealed, but only took effect on the 27th of December.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: So we haven't fully felt the impact in these accounts.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: I think we will only feel that impact fully in the next year.
11:25
What it does is you'll see a bit of a rise in our creditors and
11:28
then we'll be
11:29
holding a bit more cash because then we have some time before
11:32
we need to pay them
11:33
SPEAKER_00: and also reduces our overdraft.
11:34
So you will see we had a bit of overdraft to fund that,
11:37
but now we don't have so much of that.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: And then in terms of borrowings, I see a substantial reduction.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: I think by around 4.6 billion, my calculations are correct.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: And then a lowering of finance costs.
11:48
Could you take us through that thinking around the reduction of
11:51
borrowings and then
11:52
SPEAKER_01: just post that with the fact that rates are falling.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: We thought you'd be going into the market to take a bit more debt.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: Seems like you're doing the opposite of that.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: I think last year,
12:02
SPEAKER_00: if you remember when we presented our results,
12:04
one of the things that caused investors a lot of concern was
12:08
the impact of finance
12:10
SPEAKER_00: costs on our income statement.
12:11
That was because of the level of borrowing at variable rates
12:14
when rates were rising rapidly.
12:16
And again,
12:17
the level of overdraft we needed to take to manage this excise issue.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: So that was showing up in our net finance cost.
12:23
And the view even from our sales was that our P&L was quite
12:26
valuable to the changing rates.
12:28
Because just because the rates are coming down today doesn't
12:31
mean that it's
12:31
SPEAKER_00: something that will be constant.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: And secondly, you borrow because you need it.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: And so last year, we took a tough decision.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: You will have seen that we pay one shilling of dividend.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And the intention then was to go in and reduce our debt.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: And we immediately started paying down.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: In between January and June, we paid $11 billion.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: And between June and December, we paid another $4.6 billion.
12:53
So nearly $16 billion of debt paid down in order to insulate
12:56
our balance sheet and
12:57
SPEAKER_00: our income statement from the rising rates.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: And actually not just the rising rates,
13:01
SPEAKER_00: but the fluctuation in rates,
13:02
SPEAKER_00: which makes your results unpredictable.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: The rates for fixing were quite high, so we weren't going in to fix.
13:08
We do have about $12 billion in the fixed rate bond that we
13:12
have on the capital markets.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: We intend to hold that and that has helped bring some stability.
13:17
But I think the high amount of debt that was variable rate was
13:19
creating a lot of
13:21
SPEAKER_00: variability on our income statement.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: So with that,
13:24
SPEAKER_00: we've come down,
13:25
paid quite a lot of the short-term debt and whatever we were
13:28
able to pay with our
13:29
SPEAKER_00: free cash flows.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: We do think that we're at a very good level now.
13:32
We measure ourselves by our net debt to EBITDA and we're at
13:36
quite a comfortable level at 0.81%.
13:39
We also expect that we'll continue to benefit from the reduced
13:42
rates because the
13:43
SPEAKER_00: rates are only marked on a quarterly basis.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: So last quarter, the change in rates came quite late in December.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: So we did not benefit yet from the reduced rate.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: So we should see that taking effect in quarter three.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: So I think from a strategy perspective,
13:56
SPEAKER_00: we borrow because we need it,
13:57
SPEAKER_00: because we're funding something.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: In this period, we cut capex.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: We reduced interim dividend last year.
14:03
We did make up at the full year,
14:04
but the intention was really to make sure that we are
14:07
SPEAKER_00: sustaining, we are delivering sustainable results.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: So I hope that's clear.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: That's clear.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: But then in terms of if you're cutting capex a bit,
14:14
should investors be worried in five to 10 years in terms of the
14:18
investment that
14:18
SPEAKER_01: you're making?
14:19
Is that just a temporal adjustment to make sure that you've set
14:22
the debt and then
14:23
SPEAKER_01: you're able to give yourself room for growth?
14:25
SPEAKER_00: It's both.
14:26
One,
14:26
because if you look at before 2019,
14:30
2020,
14:30
our CAPEX spend was always in the single digits.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: 7% to 8% of NSV was in CAPEX.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Then after that, we went into some expansion.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: We did a bit of expansion in Uganda.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: We did quite some expansion in Tanzania.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: And even in Kenya,
14:44
SPEAKER_00: we did some expansion,
14:46
SPEAKER_00: which saw our CAPEX to NSV rise to the double digits between 11% and 13%.
14:53
What we have done in the last two years is normalize that
14:55
because we've finished
14:56
SPEAKER_00: our big projects.
14:57
So we've normalized that to maintenance capex and capex that is
15:01
needed for
15:02
SPEAKER_00: returnable containers,
15:03
SPEAKER_00: bottles and creeds.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: And keeping that to a minimum in cash strap time is the right thing.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: From a capacity perspective, we'd only invest if we needed it.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: And at the moment, we have adequate capacity to see us through.
15:15
And this is something we do every year through our capital
15:17
structures we review.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: And if we find that we are going to need capacity in three years,
15:22
SPEAKER_00: then we start to plan for it now.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: So I think we're not scrimping on maintenance that is necessary.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: We're not scrimping on capex that is necessary to grow our top line.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: And those of you who've come to our microbrewery,
15:33
we put it up in the last two years and that required us to put
15:36
some money behind that.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: So I think we're very clear that we are smart around it.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: We invest smartly.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And where we don't need it, then we don't.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: And where we have an opportunity to insulate our P&L from volatility,
15:49
SPEAKER_00: then we go in and do that,
15:50
SPEAKER_00: which is exactly what we've done.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: So something else that I noted,
15:54
operating costs are almost at the same level as the HGY at the
15:57
previous half year.
15:58
Is that something that you're deliberately doing in terms of
16:00
keeping costs low in a
16:02
SPEAKER_01: kind of slow growth environment?
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're working very hard on managing discretionary costs down.
16:09
Again,
16:10
the volatility in FX and interest rates was slightly out of
16:13
your control.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: So the things you can control, you have to do more with them.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: So quite a lot of work around expenses and even cost of sale.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: We have what we call end-to-end productivity.
16:24
So we look at every line where we can save costs and we're
16:27
going in and we optimize those.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: So you do see that there is a small impact of FX from the other markets,
16:33
SPEAKER_00: but on the whole,
16:33
SPEAKER_00: we've worked really hard
16:34
SPEAKER_00: don kipi ngakos lo.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: And then if you come down now,
16:39
SPEAKER_01: the profitability was up and then you significantly ramped up a bit.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: After cutting due then slightly the previous year,
16:46
SPEAKER_01: you rewarded shareholders with 2.5 shilling per share.
16:50
How's your thinking around like capital allocation in terms of
16:53
giving back to the shareholder?
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Is that something that you actively thinking about?
16:58
SPEAKER_01: And can shareholders,
16:59
SPEAKER_01: I know you can't speak going forward,
17:01
but can shareholders be a bit more hopeful that there would be
17:04
another increase
17:05
SPEAKER_01: coming up soon?
17:05
SPEAKER_01: I can't tell you that,
17:07
but what I will say is that last year when we reduced the
17:10
dividend to one shilling
17:11
SPEAKER_00: per share,
17:11
SPEAKER_00: we were very clear with shareholders that what we were going in for was
17:15
SPEAKER_00: prioritizing debt repayment to insulate the income statement.
17:19
And at that time,
17:21
our interest cover was starting to look like it was coming
17:24
under pressure.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: So it was really important for us to bring that back in line.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what we did.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: We at the year end, if you recall, give them six shillings per share.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: So net net was seven shillings per share for the year.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: And again, we are about being true to what we say.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Once we corrected that,
17:41
SPEAKER_00: we're now back to where we think is a reasonable,
17:44
SPEAKER_00: sustainable growth in dividend,
17:46
SPEAKER_00: which is where we want to be.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: We want to be able to grow dividend year on year at a sustainable level.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: The last few years have been quite turbulent.
17:53
And I think we've been quite communicative in saying exactly
17:55
what we're doing to
17:56
SPEAKER_00: bring back that stability in growth in dividends.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I can say.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: I cannot tell you any more than that.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Now, what's your dividend policy?
18:05
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps you can remind the shareholder here generally.
18:08
We normally go with a 70% of profit after tax is what we intend
18:12
to distribute.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: However,
18:14
that is on the back of us examining our cash flows to ensure we
18:18
have adequate cash
18:19
SPEAKER_00: flows to fund that.
18:20
And also if we have major CAPEX that will grow the business,
18:23
then we also look at that.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: And there may be adjustments because of things like that.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: But our principle always is to pay 70% of profit after tax.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: And if we make sure that profit after tax is growing sustainably,
18:35
SPEAKER_00: then that should see dividend growing sustainably.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we want to be able to do.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: And you did comment about the payables,
18:42
SPEAKER_01: which was significantly up,
18:43
SPEAKER_01: but also the receivables were significantly up.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: So by my calculations, that should be around 66% there.
18:49
The reason as to why the receivables are a bit higher and how
18:53
perhaps as a CFO,
18:54
are you helping the company manage credit risk and collections
18:57
in a business
18:57
SPEAKER_01: environment such as this?
18:59
SPEAKER_00: This is one where we pay a lot of attention,
19:02
SPEAKER_00: I have to say,
19:03
SPEAKER_00: and we really focus on managing our working capital.
19:07
And when you see the debtors going up,
19:09
we've been very deliberate around areas of growth.
19:12
And as you see the mix of beer and spirits change,
19:15
then beer has shorter credit period.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: It does turn around a lot quicker.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Spirits, especially the premium spirits, take a lot longer to sell.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: So you have longer credit periods for that.
19:26
With that taking effect,
19:27
you start to see that there is an increase in receivables.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: But again,
19:30
it is driving the double digit growth you're seeing in the
19:33
premium spirits end of things.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: So that's the shape that it's taking.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: It's very prudent.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: We barely have any bad debts and we barely have any overdues.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: We collect that very quickly post year end.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: And that's something we watch out for.
19:46
Nothing of concern around how we're deploying our working
19:49
capital to fund growth.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: Similarly with the trade and other receivables, same thing.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: We are seeing,
19:55
I did mention that we've gotten some upside from excise tax
19:59
payable with the change
20:00
SPEAKER_00: to the five days after month.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: And it was only a few days benefit, but that has come through as well.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's really just part of how we manage our working capital.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: In terms of ethanol sourcing,
20:11
I think you had highlighted in the previous half years being a
20:14
point of...
20:16
SPEAKER_01: of concern.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: Has that been managed?
20:17
Has that gotten better so that you could be able to manage cost pressures?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we've had quite some reprieve on the ethanol availability.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: You will recall following the drought,
20:28
SPEAKER_00: we had a lot of challenges accessing ethanol in the local market,
20:32
which meant that we were importing at a time when exchange
20:34
rates were also quite high,
20:36
SPEAKER_00: was a very challenging choice.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: In this year, we've seen improved availability.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: of ethanol locally and at fairly good prices.
20:44
And also we don't have the impact of FX because of the import
20:48
factor that we had in there.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: So we had good reprieve on that side.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: However,
20:52
there's still pressures coming through from areas like glass
20:56
and where we're still
20:57
SPEAKER_00: seeing some rising rates coming through.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: So there's still cost pressures, but we push quite hard.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: In terms of getting ethanol from abroad,
21:05
that means that supply chains need to rely on cross-border kind
21:09
of supply chains.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things we've noted,
21:11
SPEAKER_01: at least on the global level,
21:12
SPEAKER_01: I was checking out a parent company,
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Giorgio,
21:14
SPEAKER_01: I think they had that.
21:15
Some commentary about the impact of tariffs that are being
21:18
implemented globally.
21:19
Is this something that you're thinking about that could be
21:21
impacting locally in
21:23
SPEAKER_01: terms of the East African market?
21:24
SPEAKER_01: I know we don't do such drastic changes in terms of tariffs,
21:27
SPEAKER_01: but is that something you're thinking about?
21:29
SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: And I think there have been some changes.
21:32
Some of those involve excise on inputs like glass from within
21:36
the community.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: We don't produce enough glass locally to supply our business.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: So we do have to go beyond our markets to get that.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: And the increase in rates around that is challenging.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Nothing in particular that we are sourcing that is impacting.
21:51
I think Diageo's statement was more around the US and Canada
21:55
and Mexico and the new
21:56
SPEAKER_00: REITs and the new directives coming into that.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: For us, it would be slightly different.
22:01
But again,
22:02
I think what we do say is tax policy consistency is very
22:05
important to us.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: And keeping that very much consistent is what helps us be able to plan,
22:11
SPEAKER_00: to price and to know what to do for the long term.
22:14
We're going to deal with a few more questions,
22:16
and then we will be done as quickly as possible.
22:18
One of the things that maybe people forget very quickly,
22:21
it's about the shilling.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: It was around 160 a year ago, and now we are at 120.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: FX has been stable at around 129 for the past six months.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: If I grasp anything from many of the things that you've spoken about,
22:33
it says FX is a key ingredient in terms of not impacting
22:36
revenues at the end of the day,
22:37
SPEAKER_01: or at least the bottom line.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: In terms of your observation across markets,
22:40
SPEAKER_01: I know there are legal worries around Tanzania having FX issues.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: What's your observation like in the market?
22:47
Is there something that you noted that you want investors to
22:49
take note of?
22:50
SPEAKER_00: Not particularly.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: Kenya has been pretty good, as you say.
22:53
The last six months,
22:55
once we've had stabilisation,
22:56
there's also been liquidity.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: So we're able to trade normally, which is always a good thing.
23:01
I think the only concern is just how quickly these rises and
23:04
drops happen.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: They really create shocks in the system.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: But hopefully we're going to have some period of stability,
23:10
SPEAKER_00: at least all projections say that we should,
23:12
SPEAKER_00: in the short term,
23:13
SPEAKER_00: certainly expect stability in Kenya around the shilling.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: Uganda has broadly remained stable.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: No particular shocks to the Uganda shilling.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Tanzania has had some ups and downs.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: We've had liquidity challenges through most of last year.
23:28
And then we had quite some depreciation in the last six months
23:31
before appreciating
23:33
SPEAKER_00: towards the end of December.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: And then again, some slight depreciation on the Tanzanian shilling.
23:38
currency liquidity is still a challenge and also the access to
23:42
different tools to
23:43
SPEAKER_00: manage FX volatility is fairly limited.
23:46
So I think we're still not out of the woods across all the
23:49
three countries,
23:50
SPEAKER_00: but we're definitely in a better place than we were last year,
23:53
SPEAKER_00: like now.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people have accused me of being optimistic, I think.
23:57
If you're in business right now and with rates coming down 600
24:01
bips and the
24:02
SPEAKER_00: shilling strengthening 26%,
24:05
SPEAKER_00: I think those are positive things.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: There's many other things that we can work on,
24:08
SPEAKER_00: but there are things that impact any ordinary business.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: And we feel it very strongly when there's that level of volatility.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: I agree on that, especially the optimism bit.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: We need to be a bit more optimistic.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: One thing though,
24:20
SPEAKER_01: when you talk to consumers,
24:22
SPEAKER_01: they do feel like the wallets are pinched,
24:24
but then you look at the macro level and the government keeps
24:27
saying that the macro
24:28
SPEAKER_01: is getting better.
24:29
How do you balance that out in terms of when you want to do
24:31
pricing versus volume
24:33
SPEAKER_01: growth in terms of your thinking around planning for the next year?
24:37
SPEAKER_01: How do you balance that out given that the macro is improving,
24:40
SPEAKER_01: but the consumer is saying they're a bit challenged?
24:44
SPEAKER_00: I think you have to look at all those factors.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: But for me,
24:46
the way I think about it is that the first thing is that
24:49
business needs environment
24:51
SPEAKER_00: to operate in and to grow.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing is containing these fundamentals.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: If rates are low and we can borrow,
24:57
SPEAKER_00: we can invest,
24:58
SPEAKER_00: we can produce,
24:59
SPEAKER_00: we can create jobs which will put money in people's pockets.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: And then the cycle continues in a positive direction.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's the first thing.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: The second thing,
25:08
SPEAKER_00: of course,
25:08
SPEAKER_00: is just the level of deduction that we're having is having an impact.
25:12
And again,
25:13
as I said,
25:13
whilst inflation is coming down,
25:15
the base cost is still high.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: So people are feeling that.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: But I think the best thing that can be done is to generate jobs,
25:21
SPEAKER_00: enable business to operate profitably,
25:24
SPEAKER_00: to generate jobs,
25:25
SPEAKER_00: and that will trickle down into people's pockets.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: Of course, we can do with better policy that enables spend.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: But again, we also know what kind of challenges we have as a country.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: that put us between a rock and a hard place.
25:38
You also discussed the trend in terms of premiumization and I
25:41
see premium did grow substantially.
25:44
What's your thinking around that and what's your observation
25:46
around the premium brands?
25:48
I think there's obviously across East Africa,
25:51
our consumers are very informed.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: So they are aware of global trends.
25:55
So things like tequila have now become a global trend and have
25:59
grown massively in
26:00
SPEAKER_00: this part of the market.
26:01
We've also seen that our whiskeys growing,
26:04
our premium beers again doing very well.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: So again,
26:07
SPEAKER_00: I think our consumers are very savvy and it is not a premium consumer,
26:11
SPEAKER_00: but a premium consumption.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: So whereas I may be only having one drink a month,
26:16
SPEAKER_00: but sometimes I just want that one drink to be a very good drink.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: And then that's what I go after.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: I think we still have,
26:22
SPEAKER_00: given our populations,
26:24
SPEAKER_00: given our demographic,
26:25
SPEAKER_00: there is still quite a lot of room for premium growth.
26:28
And we are making sure that we are taking our products to the
26:31
consumers for that.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: Also, flavor is a big thing.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: And that's also really important.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: developing and we're seeing again growth in those areas.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: So I think the big thing is just being in touch with where consumers are,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: what they're looking for,
26:43
SPEAKER_00: what are the global trends and making sure that we capitalize on that.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: For novices, what is a premium brand about them?
26:50
SPEAKER_00: There's lots.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: So White Cup is a premium brand.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Don Julio Tequila is a premium brand.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Johnny Walker is a premium brand.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: So it is a brand that is just the way if you walk into a bank,
27:02
you have a premium client and you will get either your prestige
27:06
or your premier.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: You do get a product that caters to that population.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: For us, it's not just the population, it's the consumption.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: As I said,
27:14
SPEAKER_00: I may not have that much,
27:16
SPEAKER_00: but if the one time I want to consume,
27:18
SPEAKER_00: I want to consume Casamigos,
27:20
SPEAKER_00: then I am in premium consumption.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: And then since you're very close to the distributors,
27:25
what's their assessment in terms of how the consumer is doing
27:28
or they themselves
27:29
SPEAKER_01: are doing in this kind of state of the economy?
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Distributors are our partners.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: We work very closely with them and through them.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: And so for us to be able to deliver this means they're also selling,
27:39
SPEAKER_00: which means consumers are consuming.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: So I think, to be fair, the economy has been tough on all of us.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: And again,
27:46
SPEAKER_00: I go back to the taxes and levies,
27:49
SPEAKER_00: the exchange rates,
27:50
SPEAKER_00: the interest rates,
27:51
SPEAKER_00: and particularly those last two have been quite tough on most businesses.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: As I say, the path that we have to follow is to spar jobs.
28:00
to spark consumption and that will help business grow and that
28:02
will help our economy grow.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: And in the past year,
28:05
SPEAKER_01: maybe compared to the previous half year,
28:07
have they seen a bit of maybe consumers coming back to increase
28:10
demand for the beverages,
28:12
SPEAKER_01: the inflation eases,
28:14
SPEAKER_01: even though it's still at a higher level?
28:15
SPEAKER_01: Have they seen that?
28:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
28:17
and our results are a reflection of what's happening down there
28:20
because otherwise
28:21
SPEAKER_00: we'd be filling the market with product that's not moving.
28:23
And that's something we watch very clearly to make sure that we
28:26
are supplying them
28:27
SPEAKER_00: with what they are selling.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: And therefore that cycle is moving.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Definitely at the consumer level, there is some improvement.
28:34
As I said,
28:34
there's a marginal growth in volumes and that's really right
28:38
down from the consumer.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: So they are seeing some improvement in spend.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: Because the reality is that whilst your salary takes time to catch up,
28:46
SPEAKER_00: although this time as your salary has caught up,
28:48
SPEAKER_00: it has been slashed,
28:50
SPEAKER_00: it allows you to catch up with the higher cost of goods over time.
28:54
So yeah,
28:54
we are seeing improved spend,
28:56
particularly around both beer and spirits,
28:59
to be honest.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And perhaps in terms of focus, I know you don't need guidance per se.
29:03
What are some of the key things that maybe EABL you're paying
29:06
attention to in this 2025 year?
29:09
SPEAKER_00: I think Jane called it out when we did our presentation.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: And the first one is just what I've just said, focusing on the customers.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: So wherever the customers are,
29:18
SPEAKER_00: the consumers are making sure that we are providing products to them.
29:22
We are exciting them and we are giving them what they need for
29:24
the different occasions.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, we are investing smartly behind our brands, behind CapEx.
29:30
So making sure that we continue to invest even though we are
29:33
quite thoughtful around it.
29:34
We're also very focused on productivity with the cost pressures
29:38
and consumption pressures.
29:39
We are also really always looking at our internal operations to
29:43
see where we can
29:44
SPEAKER_00: extract more efficiency.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: The next one is around ESG.
29:48
We've been quite active around the things we're doing around
29:51
the pillars of our
29:53
SPEAKER_00: sustainability strategy,
29:54
SPEAKER_00: thinking about positive drinking,
29:56
SPEAKER_00: thinking about green to glass sustainability and diversity and inclusion,
30:00
SPEAKER_00: and really making sure we're focused in those areas.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: And finally, around our people.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: Without our people, we wouldn't be able to deliver
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Such results are making sure that people are well taken care of,
30:12
SPEAKER_00: they're growing,
30:12
SPEAKER_00: they're straining,
30:13
and that we implement a strong organizational culture that then
30:17
helps us deliver
30:18
SPEAKER_00: strong long-term results.
30:20
And are there specific markets or products that you see as the
30:24
next big growth
30:25
SPEAKER_01: opportunities or you're working on everything?
30:28
SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you that,
30:29
but I'd say we stay close to the consumer and make big bets on
30:32
where the consumer
30:33
SPEAKER_00: is at.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: So other than that, I can't tell you.
30:35
So someone is asking about the,
30:37
we talked about glass being a bit of a challenge.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: He said EABL sold CGI a while back.
30:42
He was wondering,
30:43
with a shortage of glass bottles,
30:46
why not set up a new plant?
30:48
SPEAKER_00: I think we are good at our core business and that is what we focus on.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Of course,
30:53
we still work very closely with the company that now provides
30:56
glass to us and
30:58
SPEAKER_00: across the whole market.
30:59
I just think there's opportunity still for more investments in
31:02
that space to be
31:03
SPEAKER_00: able to spark growth.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: But at the moment we are buying,
31:06
SPEAKER_00: we are supplementing what is available locally with imports as well.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's a matter of time.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: because the demand is there.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: It's just a matter of time for that investment to come through.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: And again,
31:18
SPEAKER_00: like you're saying,
31:19
the environment needs to be conducive for such investors to put
31:22
money in the
31:22
SPEAKER_00: economy for us to be able to cater to our owning.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Before I switch to a few questions about what you're reading currently,
31:29
I just wanted you maybe to wrap up and give the listeners a bit
31:33
of a breakdown in
31:34
terms of the key things that you want them to pay attention to
31:38
in the EABL H1 results.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: I think the key things to pay attention to,
31:43
SPEAKER_00: one is sales growth organically very strong at 8%,
31:47
SPEAKER_00: more or less in line with last year.
31:50
Whilst there's still pressures on inflation,
31:53
I think that's something we can't get away from.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: The inflation line is still giving us some pressure,
31:58
which you will see that the gross profit and gross margin is
32:01
slightly constrained.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: However,
32:02
SPEAKER_00: we are doing our best around managing costs,
32:05
SPEAKER_00: reducing finance costs,
32:06
and really just taking care of that FX volatility line as much
32:12
as we can to make
32:12
sure that we are delivering consistent and sustainable growth
32:16
to our shareholders.
32:17
In terms of the balance sheet,
32:18
we continue to maintain a strong balance sheet.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Our key ratios are strong.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: And again, I think we're in a good position to take on half two.
32:26
Half two is normally slightly softer and comes with its own
32:30
different elements.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: But we are fairly positive that with some of the changes we've seen,
32:34
SPEAKER_00: the daily exercise having been removed.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: And again,
32:37
the changes in beer exercise that we should be able to see some
32:41
positivity in the industry.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I think that's really the outcome.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: Profit after tax 20% up is decent,
32:48
but we still have quite a lot of work to continue doing to make
32:51
sure that we are
32:52
SPEAKER_00: delivering volume growth,
32:53
SPEAKER_00: top line growth and sustainable growth over time.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a good summary of it.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: So quick questions to you now, Rispa, on a personal level maybe.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: What are you reading currently and what is inspiring you?
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm reading Range right now.
33:08
It's a book about how generalists thrive compared to
33:12
specialists and the views
33:14
SPEAKER_00: around that,
33:15
SPEAKER_00: but I am finding it quite interesting.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: I think what inspires me is just a possibility.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: I think whereas we are often caught up in what is wrong with the world,
33:26
SPEAKER_00: there's still a lot that we can do with what we have.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm just inspired by possibility.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: And finally,
33:31
SPEAKER_01: what have you learned lately,
33:33
SPEAKER_01: maybe in your work or personal life that you'd want to share with us?
33:36
SPEAKER_00: In the last six months,
33:37
my biggest reflection was I read a book called The Courage to
33:40
be Disliked.
33:41
And it was really about how we are brought up to seek
33:44
affirmation and praise.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: And really,
33:47
we should really just be concerned about doing the right thing
33:50
and doing what we
33:51
SPEAKER_00: have been sent here to do.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And so consistently reminding myself that it's not about affirmation.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: It's not about being liked.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: It's about doing right and doing right by all our stakeholders,
34:01
SPEAKER_00: be it our shareholders,
34:03
SPEAKER_00: our employees,
34:04
SPEAKER_00: our families.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: So it just reminds me that,
34:06
SPEAKER_00: you know what,
34:07
being very clear about what you're there for and being unafraid
34:12
to deliver it.
34:13
SPEAKER_01: So it's an amazing book.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: Remarkable.
34:15
SPEAKER_01: If you want to know more a bit about RISPA,
34:17
SPEAKER_01: I know she wouldn't say it,
34:18
SPEAKER_01: but you can find a few YouTube videos.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: Just type in her name and then you'll find a few inspiring ones.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: One of the latest one I was listening to is what the roles of CFOs are.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: She had a very good analysis on that.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a good one that we should all check out.
34:32
I'll give you a minute maybe to give you closing thoughts and
34:35
then we can close out.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: No, I think, as I said, it's just to carry on.
34:39
SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of things that don't work,
34:41
SPEAKER_00: but there's also a lot of things that we can work with.
34:44
And if you are of the variety that enjoys our products,
34:49
please do continue.
34:50
We are grateful for the support and we continue to work hard to
34:55
build our economies.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't think anybody will do that for us.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: We have to do it for ourselves.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for giving us your time.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: Much appreciated.
35:04
Hope to see you again in the full year so that we can be able
35:07
to break down what's
35:07
SPEAKER_01: happening in the next six months.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: All the best as you prepare for that.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much and goodbye.