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EVZ LIMITED — AGM Information 2009
Nov 26, 2009
64889_rns_2009-11-26_0a2413e8-85d7-4193-8fc9-27919ec2bd61.pdf
AGM Information
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ENVIROZEL LIMITED
ABN 87 010 550 357 ACN 010 550 357 Level 7, 410 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia PO Box 237 Collins Street West Melbourne VIC 8007 Tel: +61 3 9670 4545 Fax: +61 3 9670 6670 www.envirozel.com
27 November 2009
Company Announcements Office Australian Stock Exchange Limited 20 Bridge Street SYDNEY NSW 2000
Dear Sir/Madam
Please find attached the Chairman’s address to the Annual General Meeting of Envirozel Limited.
Yours faithfully
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Ian Wallace Company Secretary
Chairman’s Address to the Annual General Meeting held on 27[th] November 2009
Good morning and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Envirozel Limited
Thank you for coming & I look forward to updating you on your Company’s progress over the last 12 months.
We all know it has been a trying year, all of which has been well detailed and documented in our Appendix 4E and Annual Report releases. I believe it is time that we started to emphasize some of the positive aspects of your company’s performance. This is not to say that trading conditions have all of a sudden returned to Pre GFC conditions –
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Margins are tight
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Projects & Decisions are delayed
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Imports from China are a threat, etc.
But we have adapted and have made significant changes to the way the group operates. Over the last 12 months we have consolidated and integrated 5 individual businesses into a homogeneous operation. We have shared project work across fabrication facilities to meet tight client delivery schedules that otherwise would not have been possible on an individual business basis. We have shared project leads which have resulted in multiple bid opportunities and wins. We share labour resources on multiple projects to ensure retention of our skill base. We have investigated and applied numerous group purchasing opportunities where appropriate including taking advantage of our long standing Asian connections. We have built and continue to expand our BDM network across the group which has launched the company into new areas of market opportunity such as mining, wood chipping, Co and Tri-generation power projects. In short, we now firmly believe that the sum of the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts.
Therefore to reflect these changes, we are seeking your approval to change the company’s name to “EVZ Limited”. It is the Director’s and Senior Manager’s belief that the name Envirozel Limited does not support our activities as the Group is not specifically in the environmental field. However, EVZ Limited provides flexibility to deal with divisionalization and brand recognition. To this end all subsidiary companies are now branded:-
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EVZ Brockman Engineering
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EVZ Danum Engineering, etc.
In order to continue with our consolidation and integration work, it is our intention to divisionalize the company into:
| y into: | ||
|---|---|---|
| EVZ Engineering |
- | Brockman |
| - | Danum | |
| - | National | |
| EVZ Power | - | TSF |
| EVZ Water | - | Syfon. |
These divisional names provide a clear and concise statement of each division’s area of interest and activity and establishes clear targets for future growth either organically or through acquisition. The
divisional approach also allows us to rationalize manufacturing operations and to capitalize on any sensible restructure or amalgamation of activities.
This then enables the group to expand its activities geographically in a cost competitive manner. “By way of example, Brockman can competitively bid a tank job in NSW or Queensland by utilizing the National facility in Young”. By combining resources in this manner the group is now able to bid for much larger and more diversified projects. We are therefore actively pursuing the expansion of the Engineering division into NSW, Queensland (Brockman has bid on numerous tank projects throughout these states) and South Australia (Danum are bidding on a number of mine site opportunities). In 2010 EVZ Water will open an office in Perth as Syfon has successfully secured 2 new projects in Western Australia.
We have continued to expand our BDM network throughout the group. This has had an immediate positive affect and along with an improving economic environment all group companies have reported a significant increase in the level of enquiries and requests for tender. During the months of September and October we secured over $25M of new work of which we expect to complete at least $17M in the current financial year. The most significant of these projects are:-
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Star City for TSF - $8.1M
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Bligh St. for National -$4.7M
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Craigieburn Tank for Brockman - $4.5M
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Alcoa Pot Shells for Brockman - $6.0M
You may recall that at this time last year the Danum business was experiencing significant difficulties after the loss of the Shell contract. It is pleasing to report that, Danum has successfully re-built their revenue stream via an expanded client and geographic base. Danum recently completed the Myamyn Woodchip project where they were responsible for the project management of the entire $40M job and along with Brockman completed approximately $9M worth of supply and installation work. Danum’s achievements on this project have been highly praised by the client and they have subsequently secured the ongoing Maintenance Contract on the Myamyn site along with several project enquiries from competing Woodchip companies. Danum has also successfully completed a conveyor contract for a new client in South Australia at the Ginkgo mineral sands mine. This work involved the fabrication and installation of 1.7km’s of an innovative conveyor system to remove and transport overburden. As the mine progresses, Danum will regularly return to site to relocate and maintain the conveyor system. Future opportunities are being sort in the South Australia Resource Sector. Syfon Systems is now active in Western Australia and will shortly establish a new office in Perth. As a group we will continue to “Push Out” and expand our client, geographic and service base.
TSF and Syfon have record levels of forward orders on their books and National has the best forward order book it has seen in the last 18 months. We are therefore forecasting a 10-15% increase in revenue for the first 6 months in comparison to last year. It must be reiterated that margins remain tight however we expect this position to improve in the following 6 months to end June 2010.
From an operational point of view, the group has in place:-
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Comprehensive Long Range Strategic Plans
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Detailed Operational Budgets & KPI’s
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Concise & consistent reports on company performance
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Detailed Safety Plans and reporting procedures
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Business Risk Analysis and action plans to mitigate threats
From an Occupational Health and Safety point of view we have achieved steady improvement, particularly at National Engineering.
From a financial point of view we have:-
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A strong cash position
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A low debt level which is being continually reduced in line with bank loan repayments
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Paid a total dividend for the year of 0.5 cents and maintained a consistent dividend payout ratio.
In other words we have and continue to build a solid business base on which we will grow the company both organically and via acquisition over the next few years.
In closing, it is important to recognise the support of our shareholders during the year. Your Director’s and Management are committed to improving the performance of the company. We have been through a period of consolidation and dealing with a difficult business environment. This phase, albeit requiring ongoing work has been successful and we are now ready to grow the business and develop a sustainable future.
Max Findlay
Chairman