On behalf of Saunders’ Board of Directors, I am pleased to present the 2023 Annual Financial Report and provide shareholders with an update on our progress and achievements in the year. APPOINTMENT AS CHAIRMAN After serving as Chairman for 16 years, Timothy Burnett stepped down from the role on 30 June 2023, and I was privileged to assume the role on 1 July 2023. This change was a part of the ongoing board renewal process and Timothy continues to serve as a Non-Executive Director of the Board in the short term. Timothy has made an outstanding contribution to Saunders, and on behalf of Directors and shareholders, I would like to thank him for his long-standing commitment to Saunders and leadership of the Board for the past 16 years. SAFETY The Group and Board are committed to ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of our workforce, subcontractors, and the community. We do this by investing in our safety culture, proactively managing the risks associated with our operations and continually reviewing Workplace Health and Safety Standards. In 2023, we delivered a strong safety performance which has been recognised by our clients and invested in proactive initiatives to keep our people safe and healthy in the years ahead. I’m also pleased to report the Group has secured new federal safety and security accreditations in the period. The Managing Director and CEO’s report will outline our safety performance in further detail. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Despite challenging global economic conditions, our financial performance in 2023 has been strong, with record revenue of $200.9 million, EBIT of $14.4 million and a solid order book of $201.0 million. This success reflects the Group’s ability to secure key new opportunities and repeat business with our clients, particularly as they seek to reposition existing and build new assets in the renewable energy sector. The Group continues to position for opportunities in its pipeline. Earnings per share for the period was 8.84 cents. The Financial Reports will outline our results in further detail.
STRATEGIC GROWTH While Saunders has a long history as one of Australia’s finest tank builders, our business continues to grow and evolve. We now have dedicated operational areas across Engineering Construction, Asset Services, Automation and Civil and are leaders in major projects for blue-chip and government clients across our key sectors. Our focus is now on fostering strategic growth, expansion into new regions and markets, and evolving our client offering as a one-stop multidisciplinary integrated team. At the same time, we are building our front-end, design engineering, tendering and operational capability to support this growth and position Saunders for future success, ensuring we continue to deliver with excellence while being competitive and profitable. SUSTAINABILITY We recognise Saunders has a unique opportunity and role to play in helping our clients to reach their sustainability goals. Working with major international organisations including bp, Ampol and Lendlease provides the ability to not only support them to achieve their bold sustainability targets, but to have insight into their plans to do so. We’re leveraging these learnings to define our own Environment, Social and Governance sustainability targets across the Group and I look forward to sharing our progress in these key areas. OUTLOOK The outlook for Saunders continues to be positive. Our growth strategy is on track, and we continue to deliver strong returns for shareholders. With strong orderbook and recurring revenues, we are well-positioned to deliver on the embedded earnings in our pipeline. In closing, it is an honour to have been appointed to lead the accomplished and dedicated Saunders Board of Directors this year. Together, we are committed to working with the Saunders Executive and Senior Management teams to build on the strong progress achieved in 2023 and to continue to deliver rewarding outcomes for shareholders, clients and our people in the years ahead.
Nick Yates Chairman Saunders International
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Annual Report 2023 7
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